When he was found in Kamala, it was believed that Mr Gyula might be suffering from Alzheimer’s, so he was put into the Sunprime Kamala Beach hotel and his family were eventually contacted and arranged a flight for him to return to Switzerland, where they live, next Tuesday (February 4).
But Mr Gyula did not stay put. This morning Jintana Choobua, receptionist at the Sunprime, said, “He paid his bill and checked out on January 15.”
Last night The Phuket News came across Mr Gyula, sitting on the pavement outside Vachira Phuket Hospital.
Failing to get cogent answers from him, and noting that he could not walk because of damage to his feet and badly swollen ankles, The News called the tourist police.
Pol Sen Sgt Maj Wichit Pongsapung said, “He does seem to be distracted. Anyway, he will be sent back home on February 4. We [Tourist Police] have already contacted the Hungarian consulate in order to assist him, and to inform his family.
“He likes to get food at Vachira Hospital,” he added.
Wiwat Kanjanapanit, a security guard at the hospital, told The Phuket News, “I have encountered him on many occasions in the past 10 days or so. He is not a patient here.
“I heard the motorcycle taxi drivers saying that he walks back and forth between the Tourist Police station and Vachira Hospital. Each morning, they say, he walks to the hospital, and then each evening he walks back to the police station and spends the night there. That’s all I know.”
Pol Maj Urumporn Koondejsumrit, Tourist Police inspector, told The Phuket News this morning, “The consulate has informed us that they have the ticket for him to go back home on February 4.”