In 2006 30 Norwegians died in Thailand. 30 out of a 4.5 million population might not seem like a big number. However, the number of Norwegians dying in Thailand has grown considerably from 14 in 2005 to 30 in 2006, Norwegian daily, VG, reports.
Only four of the 30 were women. The majority were men aged 60+. The cause of death might be stated as cardiac arrest, but some men die while having sex. According to the travel insurance company Europeiske’s Bangkok office, older men buying Viagra or other kind of potency medicine without consulting a doctor run a considerable risk.
Not all die from cardiac arrest or die a so called natural death. Some commit suicide. Scientist Fredrik Walby of the section for suicide research and prevention at the University of Oslo believes that alcohol is to blame for some of the suicides in Thailand.
“Many commit suicide while under the influence of alcohol, as you become more impulsive, when you are drinking. Alcohol itself can trigger a crisis and make you more likely to commit suicide,” Fredrik Walby tells VG.
Consul Lill Vaksdal of the Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok has another explanation for the rise in deaths of Norwegians in Thailand. “The fact that we travel more and that more old-age pensioner wish to spend 5-6 months a year in Thailand is one of the reasons why the number has increased,” she explains.
Lill Vaksdal informs that none of the deaths of the 30 Norwegians in 2006 are being investigated by the police. The death of John Terry Petersen from Aust-Agder in Norway, who was shot dead on Koh Samui last month, is being investigated by police. However, his death is not of the 30, as John Terry Petersen was a Danish citizen.
