Mother of British woman found dead in Bangkok hotel after 'unwitting hit of drugs' alleges Thai police ‘cover-up’
27 May 2025, 18:52
The mother of a British woman who died in a Bangkok hotel alongside her partner after unwittingly taking a fatal mixture of drugs has accused police in Thailand of a “cover-up”.
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Rebecca Turner, 36, from Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex, and her boyfriend Sam Melnick were found dead on the floor of her room by hotel staff on March 15 2024.
On Tuesday, at East Sussex Coroner’s Court in Lewes, an inquest found Ms Turner died as a result of “drug toxicity”.
Her parents said their daughter believed she was taking cocaine the night before she died, when in fact the mixture contained morphine, codeine and several other substances, the inquest heard.
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Assistant coroner Laura Bradford said: “I am able to return the conclusion of drug-related death, the medical cause of death is drug toxicity.
“On the morning of March 15 2024 Rebecca Anita Turner’s friend contacted her hotel as it had not been possible to contact her.
“Staff at the hotel went to Ms Turner’s room.“They found Ms Turner lying unresponsive on the floor. A second individual was also found deceased lying on the bed.
“I have no evidence to suggest she was intending to die on March 15, and in addition I have evidence from Rebecca’s family that her mental health was stable and her mood was in fact good.”
Since her daughter’s death, Anita Turner has travelled to Thailand three times, and has plans to fly out again in June.Outside court, Mrs Turner warned other travellers against taking drugs abroad, and criticised Thailand’s police force.
She said: “They promised me details in six months’ time and that was about eight months ago. I’m still waiting.
“All the police try to do is just cover it up and they got mad at me one day because I told them that and they told me I was lying.“There is a text message (from Rebecca) talking about a little bit of cocaine. She thought it was cocaine”.In her trips to Thailand, Mrs Turner has continued charity work her daughter had begun with a school in Bangkok in her memory.
“I raised a lot of money, done what my daughter would like to have done, go out there and help the school because she helped the school while she was out there,” she said.
She described Ms Turner as: “Fun, bubbly, always partying, always laughing, always smiling.”
