Koh Tao deaths and the mystery around them

[scubascuba3]

This seems like the best place to discuss the whole koh tao death thing without people reporting as off topic.

 

Sharlyn for example, the Japanese dive instructor. @Liverpool Louyou seem to know the details, pleas provide

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Koh Tao

 

 

 

[Spectator2020]

<removed>

 

Yoshie Sazawa aka Sharlyn was a Japanese national who was very proficient in English having undertaken some schooling in the USA and having worked as an expert translator.

 

Sharlyn had been in a de facto relationship with Michael Spjuth for many years and they lived together in both Bangkok and on Koh Tao where Michael founded BIG BLUE DIVING.

Sharlyn and Michael both worked as scuba ???? diving instructors at BIG BLUE DIVING.

 

In June 2004 Sharlyn and Michael were estranged and Sharlyn was living alone in a house on Koh Tao. 
 

The night before she vanished Sharlyn attended a party on Koh Tao where she was reportedly in good spirits.

 

Sharlyn vanished on 18 June 2004 and a number of searches were conducted commencing at her house which was found to be empty.

 

Sharlyn’s body was eventually discovered on 25 January 2004 outside in the jungle and it was in a very bad state with several people reporting that birds had pecked at it.  There were also reports of injuries to her body.

 

There was no reporting in the mainstream media at the time and this was a time before social media exploded onto the scene.

 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

26 minutes ago, Spectator2020 said:

<removed>

 

Yoshie Sazawa aka Sharlyn was a Japanese national who was very proficient in English having undertaken some schooling in the USA and having worked as an expert translator.

 

Sharlyn had been in a de facto relationship with Michael Spjuth for many years and they lived together in both Bangkok and on Koh Tao where Michael founded BIG BLUE DIVING.

Sharlyn and Michael both worked as scuba ???? diving instructors at BIG BLUE DIVING.

 

In June 2004 Sharlyn and Michael were estranged and Sharlyn was living alone in a house on Koh Tao. 
 

The night before she vanished Sharlyn attended a party on Koh Tao where she was reportedly in good spirits.

 

Sharlyn vanished on 18 June 2004 and a number of searches were conducted commencing at her house which was found to be empty.

 

Sharlyn’s body was eventually discovered on 25 January 2004 outside in the jungle and it was in a very bad state with several people reporting that birds had pecked at it.  There were also reports of injuries to her body.

 

There was no reporting in the mainstream media at the time and this was a time before social media exploded onto the scene.

 

 

 

Just amazing that from 1999 (when i was on koh tao) to 2004 it could come to this, will be interesting if people can post further information on the subject

[Saphan]

18 years ago. Best not to visit if this island is still bad.

[CharlieH]

Post edited to remove comment on Moderation and response quoting edited post.

[Spectator2020]

This is a relatively well known picture of Yoshie Sazawa aka Sharlyn. Sharlyn was the name she adopted when she went to high school in the USA. 

[Spectator2020]

This is a not quite so well known picture of Sharlyn riding her motorbike on Koh Tao. Sharlyn had a dog named Pringle. I’m not sure whether this is Pringle acting as navigator. Maybe someone knows whether or not this is Pringle. 

[Mac Mickmanus]

1 hour ago, Saphan said:

18 years ago. Best not to visit if this island is still bad.

There have been numerous other suspicious murders/deaths on the island and there's a suspected serial killer roaming around with police protection 

[Saphan]

Just now, Mac Mickmanus said:

There have been numerous other suspicious murders/deaths on the island and there's a suspected serial killer roaming around with police protection 

Yes I know. I know of other deaths elsewhere too. Not sure what people can do about it.

[Roger That]

1 hour ago, Spectator2020 said:

 

Sharlyn’s body was eventually discovered on 25 January 2004 outside in the jungle and it was in a very bad state with several people reporting that birds had pecked at it.  There were also reports of injuries to her body.

 

 

Typo or other mistake here and should be 25 January 2005?

[Spectator2020]

17 minutes ago, Roger That said:

Typo or other mistake here and should be 25 January 2005?

Yes. It is a typo. This site throws up constant advertisements as one tries to type which are incredibly distracting. Her body was found on 25 JUNE 2004 one week after she vanished.  Thank you for pointing this out. Unfortunately, it seems I am too late to edit the post. 

[Spectator2020]

Sharlyn had worked as a translator with an American professor of English literature by the name of Mary A Knighton. Professor Knighton expressed the opinion to me that Sharlyn seemed to her to be a very unlikely candidate to commit suicide. 

[Spectator2020]

 

Picture of Michael Spjuth above who was the founder of BIG BLUE DIVING. Michael and Yoshie Sazawa aka Sharlyn had been in a de facto relationship for many years but were estranged at the time of Sharlyn’s disappearance.

 

Their mutual friend, Andy Fritz stated at the time of Michael’s death that back in June 2004 Michael told him that searches were being conducted for Sharlyn and that her house had been checked.

 

In contrast, in November 2021 Royal Thai Police spokesmen, including a major general, claimed Sharlyn was found inside her house with a suicide note. These statements were made via press releases to multiple news outlets. 

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, Spectator2020 said:

Sharlyn had worked as a translator with an American professor of English literature by the name of Mary A Knighton. Professor Knighton expressed the opinion to me that Sharlyn seemed to her to be a very unlikely candidate to commit suicide. 

a pity we don't know any of the build up around the time of her disappearance 

[save the frogs]

watching this now. quite interesting.

only 3 police officers at any one time on the island.

during the death of the british couple, one of the family members who basically owns the island was standing at the crime scene with the police . 

 

[save the frogs]

oh man ... one guy said he was threatened in a bar.

the guys in the bar told him "you're gonna hang yourself tonight".

he went to hide in the jungle and escaped the next morning!

 

[jerrymahoney]

It seems some still haven't gotten the message KohTaopubcrawl.com 1FEB2023

 

[rankric]

A great podcast for the uk couple who were killed is casefile episode 220.

 

Its a long listen and has many rabbit holes. 

 

Gives a very detailed account and a lot of things appear strange.

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

15 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

This seems like the best place to discuss the whole koh tao death thing without people reporting as off topic.

 

Sharlyn for example, the Japanese dive instructor. @Liverpool Louyou seem to know the details, pleas provide

There was a comprehensive Bangkok Post report from 2021 on this case that I was able to find in ten seconds of searching, I'm surprised your IT abilities are not as good as mine.  And mine are shi_te.

[Spectator2020]

10 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

a pity we don't know any of the build up around the time of her disappearance 

I was not on the island in 2004 when Sharlyn died but in 2021 I received a number of tips from people who were on the island or who received information from friends & relatives on the island at the time.

 

It would be both irresponsible and unfair for me to publish everything I’ve been told because it is so difficult to obtain any really solid, cogent evidence of what transpired.

 

However, I have published some limited information on YouTube that was widely known on the island at the time.  Of course, it would be unknown to virtually everyone outside Koh Tao.

 

Sharlyn was very popular but she was also outspoken and in dispute with several parties.  Please keep in mind that Sharlyn spent some years as a student and working in the USA so she was not a typical Japanese woman who might seek to avoid most confrontations. 
 

Firstly, she was an environmentalist which made her unpopular with some people.

 

Secondly, Sharlyn was highly critical of a few people associated with BIG BLUE DIVING over the way female diving students from Japan were being treated.... 

 

[Spectator2020]

34 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

There was a comprehensive Bangkok Post report from 2021 on this case that I was able to find in ten seconds of searching, I'm surprised your IT abilities are not as good as mine.  And mine are shi_te.

The Bangkok Post article from November 2021 was hardly “comprehensive.”  The paper did little more than state what the Royal Thai Police spokesmen asserted in press releases sent out in response to material I published on Facebook and YouTube. No one from the Bangkok Post or the Chiang Rai Times or The Thaiger or Matichon or any other news service that covered the story contacted me for comment despite the fact that my contact details were all over my stories. 
 

The press releases were riddled with false and misleading statements. 
 

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

23 minutes ago, Spectator2020 said:

It would be both irresponsible and unfair for me to publish everything I’ve been told because it is so difficult to obtain any really solid, cogent evidence of what transpired.

The evidence from the police, the pathologist who performed the postmortem, the farewell note letter that she left for her family and the family's quoted acceptance of all that evidence was pretty solid and cogent.   A lot more solid and cogent than speculation and hearsay, but I'm open to swallowing my words if someone has anything that is backed up by more than a suggestion that is not much more than "I heard" or "we all know".

[CharlieH]

Please do not repost images youve already posted in the topic.

[Liverpool Lou]

28 minutes ago, Spectator2020 said:

The press releases were riddled with false and misleading statements. 

How do you know that?  Hearsay?  Speculation?  

[Spectator2020]

3 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The evidence from the police, the pathologist who performed the postmortem, the farewell note letter that she left for her family and the family's quoted acceptance of all that evidence was pretty solid and cogent.   A lot more solid and cogent than speculation and hearsay, but I'm open to swallowing my words if someone has anything that is backed up by more than a suggestion that is not much more than "I heard" or "we all know".

If you choose to believe the Royal Thai Police account that Sharlyn was found inside her house with a farewell letter then that is entirely up to you. If others take note of the multiple accounts that Sharlyn was missing for a week and eventually found outside in the jungle then that is up to them. It is not that difficult to find a screenshot of the statement from Andy Fritz (a mutual friend of both Sharlyn and Michael Spjuth) confirming that Michael and others were searching for Sharlyn and that her house had already been checked.

 

Lou, you can believe the Royal Thai Police and believe in the tooth ???? fairy too if you wish but other readers choose not to be so wilfully gullible. 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, Spectator2020 said:

If you choose to believe the Royal Thai Police account that Sharlyn was found inside her house with a farewell letter then that is entirely up to you. If others take note of the multiple accounts that Sharlyn was missing for a week and eventually found outside in the jungle then that is up to them. It is not that difficult to find a screenshot of the statement from Andy Fritz (a mutual friend of both Sharlyn and Michael Spjuth) confirming that Michael and others were searching for Sharlyn and that her house had already been checked.

 

Lou, you can believe the Royal Thai Police and believe in the tooth ???? fairy too if you wish but other readers choose not to be so wilfully gullible. 

Where did I post that I believed the police version and no other.  Be specific, now. 

 

I think you'll find that I referred to evidence of there not being just the conspiracy theorists' versions.

[Liverpool Lou]

3 minutes ago, Spectator2020 said:

If you choose to believe the Royal Thai Police account that Sharlyn was found inside her house with a farewell letter then that is entirely up to you.

Her family were happy with that conclusion, if you choose to believe otherwise, then that is entirely up to you.

[Spectator2020]

7 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

How do you know that?  Hearsay?  Speculation?  

All the statements in the article regarding my motivations were false.

 

Many of the statements about my Facebook page and YouTube channel were false. That is within my personal knowledge Lou. 
 

The statements about where Sharlyn was found contradict ALL other accounts. 

 

 

[Spectator2020]

20 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Her family were happy with that conclusion, if you choose to believe otherwise, then that is entirely up to you.

The Royal Thai Police and you might take the liberty of talking on behalf of Sharlyn’s family but in so doing your assertions have no credibility whatsoever but it demonstrates that you accept what the police say.