CHIANG RAI -- A Taiwanese man fell three floors to his death from a hotel balcony in Muang district on Thursday after an hours-long Songkran drinking spree.
Win Kwang Yao, 56, who arrived Thailand to celebrate the Thai New Year with a group of 20 compatriots, was found at the ground level of a hotel building by a staff member at about 6am, Thairath Online reported.
Muang Chiang Rai police investigator Padungkij Kijchanapaiboon said Thanyapat Hataikongpan, 24, a guide at Licader Tiur Co, took Yao and the other Taiwanese tourists from Chiang Mai to check in at the hotel on Wednesday 10pm.
According to Ms Thanyapat, Yao and his roommate, Huang Ming Gin, 56, had started drinking beer when the group left Chiang Mai. After check-in, the two bought two cases of beers into their room.
Pol Lt Col Padungkij said an initial inquiry found the men continued drinking until 2am when Mr Gin went to bed first. Yao, who was thought to be very drunk, went to smoke a cigarette on the balcony and may have lost his balance and fallen over the metre-high railing.
The roommate said he only learned about Yao's death in the morning.
There were no signs of struggle or indications of foul play. Police found about a dozen empty beer bottles, some amount of unopened beer and cigarette butts on the balcony, Pol Lt Col Padungkij said.