Thai officials are saying a young Seattle woman likely died of food poisoning, but her family doubts that conclusion after a pathologist they hired said her lungs were completely congested.

The woman, Jill St. Onge, a 27-year-old artist, died May 2. Her fiancée, Ryan Kells, also a Seattle artist, found St. Onge in their hotel room on the island of Phi Phi on May 2 struggling to breathe.

Britain's Princess Eugenie drank beer laced with ketchup for a bet. The 19-year-old royal downed the concoction after dancing on tables at the Lizard Lunge club near Surin Beach in Thailand, where she is currently on a gap year trip.

An onlooker told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "The princess was with a couple of girls and a guy. One of her friends squirted some ketchup into a glass of beer and challenged her to drink it. They all fell about laughing as Eugenie swigged it."

The automotive, housing and retail sectors in the U.S. are suffering record-high losses with plunging sales and income figures. In contrast, gold is selling briskly, with sales 10 times the amount sold 12 months ago, according to Arthur Blumenthal of Stack's, a Manhattan bullion and coin dealer.

In October, right after the global economic crisis broke, gold was selling at $713 an ounce. Since then, the price of gold has climbed to $977.70 per ounce.

While the situation in Bangkok appears to be returning to normal with the full restoration of flights at the Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday, fear of instability still grips the capital city over the medical condition of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The fear was fueled by the failure of the 81-year old monarch to deliver his traditional birthday eve public address on Thursday due to a throat infection. Some political observers, though, opined the king deliberately kept silent to help calm down the heated political situation in Thailand following the eight-day takeover of the international gateway and the removal from office of Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

Because of a throat infection Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej failed to make his traditional birthday eve address on Thursday. It will be his 81st natal day on Friday.

Instead Crown Prince Varjiralongkorn announced over Thai radio his father's medical condition. The king is on medication and physicians placed him on a saline drip.