PHUKET: An Australian man was found hanged in a cell at Patong police station on Monday, after being arrested on Sunday night for being drunk and disorderly outside a bar in Kathu district.
Pol Maj Gen Sermpan Sirikhong, the provincial police chief, said Michael Matthew Winder, 31, was drunk and acting wildly when he was arrested outside an entertainment venue on Bang La road in Patong.
He was taken to Patong police station and held in a cell on the second floor.
About noon on Monday, the police sergeant on duty outside the cell left to have lunch. When he returned he brought some food for the detainee. He found Winder hanging by his neck from his shirt, which was tied to the iron bars.
The sergeant went inside the cell to check his pulse. He reported that Winder was already dead. The Australian was the only detainee in the cell, Pol Maj Gen Sermpan said.
An investigation was underway into the man's death, he said.