Chiang Mai death hotel is coming down

by Ian Jarrett/ TravelMole

The Chiang Mai hotel at the centre of a mystery after four guests – three of them tourists – died at the northern Thailand property, is being demolished to make way for a new hotel.

The Downtown Inn made headlines amid claims that chemicals used there might have caused the deaths.

A British couple, a 23-year-old New Zealander, and a Thai tour guide all died within 16 days in adjoining rooms at the three-star Downtown Inn in February 2011.

Thai health authorities initially blamed “toxic seaweed” for one of the deaths, but it later emerged that hotel staff might have been over-zealous with the use of pesticides to remove bed bugs.

The Bangkok Post reported that an official report – released after a five-month probe into the incidents – concluded that three of the deaths were probably connected to the use of pesticides.

Chiang Mai authorities have subsequently introduced a series of public health safety measures which they hope will offer greater protection to tourists.