AleG

2 hours ago, sumrit said:

I think the only way you're going to get an answer is to ask the family, the UK police ARE likely to have told them. And, with the attitude of the mother so far, I'm sure she would be only too happy to answer your question ............ unless of course the answer goes against her daughter's story and the answer you want to hear.

I think some inferences can be drawn from what's been said.
After the RTP press conference the mother immediately expressed disapproval of the the findings by the Thais; she, on the Samui Times, was quoted as saying she didn't believe the statements from the RTP that no DNA was found on the shirt, from memory her words were "at least they should have found the DNA from my daughter".

First off the RTP did not say they found no DNA during that press conference, they said they found the girls DNA plus another profile from a man, what they said was they found no DNA from semen. So the first inference is that she is being lied to by someone if she's been led to believe that no DNA was found at all.

The second inference is that they must have insisted the UK police analyze that shirt and the test results from the UK and they support the RTP conclusion that there was no DNA from semen on the shirt; because, assuming the mother is privy to those results she would have surely not limited her comments to "they should have at least found DNA from my daughter", she would be screaming bloody murder about the RTP no corroborating the findings from the UK about the supposed semen DNA.

On a separate note, it's worth pointing out that again no case was filed with the RTP about the alleged rape after the meeting with the Thai team in the UK. So after all the sound and fury about the RTP allegedly refusing to accept the case this is the conclusion.
This and the fact that the UK embassy wasn't contacted at the time of the alleged events only reinforces the notion that, contrary to what's been said, she did not try to file a rape case while in Thailand.

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

The very people who accused her of being a liar and/or thought it was perfectly okay to look for evidence of rape in a spot that was never stated by the accused. The same people who thought it perfectly acceptable to then threaten her with arrest and blacklisting just after that said 'wrong spot' was declared as a no-proof-of-rape-here zone. 

 

They are quite literally the people I asked. Next? 

 

It was the Samui Times that identified the spot of the alleged rape, that's all the police had to go with because the alleged rape was not reported in Thailand.
They go, check, find out the spot was underwater from the tides at that time and what is the reaction? "Stupid cops checked the wrong place!"

So who is at fault here? The police or the people who gave the wrong location to begin with?
There's three possibilities how that happened, 1) the girl told her mother where it happened, 2) the mother came up with the location by herself or 3) the Samui Times (which then became the source for other media covering the case) conjured up the spot themselves. (*)

And then they doubled down.

They, the mother, Samui Times and CSI_LA racked the RTP for checking the wrong place, now they said it happened in some other spot.
So which one is it, was it the first spot they said or the second? One or the other, either way they peddled misleading information, police was misled, and of course the problem is not the people pushing misleading information, it's the police acting on it.

And then it got worse.

After raking the RTP for going to the wrong place, after claiming it happened on that other spot (in front of a building under construction North of the bar the alleged victim and her friend left to walk on the beach), after that the RTP goes to the UK to directly ask the girl where did it happen. Her answer "I don't know"
So, when they first said "it happened there", and then "actually it happened in that other place", in the is "we don't know where it happened".

It's farcical, but you just see fault on what the police did not on the people changing the story on every occasion it came to verify it.

You can't have it both ways, if you are going to grill the police for following misleading information you can't just ignore where that information came from.

(*) Possibility 1, the girl named the spot, the problem then is that now she says she doesn't know where it happened, so unless she suddenly developed amnesia there's at least one lie within those two statements.

Possibility 2, the mother is the source of the supposed location, how would she know if not from her daughter? Someone else perhaps, why that someone else didn't provide testimony when the RTP went to the UK then?

Possibility 3, the Samui Times made it up, I think that's the most likely because it's patently obvious that they tried really hard to frame the alleged rape as connected to the 2014 murders. This possibility begs the question, why would the alleged victim, and her mother, still hang around these people if they have twisted the case to suit their own agenda? A few days ago I saw the mother still using the Samui Times as her means to make public statements.
Personally I would be livid if I had a daughter raped and saw people publishing misleading information that does nothing but derail any investigation into the case.

2 minutes ago, bannork said:

Get Martin's story, the bloke she was with that night, and we may get the truth of what happened.

 

 

He is being officiously ignored by people who really, really want the story to be about Koh Tao mafias, cover-ups and what-nots.
A few weeks ago it came out that he had been buying a pain killing opiate (Codeine if I remember right) throughout his travels in Thailand, for a foot infection according to an interview he gave to a Thai journalist. However the same pain medicine is frequently used mixed with alcohol as a recreational drug "Purple Drank"

"The physiological effects of purple drank on the user is to produce mild "euphoric side effects", which are accompanied by "motor-skill impairment, lethargy, drowsiness, and a dissociative feeling from all other parts of the body".

Everything that I've read so far about this situation suggests to me that the whole thing has at it's origin a night out with that guy and a story concocted to cover up the situation that got way out of hand once the tabloids (the Samui Times in particular) got involved.

4 hours ago, Anca said:

And the reason they spread fear and hysteria is? 

Among other things, money, it sells "news".
The moral panic surrounding Koh Tao is in large part the result of the people behind the Samui Times, one of which is very active in this thread, pushing an agenda.  They manufacture controversy and then profit from it.

14 hours ago, gregk0543 said:

I think the point of the report is because so many Brits go to thailand the British Insurance industry wants to get more insurance bought for that country.  So put this out and up goes sales on Insurance policies. Its a sales pitch document.

 

"The report highlighted the importance of having valid travel insurance, with 71 percent of claims being for medical expenses.

The report also found that 48 percent of 15-24 year olds don’t even bother taking out travel insurance, while 25 percent incorrectly thought the British government would cover medical bills abroad."

This Insurance report was a topic less than two months back. No doubt with the exact same types of responses..........

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1043823-new-report-ranks-thailand-as-the-world’s-riskiest-holiday-destination/

This is an advertisement for an insurance company, it was fake news back then and it's still fake news today.
Misleading people for profit and damaging third parties in the process, an insurance company is supposed to be trustworthy and this doesn't support that notion.

8 hours ago, ravip said:

WOW!

You are doing it yourself? Out of which material?

 

Ones and zeros. ?

1 hour ago, DanaDeLuxe said:

 

 

My guess would be that the tanks will be sold like devotionalia as having been used in THE rescue. Probably more than those used will get sold ... ?

To the leaving of the tanks inside: This is still an emergency OP. Peoples life should not be put to risk for mere material.

Elsewhere I suggested a statue of Saman Kunan should be made, and it should be cast in Aluminium from some of the air tanks used in the rescue.

1 minute ago, Kohsamida said:

True but my issue was not so much with the person who posted it to TVF as it is with the reporter from the newspaper who posted the story to begin with.  It was classic "fake news" designed merely to boost readership, and at the expense of someone who many rightfully believe to be a real hero in all of this.

Yes, I agree completely. But you would think that with the stink raised about Fake News in the past few years people would be less susceptible to it.

50 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

FAKE NEWS HEADLINE!  The author of that article should be ashamed of themself!  The police must investigate the case of course.  That does not warrant the headline "Coach to face charges".  In all likelihood, the only reason those kids are still alive right now is because that man was there for them.  Just unbelievable to me that anyone would write a headline like that or promote it!  Shameful IMO!

You know what's funny? This forum has this rule:
9) You will not post inflammatory messages on the forum, or attempt to disrupt discussions to upset its participants, or trolling. Trolling can be defined as the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet by posting controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

This "news" falls squarely within that definition of trolling. The false headline has one purpose, to create outrage, unfortunately too many swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

Here's a thought, let them be; all the public needs to know is if they are safe, then let them go on with their lives.

9 hours ago, rwdrwdrwd said:

Which might well be what the people who donated did.



900 baht, these are definitely equal to the quality that the kids need.

Could have ordered them on Lazada for 500 baht with guaranteed next day delivery https://www.lazada.co.th/products/cressi-piumetta-kid-diving-mask-sil-frame-i110847736-s112885820.html

You don't know what you are talking about, that is patently obvious, and you use that as the basis to disparage people who, unlike you, are putting their lives at risk to save lives.

If you would have read past the headline  (which obviously you didn't) before starting to insult people for their efforts to save those children you would have seen that the type of mask they were asking for is nothing like the one in that photo. Can you spot the difference? I know the "imbeciles" as you called them (AKA the SEALs who are risking their lives out there while you sit at home casting aspersions against them) can:

" Supanat added that the small-sized one cost about ฿25,000 to ฿30,000 each and that the Navy SEAL unit is putting out a call for donations of masks. "


That is a full face mask, not like the one in your photo, those full face masks they got are the ones they are training the kids to dive  with:
" The survivors were yesterday taught to wear full-face masks and practice breathing. "
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30349329

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

The timing of the vague story on Facebook/Twitter/Whatever, about the coach being called by parents after the kids entered, seems a little coincidental considering it emerged late in the piece after reports that the police are going to charge him.

A false story planted on social media goes a long way in this country.

 

If the coach rushed to the cave to save the kids, why did he stop to buy the rations he apparently shared?  Hero or villain, best to wait to see where the chips fall.

 

The wet season in CR starts in May - why wasn't the cave closed from that month?

" A false story planted on social media goes a long way in this country. "

The irony here is that it's not true that the police said they are going to charge him, that was fake news.

3 hours ago, Artisi said:

Your correct, but the post heading was officials asking for them to be donated - FF sake, what an absolute stupid, idiotic request, the masks are available - just go and buy them. 

 

And how long would that process take? They asked for help from the public and got them in a matter of hours.
Would you have preferred they go through government red tape while hoping conditions on the cave remained favourable?

Did you see the photos of the air tank depot they set up? Hundreds of new tanks, 10K a pop, you think money to buy diving gear is the objection or maybe, perhaps it's a matter of expediency?

And here I thought the big lesson learned so far during this ordeal had been the importance of asking for timely outside help to solve problems. ?

34 minutes ago, rwdrwdrwd said:

What's the address of the imbecile official that has instructed the rescue team to canvass the public for children's diving masks, rather than acting immediately to buy them and get them into the country - I'd like to send them a cracked, completely unreliable second hand snorkel for them to smoke their yaba through.

Apparently the ones they need cost 25k baht each - nightmare, if only there were a few Panerai somewhere to pawn.

Since you know better than the "imbeciles" one question, what do they do with the masks they already got, in your rush to bash them I guess you missed that part? That the call for donations has been answered and they already got them?
It seems they succeeded in acquiring the means for a possible evacuation of those children, while you achieved what by jumping in casting aspersions about a situation you don't understand?

18 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I know nothing about this subject. After telling my wife the price above, an hour later she informed me on Thai TV the price was just quoted as 20,000 Baht each.

 

That's because this types of masks, on that size is not something you can walk into a Supersports and buy for 500 Baht; in a very well stocked dive shop you would get lucky to find one.

2 hours ago, tukkytuktuk said:

15 masks donated already.

Let's go get em.

 

 

So, in the time it took to fill two pages of comments by pathological whiners that wouldn't want piddling things like understanding what is being asked for get on the way of their miserable opinions, they managed to get the special full face masks they asked for.
Splendid.

1 hour ago, thenoilif said:

I’ve been here through the 04 Tsunami and the flooding 6 or so years ago and there were more smiling faces than frowns. There is something to be said about Thai attitudes towards hardship.

Soon after I moved to Thailand I met a woman who survived the Tsunami the previous year, hearing her story and how she told it I was impressed by the resilience, resourcefulness and bravery in the face of tragedy that it portrayed. Over ten years later I've come to appreciate those as some of the best characteristics of Thai people, I was sure the kids would be found safe.

P.S.: send them a tablet with all the World Cup matches, I'm sure they'll love to catch up,

8 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

The verdant hills and valleys of Chiang Rai tend to attract a colorful fringe element of society but even by our eccentric standards, he was out there.  Conspiracy theories, rants and accusations were cornerstones of his online persona and he led a very unusual life.  As irritating and confrontational as he has alway been, I am surprised he got away with this and his other scams for so long.

 

I get that the snowflakes on here may want to give him the benefit of the doubt, simply due to the color of his skin, but people who have watched his tenure here in the Rai are relieved he has finally been dealt with by the locals.  He is not the first nor will he be the last, one would hope.  The bad apples give us all a bad rep.

I don't know what other scams you are alluding to, but if he is investigated this sex ring thing would be the least of his worries, or for that matter other people's worries, what with him being so adept at singing and all that...