One American and One Canadian died at the EDC Music Festival.
The two reportedly lost consciousness during the concert. They were rushed to hospital but sadly passed away.
The causes of their deaths are still under investigation but locals suspect drug overdoses.
Thai netizens alleged that drugs were easily accessible at the event, particularly among foreign attendees, and accused foreign visitors of smuggling drugs into the festival.
In response to rumors surrounding drug use and the deaths of foreign attendees, Phuket police intensified their security measures on the final day of the event.
Officers set up a checkpoint at the festival’s entrance, conducting thorough searches of all attendees. During the operation, police arrested a Japanese man found in possession of cocaine, a Burmese man carrying methamphetamine (Yaba), and a Malaysian man with ecstasy.
Yesterday, January 20, the Facebook page, Phuket Info Centre, reported about bribery committed by an event organizer but did not identify the person or event names. Netizens agreed that the mentioned event organizer was involved with the recent music festival.
The page accused an event organizer of paying Thai news outlets hundreds of thousands of baht to suppress negative coverage of the event.
Source: The Thaiger
This is often the case in Thailand.
Negative news stories that can adversely affect the flow of tourism to Thailand or damage Thailand’s reputation as a family friendly destination are often suppressed or disappear altogether.
Authorities do not want risk bad publicity slowing down tourism dollars in Thailand.
This is bad news for most tourists, as it makes Thailand appear to be a utopia void of any problems; which is a far from the truth as you can get.
Tourists are not aware that bad drugs, criminal elements and other crimes are running wild here.