Japanese man sets himself ablaze, jumps to death
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A JAPANESE man allegedly set himself on fire on Wednesday and jumped to his death from the fourth-floor balcony of Thaniya Plaza on Bangkok's Silom Road. The man was identified as Shinji Watanabe, 37, from Yokohama.
Security guards put out the fire after he fell in a beer garden at around 10.30pm. However, rescuers failed to resuscitate him.
Witnesses told police that he was seen standing at the balcony for a while before pouring petrol over himself and setting himself on fire.
The information was confirmed by closed-circuit TV footage. Police also retrieved from the scene some medicines and two small bottles of petrol.
Police investigation found that the man worked as a technology planner and organisational service adviser in a public limited company.
With the autopsy report still pending, police suspect it to be a case of suicide and was investigating the motive.
Bang Rak Police Station investigator Pol Lt-Colonel Phumyos Lekkla said police yesterday morning inspected the deceased |man’s room in a Soi Inthamara apartment in Din Daeng district, which he had rented since last December.
They found sleeping pills and tranquillisers in his room. Residents in the building said the Japanese man kept to himself.
Police suspect he suffered from stress and chronic illness.
They were to contact the Japanese Embassy in Thailand and the man’s relatives to investigate the case further.
