DerekMarshall

You do not need martial arts, nor be strong, to hit somebody over the head with a Hoe, when they are not expecting it. That pretty much would disable anyone.

I have often received an unexpected blow...from the back, or when not looking. It is actually the guy who is willing to make the initial attack that will prevail. Westerners tend to be loud...and normally try to intimidate, before making the first strike. I also try to avoid a fight, fearing the consequences (I am quite uncontrollable when riled up). Perhaps the victim was not prepared, or slightly incapacitated. More than likely, he did not understand the imminent threat.

According to the RTP, the (original) victims were having sex on the beach when the accused approached them (there was no cover they could have used for a furtive approach). I find it quite likely that John or Hannah would have noticed. I also believe most people would (having noticed) have been somewhat interested in the Burmese guys further actions, especially when one picked up a hoe.

erm who is John?

To all the young viewers "tuning in" from international water (outside of Thailand)

Don't let any "cheap charlie" farang fool you to come here and live for 100 baht a day budget (about $ 3).

1. You can't get any visa for living in Thailand being under 50 and having that budget.

2. You can't afford to do any visa runs to other countries with that budget

3. You have to live like a bum or a very poor peasant

1) not correct 100%. If you have family/married and have 400k in the bank (regardless of your 100 baht a day food thing) you can get a year long visa extension for

1900 Baht.

2) see above, visa runs may not be required.

3) true!

Still on that budget not going to be able to afford to go to class and learn Thai properly. We could do with less "Kii Nok farangs" in Thailand.

What will happen if you get sick or have an accident ? So you need a hospital

govt hospital. good enough for me.

What taxes do you pay in Thailand that makes you feel like you're entitled to use such facilities?

westerners can use Government hospitals just they have to pay full price as they (we) don´t have the 30baht card.

Source? personal experience and a 3 night stay.

Well, to answer your question "why?" I'd like to do it because maybe I'm not as rich as many of you. You see, my income is small(hello ladies ). My last apartment(fan cooled) was 3000 baht per month. I eat Thai food(street food) 99% of the time in Thailand. The reason I wanted to live in Thailand and not America is because I could not afford to live in America any more. I'm looking at lowering my food expediture so I can live on $5000(160,000 baht) a year or less(new budget). I'll soon be moving into a sleek Thai apartment(fan cooled) with a total cost of 1,800 baht per month($55). I think I can live on my new food budget. It just takes willpower to resist all those expensive farang restaurants.

I see the TAT aiming for quality tourists has failed miserably already!

Mean while as he cracks open his 3rd Chang of they day he realises he has n´t eaten yet 50B over budget and has the munchies!

I am confident that there will be a quick and thorough investigation. I would imagine that Mr Hobbs is already co-operating with the police or has an arrest warrant issued in his name. I doubt we'll try to pretend it could have never have been a Brit!

Well it doesn't say much for Brits if they feel no remorse or a bit of shame when one of their own murders someone.

We do actually. Well I do anyway. A low murder rate is something for I feel quite proud about the UK. Not much violent crime in Blighty compared to other places, but when it happens it's taken very seriously.

I hope they catch those who killed this poor woman, whoever they may be.

EDIT: If she was in fact murdered.

obviously you don´t know Paisley! or near by Barrhead, area! Even the dogs don´t walk the streets alone. Lived there for 2 years..omg..Shootings gang on gang killings! And really just a small university town 100,000 residents or so, no bigger than Khon kaen city for example!

Mean while, in various parts of the globe a film staring Pierce Brosman and Owen Wilson shot partially in Chiang Mai called..The Coup is due to hit the big screens! Which is about an American family trapped in Thailand and trying to flee when a Military Coup occurs!

You just can´t make this Sh*t up!

We also have it in the West, but most of us kind of grow out of it or counter it with cunning and diplomacy when we realise that being wrong is not such a big deal and that life is more important. The Thais seem to have taken the concept to another level, even going as far as murder death in order to regain some.

And, on that note, it is poignant you bring up the Koh Tao incident, since it is likely the murderers were some little Thai perps that lost face. Like this: pretty Western girl gets hit upon by boozed-up Thai someone showing off in front of his pals thinking he's the man; perp gets brushed off by girl and girl's friend steps in when perp becomes agitated. Perp becomes enraged at the loss of face and murders them both. It happens time and again. Face seems especially pronounced in Thai males of all ages perhaps through 1) being doted on by their mothers and getting away with all sorts of things from a very young age and 2) letting off steam after all those years of restraint to keep emotions in check.

Ultimately, the maintaining of face to the enth degree is a sign of immaturity and seems particularly entrenched throughout Asia. I'll get flamed for this, but I find most Asian societies immature; perhaps it goes hand-in-hand with very bad, childish television?

Technically speaking saving face has no place in Thai society or culture as saving face is a strong attachment to self importance and ego, yet the religion of the country is Buddhism and the Buddha teacher to detach from ones ego.

Therefore saving has technically no place in Thai culture and is a contradiction to the highly revered religion of the country.

And the high quality tourists must eat rice and not bread as well as wearing bikinis only if they are ugly!

Coming from a tourist town in Spain, (actually largest resort in Spain) the same was said by the tourist boar in Spain "we want more quality tourists"

Result? less Brits of both young party crowd and families. More erm...Russians. Less drunkards in streets, bars and restaurants empty and often out of business. Streets quiet as Russians like the all inclusive hotels and hang around the street and/or beach all day. Less ambiance around the town in general.

in short not a good move for the town or country as tourism was not effected so much but money spent in the country in shops, and independent businesses dropped significantly increasing seasonal unemployment in a season of high employment!

(I am not commenting as biased. I am a British and Spanish citizen - I have never lived in the UK) just from what I seen. Sadly I seen similar with the Chinese tourists in Chiang Mai (not so much money to spend in local businesses) and the Russians in Sin city!

There are many quality places to stay in Thailand for the very wealthy high quality tourists all over Thailand. Bring in tourists that have money to spend and not the cheap charlie kii nok tourists! VOA? show 60k on arrival. (might deter visa runners!) 120k for tourist visa! Problem solved! tourist has money to spend! and not like those Backpackers that spend about $1,500 on a flight to Thailand then haggle for 5/10 baht discount on bicycle hire! (see it with my won eyes!)

"-Sure you need to carry your passport in a foreign country."

Photocopy including copy of page of your visa is usually suffice as is Thai id such as residence card or Thai Driving Licence!

"-Sure you should marry your Thai gf if you want parent rights, and have other economic relationships finalized (mainly to help her after your dying first)."

No, not true, Family court can be petitioned and you can gain legal parental rights by legitimising the birth of said child.

"-Sure, you should not conceive a child unless you are married to the Thai mother."

No, not true (see above). I know many Thai lady´s that have a child with a Thai partner outside of marriage, even in the smallest most remote villages in nowhereville!

Before you rant and rave about should´s and should not´s get your facts straight and your head out your bum!

What you should not do is tell others how to live their lives and what they should do or not do - who the funk are you to do that? Live and let live! T00sser!

Why are the RTP not searching for teh 3rd rapist/killer?

2 different seamen samples were found in the body

1 condom was found nearby,

By deduction 3 rapists, 1 used a condom and 2 did not! So why is the case closed while the other rapist/killer is still out there?

Even if we assume, rightly or wrongly the two Burmese kids are guilty, what about the 3rd rapist/killer?

I´d love to see a good old fashioned "mat lock" type lawyer get up there and cross examine the RTP and their handling of the case!

Beyond reasonable doubt, any decent lawyer would find it easy to fire holes in the prosecutions case, due to the police handling of it!

You bring up some sensible points here.

What my thinking leads me to believe is that the rapists/killers murdered him first whilst someone stopped her from running away -then they set about raping her in turn. The two Burmese men went first (they didn't use a condom as they testified to in their confessions). then the third rapist (probably a farang) used a condom to try and cover up his taking part in the horrific gang rape. Panicked about what they had just committed, they decided to kill her, he discarded the condom at the scene and they all fled in a hurry.

This would also explain why the Burmese men 'let the cat out of the bag' about them being the rapists in their surprise at their semen being on the outside of the condom. Think about it, this was transferred to the outside of the condom as their semen was already present inside the woman when the third unknown man raped her.

I therefore think that it is highly likely that they are covering up for whoever the third man is as it is inconceivable that they didn't find semen inside the condom as this is what a condom is designed to do (collect the ejaculated semen).

They need to disclose who exactly they are covering up for and they (the police) must be heavily punished for their actions in perverting the course of justice on such a highly serious case involving both murder and rape!

This culture of the police being paid off with bribes to cover up for other people's illegal acts and misdemeanours has got to stop and the police must be held accountable for it, when it goes on!

In no uncertain terms it must be pointed out to them that is unacceptable and punishments must be metered out to reflect the seriousness of their actions.

Why would a farang commit rape when it is not exactly difficult to pull (paid or otherwise) a local girl? sex is defo not hard to come by in Thailand for a westerner.

Why are the RTP not searching for teh 3rd rapist/killer?

2 different seamen samples were found in the body

1 condom was found nearby,

By deduction 3 rapists, 1 used a condom and 2 did not! So why is the case closed while the other rapist/killer is still out there?

Even if we assume, rightly or wrongly the two Burmese kids are guilty, what about the 3rd rapist/killer?

I´d love to see a good old fashioned "mat lock" type lawyer get up there and cross examine the RTP and their handling of the case!

Beyond reasonable doubt, any decent lawyer would find it easy to fire holes in the prosecutions case, due to the police handling of it!

I don't believe for a second that there are 3 more witnesses,

What I do believe is,

there should have been blood on that phone

there should have been blood in their shower stalls

there should have been blood on a hand rail on a staircase by their apt.

where did these alleged rape-killers clean up?

The beach where they (allegedly) dumped one of the bodies?

I have seen, and I presume, Burmese taking a full bath in the moat in Chiang Mai!

Sin sot is actually a chinese tradition and not a Thai one. So basically farangs are running around with Thai/Isaan women pretending to be Chinese men!

Also it is tradition for something to be given for the sin sot if not returned, i.e land held in escrow until first baby is born.

At the moment I am holding the upperhand, although I paid 100k to get engaged (silly me! - I know) for previously married woman with a bratty sprog.

Still 2 years later and a kid of our own, they want to save face (father is poo yai baan) unmarried daughter has two kids one with a farang she has not married

Marriage will happen, when they drop the sin sot talk! or I walk and leave them with zero face!

A petition to have the Koh Tao murders of David and Hannah independently investigated by the UK. 100,000 signatures is the target, some 37,000 short at the

time of posting this.

Sign up, and share on your social media.

Hi There,

Is there a bus from Khon Kaen to Phuket, if so how much and how long does it take and are the confortable? VIP? fully reclining seats?

from where in khon Kaen does it leave? New Terminal 3 station? and what times?

Thank you kindly in advance.

yep, you will be hit for duty. If you try selling what you have and buy new. It may work out cheaper or better as you will have to include freight, duty and delivery charges to your residence in Thailand, can all add up.

Having a friend that can print up a reciept for a reduced value of the good can reduce the duty bill as it is worked out on a CIF basis, Cost, Insurance and Freight.

Thai logic, and greed.

I do belive that once word is out the backpackers and budget travellers will avoid such places as they only stay for few day at a time in any particular place. 2 nights in Koh Samet @ 500B a night + 500B enterence fee 1500 B average cost per night 750B.

Giving free enterance or minimal charge of say 50B more than covers the upkeep of the park due to sheer numbers and..tourists have 450B more to spend in the local economy thus benefiting Thai people and erm not corrupt government agencies....

Just my 2 cents!

Do what I do and refuse to pay it. Speak a little Thai point to the sign and tell him the price for Thais then give that amount. Works best when you have a Thai with you! End of the day the money is only trousered, After paying 80Bahts for 2 (should have been 240 if I paid the 200Bahts) what did we get? 1 ticket, so 4 bahts was erm trousered!

Still hats off the boys at Doi Inthanon, who let me in for free and free mini van up the last bit of hill since I turned up with crutches (genuinely needed). Reward, nice tip one good turn deserves another.

you can make bread from rice

So no need to import wheat

go go Thai bread

Yes but given ovens are few and far between in a standard thai house hold or village...

If he is worried about saving their culture, he should urge them to do away with smart phones (all phones) and ride elephants and buffaloes around.

Oh, oh... and go waaaay back to their true culture and make all the women topless again. THAT is part of their true culture. Yes, naked boobs are part of Thai culture. And that is something I would stand behind and fully support.

Yet when ever a farang girl goes topless there is whole craze of "not polite, not our culture..give respect" like the 3 Thai girls songkran few years back dancing topless

(ok wrong because they were so young) at songkran 2011. The rang of thai media and..culture minister was nothing about the ages of the girls (13,14 and 16) but about being topless. Holy Sh*t the songkrang godess is depicted as erm..topless and nudity appears a lot in Thai art and sculptures!

I few years back I met a lovely old lady, must have been about 70! spent 35 years working as a chef in Canada saved up with her husband bought a small guest house with bar and restaurant below which she ran. her comments about Thai culture were very interesting, coming for a Thai lady. "there is a new Thai culture, not the culture when I was here when I was young. If you wanted something you worked hard for it. Now, everyone wants something for nothing! with their hands out looking for the rich man (did nt say farang or western, just rich) and dont want to work, the want something for nothing" she went on to explian that she did nt like the new Thai culture!