A 26-year-old Dutchman was found in the sea, with a four centimetre wound to the back of his head. Later on in the day, the body of an Italian man was found in a hotel room, quickly followed with the death of a Danish owner of a guesthouse. The final victim was reported to be an Austrian man, although he had apparently been dead for days.
A tragic week indeed that seems incongruous when presented with the image of a dream island, and a dark side that is seemingly more befitting to that of a big city.
It seems all the more startling among the backdrop of the recent violence that has recently befallen Phuket. In the last week or so, there have been variously stabbings, slashings and beatings.
Unfortunately, these types of occurrences are nothing new on the island of late. Safe is something that many in Phuket and especially Patong do not necessarily feel – grand display of police officers or not.
In these times of expansion, celebrity visits, rapid growth of tourist numbers and facilities, things don’t appear to be as they may seem in Phuket, but have they ever been?
A city is only exciting, convenient and of endless possibilities if you are not trapped in the drudgery of an over-populated and polluted environment.
Its expanse is only positive if you can escape the confines of the subway, the box apartment and the stinking office every once in a while to put it all in perspective.
A tropical island is only paradise, relaxing and beautiful for those whom holiday on it, for the rest, it’s business as usual. We swap a skyscraper for a palm tree and a subway train for a car, a coat for a T-Shirt, but other than that, it’s another day, another baht. Another day in paradise.