500kg Lift Crushes Lao Man to Death in Pattaya
500kg Lift Crushes Lao Man to Death in Pattaya
PATTAYA, June 10, 2026 — A 32-year-old Lao national was killed after being crushed by a falling lift inside an abandoned hotel in Pattaya on Tuesday, prompting a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Emergency responders, forensic officers and police were dispatched to a derelict four-star hotel on Soi Yume after receiving reports that a person had become trapped beneath a lift car.
The victim was identified as Kanthawisak Wongphuthon, 32, a Lao citizen. His body was discovered beneath a lift car at the bottom of a shaft inside a five-storey section of the hotel, which has remained abandoned since closing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to investigators, the victim suffered catastrophic injuries. His neck and lower body were crushed beneath the lift, while his head was found submerged in standing water inside the shaft.
Rescue workers spent more than two hours recovering the body after using heavy equipment to lift the elevator car, which authorities estimated weighed at least 500 kilograms.
A preliminary forensic examination found that the victim had sustained a broken neck and severe crush injuries.
Police said an anonymous caller alerted the Sawang Boriboon Foundation emergency centre to the incident. However, attempts to contact the caller again were unsuccessful, and no witnesses were present when rescue teams arrived at the scene.
Residents in the area told investigators that the deceased had reportedly been living inside the abandoned hotel with another man. The individual, described as having closely cropped hair, was not found at the scene and is currently being sought by police as a potential witness.
The hotel caretaker said the property has been vacant for several years and is frequently occupied by squatters and homeless individuals. He added that thefts have regularly occurred inside the building and that the lift system had never been dismantled following the hotel’s closure.
Investigators have not yet determined the exact cause of the accident. One theory suggests the victim may have entered the flooded lift pit and inadvertently triggered movement of the ageing elevator mechanism.
Police noted that the lift cables remained intact despite the equipment being in a severely deteriorated condition.
Officers from Pattaya City Police Station and forensic specialists from Chonburi Crime Scene Investigation Unit 2 are continuing to examine evidence as they work to establish the precise cause of the fatal incident.
