PHUKET — On September 3 at 1:00 PM, the investigative police at Karon Police Station, Phuket, were notified of a foreign tourist’s body found in a puddle near the Naga statue in front of Karon Beach, Karon Subdistrict.
When the police arrived at the scene, along with volunteers from the Phuket Ruamjai Rescue Foundation, they found locals and foreign tourists gathered around the area surrounded by trees. Officers cordoned off the area and notified forensic experts and a forensic doctor from Vachira Phuket Hospital to investigate.
Initially, they found a shirtless foreign man in a pool of water with wounds. A black document bag was found next to the body. Inside the bag, they discovered a passport identifying the deceased as Mr. Orlov, a 27-year-old Russian national. There was also a passport belonging to a woman of the same nationality and various other cards in the bag.
Forensic experts and the medical examiner examined the body and found bruises around the eye, near the left ear, bruises on both left and right arms with cuts down to the bone, a wound on the left leg, bruises under the chin and in the mouth, eye sockets, and Adam’s apple, appearing to be caused by a hard object. They estimated that the man had been dead for about 8 hours.
Officials noted that the wounds on major blood vessels on both sides were likely the cause of death. They don’t believe it was suicide because if it were, there wouldn’t be wounds on both arms, but rather on only one arm.
Initially, the investigative team is checking CCTV footage in the area and coordinating with other police stations to see if any missing person reports have been filed. They will thoroughly investigate the cause of death before reporting to the Russian embassy. The body was handed over to the foundation staff to be taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for a detailed autopsy.
A reporter interviewed Ms. Na, an employee at a nearby massage shop, who said she heard someone shouting about a dead person and went to look. She saw the body lying there and then called the authorities. She had never seen this tourist before and mentioned that the area is usually busy during the day.
