CHON BURI – Four transvestites have been detained in Pattaya as police try to determine if they pushed a 28-year-old Briton from his fourth-floor window, killing him.
The body of Naami Keyghobadi was found lying face up outside near a property agency located on the ground floor of the Dolphin House apartments near the intersection of Third and Central roads in the Bang Lamung district city, said Pol Col Sukthat Pumpunmuang, chief of Pattaya police, who led a officers to the scene around 7.20pm last night.
The shirtless Leeds native suffered a broken leg and ribs with internal injuries. He was rushed to Pattaya Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after.
In an apartment on the top floor of the four-storey building, police found transgender woman Patchara Chaihongsa, 33, She was sweating profusely and taken for questioning, Thai media reported on Wednesday.
The officers also recovered a black bag outside the victim's room containing the foreign man's clothes and packs of medicine from Pattaya Memorial.
Ms Patchara told police the foreigner had bought sexual services from two younger ladyboy friends, identified as "Nong Emmy'' and "Nong Piano."
According to Ms Patchara's statement, the Briton took the sex workers to his room on the third floor of the apartment house where an argument over fees erupted. Keyghobadi then took the bag of clothes to the fourth floor, with the two transvestites running after him.
Ms Patchara said she opened the door of the apartment to investigate the commotion, only to see Keyghobadi storm in, head straight to the window and begin to climb out.
Ms Patchara claimed she and the other ladyboys tried to pull Keyghobadi back inside, but were unsuccessful, leading to him either falling or jumping.
The younger pair of sex workers quickly fled, but police found them and the other transvestite in a second-storey room where they were taken into custody, along with Ms Patchara.
Police also recovered what was suspected to be crystal methamphetamine from the third-floor room. All four transvestites failed drug tests, police said.
Investigators were holding the suspects, saying their stories didn't match, leading them to suspect foul play. However, authorities are not ruling out hallucinatory effects from the ya ice as a cause of Keyghobadi's fatal plunge.