A young Chinese student was found dead in her rented apartment room in Bangkok’s Klong Toey district on Tuesday evening, with several packs of diet pills also found nearby, police said.
The body of the 23-year-old Chinese national, whose name was being withheld, was found dead in her room on the eighth-floor of an apartment building on Old Railway Road in Phra Khanong area of Klong Toey by police and rescue workers called to the scene about 6.30pm on Tuesday.
The door was double-locked, and they had to break into the room.
There were no traces of violence on the body of the woman, who was on the bed in her underwear. A fan was still turned on. Several packs of diet pills were found in the room.
Forensic officials said the woman had died one day before she was found. Her body was sent to Chulalongkorn Hospital for autopsy.
A Chinese man who was a friend said the woman was a second-year student at Bangkok University’s Kluay Nam Thai campus. She took the international programme on communication arts.
He said the woman stayed alone in the room and she was fond of smoking and visiting entertainment venues.
He learned that she had consulted a doctor on how to lose weight over the past two months. She then bought diet pills from a clinic in Ratchada area.
The day before she was found dead, he chatted with her via the Line chat application. Since then, he had not been able to contact her online.
He later phoned her at her apartment, but there was no answer. He then went to her room and found it was locked from the inside. He knocked on the door several times, but there was no answer, so he alerted the authorities.
Police believed the woman may have died from an overdose of diet pills, but were awaiting the post mortem examination to establish the cause of death.
They were in contact with the Chinese embassy so her family could be informed.