Thailand News

[qualtrough]

To all those who are so worried that Thailand is an unsafe place to visit--You are right. For your own safety, please stay away. It is just a horribly dangerous place! Really, I wouldn't advise anyone come here. It is just not worth it!

Hoping that advice will cut down the overabundance of farangs here for a while...

Edited January 9, 2006 by qualtrough

[Terry Shannon]

DNA test clears Australians of woman's murder in Thailand

January 10, 2006

DNA tests have cleared two Australian tourists of raping and murdering a British woman whose badly bashed body was found floating in waters off a resort island last week.

Ben Greig and Richie Haskell, both marine engineers from Surfers Paradise, had been held as suspects but were told that they were free to leave Thailand.

Early yesterday, police arrested two Thai fishermen on the island of Koh Samui. Police claimed they had confessed to killing student Katherine Horton, 21, of Cardiff, Wales, late on New Year's Day.

Bualoy Kothisit, 23, and Wichai Soptayai, 24, were flown to Bangkok for DNA tests — which police said were positive, proving their guilt.

Mr Greig and Mr Haskell, who had made friends with Ms Horton on Koh Samui, were arrested with 20 other suspects after her body was found in Lamai Bay on January 2. They were examined for scratch marks and Mr Greig was questioned before giving blood for DNA analysis. Police accused him of lying and he said he had feared he was going to be wrongly accused of murder.

"I really thought I was going to a Bangkok prison," he said.

But police could find no evidence to link the Australians to the crime.

Mr Greig, 24, said he had been with Ms Horton on New Year's Day and last saw her that night as she walked on a beach while making a mobile phone call to her mother in Wales. "We blame ourselves for what happened," he said. Three foreign tourists have been raped on Koh Samui since October 1.

AAP

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Money, money, money

It's a shame that locals don't get this kind of help.. well, maybe the rich ones do.

[Chutney]

Well that's all sorted then. How neat.

How can there be doubt? These two men planned efficiently ( though drunk) an effective return trip to shore via oil drum to " rape a woman". It was stated earlier in the investigation that a body could not have washed around to the point where it was found without the use of a boat. Yet now it is said that Katherines body was left in the water not far from the shore where she was abused and assaulted.

Once arrested they 'confessed'. Astonishing considering the general Thai tendency to denial and even more so in the light of the likely sentence they will receive.

I don't know if they have been fitted up or not but the integrity of the investigation appears questionable. I hope corroborative evidence regarding DNA can be found in Britain. Katherines family deserve to be in no doubt that the right people have been stopped from doing this ever again.

God help her family and give them strength. A tragedy such as this touches us all and brings every parents worst nightmare to life. We can all hug our children close and be sure they know how much we love them but Katherines parents and family will have to live with this torture forever.

[LaoPo]

Well that's all sorted then. How neat.

How can there be doubt? These two men planned efficiently ( though drunk) an effective return trip to shore via oil drum to " rape a woman". It was stated earlier in the investigation that a body could not have washed around to the point where it was found without the use of a boat. Yet now it is said that Katherines body was left in the water not far from the shore where she was abused and assaulted.

Once arrested they 'confessed'. Astonishing considering the general Thai tendency to denial and even more so in the light of the likely sentence they will receive.

I don't know if they have been fitted up or not but the integrity of the investigation appears questionable. I hope corroborative evidence regarding DNA can be found in Britain. Katherines family deserve to be in no doubt that the right people have been stopped from doing this ever again.

God help her family and give them strength. A tragedy such as this touches us all and brings every parents worst nightmare to life. We can all hug our children close and be sure they know how much we love them but Katherines parents and family will have to live with this torture forever.

Please see your quote: I really hope there will indeed be a second (if not third) opinion-DNA-test, done in Britain.

The problem in this case lies in the fact that all of us (including myself) have opinions based on MEDIA articles...and we all know that nobody can trust the Media, whatever they write or publish (Radio, TV, newspapers, magazines and so forth). On top of that there must have been numerous journalists, asking and questioning around, including some 'important (..) Samui Police-officers and based on those interviews, wrote their (sorry to say) 'sensational' articles.

So in fact WE don't know anything, we are just assuming WHAT happened and who are, or are NOT, the killers.

SENSITIVE item...I really don't know how to describe it here since it is so sensitive but I wondered from the beginning how the forensic team/Police etc. could have 'taken' body-fluids/semen (so to speak) from the poor girl; let's not forget that she must have been floating in the sea for at least 8-10 hours....if not longer.

Now, I am not an expert and certainly no forensic one, but the question here is....how long does it take that body-fluids can be taken from a body floating for such a long time in the (salt) seawater....and that these 'fluids' are still not affected by seawater and trustworthy? I don't know.

Anybody here who has a friend/Doctor/Specialist who could explain more about this and even might have experience*?

*There were (and still are) many, many specialist-forensic teams, from all over the world, in the Phuket area after the Tsunami; is there anybody who has contacts to these people; maybe they can clarify some questions?

They CERTAINLY have all the expertise in DNA-checks.

Thank you

LaoPo

[Lisa28]

To all those who are so worried that Thailand is an unsafe place to visit--You are right. For your own safety, please stay away. It is just a horribly dangerous place! Really, I wouldn't advise anyone come here. It is just not worth it!

Hoping that advice will cut down the overabundance of farangs here for a while...

I am sorry you feel that way qualtrough. I, for one, absolutely love Thailand. I can only speak from my experiences of holidaying in Bangkok and Samui I found everyone so friendly and welcoming. I always felt completely safe and tried not to disrespect anyone in anyway. I am planning to go back in three months for a week's stay on Samui. As a girl travelling I will be sure to take extra precaution but I would do that in any country even my own. This sort of horrible act can happen anywhere (and it does).

I am always respectful of the country I am in and the people that I am around and I would hope that I will be made to feel as welcome as I always have. I won't let these animals make me live in fear.

[limbos]

TOURIST’S KILLING: Two held for Samui murder

Published on January 10, 2006

Fishermen confess to raping, killing Welsh student Katherine Horton after DNA match

Police have arrested two fishermen for the rape and murder of Welsh tourist Kathe-rine Horton on the island resort of Koh Samui last week after a DNA analysis of semen recovered from her body linked them to the crime.

The two, Bualoy Pothisith, 23, and Wichai Somkhaoyai, 24, were on a fishing boat moored off the island’s Lamai Beach on the night of January 1. Horton was attacked that night while walking on the beach alone as she was talking

to her mother on her mobile phone. Her body was found in the sea off another beach the next morning.

A DNA analysis of the semen recovered from the body showed that it matched the blood samples taken from the two suspects and police have used this as scientific proof to back up their arrests, said deputy police commissioner General Preowpan Damapong.

The two have confessed to the crime and have been charged with gang rape and premeditated murder, he said.

Region 8 deputy police commissioner Maj-General Santhan Chayanon said the suspects drank alcohol and watched a pornographic movie on their fishing boat, the Poh Sirichok, on the night of January 1 before they swam ashore and spotted Horton.

“They said they intended to find a woman to have sex with after watching the adult movie,” Santhan said.

The two saw Horton talking on the phone on the beach a few hundred metres from her bungalow at the New Hut Resort and one of them hit her with the wooden pole of a beach umbrella that was close at hand. The two then dragged her behind a pile of rocks about 40 metres away and raped her, according to Santhan.

After the sexual assault, they hit her again with the same umbrella pole and then dragged her about 20 metres into the sea and left her there, he said.

The two returned to their fishing boat after the crime and went out on a fishing trip on another, bigger boat the next day. Investigators zeroed in on them after learning from their colleagues that they had suspiciously asked to go out to sea again without taking a break ashore like the other fishermen, said Central Investigation Bureau deputy commissioner Maj-General Asavin Kwanmuang.

“Undercover police later managed to get aboard that boat and took 29 crewmen for questioning. Two of them confessed to the crime during interrogation,” he said.

The body of Horton, 21, a psychology student at Reading University in Cardiff, was found floating a few kilometres from Lamai Beach on January 2. Her mother, Elizabeth, reported that she was talking to her daughter on the phone on the night of January 1 when she heard Katherine scream, before the line suddenly went dead.

The two suspects were flown to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok early yesterday morning for a DNA test before being taken back to Koh Samui for detention. Arraignment in court is scheduled for tomorrow, police said.

Preowpan said he had instructed police at all local tourist destinations to strengthen security measures for tourists to prevent any more crimes in wake of the Horton case.

Police commissioner Gen Kovit Wattana yesterday gave Bt100,000 to the police team investigating the case as a reward for having made arrests quickly.

SLAIN TOURIST: Fishermen confess to rape, murder

Published on January 10, 2006

Suspects had been drinking and watching porn before attack, police report says. Only seven days after the body of Katherine Horton washed ashore and was found on Koh Samui’s Lamai beach on January 2, two fishermen confessed to raping and murdering the young Welsh tourist, following an intense interrogation.

Bualoy Phothisith, 23, from the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, and Wichai Somkhaoyai, a 24-year-old workmate from the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, were taken into custody late Sunday morning and confessed early yesterday.

Their confession was found to be consistent with the results of DNA testing.

According to the police report, Wichai and Bualoy confessed they had just finished swimming and were about to return to their trawlers when they saw Horton approaching.

They told the police that earlier in the evening they had been drinking and watching porn videos with four other crewmembers aboard one of two trawlers anchored side-by-side a few hundred metres off the beach where Horton had been staying.

They told police they had found the 21-year-old sexually arousing and decided to seize her when they realised she was alone.

As she walked past them, Wichai allegedly smashed her on the neck with the rod of a beach parasol.

As he continued to bludgeon her, Bualoy grabbed her, police said.

During the attack Wichai accidentally whacked Bualoy in the face with the rod, the report said.

The mark on Bualoy’s face caught the eye of investigators on Sunday when they were interrogating about three dozen fishermen who had been working on seven boats that had been anchored off Lamai beach the night Horton was murdered.

On December 31, Horton and a friend from England, Ruth Adams, checked in at the New Hut beachside resort on Lamai beach.

Four Western men they had befriended on the ferry ride from Surat Thani also checked into the same beachfront resort.

The two women and their new friends took a boat from the island to nearby Koh Pha Ngan for a New Year’s Eve party then returned to their resort the following morning.

That day was Horton’s last.

Sometime between 9pm and 10pm that evening Horton received a call on her mobile from her mother in the United Kingdom.

As she was chatting on the phone, she went for a stroll along the beach while her friends returned to their huts.

Horton had barely taken more than a few dozen steps on the beach when she was brutally attacked. Her mother heard her daughter scream and then the phone line went dead.

The two fishermen confessed that as Wichai started pummelling Horton, she dropped her mobile phone, the police report said.

Bualoy and Wichai then dragged Horton to the edge of the sea about 30 metres from where they first attacked her.

The two men told police she was still alive and fighting to break free.

They allegedly took turns raping her.

They then dumped Horton on the beach and swam back to their trawlers, they told police.

She was still alive when they left her, they said.

Police, however, had reason to doubt this part of their confession because Thong Krong beach, where Horton’s body had been found floating in the water, was quite a distance from where Bualoy and Wichai said they had left her.

When Bualoy and Wichai returned to the trawlers they started bragging and chanting “Roi jung who”, which in the southern dialect means “Oh so yummy!”

According to police, the four other crewmembers, including a deputy head of one of the two trawlers, asked Bualoy and Wichai what it was they were feeling so gleeful about.

Still drunk, the two men simply told the others that they had just raped a foreign woman on the beach.

Next morning Bualoy and Wichai went out to sea to fish with several other members of their crews who had just returned from their daylong shore leave.

The fact that both Bualoy and Wichai had been on watch aboard their trawlers during the night of Horton’s murder would soon mark them as likely suspects.

Police said after some six hours of interrogation Bualoy finally cracked at around 2am yesterday and confessed to attacking and raping Horton.

Wichai at first insisted he had not raped Horton but only helped subdue her.

At least three members of the crew who were also aboard the trawlers that night said the two men had not brought Horton back to the boat.

Bualoy and Wichai were taken to Bangkok for physical examinations and DNA testing.

The results showed sperm samples taken from Horton’s vagina matched the two suspects’ DNA.

Faced with the evidence, Wichai confessed to raping the young woman.

A medical examination showed Bualoy had several scratch marks on him, indicating that his victim had been fighting hard to keep him away.

Horton’s body was found on January 2 about three kilometres from the New Hut resort, where she had been staying.

Initially, the investigation focused on people staying or working at New Hut.

Among the first of the more than 30 people, including six foreigners, to be taken for questioning and DNA testing by police were the four Western men who had been staying at the same resort and socialising with Horton and Adams.

A few days after Horton’s body was found, however, a crucial piece of evidence emerged.

Police were notified about a waitress at the Buddy Pub and Restaurant who had been given a mobile phone by a middle-aged Western couple who said they had found it on the beach.

The pub was only a few hundred metres from the New Hut resort. The phone turned out to be Horton’s.

On Sunday, Chris and Gill Burrows, the British couple who had stumbled across Horton’s mobile phone, testified in advance to the Surat Thani Provincial Court on Koh Samui.

The day before the couple had identified themselves to police in Bangkok, after learning that investigators were looking for them in relation to Horton’s death.

The British couple proved to be valuable witnesses.

They told police they had seen the young woman chatting on the phone and looking happy on the beach some 200 metres from Buddy Pub and not far from New Hut.

The couple was walking along the beach that night after dinner and it was on their way back that they found the mobile phone lying on the sand.

They picked it up and gave it to a waitress at Buddy Pub.

On Sunday in court Gill said she thought she might have heard a woman’s scream coming from the edge of the sea.

Her testimony turned police’s attention to the trawlers that had been near the crime scene.

A number of witnesses, including the Burrows, recalled seeing trawlers near the beach during the night Horton was killed.

A day later, on Sunday, investigators zeroed in on Wichai and Bualoy.

Arthit Khwankhom,

Anan Paengnoy

The Nation

Koh Samui

[LaoPo]

TOURIST’S KILLING: Two held for Samui murder

Published on January 10, 2006

Fishermen confess to raping, killing Welsh student Katherine Horton after DNA match

Police have arrested two fishermen for the rape and murder of Welsh tourist Kathe-rine Horton on the island resort of Koh Samui last week after a DNA analysis of semen recovered from her body linked them to the crime.

The two, Bualoy Pothisith, 23, and Wichai Somkhaoyai, 24, were on a fishing boat moored off the island’s Lamai Beach on the night of January 1. Horton was attacked that night while walking on the beach alone as she was talking to her mother on her mobile phone. Her body was found in the sea off another beach the next morning.

A DNA analysis of the semen recovered from the body showed that it matched the blood samples taken from the two suspects and police have used this as scientific proof to back up their arrests, said deputy police commissioner General Preowpan Damapong.

The two have confessed to the crime and have been charged with gang rape and premeditated murder, he said.

Region 8 deputy police commissioner Maj-General Santhan Chayanon said the suspects drank alcohol and watched a pornographic movie on their fishing boat, the Poh Sirichok, on the night of January 1 before they swam ashore and spotted Horton. (swam ashore a few hundred meters...and drunk?)“They said they intended to find a woman to have sex with after watching the adult movie,” Santhan said.

The two saw Horton talking on the phone on the beach a few hundred metres from her bungalow at the New Hut Resort and one of them hit her with the wooden pole of a beach umbrella that was close at hand. The two then dragged her behind a pile of rocks about 40 metres away and raped her, according to Santhan.

After the sexual assault, they hit her again with the same umbrella pole and then dragged her about 20 metres into the sea and left her there, he said.

The two returned to their fishing boat after the crime (swimming back a few hundred meters...still drunk?) and went out on a fishing trip on another, bigger boat the next day. Investigators zeroed in on them after learning from their colleagues that they had suspiciously asked to go out to sea again without taking a break ashore like the other fishermen, said Central Investigation Bureau deputy commissioner Maj-General Asavin Kwanmuang.

“Undercover police later managed to get aboard that boat and took 29 crewmen for questioning. Two of them confessed to the crime during interrogation,” he said.

The body of Horton, 21, a psychology student at Reading University in Cardiff, was found floating a few kilometres from Lamai Beach on January 2. Her mother, Elizabeth, reported that she was talking to her daughter on the phone on the night of January 1 when she heard Katherine scream, before the line suddenly went dead.

The two suspects were flown to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok early yesterday morning for a DNA test before being taken back to Koh Samui for detention. Arraignment in court is scheduled for tomorrow, police said.

Preowpan said he had instructed police at all local tourist destinations to strengthen security measures for tourists to prevent any more crimes in wake of the Horton case.

Police commissioner Gen Kovit Wattana yesterday gave Bt100,000 to the police team investigating the case as a reward for having made arrests quickly.

SLAIN TOURIST: Fishermen confess to rape, murder

Published on January 10, 2006

Suspects had been drinking and watching porn before attack, police report says. Only seven days after the body of Katherine Horton washed ashore and was found on Koh Samui’s Lamai beach on January 2, two fishermen confessed to raping and murdering the young Welsh tourist, following an intense interrogation.

Bualoy Phothisith, 23, from the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, and Wichai Somkhaoyai, a 24-year-old workmate from the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, were taken into custody late Sunday morning and confessed early yesterday.

Their confession was found to be consistent with the results of DNA testing.

According to the police report, Wichai and Bualoy confessed they had just finished swimming (a few hundred meters...?) and were about to return to their trawlers when they saw Horton approaching.

They told the police that earlier in the evening they had been drinking and watching porn videos with four other crewmembers aboard one of two trawlers anchored side-by-side a few hundred metres off the beach where Horton had been staying.

They told police they had found the 21-year-old sexually arousing and decided to seize her when they realised she was alone.

As she walked past them, Wichai allegedly smashed her on the neck with the rod of a beach parasol.

As he continued to bludgeon her, Bualoy grabbed her, police said.

During the attack Wichai accidentally whacked Bualoy in the face with the rod, the report said.

The mark on Bualoy’s face caught the eye of investigators on Sunday when they were interrogating about three dozen fishermen who had been working on seven boats that had been anchored off Lamai beach the night Horton was murdered.

On December 31, Horton and a friend from England, Ruth Adams, checked in at the New Hut beachside resort on Lamai beach.

Four Western men they had befriended on the ferry ride from Surat Thani also checked into the same beachfront resort.

The two women and their new friends took a boat from the island to nearby Koh Pha Ngan for a New Year’s Eve party then returned to their resort the following morning.

That day was Horton’s last.

Sometime between 9pm and 10pm that evening Horton received a call on her mobile from her mother in the United Kingdom.

As she was chatting on the phone, she went for a stroll along the beach while her friends returned to their huts.

Horton had barely taken more than a few dozen steps on the beach when she was brutally attacked. Her mother heard her daughter scream and then the phone line went dead.

The two fishermen confessed that as Wichai started pummelling Horton, she dropped her mobile phone, the police report said.

Bualoy and Wichai then dragged Horton to the edge of the sea about 30 metres from where they first attacked her.

The two men told police she was still alive and fighting to break free.

They allegedly took turns raping her.

They then dumped Horton on the beach and swam back to their trawlers, they told police. (again....swam back a few hundred meters...)

She was still alive when they left her, they said.

Police, however, had reason to doubt this part of their confession because Thong Krong beach, where Horton’s body had been found floating in the water, was quite a distance from where Bualoy and Wichai said they had left her.

When Bualoy and Wichai returned to the trawlers they started bragging and chanting “Roi jung who”, which in the southern dialect means “Oh so yummy!”

According to police, the four other crewmembers, including a deputy head of one of the two trawlers, asked Bualoy and Wichai what it was they were feeling so gleeful about.

Still drunk, the two men simply told the others that they had just raped a foreign woman on the beach.

Next morning Bualoy and Wichai went out to sea to fish with several other members of their crews who had just returned from their daylong shore leave.

The fact that both Bualoy and Wichai had been on watch aboard their trawlers during the night of Horton’s murder would soon mark them as likely suspects.

Police said after some six hours of interrogation Bualoy finally cracked at around 2am yesterday and confessed to attacking and raping Horton.

Wichai at first insisted he had not raped Horton but only helped subdue her.

At least three members of the crew who were also aboard the trawlers that night said the two men had not brought Horton back to the boat.

Bualoy and Wichai were taken to Bangkok for physical examinations and DNA testing.

The results showed sperm samples taken from Horton’s vagina matched the two suspects’ DNA.

Faced with the evidence, Wichai confessed to raping the young woman.

A medical examination showed Bualoy had several scratch marks on him, indicating that his victim had been fighting hard to keep him away.

Horton’s body was found on January 2 about three kilometres from the New Hut resort, where she had been staying.

Initially, the investigation focused on people staying or working at New Hut.

Among the first of the more than 30 people, including six foreigners, to be taken for questioning and DNA testing by police were the four Western men who had been staying at the same resort and socialising with Horton and Adams.

A few days after Horton’s body was found, however, a crucial piece of evidence emerged.

Police were notified about a waitress at the Buddy Pub and Restaurant who had been given a mobile phone by a middle-aged Western couple who said they had found it on the beach.

The pub was only a few hundred metres from the New Hut resort. The phone turned out to be Horton’s.

On Sunday, Chris and Gill Burrows, the British couple who had stumbled across Horton’s mobile phone, testified in advance to the Surat Thani Provincial Court on Koh Samui.

The day before the couple had identified themselves to police in Bangkok, after learning that investigators were looking for them in relation to Horton’s death.

The British couple proved to be valuable witnesses.

They told police they had seen the young woman chatting on the phone and looking happy on the beach some 200 metres from Buddy Pub and not far from New Hut.

The couple was walking along the beach that night after dinner and it was on their way back that they found the mobile phone lying on the sand.

They picked it up and gave it to a waitress at Buddy Pub.

On Sunday in court Gill said she thought she might have heard a woman’s scream coming from the edge of the sea.

Her testimony turned police’s attention to the trawlers that had been near the crime scene.

A number of witnesses, including the Burrows, recalled seeing trawlers near the beach during the night Horton was killed.

A day later, on Sunday, investigators zeroed in on Wichai and Bualoy.

Arthit Khwankhom,

Anan Paengnoy

The Nation

Koh Samui

Note: see quotes...

Still a lot of questions...

Media.........

LaoPo

[naomisri]

Hundreds of people turned out yesterday evening to see the two suspects do a reconstruction of the crime. They arrived and were held in Buddy bar until the police decided it was too dark and there were too many people to take them out onto the fishing boat and start the reconstruction. It's going to take place today, it may have already taken place.

The trawler was so far out to sea, I'm surprised they swam out to the beach in the dark, drunk with just a couple of oil cans. I feel convinced they must have had a small boat or something, the water there is shallow and I don't see how her body could have washed all the way round to Thong Klock. Also the screams were heard nearer Long Island resort (about 2 kms from New Hut) Did they drag her all the way there? Furthermore, there aren't many rocky parts of beach until near Rocky Resort (even futher away from New Hut).

In this case perhaps the reconstruction will actually help piece things together, instead of providing sensationalist pictures for the Thai press.

[sierra01]

Reading all the posts it just doesn't all add up right, as LaoPo keeps pointing out, too many unanswered questions. With so much at stake, ie the affect on tourism (which seems to be the main concern of the Police and Govt) a cover up is a real possibility here. I hope not because it only leaves the guilty free to do it again, and they no doubt will after getting away with it this time.

[Nam Kao]

They confessed , why are they still breathing?

[LaoPo]

Hundreds of people turned out yesterday evening to see the two suspects do a reconstruction of the crime.

They arrived and were held in Buddy bar until the police decided it was too dark and there were too many people to take them out onto the fishing boat and start the reconstruction . It's going to take place today, it may have already taken place.

The trawler was so far out to sea, I'm surprised they swam out to the beach in the dark, drunk with just a couple of oil cans. I feel convinced they must have had a small boat or something, the water there is shallow and I don't see how her body could have washed all the way round to Thong Klock. Also the screams were heard nearer Long Island resort (about 2 kms from New Hut) Did they drag her all the way there? Furthermore, there aren't many rocky parts of beach until near Rocky Resort (even futher away from New Hut).

In this case perhaps the reconstruction will actually help piece things together, instead of providing sensationalist pictures for the Thai press.

More and more questions. If it wasn't that serious someone could think it was a 'soap' on TV

Drunk...swimming a few hundred meters....in pitchdark.....hitting the girl...rape her, hit her again/kill her...swim back.....and still drunk..............UNBELIEVABLE as I read it all.

I agree Noamisri, there must have been a boat (and maybe more guys involved), but who knows?

Hope it will be solved soon and bring the truth to the family what really happened.

LaoPo

Edited January 10, 2006 by LaoPo

[Nam Kao]

Swimming at night with all those sharks, mariners are not that stupid

[LaoPo]

Swimming at night with all those sharks, mariners are not that stupid

Hmmm....sharks swim with sharks especially when they are drunk...unless they have or had a small boat and attack a helpless beautiful fish.

LaoPo

Edited January 10, 2006 by LaoPo

[Nam Kao]

Any mariner would be pertrified to enter the water at night there, drunk or not

[LaoPo]

Any mariner would be pertrified to enter the water at night there, drunk or not

Fully agree; that's why there are still so many questions.

LaoPo

[Explorer]

From the above article -

"The two men told police she was still alive and fighting to break free."

Both post mortem did not indicate sign of struggle from the victim.

My guess what we got here are just scape goats to ease the media presure.

Explorer

[Nam Kao]

LoaPo u are a smart man and khon dee duay

[Lisa28]

QUOTE(qualtrough @ 2006-01-10 03:15:48)

To all those who are so worried that Thailand is an unsafe place to visit--You are right. For your own safety, please stay away. It is just a horribly dangerous place! Really, I wouldn't advise anyone come here. It is just not worth it!

Hoping that advice will cut down the overabundance of farangs here for a while...

******************************

I am sorry you feel that way qualtrough. I, for one, absolutely love Thailand. I can only speak from my experiences of holidaying in Bangkok and Samui I found everyone so friendly and welcoming. I always felt completely safe and tried not to disrespect anyone in anyway. I am planning to go back in three months to stay on Samui for a few weeks. As a girl travelling I will be sure to take extra precaution but I would do that in any country even my own. This sort of horrible act can happen anywhere (and it does).

I am always respectful of the country I am in and the people that I am around and I would hope that I will be made to feel as welcome as I always have. I won't let these animals make me live in fear.

Edited January 10, 2006 by Lisa28

[sriracha john]

200 policemen deployed during re-enactment on Samui

Koh Samui, Surat Thani - About 200 policemen were deployed to guard two suspects who were charged with murdering Welsh tourist Katherine Horton during a crime re-enactment on the island Tuesday morning.

The re-enactment took place at 8:30 am. Bualoy Phothisith, 23 and Wichai Somkhaoyai, 24, two fishermen, were brought to the beach to show how they allegedly attacked and killed Horton on the night of New Year Day.

Onlookers, both local people and foreign tourists, shouted abusive words against the two and called on for speedy trial and execution against the two.

Wichai admitted that he was the one who hit Horton with a beach umbrella but claimed that he did not rape her.

[Patsycat]

This is getting stranger and stranger. How can he claim he did not rape her when they found evidence of his sperm?

Lisa28 - I agree with you, this will not put me off going to Samui again. But it may make me a bit more wary of who i frequent and talk to. It is beautiful - especially for us that come from cold grey countries. Have a great holiday.

[john b good]

Hundreds of people turned out yesterday evening to see the two suspects do a reconstruction of the crime.

They arrived and were held in Buddy bar until the police decided it was too dark and there were too many people to take them out onto the fishing boat and start the reconstruction . It's going to take place today, it may have already taken place.

The trawler was so far out to sea, I'm surprised they swam out to the beach in the dark, drunk with just a couple of oil cans. I feel convinced they must have had a small boat or something, the water there is shallow and I don't see how her body could have washed all the way round to Thong Klock. Also the screams were heard nearer Long Island resort (about 2 kms from New Hut) Did they drag her all the way there? Furthermore, there aren't many rocky parts of beach until near Rocky Resort (even futher away from New Hut).

In this case perhaps the reconstruction will actually help piece things together, instead of providing sensationalist pictures for the Thai press.

More and more questions. If it wasn't that serious someone could think it was a 'soap' on TV

Drunk...swimming a few hundred meters....in pitchdark.....hitting the girl...rape her, hit her again/kill her...swim back.....and still drunk..............UNBELIEVABLE as I read it all.

I agree Noamisri, there must have been a boat (and maybe more guys involved), but who knows?

Hope it will be solved soon and bring the truth to the family what really happened.

LaoPo

You can call me cynical if you like (whoever did that, a couple of pages back) but the weight of contributors have now moved away from falling over themselves praising the "nations finest" and are now suggesting that there are more questions than answers. Even the British media are questioning the haste in which the DNA results came back.

And as was written above "I agree Noamisri, there must have been a boat (and maybe more guys involved) "does anyone remember "prom pree rahn" (perhaps not quite the spelling) but for those that do, you will know their "modus operandi" and it's quite likely there were more involved as these guys hunt in packs.

There is a whole lot more to this one that meets the eye at the moment.

[Lisa28]

Lisa28 - I agree with you, this will not put me off going to Samui again. But it may make me a bit more wary of who i frequent and talk to. It is beautiful - especially for us that come from cold grey countries. Have a great holiday.

Thank you Patsy. I can't wait to go back. I hope this horrible event doesn't deter people from visiting anywhere in Thailand. That would be a shame.

[kat]

Have to agree( with John b. and others) - I suspected all along that there were probably more involved. I think that suspicion is now well-founded. I tried to suspend my cynisism until I heard more, but I think most of us have now heard enough. There are many contradictions and logistics that do not add up.

In addition, there are things that are "hunches" or an instinct that comes from understanding the environment around you. I still find it really hard to believe that these guys watched porn and bragged about the rape in a group, but were the only two to "swim" out in the dark sea, and rape on ..... the water's edge" ...... without a boat, or, other's knowledge

And, even with what was confessed, no one seemed to blink that it was acceptable for them to brag about a rape, and yet they were not turned in after a reported murder/rape; that tells you a lot.

Edited January 10, 2006 by kat

[Patsycat]

For me, reading here and also the british press - the whole investigation is going too fast. I realise that they want to find out who did this and as quickly as possible but there are blunders going on right, left and centre that even I as a bystander can see. Are they so worried about their percentage of tourists that they would cover up something that has become international news? Have they no feelings or emotions for Katherines family? There is definitely more to this than has been given to the press for us to read.

[sriracha john]

For me, reading here and also the british press - the whole investigation is going too fast. I realise that they want to find out who did this and as quickly as possible but there are blunders going on right, left and centre that even I as a bystander can see.

Are they so worried about their percentage of tourists that they would cover up something that has become international news?

Yes... lots of historical precedence that they've done the same before. In front of an international audience, even bird flu was denied.

Have they no feelings or emotions for Katherines family?

Very little I imagine, other than what is necessary for a good "show." It takes a back seat to the importance of damage control for the tourism industry.

There is definitely more to this than has been given to the press for us to read.

Yes, I think most would agree...except the "police praisers."

Edited January 10, 2006 by sriracha john

[markuk]

From the above article -

"The two men told police she was still alive and fighting to break free."

Both post mortem did not indicate sign of struggle from the victim.

My guess what we got here are just scape goats to ease the media presure.

Explorer

I agree probably scapegoats - still a tragic story.

[Lisa28]

I really hope that they do have the right offenders - for the Horton family's sake at least.......

L x

[Patsycat]

I do too, but the way things are coming together it seems pretty strange. Something just "ain't clicking"...

[bannork]

QUOTE(qualtrough @ 2006-01-10 03:15:48)

To all those who are so worried that Thailand is an unsafe place to visit--You are right. For your own safety, please stay away. It is just a horribly dangerous place! Really, I wouldn't advise anyone come here. It is just not worth it!

Hoping that advice will cut down the overabundance of farangs here for a while...

******************************

I am sorry you feel that way qualtrough. I, for one, absolutely love Thailand. I can only speak from my experiences of holidaying in Bangkok and Samui I found everyone so friendly and welcoming. I always felt completely safe and tried not to disrespect anyone in anyway. I am planning to go back in three months to stay on Samui for a few weeks. As a girl travelling I will be sure to take extra precaution but I would do that in any country even my own. This sort of horrible act can happen anywhere (and it does).

I am always respectful of the country I am in and the people that I am around and I would hope that I will be made to feel as welcome as I always have. I won't let these animals make me live in fear.

qualtrough is taking the mick,Lisa, he just wants less tourists in Thailand.