alanrchase

"The military government vowed to restore Thailand's reputation as the "Land of Smiles", embarking on a clean-up of resorts after a series of complaints about scams, assaults and even police extortion, particularly in Phuket."

After all the murders recently I think "The Land Of Murders" would fit better, no need to try to cover it up and blame immigrant workers or foreign tourists.

All the murders? Has the rate increased since they took power?

Get the international discust for incident and agree. Has no one else been murdered since that terrible crime?

Looks like TAT says things are okay in the daytime......

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/09/19/state-media-still-unsure-if-women-should-be-blamed-violence

Not too sure why the TAT wishes to be involved. Unfortunately foreign tourists have been killed in most countries around the world.

Sad part of life.

Sure if someone wishes to google things another country may be worse. God forbid it turns out to be their home country.

The parties arnt the problem, its the murderers and scum that attend..... police these places with uniformed police properly would be a better solution, not leave it to the local mafia

If its a tourist location then there needs to be a visible police presence to protect tourists... duh

Without the party , you wouldn't attract murderers and scum !

These parties appeal because of the drink , drugs and risks of danger , skinny dipping and sex on the beach .

It is totally wrong that tourist should come to Thailand and break all the Thai rules/laws .

Thailand is not Las Palmas Majorca , where you can drink all night and anything goes .

Most Thai women don't wear bikinis , wear long black Lycra shorts and vest top to match .

Police at a Full Moon Party would kill it completely , nobody would come .

Hotels and resorts need to make guests understand the rules of good behaviour in Thailand .

Thailand is NOT an international playground where anything goes , you have to respect the customs of the country .

Thank you! Spot on!

Where it appears that hedonism goes on with the approval of the authorities.

This is a two way street. These parties encourage outrageous behaviour. There is no legal sanction. Might have been a whole lot better if these poor people had been rounded up for drunk and disorderly.

There is a complete lack of policing on these islands, so anything goes.

That is what the party goers seem to want.

I fully support ending these drunken drug-filled Full Moon parties.

I just wish they were not considering installing more beach lighting to do so.

Some people support Sharia law.... does that give them a right to tell everyone else what to do?

Used to live in a country with that law. Booze was 24/7.

Yea Full moon parties really need to be banned, its on the tick list for guys and girls in their twenties and a bit more.

They come a long way just to get pissed and act idiots , its got out of had and the drugs don't help either, if a girl loses her friends ,even a guy and goes it alone in the early hours they are at serious risk.

I know that on KPN, taxis drivers get away with most things.

The so called mafia are used to the good life on that island, so maybe too much money involved to ban, lets wait and see, test case pending.

He wants to clean Thailand up , but lets mad drug frenzied parties continue a bit hypocritical i'd say.

Its a foregone conclusion that if he bans the one on Ko Tao, cause of the murders, even worse catches no one, but lets the one on Kpn continue, he will, for the first time, left himself open for ridicule.

Another horrific incident is bound to happen again, its only a matter of time, then what will he blurt out, no more bikini's please !

Isn't it the responsibility of the officials to lay down the law? It's not up to the farang... they will simply do whatever they can get away with. Thai people complain about the sex on the beach and the pi$$ing and $hitting in the sea... surely it is up to them to say, "hey you can't do that, it's illegal and you will be fined, and spend the night in jail." That's pretty well how it works at home, (it's called "policing" and "law enforcement".) This responsibility lies squarely with the Thais to clean it up... it would make a safer place and improve tourism ten-fold.

But that is not what the party goers want. Whole point of the event is that it is not policed. No one attending wants the police.

Complaining after the fact is a lack of personal responsibility.

Know some fun places arround the world, bit dodgy. No one should be murdered anywhere.

Put yourself in a questionable situation things may happen.

Sorry friend, I think you have it all wrong. These are kids with very undeveloped moral compasses. It's like the cliche something in a candy store... whatever it is... can't remember.

Accept. Unfortunately life is a journey of discovery. Have a hard time justifying some things I did in my youth (nothing illegal). Live and learn.

Well, I have to admit that I have never been to a full-moon party but have had friends that have over the years. I will say that I have lived in several locations around the world with similar annual drunk and stoner fests. In every case, every one of them was eventually banned. Sometimes it took a couple of years, sometimes a couple of decades. Most started off as fun events, quite often even family events. But they always ended up being ruined by idiots who slowly took over with their booze and drugs. Even a police presence did not have a big effect, and these were in North America and Europe. Eventually, somebody always ended up being raped, beat up or killed. Fights always broke out in the end, probably fuelled by an overabundance of testosterone combined with a bunch of dead brains. I really would love to know what ever happened to people just going out for a good time without all the other garbage they seem to need to take with them these days. Combine tourists who think they they have the right to act any way they want with alcohol, drugs, sex and late nights and you are bound to have trouble.

As many have stated previously, if the police actually did any real policing, it would be a step in the right direction for all the problems that are currently plaguing Thailand. When the police force itself is one of the most corrupt institutions in the country, it's difficult to improve very much other than superficially. Until that changes, I cannot foresee any permanent improvements.

Used to live by Stonehenge, solstice party was fun. Hitch back from school and stop off there. UK police could not do too much about it.

Full of drugs, each to their own.

Party goers probably had no interest in history or solstice. Could get away with anything there.

Yea Full moon parties really need to be banned, its on the tick list for guys and girls in their twenties and a bit more.

They come a long way just to get pissed and act idiots , its got out of had and the drugs don't help either, if a girl loses her friends ,even a guy and goes it alone in the early hours they are at serious risk.

I know that on KPN, taxis drivers get away with most things.

The so called mafia are used to the good life on that island, so maybe too much money involved to ban, lets wait and see, test case pending.

He wants to clean Thailand up , but lets mad drug frenzied parties continue a bit hypocritical i'd say.

Its a foregone conclusion that if he bans the one on Ko Tao, cause of the murders, even worse catches no one, but lets the one on Kpn continue, he will, for the first time, left himself open for ridicule.

Another horrific incident is bound to happen again, its only a matter of time, then what will he blurt out, no more bikini's please !

Isn't it the responsibility of the officials to lay down the law? It's not up to the farang... they will simply do whatever they can get away with. Thai people complain about the sex on the beach and the pi$$ing and $hitting in the sea... surely it is up to them to say, "hey you can't do that, it's illegal and you will be fined, and spend the night in jail." That's pretty well how it works at home, (it's called "policing" and "law enforcement".) This responsibility lies squarely with the Thais to clean it up... it would make a safer place and improve tourism ten-fold.

But that is not what the party goers want. Whole point of the event is that it is not policed. No one attending wants the police.

Complaining after the fact is a lack of personal responsibility.

Know some fun places arround the world, bit dodgy. No one should be murdered anywhere.

Put yourself in a questionable situation things may happen.

Yea Full moon parties really need to be banned, its on the tick list for guys and girls in their twenties and a bit more.

They come a long way just to get pissed and act idiots , its got out of had and the drugs don't help either, if a girl loses her friends ,even a guy and goes it alone in the early hours they are at serious risk.

I know that on KPN, taxis drivers get away with most things.

The so called mafia are used to the good life on that island, so maybe too much money involved to ban, lets wait and see, test case pending.

He whats to clean Thailand up , but lets mad drug frenzied parties continue a bit hypocritical i'd say.

Yes. Have no problem if the party atmosphere is what they want. Sure most have been in similar situations in their lives, also sure most have witnessed awful things happen. Not Thailand problem. The party goers want it as it is, good for them, sure it is fun. Unfortunately certain combinations lead to people loosing all reason. Responsibility of the individual, blaming lack of policing is an excuse for their own actions.

Knee jerk, as usual.

Agree it is a bit knee jerk. However anywhere in the world where there is a simmilar event will eventually have the same outcome. Drink, drugs, sex? Carry on but a person should be aware of what could happen. Town I used to live in in UK had a couple of families that had a feud. The lads did not go out for a few drinks they went out for a fight. The "are you looking at me?" syndrome was alive and well there.

Do not seem to be any posts from people that have been to one of these parties. Would think they are happy at the time that there is no police presence. Bit late to start blaming the police when things go horribly wrong.

The parties arnt the problem, its the murderers and scum that attend..... police these places with uniformed police properly would be a better solution, not leave it to the local mafia

If its a tourist location then there needs to be a visible police presence to protect tourists... duh

So the police should keep an eye on what is basically illegal behaviour?

Arresting people would be out of order I suppose.

Pathetic to read ignorant farang equating crime in the West to crime in Thailand where the police open an investigation with the statement "No Thai could do this"...

Well done chaps.

And of course the Thai press sitting quietly in the corner as always.

English girl raped and murdered in 2008 by fishermen

I was on a ship anchored off Koh Samui in 2008, I think that was the year, when an English girl was raped and murdered by two fishermen, who had swum ashore from their boat, which was sheltering from bad weather, the same as our ship was. They raped her then killed her, swam back to their fishing boat and told all the other people on board. Fortunately the skipper radioed the authorities and the culprits were arrested. They were initially given the death sentence and presumably it was going to be carried out, even though they admitted doing it. It was reported at the time that they were to be made an example of by executing them to warn any other people of the consequences of carrrying out such barbaric crimes. I never knew until I researched after this latest double murder, that their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. Which as from my knowledge of prison in Thailand, through the media, you'd probably be better getting executed. So I was wondering if the police had thought about the possibility that maybe there were fishing vessels just off the island and that some of the crew could of come ashore and been responsible for this outrage? Just a thought!

Not a nice reminiscence. Execution talk a bit worrying.

Not excluding anyone. Point was no police force is perfect. They have a hard job to do. Rather them than me. Forum seems to have a lot of bigoted wannabe police.

You seem to be offended by anyone who wants the police to consider any person of any nationality calling them "bigoted wannabe police", yet happy to support a police force who ruled out someone based on a nationality.

There must be sense in there somewhere but I'm struggling to see it.

Post was directed at the must be an Asian culprit as a Westerner would never do that. Apologies for any misunderstanding.

Sadly perhaps in a months time something worse will occur elswhere and this will be forgotten. Life is that way for most. Daft thing to say but every country is same same but different.

from news reports in Australia coming via BBC the crime scene wasn't contained and was totally contaminated with tourists and media walking all over it along with the police. Apparently a crime scene has still not been established by the BIB. Evidence has been totally destroyed and it is something like a tourist attraction.

Foreign press from the supposed first world countries love to comment on the inefficiencies of supposed third world countries.

I love Thailand as a place, but do you believe this is just some huge conspiracy to get at the Thais and Thailand or do you genuinely accept that things could have been done very poorly?

If this case was in the UK and the investigation was going like this current one the authorities would be getting slaughtered by the media, so it's certainly not just and anti Thailand thing.

Have no more idea about this case than I would about a similar case in UK. I as most have no idea what is actually happening. If you want to use the UK police as an example I could mention the Yorkshire ripper. Pointless to do so really, hindsight is always 20 20.

from news reports in Australia coming via BBC the crime scene wasn't contained and was totally contaminated with tourists and media walking all over it along with the police. Apparently a crime scene has still not been established by the BIB. Evidence has been totally destroyed and it is something like a tourist attraction.

Foreign press from the supposed first world countries love to comment on the inefficiencies of supposed third world countries.

Jonathon Head just tweeted this >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Police on Koh Tao now reluctantly admit killer of 2 young Brits could be a Thai.

Well there we go.

Is that the same as a lot of posters have been suggesting but you've been totally against the idea?

Point is what? Open to all ideas. Jonothan Head knows more than anyone else? Personally waiting for all the speculation to die down and get some facts. I live there does not cut it for me. Jonothan has probably not left his free hotel in Bangkok.

Jonothan Head has been doing live reports on the BBC news back to the UK standing on Sairee beach as it's a BIG story over here, about 3rd today but been 2nd and 1st over last few days EVERY day... I wasn't saying he knew more than most but was saying he seems to be exasperated by the way the crime scene & investigation has been handled and is saying as much as he can about this in each report & via Twitter.

Fine. Why is he better than the Thai authorities? Western news is the best? So much unconfirmed talk on here. Sorry but think western arrogance is taking over an horrendous crime.

Jonathon Head just tweeted this >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Police on Koh Tao now reluctantly admit killer of 2 young Brits could be a Thai.

Well there we go.

Is that the same as a lot of posters have been suggesting but you've been totally against the idea?

Point is what? Open to all ideas. Jonothan Head knows more than anyone else? Personally waiting for all the speculation to die down and get some facts. I live there does not cut it for me. Jonothan has probably not left his free hotel in Bangkok.

I was once fortunate or unfortunate be near Kate Aidee, sorry for spelling. Bit of a fracas was going on at the time. Live news from where I was. Bit like a weather forcast that tells me it is cloudy when the skies are blue.

Jonathon Head just tweeted this >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Police on Koh Tao now reluctantly admit killer of 2 young Brits could be a Thai.

Well there we go.

Have to say before I unsubsribe from topic that the anti Thai rethoric is disappointing. Amazes me how people live here and derive enjoyment from taking the p##s out of the people they live with.

Think you've gone early with the rhetoric remark. Most folk who live here, (well me anyway), can think of dozens of wonderful reasons to live here... I can also think of a few things that really disturb me, (like road safety), but on balance it's pretty good. I think we can say that nowhere is perfect, and if its so bad then I don't have to stay... but it's not like that. I've been here over half my life, so I think I am entitled to look through the microscope.

Hi just replying to this as I used to be a resident of Koh Tao for many many years until last year.

Quite a lot of posters don't really seem to know much about the island other than it being a beauty spot and great for diving. At risk of sounding negative there is a lot more to the place than this and its very diff to Phangan and Samui - it also really does have a very sinister side (as most places in the world do if you scratch the surface - like I say I'm not slating the island here but just giving an insight).

Firstly - the police don't have a CLUE nor care on the island. unless the bigger police come (normally to nick folk and extort money from them when they have gambling debts) from Samui or the mainland the po po don't give 2 shits about what goes on. Immigration come from time to time but the island is so small that the word gets round to anyone who shouldn't be there. Its pretty lawless to be frank.

Almost all the workers are Burmese in all the businesses. I'd actually go as far as to say there are more Burmese here than Thai (maybe). The Thai's that do live here are mostly from Bangkok. The gangs run the island without a doubt. There are no cars on Tao except for taxi's - the taxi drivers are run by the gangs and they hold the place to ransom with what they charge and how they operate - there have also been lots of reports of taxi drivers "touching up" shall we say drunk female holiday makers. I have also witnessed taxi drivers beating the sh*t out of tourists on many many an occasion. They wouldn't even allow an ambulance service which the farangs tried to set up and said it would be shot at if they did (they see it as taking business away from the taxis). There are lots of clinics (gang owned) but no doctors and no hospital. If you had an serious accident or say a stroke here you'd die put it that way as you wouldn't make the next island fast enough on a boat. Most of the bars etc are gang owned - the ones that aren't are often burned down if they start making money or people get shot at.

The bar the 2 victims were at (AC) is EXTREMELY dodgy past about 1am. Some really dangerous folk frequent there. The island is such a wonderful place but yes (as I say like most places) it gets to a certain time of night and all the freaks come out - couple this with drugs, drink, weapons and a police force who just sit in their office playing cards and you better off staying indoors! Anyway like I say - just an insight.

I'm not going to start speculating about what happened as there is too much of that going on here on this thread. Will just wait to see how this pans out.

RIP to these poor people I have thought of nothing else for the past few days - its just so shocking.

Yep. I also used to live on the rock and we left as it was no place to be, especially as a young family once you had scratched the surface and witnessed first hand some of the things that go on first hand. RIP