Phuket Opinion: Results are crucial
PHUKET: The results of the autopsies on two Canadian sisters who were found dead at a hotel in Phi Phi are likely to reveal more to the world about Thailand than just the cause of their deaths.
Thursday 12 July 2012, 09:44AM
Audrey and Noemi Belanger, aged 20 and 26, were found by hotel staff showing signs of having apparently suffered extreme toxic reactions last Friday (15 June).
Police released a statement on Sunday night saying that serious food poising might have been to blame. However, the Thai authorities quickly rebutted those claims, saying that it was too early to pinpoint the cause of the deaths.
As The Phuket News went to press, all evidence was at Bangkok’s forensic department and the autopsies had still to be performed, with the parents of the two women requesting a delay until they arrived in Thailand.
There will be no happy ending to this tragic story, but one hopes there might be some answers and Mr and Mrs Belanger might be able to leave with closure, unlike many friends and family who been have left with unanswered questions about their loved ones’ deaths in Thailand.
That growing list includes six mysterious deaths of foreigners in the past year – including four in a single Chiang Mai hotel and another two on Phi Phi – the causes of which have still to be revealed.
This may be because of a genuine inability to establish cause of death. Or, the suspicious will say, it may be a cover-up in a desperate attempt to salvage Thailand’s reputation as an amazingly safe place to take a holiday.
Neither of these scenarios is good enough. Neither will benefit Thailand. The family needs an explanation. They need closure. And the world needs reassurance that Thailand cares enough to work until it finds the answers and that it is transparent enough to reveal them publicly.
