Tourists Killed Near Death Bridge

[stumonster]

Tourists killed near death bridge

Two Britons were shot dead today

BANGKOK: -- Two Britons were shot dead today by unknown gunmen near the famous Bridge over the River Kwai in western Thailand, police said.

A 24-year-old woman and her travelling partner, a man aged 25, were shot and fatally wounded after returning from drinks in the normally peaceful tourist town of Kanchanaburi. They were pronounced dead in hospital, police said.

Officers said they heard shots at 3:50am (0550 AEST) and rushed to the scene where they found the two tourists, whom they named as Adam Lloyd, from Northampton, and Vanessa Arscott, of Torquay.

Officers said they did not believe robbery was the motive as the pair had all their belongings with them.

"We suspect that they were shot after a quarrel and as of now we have no idea whether the gunmen were Thais or foreigners," Major Chavalit Piakeaw, who was heading the investigation, said.

A French tourist was shot last year in the town by a robber on a motorbike as he walked to his guest house with friends.

The killings came after Thailand embarked on a major promotion of its tourist industry and is seeking to double the number of arrivals to 20 million by 2008.

Kanchanaburi has been a growing destination for foreign tourists lured by the fame of the notorious bridge near the border with Burma, war cemeteries in the town and beautiful waterfalls.

An estimated 16,000 Allied prisoners of war died during the construction of the railway during World War II. It was designed as a crucial link between Japan's new territories of Singapore and Burma

--news.com.au 2004-09-09

Edited September 9, 2004 by george

[lopburi3]

TV info is that the killer was a Tourist Police officer and he has given himself up. No word on motive has yet been provided.

[IamMaiC]

TV info is that the killer was a Tourist Police officer and he has given himself up.

aren't you supposed to go to the tourist police if you have problems??

[Heng]

Yeah I've been to court here where if the murderer turns him/herself in, the sentence is halved. If he confesses (including the reenactment that they like to show on tv or on the newspapers), that's another half. 50 to 25 to 12 years. Just like that, and 'special' treatment for police or army officers who might be in danger in prison, that's always a wildcard as well.

[meadish_sweetball]

Tragic, all my condoleances to their friends and families. I wonder what the dispute was about.

[Noodles]

Yeah I've been to court here where if the murderer turns him/herself in, the sentence is halved. If he confesses (including the reenactment that they like to show on tv or on the newspapers), that's another half. 50 to 25 to 12 years. Just like that, and 'special' treatment for police or army officers who might be in danger in prison, that's always a wildcard as well.

That can't be true.....can it???

[bangkok country gal]

Mmmmm a little disturbing...i was only there myself on the weekend, on that very bridge sipping a beer and thinking what a peaceful place Kanchanaburi is.

[slim]

The killings came after Thailand embarked on a major promotion of its tourist industry and is seeking to double the number of arrivals to 20 million by 2008

Whats the advertising campaign say - "come to Thailand where our tourist police will take care of you?"

I know there's no proven link between watching violence and enacting it, but some of the "soap operas" in this country (shown each and every days for seemingly hours) have gratuitously violent scenes that wouldn't get an 18 certificate in a cinema and yet are shown at all hours of day and watched by children as if they are watching Playschool.

Its difficult to believe that this constant diet of death and gore (mainly at the end of a gun), peddled endlessly by the TV companies, isn't having some effect on Thai society when you look at the crime statistics.

I suggest that Lt. Col. Thaksin Shinawatra Prime Minister has got his priorities wrong.

My condolences to the families of the victims.

[john b good]

Tragic, all my condoleances to their friends and families. I wonder what the dispute was about.

Yes it is a very sad event.

My condolences to the couples family and friends.

--snip--

Edited September 9, 2004 by george

[whiteshadow]

It is insane that such things still happends in Thailand, Thailand is a very dangerous place

[siam]

Yeah I've been to court here where if the murderer turns him/herself in, the sentence is halved.  If he confesses (including the reenactment that they like to show on tv or on the newspapers), that's another half.  50 to 25 to 12 years.  Just like that, and 'special' treatment for police or army officers who might be in danger in prison, that's always a wildcard as well. 

That can't be true.....can it???

Also if the person that commited the crime has a good enough reason then it is reduced again Obviously this is for Thais

[Foggy Bottom]

Wonder if this was the same tourist cop who was often suspected of raping and strangling Brit backpacker Kirsty Jones in Chiangmai a few years back?

Strange how that one was transferred almost immediately and never heard from or interviewed again?

[george]

Update:

Backpackers executed

KANCHANABURI: -- Two British backpackers were shot dead in cold blood today near the bridge over the River Kwai.

A 24-year-old woman and her travelling partner, a man aged 25, were gunned down after returning from drinks in the tourist town of Kanchanaburi, western Thailand, police said.

The pair, who have been named by Thai police as Adam Lloyd, from Northampton, and Vanessa Arscott, from Torquay, were pronounced dead in hospital.

The shooting followed an argument with a Thai man in a local restaurant, police said.

Kanchanaburi police superintendent Colonel Wate Somboun said they were shot after the Thai man followed them in a car as they left the restaurant to return to their hotel.

The man opened fire on Mr Lloyd and then drove after Ms Arscott as she attempted to run away. After running her down, the gunman got out of the car and shot her dead.

Officers said they heard shots at 3.50am and rushed to the scene where they found the two tourists. They do not believe robbery was the motive as the pair had all their belongings with them. A Devon and Cornwall pol ice liaison off icer broke the news to Ms Arscott's family early today. Pc Andy Osborne said: "To say they are upset would be an understatement. They are incredibly distressed."

Ms Arscott's grandmother Eileen Arscott broke down in tears as she told the Evening Standard: "Vanessa was meant to be coming home this weekend. She and Adam had gone to Thailand on 3 July. I just can't believe it.

"She was practically living with me ... that's how close we are. I just don't know what to say or what to do. Her father Graham is currently in Wales although I think he may be coming back today."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed two Britons had been killed. She said: "Consular staff have been to the scene and are in touch with the local authorities." The killings came as Thailand embarked on a major promotion of its tourist industry, seeking to double the number of visitors to 20 million by 2008.

Kanchanaburi is normally a peaceful town, although a French tourist was shot there last year by a robber on a motorcycle as he walked to his guest house with friends.

It is a popular destination for foreign tourists lured by the fame of the notorious bridge near the border with Burma, its war cemeteries and exceptionally beautiful waterfalls.

Many thousands of Allied prisoners of war died during the construction of the Thai-Burma railroad during the Second World War. It was designed as a crucial link between Japan's territories of Singapore and Burma.

The bridge was built by 61,000 British PoWs and 250,000 Asian labourers when the Japanese decided to shorten the supply lines between Japan and Burma in anticipation of an eventual attack on British India. Workers on the bridge toiled in appalling conditions and about 100,000 Asian workers and 16,000 Britons lost their lives. Although the original bridge no longer exists, there is a cemetery with graves marking the resting places of 6,982 Allied soldiers.

The barbaric treatment meted out to the PoWs by their Japanese captors was immortalised in the film The Bridge On The River Kwai, starring Alec Guinness.

Thailand is one of the most popular destinations in the Far East for British tourists. Last year 700,000 Britons visited the country, many of them students and backpackers drawn by its reputation for "paradise" islands and beaches as well as a rich and diverse culture.

Less attractively, it also draws large numbers of sex tourists, mainly to the capital Bangkok. However, the country's image has been badly damaged in recent years by rising crime.

Current Foreign Office advice is that all but essential travel to the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla should be avoided because of the threat from militant groups.

--Evening Standard UK, 2004-09-09

Rising death toll of Britons abroad

The tragedy in Thailand is the latest in a series of recent disasters to involve young British tourists:

- In August 2000 backpacker Kirsty Jones, 23, from Brecon, Wales, was found murdered in a guesthouse in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

- Two Welsh friends, Natalie Morris and Sarah Williams, were among 15 people killed when a fire ripped through a backpackers' hostel in Childers, Australia, in 2000.

- Peter Falconio died in mysterious circumstances after he and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were allegedly tricked into stopping their camper van on a remote Australian highway three years ago.

- In August this year Sean Kennedy, 22, a former Liverpool student was found dead in the waters of Sydney harbour.

- In 2002 Caroline Stuttle, 19, from York was found dead under a bridge in Bundaberg, Queensland. Police believe she fell or was thrown after a struggle with a robber.

- In the same year, 26 Britons were among more than 200 people who died in the terrorist attack on two nightclubs on the tourist island of Bali.

--ThisIsLondon 2004-09-09

[tao]

Very sad and scarry! Blessings on them and to ther family.

Never think you are safe. Safty is a realative thing not an absolut!

Be awhare of what is happening around you. Watch out.

[Chainat1]

Very Sad, my condolences to the couples family.

[george]

Tourists killed in Thailand

Killer believed to be a Thai policeman

Bangkok: -- A Thai man, believed to be an off-duty cop, shot dead two British backpackers in Kanchanaburi town, the famed site of the Death Railway, after a heated argument in a restaurant, police said on Thursday.

The couple, identified as Adam Geoffrey Lloyd, 25, from North Hampton, and Vanessa Claire Arscott, 24, for Torquay, were gunned down in the streets of Kanchanaburi early on Thursday morning.

The killings by a Thai man followed an altercation on one of the town's floating riverside restaurants, said Kanchanaburi police superintendent Colonel Wate Somboun.

Popular with tourists

The two were killed after leaving the restaurant by a man who followed them in his car. The assailant, believed to be a Kanchanburi policeman, forced the couple to stop and continued to argue with them, prompting Lloyd to punch him in the face.

The man then opened fire on Lloyd with a pistol and then chased Arscott who attempted to flee the scene. After running her down the gunman got out of the car and shot her dead.

Lloyd died of his wounds at Phaholpayusaena Hospital in Kanchanaburi, 120km west of Bangkok.

"We are looking for the gunman and expect to catch him quickly," Wate told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, in a telephone interview.

Kanchanaburi police have identified Senior Sergeant Somchai Wisetchim as the chief suspect. "We believe it was Somchai because the car belonged to him," said Wate, who added that police were looking for eyewitnesses.

Somchai, after parking his car at home, disappeared.

Kanchanaburi, which borders Myanmar (Burma), is a popular tourist destination, especially for British, Australian, Dutch and American visitors who go there to see the Death Railway, built by the Japanese army using prisoners of war as labourers during World War II.

The saga of the Death Railway, which cost thousands of lives, was turned into the popular Hollywood film The Bridge Over the River Kwai.

- dpa 2004-09-09

[astral]

It is insane that such things still happends in Thailand, Thailand is a very dangerous place

I think that is an unfounded exaggeration.

Thailand is still a safe place to live.

[Zoltan]

Would like to know what they said that was bad enough to be shot for. I feel for the family. I hope this kind of thing does not escalate.. so much violence in the world today. In the words of Rodney King... cant we all just get along!

[bkk barney]

It is insane that such things still happends in Thailand, Thailand is a very dangerous place 

I think that is an unfounded exaggeration.

Thailand is still a safe place to live.

tell that to the parents of the 2 murdered ppl.

thailand is actually more dangerous to live than the uk just on gun deaths, as for road deaths thailand has about the same amount of road deaths during sawngkran as the uk has over a complete year, so it would therefor follow that thailand is a foking dangerous country to live in..

trouble is the worse bit is the murderer was a police man and will probably get off with it if he has any clout.pretty much the same as that politicians son who killed the cop a couple of years ago got off with it, yep thailand has its good points but there sure are a load of bad points..

[solero]

I wouldn't class Thailand as a dangerous place, but 14,000 killed in traffic accidents last year speaks for itself.

I'd really like to know what the argument in the restrauant was about, and which restrauant it was.

[dksharron]

A year or more ago, maybe two or more , a British man was killed by his girlfriend's other boyfriend - who was unknown to him. The criminal received 2 or 2 1/2 years in jail for the crime. One hundred years ago or more Brits were governed in this country by the laws of Britain. They were protected by them as well.

How much time would I get in prison in the USA for the homicide of two people: Thai, Hispanic, Black, White or other? I would get 20 years to life in most states, and death in the remaining 10 or more. How much time is usually given to criminals in Thailand for murder?

Does anyone have any ideas if it would do any good to innundate the British, Australian, Kiwi and US embassies with emails or letters or.... requesting that they monitor the prosecution of this crime to "make sure" that their citizens receive justice ... or is it all wishful thinking and the Embassies really would noto give a "hoot."

Any ideas would be welcome. In a short time, the parents of these two people will be well known, and maybe there will be a way that they themselves can push their embassy to at least monitor the trial.

Do Tourist policemen actually go to prison in this country, or is it a separate tourist policemen's prison? Has anyone seen the grand policemen's countryclub on the road from Bkk to Pattaya. It appears rather exclusive from the outside.

[ayakiawe]

you cant trust a cockroach even if he is a police officer

[siam]

I cannot believe people are saying Los is not dangerous,Everywhere is dangerous,

For one instance when we were living in BKK with my Fiances Brother He always kept a gun near his side and it was always loaded,and he lived in a good sburb of BKK,

As for the shootings,It leaves a sickly feeling inside of me when i read of things like this,As i truely respect Los,and its ways,But hate it getting slated,

But Thumping a Thai Policeman let alone any Thai would be seen as serious enough to react in this way,I read once that a Policeman shot a Farang in the leg one at SONGKHRAN,because he fired at the cop with a water pistol,Gun culture is severe in Los,Otherwise it wouldn't be outlawed.

[Kan Win]

Sad days for us in Kan.

R.I.P.

[bkk barney]

But Thumping a Thai Policeman let alone any Thai would be seen as serious enough to react in this way,I read once that a Policeman shot a Farang in the leg one at SONGKHRAN,because he fired at the cop with a water pistol,Gun culture is severe in Los,Otherwise it wouldn't be outlawed.

i hope i have taken ur post out of context, otherwise u r advocating that the policeman was right in chasing down the farang couple and killing the man then running the gal over b4 he shot her, are u saying he was right in murdering the gal cold bloddedly becos she was purely a witness to an unfortunate spectacle.

[siam]

But Thumping a Thai Policeman let alone any Thai would be seen as serious enough to react in this way,I read once that a Policeman shot a Farang in the leg one at SONGKHRAN,because he fired at the cop with a water pistol,Gun culture is severe in Los,Otherwise it wouldn't be outlawed.

i hope i have taken ur post out of context, otherwise u r advocating that the policeman was right in chasing down the farang couple and killing the man then running the gal over b4 he shot her, are u saying he was right in murdering the gal cold bloddedly becos she was purely a witness to an unfortunate spectacle.

Sorry i should of added in a sense of the Policeman losing face or some other person in their eyes,and with what goes on in Los,anything can happen,

But he shot the guy for thumping him then getting rid of the witness.

I

[simon43]

Perhaps one of the problems is that every Thai man, woman (and maybe child), seems to have access to a gun. They carry them in their cars and handbags. They seem to use them at the slightest provocation, (I had a Thai guy in a car aim a Magnum at me when he wanted me to move out the way on the road near Chonburi...)

In the UK, access to guns is strictly controlled, (I know because I have both shotgun and firearms licences for sporting use). If you have a handgun, then 999 times out of 1000 it is because you have obtained it illegally, and for criminal purposes.

I think Thailand would be a much safer place for everyone if the government seriously tried to restrict gun ownership.

[Baht Simpson]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3640188.stm

According to the BBC website there was an altercation when the UK guy took umbrage at the way some guys were looking at his girlfriend.

"Police Major Chavalit Piakaews said: "The male tourist was apparently upset by the way other people in the shop looked at his girlfriend and his jealousy got out of control."

Very sad case.

[siam]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3640188.stm

According to the BBC website there was an altercation when the UK guy took umbrage at the way some guys were looking at his girlfriend.

"Police Major Chavalit Piakaews said: "The male tourist was apparently upset by the way other people in the shop looked at his girlfriend and his jealousy got out of control."

Very sad case.

Yes i can imagine a Brit saying "What the ###### are you all looking at" Very sad case.

[britmaveric]

Shocking such a quiet place- wouldn't have expected such a thing at River Kwai. Guess tempers flared and the lad with the gun got the better of it.

Hard to believe that a fight occurred over how someone was looking at his girl. (look all you want- I could care less, guess the lad thought he was in uk still)

Very sad state of affairs when such a thing happens...better to ignore smth like than that then start something simply because you just never know what might happen.