Death in paradise first the virus now a murder casts pall over Phuket

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Singapore: At the police station where he is being held in Phuket, Teerawat Thothip was handed a phone to begin a national address like few others.

The 27-year-old local man was patched into a press conference to confess to the murder of 57-year-old Swiss woman Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf near a waterfall on the south of the island last Thursday.

A police officer inspects the scene where Swiss tourist Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf was found dead. Credit:AP

“I would like to apologise to the tourist’s family and beg all Thais to excuse me,” he said. “I did not mean to kill her.”

Charged with murder and robbery after being identified with CCTV footage, Teerawat explained he had been left unemployed by pandemic and was trying to steal Sauvain-Weisskopf’s backpack, which had 300 baht ($A12) inside it, when he saw her wading in the water on her own. She died in a struggle after he placed her in a headlock, he said.

It is a death that has rocked Thailand, already reeling from the Delta strain of the virus, which has cast a shadow over the country’s ambitions of rebooting a tourism-reliant economy smashed by COVID-19.

Phuket is at the heart of those plans, welcoming more than 16,000 foreign arrivals since the July 1 launch of a pilot program that allows fully vaccinated people to land on the island without having to quarantine.

As well as attracting tourists, the so-called “sandbox” model has allowed many foreigners who live in Thailand to return and bypass 14 days of hotel room isolation in Bangkok.

The project has also been expanded to Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, albeit with stricter protocols, with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha flagging a wider opening up by October.

That now seems a remote possibility with more than 20,000 new infections a day across Thailand. Despite a vaccination drive on Phuket, the nation has fully inoculated only 6 per cent of its 70 million population.

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However, the importance placed on protecting the country’s international image has been demonstrated by the reaction to the murder in the resort-laden southern province.

Following news of the Sauvain-Weisskopf’s death last week, Prayut was quick to demand an urgent investigation and heightened security on the island.

Tourists lay in lounge chairs on Patong Beach, Thailand’s most popular beach, last month.Credit:Getty Images

Yuthasak Supasorn, the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, who appeared at Sunday’s press conference along with the national chief of police, warned of the impact such an incident could have on the confidence of foreign tourists in choosing to holiday there.

“The province and all stakeholders are working together to step up security for tourists,” Phuket governor Narong Woonciew said.

“We are thankful to everyone working to restore confidence in the Phuket sandbox scheme.“

Narong led a memorial to Sauvin-Weisskopf on one of her favourite beaches at in front of Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket resort, saying that the whole island was devastated at “the senseless loss of such a beautiful life”.

The memorial for Nicole Sauvain-Weiskopt was held at her favourite Phuket beach. Credit:Facebook/richardbarrowthailand

While the authorities hope the capture and public confession of Teerawat will help reassure other visitors about their safety, the rapid spread of the virus is another matter.

Only a few dozen international arrivals to Phuket have tested positive since they began flying in, but there were a record 327 new cases there in the past week and the government has now closed domestic travel to and from the island.

The worsening situation across Thailand, meanwhile, has only inflamed criticism of Prayut’s handling of the health crisis, most notably a slow vaccine rollout slammed as disorganised by opponents.

An anti-government protester runs from a cloud of tear gas during demonstrations in Bangkok on Saturday.Credit:Getty Images

As a record 212 daily deaths were announced on Saturday, anti-government protesters again took to the streets of Bangkok and clashed with police, who fired rubber bullets and tear gas in a bid to break up the crowd. Another rally is planned for Tuesday.

Jeremy Lim, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s school of public health, said it was “safe to say Thailand is going through a bit of a rough patch right now”.

“It’s almost a perfect storm. Vaccination rates are low, there were protests in Bangkok [on Saturday], there’s been a murder in Phuket. All these things, rightly or wrongly, give the impression that the government is not on top of things,” he said.

“The outlook [for Thailand] really depends on two things. One is the ability to ramp up vaccinations very, very quickly. The second is the government’s ability to regain the confidence of the people as well as the international community.”

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Chris Barrett is the south-east Asia correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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