A squalid scene was discovered by maid at the hotel. The sisters’ room was covered in vomit and the pair had skin lesions and had been bleeding from their gums, their fingernails and toenails were blue and had blood underneath them.
Police said initial investigations did not indicate any violence in their hotel room, and have ruled out foul play.
The sisters from Quebec, who were both at college, were found in the Phi Phi Residence on the island of Phi Phi, a popular destination for travellers and tourists.
“There were neither signs of fighting, nor robbery, but we found many kinds of over-the-counter-drugs, including ibuprofen, which can cause serious effects on the stomach,” police Lt Col Jongrak Pimthong said.
“They went out and came back to their room that same night, but stayed in their room all day on Wednesday,” Lt Siwa Saneha of the island’s police force, told the Phuket Gazette.
“A maid knocked on the door to clean the room on Thursday, but there was no response, so the maid thought the women needed more rest and left.”
The bodies will now undergo an autopsy to find out why they died.
“There was a lot of vomit in the room, and both bodies showed similar signs.
“They had skin lesions and it seemed that they had bled from the gums. Also, their fingernails and toenails were blue,’ Col Somboon told the Bangkok Post.
“We will have experts conduct tests on the vomit and urine samples taken from the scene to try to determine the cause of death.”
The case is similar to a 2009 incident when two female tourists also died after severe vomiting at a Phi Phi hotel.