Hungarian tourist dies of food poisoning in Thailand

A Hungarian tourist, Tibor went to Pattaya with his fiancé and his friends. They were accommodated in the four-star Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel, where they had an all-you-can-eat dinner. The company suffered food poisoning, and it cost Tibor’s life.

A Hungarian woman who witnessed the case at the hotel told Bors about the incident. She stated that several types of seafood were served, including butterfish. Five people of the company ate from it, and the symptoms appeared right after dinner. The affected tourists had nausea and indigestion, especially Tibor who felt incredibly sick. His fiance alerted the rest of the group at around 2 am about the critical situation. Tibor lost consciousness not much later.

The group was discussing that they should book an earlier return flight, as they were planning to leave the day after this dinner. Other guests of the hotel have eaten from the seafood earlier — including the butterfish — but no complications were reported. Everyone except Tibor survived the night with a simple indigestion.

Witnesses claim that after Tibor passed out, his friends asked the staff of the hotel to call the ambulance. They were shocked to see that it was a taxi that arrived.

Tibor was carried down from the 14th floor. He regained his consciousness on the way down but lost it again by the time they have reached the ground floor. When the taxi arrived, his friends noticed that he got even worse and tried to revive him. The hotel only called the ambulance after that.

According to witnesses, there weren’t any staff members in the luxury hotel who were skilled in lifesaving.

As Index reported, Tibor was lying in front of the reception desk, while one of his friends was trying to place him in a recovery position and kept massaging his chest. The ambulance arrived only after 40 minutes and took him to a private hospital.

They could not save his life in the hospital. Still, Tibor’s fiancée, Dia received a bill of 1615 euros. She left in anger and despair.

She promised that she will fight until they admit that Tibor’s death was caused by the lack of medical support.

The autopsy will determine the exact cause of the death. His family insists on repeating the dissection in Hungary as well. Tibor was a successful construction entrepreneur in Kecskemét.

According to the Foreign Office, the Hungarian consul called Tibor’s mother on the phone right after the tragedy and told her about the necessary measures. The embassy is in connection with the rest of the group and the parents.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Index.hu, Bors Online