Staff at the hotel, located off Siriraj Rd at the southern end of Patong, notified police at 7:45am.
Officers and rescue workers arrived to be shown the body of Suthep Lukyee, 32, from Krabi, crushed over a steel beam – still pinned under the lift’s counterweight – inside the elevator shaft.
“At this stage we believe that Ms Suthep died of an accident,” Col Jongserm Preecha of the Patong Police reported.
“Mr Suthep might have climbed into the shaft to collect keys that had fallen down in the gap between the lift and the floor,” he said.
“When the lift moved, the counterweight struck him,” Col Jongserm added.
“However, we are still investigating the incident with the forensic police,” Col Jongserm noted.
No mention was made of how Mr Suthep had access to an area normally restricted to service staff specifically for safety reasons.