alanrchase

They won't stitch up any one here. They will release BS media reports and subterfuge until they have a confession. My bet is they already know who did it and are working on getting evidence. Some times the Thai police can be inept and useless, but not in this case. They must and will get the right people. In my experience, I can see it being local bar staff or fisherman (commercial)... bagged to the eye-balls on meth. There is no mafia cover-up at work here, trust me. The Thais as much as anyone want to get the right person. The mafia don't control the islands...that is absurd. They control certain aspects of the island, like fruit selling on the beach, parties and taxis, but they are not in control, so put that myth to bed. Furthermore, the local Thais despise foreign Thais who do this sort of stuff in their back yards, they want justice to prove that they are not animals. The right people will be grabbed... I've got no doubt.

Not sure if you live here. If your post is a serious gut feeling why stay. Lived in three countries in my lifetime, half of that spent in a country who's views I disagreed with. Money talks. Thailand to me is as safe as anywhere else in the world. Great place for a holiday. Terrible crime, unfortunately life includes that sort of thing. How can a crime be worse or better depending on the country it happens in? Sad sad sad about the Thai remarks on this thread. Seriously grow up and be less bigited.

Just checked the Dailymail app and Scotland is the big story. Scrolled through a bit but murder story seems to have dissapeared. Life is so fickle. Old news does not last long.

Just posted the front page a few posts back....check that!

Sorry, sad person that downloaded the app. Used to be the daily paper as a kid. App is more for entertainment than serious news. Full site may be better.

Don't hold your breath. It has really honed its market over the past couple of decades. It is SO disturbingly middle England it is unreal!

Liked post. Seems Dailymail is trying to outdo the Sun and the Star. Look at the app now and again and but zero credibility given. Where can a person get impartial news these days?

Just checked the Dailymail app and Scotland is the big story. Scrolled through a bit but murder story seems to have dissapeared. Life is so fickle. Old news does not last long.

Just posted the front page a few posts back....check that!

Sorry, sad person that downloaded the app. Used to be the daily paper as a kid. App is more for entertainment than serious news. Full site may be better.

Just checked the Dailymail app and Scotland is the big story. Scrolled through a bit but murder story seems to have dissapeared. Life is so fickle. Old news does not last long.

A post on here earlier (SirBser - a few pages back) claimed that a story was doing the rounds on the island, that Hannah had been getting unwanted attention from a Thai man, and David had to intervene and then got into an argument/heated conversation with him. This then led to the Thai man leaving and getting one of his friends, they then decided to wait for Hannah and David to leave so they could make there attack.

May I ask you , how do you know it was a Thai man and not a migrant worker from Burma or somewhere else? For a tourist its difficult to seprate Thais from other Asian nationalities.

This is just a story , who told it first ? Be careful to blaim any nationality in this tragic case.

What we need is evidence.

What we do know is that on the island a majority of the people working there are immigrants from neighboring countries .

Well I would assume that LOGIC may dictate the way we look at this.

Westerner frequented beach bar on a tourist island is not going to be offering its products at prices that would be attractive to an immigrant worker. They almost always drink among themselves with shop bought cheap alternatives.

However, you will almost always see the more well heeled Thai man at these sort of places because he feels he can afford it.

Personally I have never seen immigrant workers frequenting even Thai run bars if the price of a beer is more than 65 baht a large bottle. But having said that, I can normally tell a Thai from a Burmese or Cambodian man, especially when they open their mouth. It's a bit like when you have lived in any country for a certain amount of time, you pick out the dialect in their accent.

If people are saying that it was a Thai man in the bar in altercation with the victim/s you can pretty much put your monry on it being a Thai man, and probably with money. (the worst kind).

I just can't believe that the police actually ruled out a Thai national as the murderer based on the stupid attitude that 'Thais would never do such a thing'.... Thailand is one of the most violent places I have ever been to. Even the school kids kill each other.

I am really thinking twice on whether i want to bring my kids up here.

Logic? A Thai cannot afford the price of a beer? Awful assumption that to my mind is one of the worst things on TVR.

A post on here earlier (SirBser - a few pages back) claimed that a story was doing the rounds on the island, that Hannah had been getting unwanted attention from a Thai man, and David had to intervene and then got into an argument/heated conversation with him. This then led to the Thai man leaving and getting one of his friends, they then decided to wait for Hannah and David to leave so they could make there attack.

May I ask you , how do you know it was a Thai man and not a migrant worker from Burma or somewhere else? For a tourist its difficult to seprate Thais from other Asian nationalities.

This is just a story , who told it first ? Be careful to blaim any nationality in this tragic case.

What we need is evidence.

What we do know is that on the island a majority of the people working there are immigrants from neighboring countries .

So many righteous posts with so little facts.

This won't effect Thailand tourism at all.

Remember the two dead Canadian girls a couple years ago ? That was supposed to be the nail in the cofin for Thai tourism. People will continue to travel here in droves.

Thailand has the beaches, the romance of the 3rd world chaos. People want to come no matter what and they will continue to.

You clearly do not live in a tourist area, if you did you would see the marked decline in WESTERN tourists, while TAT are so busy kissing Chinese ass to plump up the numbers. Everyone with a braincell and their eyes open know that Thailand tourist revenue is suffering badly.

My brother and his wife owns a small hotel on Samui.... He says taking are half what they were 2 years ago and since the last 2 recent stabbings of westerners at the hands of locals, business is dropping month on month.

You talk as though Thailand is the only country in the world that has beaches etc..... there are hundreds of thousands of nice beaches and whores worldwide mate.... Many in places that do not have the same horrendous reputation that Thailand is currently building up at speed.

Nice opinion. Truth there too. Why you need to mention whores I have no idea. Detracted somewhat from your point.

the PM may have done more to hurt future tourism that any brutal murder, suggesting that females in bikinis have no right to feel safe in Thailand,

that comment is going to make headlines everywhere, and the expression on his face of the picture they are using, in his military uniform will do serious damage to thailands british female tourist trade,

there are no american females I am aware of that ever say that Thailand is a place they want to go

How do you explain the American females that are in Koh Tao? I think they might have a different opinion than yours.

I was on a course there 8 weeks ago, it was like the league of Nations with young women, from 18-30 partying most nights and then the nights of the Koh Tao famour pub crawl, even more, most so drunk they couldn't stand properly, with "buckets" for sale every 2-3 M's..

If that's not promoting poor behavior from tourists as some have intimated, then what causes them to behave in such a manner?

Oh and I've seen the same behaviour in Spain and other tourist destinations all over the world too, it's not unique to Thailand.

large groups of "American" girls, walking around blindly drunk from pub to pub?

prove it,

most probably, Aussies,

it is not an America destination

Well, i can say that the last time i was on Koh Samui there were two American girls staggering around in their bikinis at dawn with buckets of booze knocking on every bungalow door and eventually passing out on the beach.

Unfortunately not a nice picture. Daft as a brush when I was younger. Taken in the stride by most as long as you were not obnoxious. No matter what the couple did they did not deserve the outcome. Bad things happen everwhere. Very sad but not excusive to Thailand.

was it more then one attacker?

Cuz if one fight with dead guy woman would run away...

You just don't know women.

Nickymaster, I tried to post this with your post but got too many quotes stuff..

I wouldn't say that at all, from the time I've spent on TVF all I have garnered is that there's a deep divide between expats, and some expats think they're the bees knees too, I've also realised that there's a group on TVF that would moan if the moon wasn't bright enough, never mind being negative towards Thais.

I've also realised that quite a few posters also don't actually live in Thailand, and that living in Thailand neither makes you a subject matter expert either, I've learned that some posters look down on others simply because "You've not been here long enough" attitudes.

Tourists don't frequent here, so there's little input from them, TVF is a clique at times, I don't believe the majority dislike Thai's though, but there's certainly a good few who are racist in their comments, as well as being bigots.

The couple who were murdered were not under dressed for Thailand, they were dressed typically like "tourists" they sure were not naked when they were found either, and it was quite a few TVF members "assumptions" that they were engaged in a sexual encounter, this is getting more and more debunked as evidence starts to come to light, the facts are that the male victim FOUGHT possibly for his life, to no avail, the female was raped and murdered and her face smashed to pieces, no longer resembling the beautiful woman se was a few hours before.

It's human nature to "speculate" TVF has more detectives and CSI experts than the FBI has by all accounts, and people are quick to make assumptions too Nicky, again, it's not just a TVF trait, it's a human one.

Now, do tourists know better? That's quite difficult to say yes or no, the places I mentioned before such as Bangla Road, and Walking street are well known for the promoting of drink and sex, and drugs to an extent, but thousands of tourists, both young and old flock to these places night in night out, some to see, and some to do, some are shocked and more often than not, most are not, drink and sex, cheap sex is available to anyone who wants it, it's often right there in your face, that suits some peoples minds and in others it does not.

I took my son and his girlfriend to Pattaya after being in Korat for a few days,and we went clubbing on walking street, my son hated it, thought it was too seedy, but his girlfriend who had been to Thailand before enjoyed herself.. it's horses for courses Nicky.

Are Farangs more critical of Thais? well considering it's a majority Farang forum, it would stanmd to reason that the haters will hate, irrespective of what's going on.

Ta. Sensible post.

Every man? Obviously no woman could be so vicious?

Woman being vicious, possible, woman leaving semen, impossible.

Unless she brought it in a bottle to frame her ex-boyfriend? Maybe we should start looking for a gang of girls carrying hoes and small sample bottles...

Apparently the couple were naked. Semen could be the other victim.

Evidence of semen at a crime scene rules out a woman? Open mind please. You need to get out and about a bit more.

EVERY single male who was on the Island at the time should be considered a suspect, irrespective of their nationality, I care not a single jot as to whom the perpetrator(s) are, or what Nationality they hail from, it was a horrendous crime, on a beautiful Island, and it's not doing Thailands image any good right now.

The Police Chief should shut his mouth and stop making assumptions ( many here need to do the same) and start building up a case that can be brought to justice swiflty and efficiently.

If it was a Farang, arrest, and charge and imprison his arse, hell better still hang him, if it was a Thai National, same deal, if it was another Asian Nation, same same, arrest, charge, and imprison..

Find the killer(s) it's that simple..

Every man? Obviously no woman could be so vicious?

Last time I looked no woman ever ejaculated semen .. but the likeyhood of a woman who could overpower both is stretching it a bit, but yes, a woman could easily murder someone in a similar fashion, perhaps you might want to drop the Koh Tao Chief of Police a wee note to advise him too?

Do not need to. Sure he has a better insight to what happened than any poster on here.

I hope they interviewed ALL thai and burmese workers who do the fire show, considering all the fire dancers use the Garden hoe for moving the sand etc for the fire games.

Plus the fire dancers always get really drunk and hit on girls etc.

Got five hoes at the house. Common tool in Thailand. Agree to check but a bit of a shot in the dark.

Every man? Obviously no woman could be so vicious?

Woman being vicious, possible, woman leaving semen, impossible.

Semen points to culprit does it?

EVERY single male who was on the Island at the time should be considered a suspect, irrespective of their nationality, I care not a single jot as to whom the perpetrator(s) are, or what Nationality they hail from, it was a horrendous crime, on a beautiful Island, and it's not doing Thailands image any good right now.

The Police Chief should shut his mouth and stop making assumptions ( many here need to do the same) and start building up a case that can be brought to justice swiflty and efficiently.

If it was a Farang, arrest, and charge and imprison his arse, hell better still hang him, if it was a Thai National, same deal, if it was another Asian Nation, same same, arrest, charge, and imprison..

Find the killer(s) it's that simple..

Every man? Obviously no woman could be so vicious?

Tell you what, the arrogance of some posters here who think that they know it all just becasue they've lived in Thailand a long time is astonishing, you think that for one minute that people cannot suss out Thai's and Thainess, in a relatively short time?

You're right on, but should understand,

There are many old men living here who're living in an ivory tower, and can speak no Thai, and only have a former prostitute who left school at 13 to communicate with the rest of the country.

I don't think it matters how long they lived here. They will never understand anything about Thailand or it's people.

It's been my experience when talking to old timers (that I have had any respect for), that the longer they have lived in Thailand, the more disillusioned and cynical they have become. There are plenty of guys who come here and suss it right away, others who stay in a pipe dream but not too many who haven't worked out the Thais after a long stretch in LOS.

I am omitting those who cannot speak Thai fluently and who flaunt hired women.

Nice post. Don't quite get the point. Any man or woman that think they understand the opposite sex is delusional. Same for different cultures. "I know Thailand"? Something new will come along and bite me on the ass. Same same but different.

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Forensics experts in Bangkok said they found, and are now DNA-testing, blonde hairs in Witheridge's right hand. Police also found a pair of Mr Ware's blood-stained pants in Miller's luggage and an Apple iPhone with long blonde hairs snagged on it.

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This is alarming news -

The semen DNA should be clear enough to convict or dismiss him as a person of interest.

This smells like a fishy set up-

Long blond hairs on an I phone just doesn't ring true for me.

Nor after this time hair on his hand (even if he was guilty)

Who knows? Info at the moment is dodgy to say the least. Open mind, less racism would be better.

Better for who Twits who are pro junta ?

Whats race got to do with this?

Inferring or saying someone is racist is plain silly

Christ , this is a vicious Savage murder and the authorities on the highest level have discounted the possibility a thai was behind it.

And you have the audacity to request us to keep an open mind on it?

Sorry. What have the supposed Junta got to do with it?

Total BS speculation on here and in the press. On here people want the culprits to be Thai. Why? A crime has been committed against two human beings, no need for racist remarks.

Quote

Forensics experts in Bangkok said they found, and are now DNA-testing, blonde hairs in Witheridge's right hand. Police also found a pair of Mr Ware's blood-stained pants in Miller's luggage and an Apple iPhone with long blonde hairs snagged on it.

Un-Quote

This is alarming news -

The semen DNA should be clear enough to convict or dismiss him as a person of interest.

This smells like a fishy set up-

Long blond hairs on an I phone just doesn't ring true for me.

Nor after this time hair on his hand (even if he was guilty)

Who knows? Info at the moment is dodgy to say the least. Open mind, less racism would be better.

If it had been a Thai couple murdered seems to me that most posters here would have said " horrible but this is Thailand" The nationality of the victims should mean nothing, the nationality of the culprits should mean nothing. A terrible crime was committed, each persons life is as valuable as the next. Posters seem to think a Western life is worth more.

In a chatty mood now the bike is back. Not had a lot of them in my lifetime. Be interested which bikes other posters liked that they hav owned. I am 25 years between bikes now but love the 300. Obviously it is not the bees knees of bikes but fantastic value for money.

My personal favourite was the GS850. Gorgeous touring bike, questionable handling but comfortable and shaft drive. Chains can be a pain.

Feel it needs a good thrashing. Trip to Khanchanaburi tomorrow.

Got a phone call at 8 this morning, bike fixed, picked it up and all is well in life again.

Perhaps they've got the results but are still no closer to knowing who did this or at least the results didn't go to script. It's all looking very awkward for the BIB whichever way you slice it.

"Dr Pornchai said he expected results of DNA tests on the two victims would be known by Thursday afternoon."

One thing I never understand in these types of cases here, is that the crime scene is never sealed off for forensics, just a few hours after and there are all sorts of people all over the crime scene.

Been to some? Seen what happens? Or just a casual observation from pictures in the press?

Your having a laugh mate criticising this bloke cause he's BANG -ON and is part of the course for these Mickey Mouse investigations as we've seen over the years in murder/suicide scenes albeit in video format or pointy finger pictures ................

Not a laugh. Why pose a question on totally unfounded evidence? Similar to what he is accusing the authorities of.

What a twist. It will be interesting to see if they really have their killer or ae just tryin make a foreigner guilty to save their tourism. Good they were able to track down a single tourist and make an arrest however leaving the island (quickly) does not mean running from the scene of a crime

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

As a US native I can tell you that when the words Military Junta are mentioned, Farangs will almost unfailingly chose another destination. Nothing against the NCPO but those two words have received such a negative and dangerous connotation from their application(s) in the past in different countries and on different continents...

Likewise, the recent treatment of Farang English teachers making the visa runs they must because of dishonest schools not following through on what they claim they do, coupled with the recent announcement of free Visas for the Chinese has sent a clear message to Farang tourists. The use of the phrase National Security Risk in connection with those very same Farang teachers will also help any westerners who were undecided about Thailand chose another destination.

It was too much for me. Instead of teaching Thais English, I will be training sled dogs in Norway. I really do not like the cold. But warmth can, and will, be measured in more ways than just temperature. Just no way around that. Until some positive signals start appearing, all we have is negative ones to go on. And the funny thing is the positive signals evaporate very quickly compared to the decay rate of negative ones.

Sorry but as you say you are a US native I feel I should ignore all travel advice given by you. (Nice way of saying something)

Perhaps they've got the results but are still no closer to knowing who did this or at least the results didn't go to script. It's all looking very awkward for the BIB whichever way you slice it.

"Dr Pornchai said he expected results of DNA tests on the two victims would be known by Thursday afternoon."

One thing I never understand in these types of cases here, is that the crime scene is never sealed off for forensics, just a few hours after and there are all sorts of people all over the crime scene.

Been to some? Seen what happens? Or just a casual observation from pictures in the press?