Police and rescue workers were called to the apartment block, off Rat U Thit 200 Pi Rd, at about 3:30pm.
On the footpath beside the building was the body of the victim, a 58-year-old Swedish national*.
Dr Natchaya Sukon from Patong Hospital, who was among the emergency response unit, pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Lt Col Teerasak Boonseang of the Patong Police reported that the man was known to have health issues, as confirmed by bills issued Patong Hospital found in his room.
Kusuma Upatanan, a staffer at Patong Hospital, confirmed to police that the Swedish man was receiving treatment at the hospital, though the exact medical condition the man was suffering from was not revealed.
Ms Kusuma said that the man had outstanding hospital bills totalling B24,059, but that he did not have the funds to pay.
Ms Kusuma said she escorted the man back to his apartment block at 3:20pm, where he asked her to wait at the ground floor while he went to see a friend on the eighth floor.
Police said people they had questioned, including a friend of the deceased who they named only as “Jan Michael”, had told them that the man had run out of funds to support himself and pay the hospital bills. He had to borrow money and lately had been drinking heavily every day.
Police were also told that the man was prevented from jumping from the same balcony last Saturday (May 5) and was taken to Patong Hospital immediately afterwards.
The man’s body was taken to Patong Hospital, where it will remain while police contact the authorities from the man’s home country in the hope of informing his next of kin of his death.
* The Phuket News is withholding the man’s name until it has been confirmed that his next of kin have been notified of his death.
If you know of someone in need of help... There is a "One Stop Crisis Centre" at each government hospital on the island that can help people cope with emotional distress, or Thai speakers can call the 1300 help hotline.