How Aussie mum spent a fortune transforming herself with cosmetic surgery – before she was tragically found dead at a luxury Thai resort
A woman who died at a lavish Thai resort after a drunken night with a German man spent thousands on her appearance and became a poster girl for a cosmetic tourism agency in Vietnam.
Darwin mum Karla Drescher’s New Year’s resolution for 2025 was to ‘set firm boundaries, only engage with people and situations that add value’ to her life, and for ‘unapologetic self-indulgence’, according to her social media.
The 47-year-old is believed to have splashed out thousands over the years on Botox, fillers, skin treatments, and other cosmetic enhancements.
In February, she paid about $10,000 to travel to Vietnam for ceramic crowns with cosmetic tourism agency, Glam Jet.
Her photos and videos were then used on the company’s website, where she told future customers that her teeth were her biggest insecurity.
Looking at her new crowns in the dentist’s chair, she said: ‘They’re so beautiful, they don’t look fake, they look so natural and the shape is perfect, the colour is perfect, I can’t believe that’s me.’
About nine months later, she went to Phuket for a solo trip and stayed at the luxury Sawasdee Village Resort where she enjoyed a $700-a-night room and $230 spa packages.
On October 26, she spent the evening partying with tourist Perry Shamiri, 49, at Black Cat’s Bar on Kata Beach, eventually taking him back to her room and ordering a bottle of Hendricks Gin, a source told the Daily Mail.
Karla Drescher is pictured before started changing her appearance with costmetic procedures
Karla Drescher is pictured showing off her new teeth in a promo photo on a Vietnamese dental clinic’s social media page
The pair wanted to go for a drunken swim at 4am, but staff advised against it and Ms Drescher fell asleep for the last time.
As she slept, Mr Shamiri grabbed a resort-branded notepad from her desk and wrote her a letter, saying: ‘Thank you for the most beautiful night of my life. I don’t know how to say thank you.
‘Now I’m watching you sleep peacefully in front of me. You are the most beautiful woman I ever met. I love you.’
Mr Shamiri was too drunk to recall what time he wrote the letter, according to the source, but police believe Ms Drescher died sometime between 6.30am and 8.30am that morning.
He was woken by cleaners before midday, realised Ms Drescher wasn’t breathing and called police, who found him kneeling at the bedside, holding her hands and crying.
The source said he smelled strongly of alcohol the following afternoon, while being interrogated by police.
Ms Drescher may have gone into cardiac arrest following an accidental overdose of anxiety medication and alcohol, but an autopsy will confirm her cause of death.
Lieutenant Phirawat Yodtor from local police said Ms Drescher was lying on her bed and there were no signs of a struggle or evidence of any injury.
Ms Drescher told her friends on New Years Day that she was embarking on a year of self-indugence
Ms Drescher is pictured on the Glam Jet website, a cosmetic tourism agency
Ms Drescher was staying at a $700-a-night hotel in Phuket (pictured)
Prescription medications including antidepressants were located in the room, along with three open cans of alcoholic drinks and two cocktail glasses.
Mr Shamiri provided a negative drug test and was questioned extensively by police, saying Ms Drescher had ‘consumed a large amount of alcohol’.
‘We had another drink in the room, had sex and went to sleep. Around noon I woke up when cleaning staff knocked on the door,’ he said.
‘When I went to wake her, she wasn’t breathing.’
He was cleared as a suspect and left Thailand in early November.
A view of Sawasdee Village Resort from the street
