The next day, a female tourist from New Zealand staying on the fifth floor of the hotel became violently sick and was rushed to the hospital where she died two days later. Two of her friends sharing the room with her were also hospitalized, but recovered. Dead Kiwis are more newsworthy and the story went out that she died from eating toxic seaweed. That was later changed to bad barbecued chicken. An easy mistake to make the two being so similar. The hotel’s staff and local authorities were aware that this was the second death in as many days at the hotel, but that the body count was climbing never got reported in the news.

With its guests dropping like flies, Downtown Inn’s management should have closed its doors until the cause of the deaths was determined. If not done voluntary, local authorities should have insisted. Dead tourists are not good for business. But neither took action. Maybe that isn’t surprising. A similar problem developed last year on Phi Phi Island and the hotel involved continued to book guests into its Russian Roulette hotel. I guess that’s a whole new spin on Adventure Tourism. Dr. Kevorkian should start booking tour groups to the Thailand

The morning daily count for breakfast took on a new light at the Downtown Inn, and undoubtedly when the diner and guest tallies matched the staff let out its collective breath. The run of bad luck the hotel has been experiencing with customers dieing on them seemed to be at its end until February 19th, when two guests failed to make it down for their morning meal. An elderly couple from Britain staying on the fourth floor became the latest to check in at the Downtown Inn and never check out.

The local police ruled out foul play, though they did take the hotel’s manager in for questioning. “The news about the hotel’s mystery death is really bad for our business. It was not true,” said Acting hotel manager Vinai Julsiri . “There is nothing wrong or dangerous in our hotel.”

Yup, nothing wrong except for the dead bodies. The lack of a credible response, and the resulting downplay of the problem probably has nothing to do with the fact that the owner of the Downtown Inn in Chiang Mai, Boonlert Buranupakorn, is a former Mayor of the city.

A fifth death, that of an American woman, Soraya Pandola,  who died unexpectedly in January at a different hotel in Chiang Mai, may or may not be related. She died after eating at a local japanese restaurant.

Her death was not widely publicized until after the string of deaths at the Downtown Inn.

More recently, yet another mysterious death has come to light. Bill Mah, a telecommunications employee from Alberta, Canada, died in Chiang Mai on January 26th. He fell ill on the 24th and was taken to the hospital the next morning where he was treated and kept under observation for a day. Friends discovered him in his room on the morning of the 26th. He was again rushed to the hospital and dies 15 minutes later. Like Mrs. Pandola, Mr Mah was not staying at The Downtown Inn, however, friends reported he had used the facilities at that hotel adding another suspicious coincidence to the growing list of visitors who have died in and around the Downtown Inn since mid-January.

Before the deaths, guests reviewing the property on-line reported ‘all rooms have a musty smell. Had to buy three air fresheners to remove smell.” Yes, something does smell fishy at The Downtown Inn. A problem with the central air would seem like a likely cause, but each room at the Downtown Inn has it’s own. And large, opening windows. February in Chiang Mai is pleasant and most people do not use the air conditioner in their room, especially at night. That the deaths all occurred in a cluster of rooms – two next door to each other and one directly below – seems to pinpoint the problem area, but to date the local health authorities have not determined what caused the deaths. If no further guests fail to wake up in the morning, the case will be quickly closed. This is after all Thailand, and business goes on . . .