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Last Thursday, on the island of Phuket, police found a woman named Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf lying face down in the water between rocks covered with a black blanket.
The incident casts a shadow over Phuket’s so-called “Sandbox” scheme. The goal of this pilot project is to open up the ailing Thai tourism sector from COVID-19 after more than a year of draconian travel restrictions.
The 57-year-old woman came to Phuket under this scheme, which allows vaccinated tourists to enter the island without having to stay at the hotel for two weeks.
A 27-year-old local resident, Theerawut Tortip, was arrested and charged with the murder of a tourist, reported Kissana Phathanacharoen, a spokeswoman for the national police.
“The cause of death has not yet been confirmed, as the autopsy is still pending,” he said at a press conference.
The defendant also attended the press conference remotely with his lawyer. He claimed to have strangled the tourist and to have stolen about 300 shoes ($ 9).
“I would like to apologize to the tourist family and ask forgiveness from all Thais,” said the man.
He was arrested after reviewing video surveillance camera records, which allowed him to narrow down his searches and search for the owner of the scooter seen at the scene at the time.
The Governor of Phuket Island, Narong Woonciew, previously promised to “do everything possible to investigate the circumstances of the incident and bring justice to Ms. Nicole.”
The Swiss Honorary Consul in Phuket, Andrea Kotas, expressed her regret for the “sad, sad day for the Phuket community.”
As of July 1, more than 16,000 people arrived on the island of Phuket under the new scheme. people.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha expressed his condolences to the woman’s relatives and asked to be regularly informed by phone about the investigation, a government spokesman said.
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