Body found on Phuket beach identified as elderly Canadian woman

A body found on Kata Beach in Phuket on Wednesday has been identified as that of an 80-year-old Canadian woman who was determined to have died from heatstroke, police said.

Police identified the woman as Karen Pai, 80, a Canadian citizen who had checked into the Kata Palm Resort Hotel on 3 March. She was scheduled to check out on Thursday (6 March) and was travelling alone.

Pai was spotted lying face down on the beach at 10:30 am on Wednesday. When she was still in the same position at 1:20 pm, with bruise marks having developed on her body, police were alerted. Upon inspection, they confirmed she had passed away.

An autopsy at Vachira Phuket Hospital found that she had likely died of hyperthermia, with no signs of physical harm or foul play. It was estimated that she had been deceased for approximately four hours before the autopsy.

Police stated that security cameras recorded the woman leaving her hotel room at 10:23 am to ask hotel staff for directions to the beach. She then left the hotel without showing any signs of illness.