Thailand News

[sbk]

And then a brazilian model went missing yesterday as well.

Yes, it seems that crime in the area is indeed growing. Here's hoping she didn't meet a similar fate to Katherine...:

Police searching for missing Brazilian model

Surat Thani _ Police are searching for a Brazilian model who went missing last night on her way from Koh Phangan to Bangkok. The search was launched one day after the body of a British tourist was found floating off Koh Samui, also in Surat Thani.

Kanokwan Konsap, 35, has reported her friend, Talipa Rosini, 25, as missing. Ms Kanokwan said she, Miss Rosini and three other friends, Pranee Chantharat and Brazilians Richardo Ishihama and Sofiane Manovr, were driving to Bangkok after staying on Koh Phangan during the New Year holiday.

Miss Rosini, Mr Ishihama and Mr Manovr are models who arrived in Thailand on Dec 26. Ms Kanokwan said the group left Koh Phangan last night for Bangkok. When they reached Muang district, they stopped for a meal on Thalad Mai road. Miss Rosini walked to a nearby convenience store, but failed to return. A shop worker identified only as Bussanee said Miss Rosini met two young men who appeared drunk. The men, in jeans and t-shirts, were bare-foot and drove a pick-up truck.

The men chatted with Miss Rosini before they took her to their truck and drove off.

Surat Thani police chief Pol Maj-Gen Worawet Vinittanettayanont said police believed Miss Rosini was still alive, and were looking for her.

News out of Samui radio was that she has appeared in Samui with some farang guy. Apparently the Thai men she got into the car with were his friends come to pick her up. This, according to the radio anyway.

Also, my husband says the autopsy reported in the Thai newspapers say Katherine Horton was not raped.

[redrus]

Maybe this is totally unrelated, but I just drove past Chaweng Police Station and there was a huge queue of people, both farrangs and Thai waiting in line in front of a desk of policemen. I suppose it could be helmet fines, but it really didnt look that way. Far too organised and everyone there at once. Maybe these are people helping with the investigation? Dunno, but it wasnt usual.

From Sky this morn.

Agony Of Student's Family

Updated: 12:35, Thursday January 05, 2006

The father and brother of a British backpacker who was raped and murdered in Thailand have visited the scene of her death.

Katherine Horton's father, Ian, and her brother Christopher, went to the beach where the 21-year-old was attacked.

"The perpetrator is too cowardly to offer themselves to justice in Thailand but there is a person here that knows," Mr Horton said.

"A person that can assist the police. Someone that can maybe save another life.

He said his daughter felt "immune to the world's dangers".

Katherine was murdered as she spoke to her mother

Ms Horton, of Cardiff, was beaten unconscious by a blunt instrument on the holiday island of Koh Samui as she made a phonecall to her mother on New Year's Day.

Police in Thailand believe she was possibly raped before her unconscious body was dragged into the sea.

Four local men who were seen on motorbikes are being hunted by police, it has been reported.

DNA samples are being taken from men on the resort.

Police are awaiting final results of the autopsy to determine whether the Reading University student was sexually assaulted.

I heard on Sky news ealier that they are getting as many DNA samples from as many men, Thai and Farang, as they can.

Maybe from Guy's on Chaweng too Soph.?

redrus

[jrincon17]

BANGKOK (AFP) - A 21-year-old Welsh woman who was found dead on the Thai resort island of Samui was raped and beaten to death before her body was dumped in the sea, police said.

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"We have not yet identified a suspect because we are still compiling evidence and speaking with witnesses. Currently both tourist police and local police are working hard on this case," Central Investigation head Major Montri Chamroon told reporters on Wednesday.

He said police were still awaiting results from an autopsy on the body of Katherine Elizabeth Horton, whose corpse was found floating in Lamai bay off Samui.

But an official police report said that once the suspect is identified, "the charges we will file are raping a woman who is not his legal wife and assault resulting in death of the victim."

Police suspect that someone tried to rape her, but she resisted so he beat her to death before dumping her body into the sea.

Horton, from the Welsh capital Cardiff, had gone out for dinner on New Year's Day with her travelling companion Ruth Adams, near the bungalow where they were staying on Lamai beach, police said.

She left Adams after dinner and walked alone down the beach as she spoke on her mobile phone, near the New Hut Bungalow resort, where they were staying, police added.

Her body was found floating in the sea on Monday by a man who rents jet skis to tourists.

Horton had flown out to Thailand for a short break with Adams on December 27 after celebrating Christmas with her family, a family friend told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency on Tuesday.

The pair were due to fly home on January 10.

Her mother, Elizabeth Horton, said from her home in Cardiff: "I am obviously devastated. It is really too difficult to talk."

The family friend, who asked not to be named, said she believed Horton was a second-year psychology student at Reading University, west of London.

The friend added: "We have had no official information at all.... The family are trying to find out what exactly has happened, but there is no news at the moment. Everyone is in complete shock."

from yahoo

[jrincon17]

BANGKOK (AFP) - A 21-year-old Welsh woman who was found dead on the Thai resort island of Samui was raped and beaten to death before her body was dumped in the sea, police said.

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"We have not yet identified a suspect because we are still compiling evidence and speaking with witnesses. Currently both tourist police and local police are working hard on this case," Central Investigation head Major Montri Chamroon told reporters on Wednesday.

He said police were still awaiting results from an autopsy on the body of Katherine Elizabeth Horton, whose corpse was found floating in Lamai bay off Samui.

But an official police report said that once the suspect is identified, "the charges we will file are raping a woman who is not his legal wife and assault resulting in death of the victim."

Police suspect that someone tried to rape her, but she resisted so he beat her to death before dumping her body into the sea.

Horton, from the Welsh capital Cardiff, had gone out for dinner on New Year's Day with her travelling companion Ruth Adams, near the bungalow where they were staying on Lamai beach, police said.

She left Adams after dinner and walked alone down the beach as she spoke on her mobile phone, near the New Hut Bungalow resort, where they were staying, police added.

Her body was found floating in the sea on Monday by a man who rents jet skis to tourists.

Horton had flown out to Thailand for a short break with Adams on December 27 after celebrating Christmas with her family, a family friend told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency on Tuesday.

The pair were due to fly home on January 10.

Her mother, Elizabeth Horton, said from her home in Cardiff: "I am obviously devastated. It is really too difficult to talk."

The family friend, who asked not to be named, said she believed Horton was a second-year psychology student at Reading University, west of London.

The friend added: "We have had no official information at all.... The family are trying to find out what exactly has happened, but there is no news at the moment. Everyone is in complete shock."

from yahoo

HMMM charges filed raping who is not his legal wife . so its legal to rape your wife ? messed up !

[mittheimp]

Listening to BBC Radio 5 who interviewed a farang business woman who owns a restaurant on Lamai beach. Totally embarrasing it was, after talking total crap for 5 minutes about how she has never heard of any crime in the 7 years she has lived there and that Lamai is paradise, and that she suspects a tourist must have done it, she finished with the line 'no one understands it, no one needs to rape in Thailand'. Instead of interviewing her any further the presenter decided to cut the interview off there as, i suspect, she felt there was no real insight!

News on this story has unsurprisngly took a backseat to Israel and Iraq now.

[RAZZELL]

And now Charles Kennedy admitting he's an alcoholic...

[sunreader]

"I also need to tell you that I feel very distressed that people and other Western women heard screams. I know from experience that most natives to Asia will look the other way in an incident like this ..... but Western women???? Please, people - what are we becoming?"

Ah...don't forget poor Kitty Genovese....times don't change that much.

[naomisri]

Limbos - In my opinion you are right, pressure from above is what is getting this case treated right. My husband said at the time there were 2/3 samui police on Lamai beach "looking into things". It takes the professionals to step in to get things done right, but look who we had doing the autopsy, and we certainly have the best of the Thai police here now. In a sense it is like any small rural police force, how equipt are they to deal with murder? In my opinion they need an overhaul asap and the money to do it.

That doesn't change the fact that the police here are invested and working ###### hard.

Word is they are close to charging someone, I hope they get the right man.

SBK - you quote figures that were also quoted in Community magazine a while back, indeed the vast majority of people on Samui are not only from other jangwats, but a lot of them are unregistered. They did a drive to register people about a year ago so that Ampur Samui would be allocated the right amount of money for infrastructure/public services (the issues we are always complaining about), but people are reluctant to loose their registered status back home. This means nobody is quite sure how many people are living here full time or who they are.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3531284a11,00.html

The Dominion Post

Kiwi tells of Thailand resort murder

06 January 2006

By CHALPAT SONTI

A New Zealander has been caught up in the events surrounding the brutal murder of a British backpacker in Thailand.

Waikato-born marine engineer Ritchy Haskell, 22, who lives in Surfers Paradise, was one of the last people to see Katherine Horton alive, moments before she was murdered at the tourist resort of Lamai beach on the island of Koh Samui.

Miss Horton, 21, was sitting with Mr Haskell, his Australian friend Ben Greig, and her own friend Ruth Adams when she answered a cellphone call from her mother on New Year's Day. She walked off along the beach and was heard by her mother to scream before the phone went dead. Her body was found in the sea the next day. She had been beaten and left to drown.

Mr Haskell told The Dominion Post last night that it was the culmination of a terrible 24 hours. He had gone to another Thai island to celebrate the New Year, only to have his drink spiked before being robbed of his wallet containing all his money and credit cards. A British man he met on the island gave him some money so he could rejoin Mr Greig on Koh Samui.

He had met Miss Horton and Miss Adams earlier, though had said little to either. When Miss Horton did not return from her phone call, the trio briefly looked for her before the men decided to head into town. Miss Adams was to rejoin them when she found Miss Horton. "But we didn't hear anything. The next day we went to the beach and it was packed with police."

That began a four-day ordeal for the pair. They were strip-searched, interviewed several times and gave dna samples. At one point yesterday morning they were told they could leave the island to rejoin Mr Haskell's father, Owen, in Bangkok before flying home.

"We got on a bus and were leaving before the cops stopped the bus and pulled us off again."

After several more hours of interviews, they were due to give a verbal statement in a local court last night before finally being free to go.

Police told Mr Haskell two Europeans and two Thais were the chief suspects.

Four British male backpackers staying at the same lodge as Mr Haskell had also given blood samples to police.

-------------------------------------

Looks like they have eliminated what were thought to be the "Two Australian men"

[sriracha john]

The cynic in me HOPES these two stories aren't related, but it's having a difficult time doing so :

Aussies warned after tourist murder

Australian officials in Thailand have warned travellers to be on their guard following the murder of a British woman.

The warning follows the slaying of 21-year-old British woman Katherine Horton, whose body was found floating off the popular resort island of Koh Samui.

An Australian official said the incidents highlighted the need for foreign travellers to be on their guard.

Australian visitors should take heed of the travel advisory concerning personal safety while travelling in Thailand, he said.

The latest advice also says sexual assault, food and drink spiking, assault and robbery occurs in Thailand, commonly in popular backpacker destinations. About 400,000 Australians travelled to Thailand last year.

===================================

TAT sends condolence to Horton's family

Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Juthamas Siriwan has issued a letter of condolence to the family of Welsh student Katherine Horton, who was murdered on Koh Samui.

The TAT said the tragedy would tarnish the reputation of the tourism industry, as well as create a negative impression that could mar the image of the country as a whole.

"Once again, I deeply regret this event occurring within our Kingdom. Through resolve and solidarity among friends, I would like to hope that in time this depressing incident will soon pass, and that we may continually have the pleasure of welcoming British travellers to Thailand," Juthamas said.

[sriracha john]

Four held over Samui murder

Published on January 06, 2006

Resort employees questioned, DNA samples taken; father makes appeal. Police last night detained four men for questioning after taking DNA samples from them as part of their investigation into the murder of Welsh university student Katherine Horton on this popular resort island.

The four are employees of a resort close to the bungalow where Horton, 21, was staying. Witnesses saw the men dining at a food stall nearby on the night of the murder, police said. No charges had been filed against the four as of last night.

A motorcycle owned by one of the men, whose identities were not immediately released by police, was seen parked outside Katherine’s bungalow at the New Hut resort on the evening of January 1. But the owner said he had earlier rented it to a foreign tourist, investigators said. The man produced a document to support his claim, they said.

Police yesterday questioned the four for several hours after taking them into custody at the Sea View Paradise resort on Lamai Beach. The resort is located next to the one where Horton, a third-year psychology student at Reading University, Cardiff, was spending her New Year’s holiday with friends at the time she was killed.

Investigators took tissue samples from the men for DNA analysis after questioning them yesterday and escorting them to Samui Hospital for medical checks last night. They were later brought back to Samui police station for further questioning.

A source at the hospital said DNA sampling was yesterday conducted on seven foreigners and eight Thais, including the four men under detention, as part of the police investigation.

Horton’s body was found on Monday in the sea off Thong Krok Beach, a few kilometres from the resort where she stayed. Police said she had been hit several times on the head and body with a blunt object and thrown into the sea to drown.

A primary police investigation showed that Horton was likely attacked while walking on the beach near her bungalow on the evening of January 1.

Horton was talking to her mother, Elizabeth, on her mobile phone when the attack took place and her mother reportedly heard her scream before the call was cut off.

Institute of Forensic Medicine commander Pol Maj-General Liang Huiprasert said the latest autopsy results on Horton’s body showed no traces of rape.

“No traces of semen were found in the genitals and no human tissue was found under the fingernails. More thorough forensic tests, however, will be conducted,” he said.

Katherine’s father Ian Horton yesterday appealed for anyone who witnessed the crime to come forward and help police in the investigation.

“On a personal note I urge those who did this to come forward. The perpetrator is too cowardly to offer themselves to justice in Thailand. But there is a person here that knows. A person that can assist the police. Someone that can maybe save another life,” he said in a written statement. “I urge that person to come forward to speak out. Katherine was my little girl. Please help her father.”

Horton’s father and family members yesterday travelled to Koh Samui to observe the police investigation but asked for privacy from the media.

The investigation team, comprising more than 30 local police officers and detectives and a special team dispatched from Bangkok, was anxiously awaiting the results of tests conducted on traces of DNA found on Horton’s body, said Maj-Gen Sunthan Chayanon, deputy commissioner of Police Region 8.

The results of the tests, which were being conducted by the Institute of Forensic Medicine, were expected today or tomorrow, he said.

Investigators planned to use photographs from an automatic security camera installed near the spot where Horton was believed to have been attacked to help in the investigation, a police source said yesterday.

“At a resort nearby, there is a set of sensor-equipped cameras and lights that automatically snap pictures when something moves past at night. We hope to find some leads from the photo records,” the source said.

Police yesterday set up a field command centre on Koh Samui to closely follow up the investigation of the murder case. More than 100 police personnel from local and Bangkok-based units fanned out across the island to try to find leads in the case.

Central Investigation Bureau deputy commissioner Maj-Gen Asavin Kwanmuang and Tourist Police commander Maj-Gen Panya Mamen held a meeting with investigators to inquire about their progress in the probe.

“We have found some leads but cannot publicly discuss the details now. Some witnesses have been questioned and evidence gathered that leads to certain suspects,” Panya said.

“I am a father with daughters too, and so are many other officers who are racing against time to solve the case here with the heart of a father,” said Surat Thani provincial police chief Maj-Gen Voravate Vinitnatyanon.

[sriracha john]

A second autopsy of Horton's body conducted in Bangkok has proven she was raped.

"We want to make sure we catch the culprit and not a scapegoat," said Police Lieutenant General Achirawit Suphanpaesatch, assistant police commissioner.

Achirawit said that even with DNA results, expected from the lab soon, it may be difficult to prove guilt of a suspect since very little semen was found in the victim, whose body was dumped in the water for several hours.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, meanwhile, on Friday urged police to speed up their investigation of Horton's murder, which has once again tarnished Thailand's reputation as a safe tourist destination.

After first attributing Horton's death to drowning, police now say she was raped and beaten before being dumped in the bay.

[Jai Dee]

No press releases from the Thai News Authorities yet, but this news article has just been published by The Daily Record www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news...

THAI MAN HELD FOR KATE KILLING

DAD' S TEARS FOR 'BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL'

By Justine Smith

A THAI man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Katherine Horton.

Police said the man, who worked in the area where Katherine's body was found, was questioned over the attack.

And they said they would soon be seeking arrests warrants for several men, one of whom they claimed killed the British holidaymaker.

The arrest came as the 21-year-old's devastated father sobbed on the beach where she was murdered, pleading for help to catch her killers.

Ian Horton trembled as he told how his beautiful "little girl" left home full of adventure.

He said: "Katherine came to Thailand to dance on a beach, to ride an elephant, to have a vacation before her finals.

"She was full of confidence and felt immune to the dangers of this world.

"Tragically her faith in her fellow man has let her down and she has been taken from us forever."

As Ian struggled to read from his statement through his sobs, he was comforted by his younger son, Christopher, and Katherine's travelling partner, Ruth Adams.

Ruth, 21, who was due to fly home with her friend next Tuesday, wept into her hands as holidaymakers frolicked on the beach around them.

Katherine, from Cardiff, shared a flat with Katherine in Reading, Berkshire, where they were both studying.

She described her friend as "one of the best, a lovely girl with a big heart", and said they had been "inseparable" in life.

Christopher, dressed in a black suit like his father, gripped Ian's arm tightly.

They had flown out together to see her body in Bangkok before making their emotional visit to the place she died.

Ian said: "My words can not express how I feel.

"Only a parent who had lost a child can know.

"All I wish is to return Katherine to her home with dignity and privacy."

They were hoping to be able to fly home today with her body, which was sent to Bangkok for a full post mortem after initial forensic tests on the island.

Katherine, 21, had left her £10-a-night thatched bungalow after a meal with friends on Sunday to stroll up Lamai beach while wishing her mum a happy new year on her mobile phone. Mrs Horton heard her daughter's screams down the phone as she was dragged off to her death.

Katherine's body was found, still wearing her evening dress from the night before, 500 metres down the beach from her resort the next morning by a jet-skier.

She had been bludgeoned over the head and drowned.

Unconfirmed reports claimed she had also been gang-raped.

A possible breakthrough in the hunt for Katherine's killers came yesterday as Thai police reported a DNA sample had been recovered from her body.

Four Scots, Callum McDonald, 23, from Edinburgh, brother Fergus, 21, Wesley Thomson, 27, from Fife and Roland Corbin, 27, from Edinburgh, an Australian and a New Zealander who shared Katherine's last meal with Ruth, were among those who gave DNA samples.

But police say they a re concentrating their inquiries on local suspects.

[sriracha john]

as he slides further into psychosis... he recalls the "successful" elimination of 2,500 people in 2003 alledgedly involved with drugs:

Thai PM wants tourist's killer 'dead or alive'

BANGKOK : Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called on police to find the killer of a 21-year-old Welsh tourist "dead or alive," as forensics experts tested some 15 suspects against DNA evidence.

"The image of our tourism industry was badly damaged by the murder of a British tourist on Samui island. I have asked (Justice Minister) Chidchai (Vanasathidya) to drag out the suspect by the neck, either dead or alive," Thaksin said at a meeting of provincial governors.

"I want police to pay special attention, particularly with crimes committed against foreign tourists, because it severely damages the country's reputation and it affects the economy, both nationally and locally," said Thaksin, himself a former police officer.

Police said earlier that they had found DNA evidence believed to belong to the man who raped and then killed 21-year-old Katherine Horton on the resort island of Samui.

- AFP

[The Skipper]

"drag out the suspect by the neck, either dead or alive"

...then give him a fair trial

[kat]

SBK - you quote figures that were also quoted in Community magazine a while back, indeed the vast majority of people on Samui are not only from other jangwats, but a lot of them are unregistered. They did a drive to register people about a year ago so that Ampur Samui would be allocated the right amount of money for infrastructure/public services (the issues we are always complaining about), but people are reluctant to loose their registered status back home. This means nobody is quite sure how many people are living here full time or who they are.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3531284a11,00.html

Lack of registration and infrastructure is a predicament all over Thailand, not only Samui. It is a way of life here, as can be seen by the number of unregistered marriages, children, and residences.

Edited January 6, 2006 by kat

[limbos]

A poll in The Nation online;

Do you think murder of a Welsh university student, Katherine Horton, has made Koh Samui and Thailand dangerous places to visit?

Yes.

63.44% 59 votes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.

36.56% 34 votes

Total: 93 votes

Limbos - In my opinion you are right, pressure from above is what is getting this case treated right. My husband said at the time there were 2/3 samui police on Lamai beach "looking into things". It takes the professionals to step in to get things done right, but look who we had doing the autopsy, and we certainly have the best of the Thai police here now. In a sense it is like any small rural police force, how equipt are they to deal with murder? In my opinion they need an overhaul asap and the money to do it.

That doesn't change the fact that the police here are invested and working ###### hard.

Word is they are close to charging someone, I hope they get the right man.

Noamisri,

Let's hope and cross our fingers that they do find those culprits!

[sierra01]

There seems to be a lot of arrests, releases, and DNA testing, all good of course. At the end of the day are they any nearer to finding the culprit/s? Doesn't seem so. Will this case just quietly fade away and join who knows how many other unsolved murders, assaults, muggings etc?

[kat]

No. I think in high profile cases such as this one, they have to find someone.* And with international media watching, that someone better be the right one.

How much time and justice is actually meted out once the international glare fades away is another matter.

*edit: And of course, there are loads of exceptions to this LINE of thought (can't really call it a rule).

Edited January 6, 2006 by kat

[kat]

By the way, does anyone remember this case and its results:

Irish women's holiday horror (2001)

By Cormac O'Keeffe

TWO men are being questioned by police after an alleged sexual assault on two young Irish women on a paradise island in Thailand. A major hunt was under way for a third man suspected of being involved in the vicious attack.

The attacks took place on the tropical island of Koh Samui - much frequented by young Irish tourists drawn there by the Leonardo de Caprio film, The Beach.

The two women - one from Limerick city and one a British and Irish passport holder from Navan, Co Meath - were discharged from hospital yesterday after receiving medical treatment.

The women were due to leave the island yesterday but are expected to stay to identify their assailants at the police station.

The women, both students, were returning from a nightclub at 4am on Monday morning and were walking along a beach just yards from their holiday bungalows when they were set upon by local men.

They were dragged into the jungle where they were brutally assaulted.

Some reports said one of the women was raped in the attack, but police said they were awaiting the results of medical examinations.

Police say the attackers had only a couple of minutes before they were disturbed. The alarm was raised by locals and when police arrived the women's clothing was torn and one of them had no shoes.

A special operation involving provincial and tourist police and sniffer dogs, was launched to track down a third man in connection with the assault.

There were fears yesterday that if the attackers, believed to be locals, are caught, the two women might have to wait five years to see them brought to court. Few rapes are prosecuted in Thailand.

But officials on the island - which is highly dependent on foreign tourism - said they were taking the recent attack extremely seriously.

http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2001/.../story11458.asp

Edited January 6, 2006 by kat

[lung]

Police recover traces of sperm

Published on January 07, 2006

Evidence from slain tourist’s body being checked against DNA samples collected. A forensic examination of slain Welsh tourist Katherine Horton has found human sperm in her body, police said yesterday. DNA testing will be carried out on the sperm to see if it matches tissue samples taken from people who have been questioned by police investigating the young student’s murder.

“Two human sperm samples were found, and police will conduct DNA tests to see if they match any of the DNA samples from the 14 men they have questioned,” said Royal Thai Police spokesman Lt-General Achiravit Supanpesat.

Six of the 14 men are foreigners. The results of the DNA matching are expected this afternoon, he said.

Achiravit was not able to say whether the sperm could provide any substantial indication that she had been raped.

Horton, 21, a psychology student from Reading University, Cardiff, was attacked near the bungalow where she had spent her New Year’s holiday with friends on Lamai Beach on the famous resort island of Koh Samui on the night of January 1. Her body was found floating in the sea a few kilometres away on January 2.

Police said Horton had been hit several times on the head and body with a blunt object and thrown into the sea to drown. She was talking to her mother on her mobile phone when the attack took place, and her mother reported hearing her scream before the call was cut off.

An informed source said yesterday police had produced a sketch of a foreigner who reportedly found Horton’s mobile phone and passed it to a restaurant waitress, who later gave it to investigators.

“Police have questioned the waitress, and she claims a foreigner speaking with an Italian accent gave it to her on the night of the murder after finding it somewhere,” the source said.

The waitress works at the Buddy restaurant about 200 metres from New Hut resort, where Horton was staying on the night she was killed, and is among those facing intense questioning, the source said.

Meanwhile, police said they had released four male workers at a nearby resort after detaining them for questioning on Thursday night as part of the investigation.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday said the culprits had to be brought to justice “dead or alive”.

“This crime is severely detrimental to the country. The culprits must be brought to justice dead or alive. There is no place for them in this country,” he said.

BRITISH BACKPACKER’S DEATH: Murder remains mystery

Published on January 07, 2006

Police looking for couple phone will lead to couple who may have information on the slain woman. After celebrating Christmas with her family in Britain, Welsh university student Katharine Horton, 21, came to Thailand to spend the New Year holiday with her best friend Ruth Adams. Neither of them was aware that it would be the last great time they would have together. On December 31, Horton and Adams met a group of four Western men while on a ferry from Surat Thani to the resort island of Samui.

The girls and their new acquaintances decided to stay at the same beachfront bungalow resort.

A few hours after checking in at the New Hut resort, the group took a boat to Koh Pha-ngan to join that island’s countdown party, which is famous among tourists along with its monthly full-moon parties.

They returned to their bungalows the following morning. Amnuay Detchna, manager of the New Hut resort, remembers seeing Horton have breakfast with Adams before going sunbathing and scuba diving in front of her room.

Later in the day, Horton, Adams and the four men had dinner at the Ninja restaurant, just a few minutes away from New Hut bungalows. New Hut’s assistant manager Kamthorn Ruangsuk then spotted Horton sitting with two of the men on the beach in front of her room from about 10pm to 11pm.

“I’m pretty sure it was her, but I am not sure which of the four guys it was, because I just saw them from behind, unlike the girl,” said Kamthorn.

Horton’s body was found on Monday floating in the sea off Thong Krok Beach, about three kilometres from the bungalows.

Amnuay also said he had seen the three sitting there at around 10pm.

Police investigators, however, put the time of the attack at 9.43pm. They arrived at this time after examining Horton’s mobile phone and noting the time of a call between Horton and her mother, believed to have taken place immediately before the murder.

Police found Horton’s mobile phone with a waitress identified only as Poo, who works at the Buddy pub and restaurant, a few hundred metres away from the New Hut resort. The waitress told police that a middle-aged Western couple had given it to her.

Police are searching for the couple in the hope that they can find out where they found the phone and from there determine where the attack took place.

Adams told police that Horton had received a call from a relative while sitting on the beach near their bungalow.

While her friend strolled along the beach and chatted with her family, Adams returned to their bungalow and fell asleep. When she woke up she realised that Horton was missing.

Horton’s mother Elizabeth told police that she had heard her daughter scream prior to the line going dead.

“It was only a week ago that we took Kath and Ruth to Heathrow in a state of great excitement,” Ruth’s parents, Michael and Jenny Adams, of Bromley, Kent, said in a statement.

Arthit Khwankhom,

Anan Paengnoy

The Nation

KOH SAMUI

[phuketsiam]

why is it that TAT and Thaksin are just going on abou the damage to Thailands reputation, have they no empathy for the victims family, they just seem worried about tourist trade, money and face, if this happend to a Thai girl would it just be swept under the carpet. I feel so sorry for the girls family and think they deserve more

[kat]

So, they found "two human samples of sperm". Of course, this means that they found samples from two different humans, right?

Edited January 6, 2006 by kat

[LaoPo]

So, they found "two human samples of sperm". Of course, this means that they found samples from two different humans, right?

I found this very odd: "two human samples of sperm"..

How can anyone tell it's 2 different samples...?

IF they know this for sure it means they have made DNA-tests already (of the samples) and now in the process to find a match.

Maybe somone knows more than me about these procedures?

LaoPo

[phuketsiam]

I thinks its just two samples of sperm, with the word human in the wrong place, - two samples of human sperm, or is it?

[LaoPo]

I thinks its just two samples of sperm, with the word human in the wrong place, - two samples of human sperm, or is it?

Yes, you could be right. One can read the sentence from the police in 2 different ways...

Let's see what happens with the outcome of the DNA.

LaoPo

[limbos]

What about Taksin's comment;

'dead or alive' gives way to an easy way out..................

[sriracha john]

What about Taksin's comment;

'dead or alive' gives way to an easy way out..................

I imagine the following quote from him soon:

"It worked so well to completely eliminate drugs in Thailand 2 years ago... so I fully expect it to solve the problem in this crisis as well."

The man needs Thorazine desperately...

[linglop]

What about Taksin's comment;

'dead or alive' gives way to an easy way out..................

I imagine the following quote from him soon:

"It worked so well to completely eliminate drugs in Thailand 2 years ago... so I fully expect it to solve the problem in this crisis as well."

The man needs Thorazine desperately...

According to today's (7/1/06) edition of the Sun newspaper, a labourer has been arrested for the murder whilst a fisherman is being sought. This information apparently comes from a correspondent on Koh Samui.

[sriracha john]

The body of Briton Katherine Horton is moved from a forensic lab to the airport in Bangkok. Her remains were to be flown back to the UK today.

Raped by two Thai men

Jan 7 2006

Western Mail

ALL Western tourists who gave blood samples for DNA testing in the search to find Katherine Horton's killer have been told they are free to go home.

After three days of checks, Thai police have ruled out the possibility that the Welsh backpacker was killed by a Westerner.

They believe she was raped by two Thai men and dumped in the sea. Despite reports that a Thai national had been arrested police last night said this was not the case.

Yesterday police forensic experts were examining the boat they suspect may have been used during the assault on Katherine.

Police in the resort said they were also investigating the rape of a 12-year-old Swedish girl by a barman.

Callum Macdonald, 23, from Blackhall, Edinburgh, the former boss of an IT company, was one of the last people to see Katherine alive.

He said, "Attacks against women here don't seem to be uncommon.

"When I was giving a statement at the police station on the table next to me the parents of a Swedish girl were giving evidence about the rape of their 12-year-old daughter by a barman."

Releasing the Western tourists, Police Colonel Preecha Thimamontri, Head of the Investigation Centre of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police said, "We believe the killer or killers were Thai."

The statement came after widespread speculation by both Thai police and the Thai press that the murderer was a foreigner.

The same claims were also made in the case of Kirsty Jones, 23, from Tredomen near Brecon, who was raped and murdered in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand when she was on a backpacking holiday five years ago.

The Cardiff coroner has said a date had yet to be set for an inquest into the Reading University psychology student's death.

Katherine's travelling companion and university friend Ruth Adams has already returned to her family home in Kent.

The Bangkok Post yesterday reported that a senior Thai police chief, Pol Maj-Gen Santan Chayanont, said the crime scene was not Thong Krok beach where her body was found but Ban Lamai village. DNA testing was being done at a makeshift operations centre set up in a hotel on the island.

Katherine's body was found in the sea by a jet skier who said he had been looking for a customer who had hired a jet bike when he saw a shape floating in the water.

Mr Macdonald had dinner with Katherine shortly before she died and broke the news of her death to her family.

Mr Macdonald, who yesterday made a sworn statement to a Thai court about the incident, said a note and shoes were taken from her bungalow after she disappeared.

He said, "After she went missing we were really worried so Ruth Adams left a note on the door of their bungalow asking Katherine to let her know she was safe when she got back.

"When I went out at 2.30am the note and a pair of Katherine's shoes were outside the bungalow but when Ruth woke up at 8.30am the note and the shoes had gone.

"So we felt that she had to be okay if she had her shoes with her. And we thought she had money on her too. To my knowledge the police have not found the shoes and the note was found stuffed behind the bin in a nearby bungalow."

Lieutenant General Ajiravid Subarnbhesaj, of the Thai police, is quoted in the Thai paper The Nation saying the police forensic institute had found evidence which showed she was raped.

He said police suspect the killer or killers raped the Cardiff student late on New Year's Day, but she resisted. She was then beaten before being dumped into the sea.

===============================================================

THAI COPS CLOSE IN ON KILLERS

DNA evidence found on Thai beach murder victim Katherine Horton last night confirmed two "Asian" men had sex with her around the time of her death.

Police on the holiday island of Koh Samui are now trying to match the samples to suspects.

Katherine's body was found on the beach on January 2. The 21-year-old from Cardiff had been raped, then asphyxiated.

As her body was flown back to Wales last night, accompanied by her dad Ian, 53, and brother Chris, 25, police said they were closing in on the killers.

But four Thai men quizzed in connection with her death insisted they were innocent.

Awipat Phuphantrakul, 27, and Lumpoo Kongklay, 30, who work in a scooter hire shop by the beach, were both picked up on Thursday afternoon.

Brothers Danrong and Rachit Sripeng were also later detained. Danrong, 27, said: "Yes, I am a suspect but I had nothing to do with it. We were all drinking over the road but I never went to the beach."

They were among 15 men who gave blood samples, including four Scots, who were yesterday told they were in the clear.

Wesley Thomson, 27, from Fife, who hopes to fly home on Monday, said: "It's a relief but the Thai police have been very friendly and polite throughout."

[kat]

What about Taksin's comment;

'dead or alive' gives way to an easy way out..................

Good point, limbos.

"The statement came after widespread speculation by both Thai police and the Thai press that the murderer was a foreigner.

The same claims were also made in the case of Kirsty Jones, 23, from Tredomen near Brecon, who was raped and murdered in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand when she was on a backpacking holiday five years ago."

Edited January 7, 2006 by kat