Thai Police Hunt For Portuguese Men In Phi-Phi Island Hotel Death Case

[PingManDan]

The plot thickens, as the BIB try to muddy the waters to ensure that there is no damage to Thai reputation.

Between Phukett and Pattaya, these two cities really now have a reputation of leading the World in foreigner tourist death rates, I think the tourist industry is heading for a massive downhill slide. Yes sir folks Thailand go to Pattaya, get shot, knifed, robbed, beaten to death, or take a swan dive off a condo building, or head to Phukett and get knifed, poisoned, bludgeoned beyond recognition, or drown, both towns have way too many mysterious deaths. Now all the travel agencies can advertise "Now Thailand Is really the land of mysteries, "Amazing Thailand"

[Nisa]

Not holiday snaps, she was a Bar Pimp working for the Velvet Dojo -the later pictures were of her in action.

Where are the pics?

She removed 139 pictures yesterday from her Facebook page.

You may still have the pictures on your computer in your internet cache folder.

[Soutpeel]

I had the experience of a farang who drugged a friend of mine and he would of died if i didn't check on him. Here is the story.

Back in 1992 I was living at Cowboy Guest house in Chiang Mai for 3 month stay. I met a journalist named Richard who was also doing a long stay and I showed him around North Thailand as I could speak Thai and new many nice villages. A man who said he was from Spain was doing a short stay and befriended both of us. We knew him for about 3 days and he asked me if I would talk to girls and take the to japan, the USA or another country where he would them meet them and i would leave and get paid. I thought that very strange and wrong. That evening we went out on the town and he paid for our good time. In the day room he offered us yogurt and I said no thank you and I was going to bed. Richard took the yogurt and ate with him.

The next morning I was to meet Richard for breakfast and head out for a 3 day motorbike journey to visit villages. When he didn't show up i went to his room to wake him and there was no answer from my knocking. I then had Cowboy give me the keys to get into his room. He was laying their lifeless and would not respond to my trying to wake him up. Next to his bed was a heroin kit with needles, spoon, heroin and everying to make it look like a drug overdose. I ran downstairs and flagged a Songteaw. 3 of us carried Richard to the Songteaw and rushed him to McCormick hospital. Richard did survive but only barely. His laptop, money, passport and anything of value from his room was stolen.

Cowboy guest house did not take down passport information from guests at that time and is hopefully now out of business. I gave my full report to the police and informed the US consulate about the strange man from Spain wanting me to take girls out of the country for money.

In my experience living here I have found farangs can be more dangerous than Thais. many Russian, Chinese and European Mafias are in Thailand to exploit tourists.

When people are on holiday they put there guard down. They do things they would never do in their home country. Be vigilant, do not take food from strangers. It seams from the police report this man from Spain used a needle to put a heavy fast acting sleeping drug into Richards yogurt, shot him up with heroin, took everything he had and split right after.

I am so glad I DO NOT take food from strangers.

Be careful,

Randy

Your buddy had a laptop in 1992?

Possible...but they cost between $3000 and $5000 each...

[Nisa]

'I wonder if the friend arrested happened to be Portuguese.man named Tinto.. '

Arrested .... locked up ?

And let out. If he was arrested before the deaths walking them home then it likely would have been for something very unrelated such as being drunk and causing a public disturbance.

[Hellhound66]

Not holiday snaps, she was a Bar Pimp working for the Velvet Dojo -the later pictures were of her in action.

Where are the pics?

She removed 139 pictures yesterday from her Facebook page.

But you have the notes right ? and one assumes you downloaded said photo's for future reference ?

ooops

Edited June 22, 2012 by Hellhound66

[Justaword]

This is worthy of a crime story, sort of MISS MARPLE and INSPECTOR BARNABY. Two elderly sisters suddenly feeling young again, go on a night club spree with a strange Portuguese. We do not know about any serious life problems that should have caused the sisters to commit suicide. 60-year old women do not normally take benzo drink mixes that would make them pass out, do they?

Before to make assumptions, or even posting, you really should try to get (at least) the facts right.

What facts....this whole thread is full of assumptions and speculation....why not add this one as well...the young ladies were cunningly disgused as a 60 year old woman...

Fair point, I retract my comment.....

[Soutpeel]

Not holiday snaps, she was a Bar Pimp working for the Velvet Dojo -the later pictures were of her in action.

Where are the pics?

She removed 139 pictures yesterday from her Facebook page.

You may still have the pictures on your computer in your internet cache folder.

Naah already downloaded and in a secure and encrpyted folder to enable furture searches for "evidence"

[ManInSurat]

If i was these two guys i'd get out asap before the're set up it's called saving face in Thailand

I really do wish people would read.

''There is no need to highlight the presence of a couple of men on the security footage because they had no connection to the deaths of the women.''

''We checked out the prospect of any kind of violence involved in their deaths and have ruled that out''

The Superintendent of Krabi Town police, Colonel Jamroon Rumrom. Already quoted in this thread.

But hey, don't let anything stand in the way of your opportunity to bash Thailand anonymously from behind your monitor and just throw around the phrase "saving face" randomly as if you actually understand Thai culture and how Thais are raised to think.

I'd imagine the need to speak to the last people to see the deceased alive would probably need them to actually locate the people and... I don't know... speak to them. In a police station (yes, where they can savagely beat them, force false confessions, make them dance for food until Sylvester Stallone lands in the police station forecourt in a camouflaged chopper with his AK47s blazing and saves the day.)

I agree with the notion that whatever the authorities say it's going to be a no-win situation.

That is not to say that's there's no precedent for similar deaths on the island and on the mainland. However, all you bashers have a wonderful platform now. Oh great!

The ridiculous use of the word "hunt" in the headline is irresponsible and reprehensible. Take it out please.

P.S. Soutpeel and Hellhound can you guys get a room? It's great you're so enamoured with each other, but do we really have to read all about it?

Edited June 22, 2012 by ManInSurat

[Suradit69]

Good god, where is Columbo when we need him.

ThaiVisa is awash with Inspector Clouseaus and Deputy Dawgs.

There seems to be a belief that anything published in an English langauge newspaper is accurate, the full extent of what the police know and made known to the general public as soon as it is known to the police.

[Hellhound66]

Not holiday snaps, she was a Bar Pimp working for the Velvet Dojo -the later pictures were of her in action.

Where are the pics?

She removed 139 pictures yesterday from her Facebook page.

You may still have the pictures on your computer in your internet cache folder.

Facebook picture browsing does not get to the temporary internet folder

Edited June 22, 2012 by Hellhound66

[dingdang]

Staphylococcus and streptococcus can be found in water...

if the water plant isnt supervised properly, it could have developed them...

they can have caught the bacteria already when having a shower in the afternoon...

especially the later, is often fatal... not with all people, but some die... leads to a toxic shock syndrome, with the same symptoms (skin rash, vomitting, diarrhea)...

the first one is fish poisoning...less dangerous in general - the one in its common form...

there is evidence, that the "staph" also spreads in beach sand..

Edited June 22, 2012 by dingdang

[Soutpeel]

If i was these two guys i'd get out asap before the're set up it's called saving face in Thailand

I really do wish people would read.

''There is no need to highlight the presence of a couple of men on the security footage because they had no connection to the deaths of the women.''

''We checked out the prospect of any kind of violence involved in their deaths and have ruled that out''

The Superintendent of Krabi Town police, Colonel Jamroon Rumrom. Already quoted in this thread.

But hey, don't let anything stand in the way of your opportunity to bash Thailand anonymously from behind your monitor and just throw around the phrase "saving face" randomly as if you actually understand Thai culture and how Thais are raised to think.

I'd imagine the need to speak to the last people to see the deceased alive would probably need them to actually locate the people and... I don't know... speak to them. In a police station (yes, where they can savagely beat them, force false confessions, make them dance for food until Sylvester Stallone lands in the police station forecourt in a camouflaged chopper with his AK47s blazing and saves the day.)

I agree with the notion that whatever the authorities say it's going to be a no-win situation.

That is not say that's there's no precedent for similar deaths on the island and on the mainland. However, all you bashers have a wonderful platform now. Oh great!

The ridiculous use of the word "hunt" in the headline is irresponsible and reprehensible. Take it out please.

P.S. Soutpeel and Hellhound can you guys get a room? It's great you're so enamoured with each other, but do we really have to read all about it?

<deleted> has Sylvester Stallone got to do with anyof this this....he is not Portugese, well I dont think he is...Helicopter's and A-47....I know this thread is bizarre, but think we have a poster who has finally lost the plot.

[dingdang]

possibly the whole island is contamined, and thats why the death rate is so high there...?

[ManInSurat]

<deleted> has Sylvester Stallone got to do with anyof this this....he is not Portugese, well I dont think he is...Helicopter's and A-47....I know this thread is bizarre, but think we have a poster who has finally lost the plot.

Not sure if you're trolling or serious from reading all the other stuff I wrote in that same post, but anyway....

Did you seriously just read that part of the post? Has Hellhound got you all hot and flustered?

Mate, it's just tongue-in-cheek.

I'm sure that's what the bashers and conspiracy theorists see in their head when they're writing about this incident here.

That that's what these "hunted" Portuguese guys would go through when found. You know like a satirical take on how twisted people's minds get.

Throw Elvis and the Loch Ness monster in the chopper for good measure and the picture's complete.

(Alright, alright I saw the Expendables recently.)

Just trying to be silly to make a point. Sigh.

Edited June 22, 2012 by ManInSurat

[lianab]

The fact that they did not seek medical help suggests ingestion of illicit substances.

I read the bed bug cleaning chemical the US believe killed the Chiang Mai tourists (blood samples "lost"!) include the symptom of them vomiting then feinting. (Also stating It doesn't stay in the body long enough to show up in autopsy) so be careful with your use of suggestion and tainting their reputation in case a cause is again "not found" Especially when word is the hotel had the room scrubbed clean with buckets of bleach asap!!

[Puwa]

Obviously these two young women fell prey to a pair of Portuguese ibuprofen dealers.

[coma]

I don't think that the police may have the Portugese men in their sights as possible suspects but merely want to talk to them to find out the movements and habits of the girls leading up to their unfortunate death. I am actually encourage by this development and feel the BIB are on the job with this one [ please don't burn me hard on this statement guys].It was hard to say believe me. And I also don't believe for a minute that the BIB are actually trying to blame Ibprofen for their deaths either.

First off, if the police were just looking to talk to them why would there be headlines that say "police hunt for..." How would you feel if the police were "hunting" for you in Thailand? Besides, if they knew the score here, or talked to someone who did they would know that there is a good possibliity that the police might try to pin this on them, at the very least its going to be a nightmare situation for them to deal with.

Second, of course they don't believe ibuprofen caused their deaths, they're just hoping the uneducated masses assume they did from their strategically placed innapropriate comment.

I would love to have even a grain of faith in the authorities here, but experience tells me otherwise.

"First off ". I am not going to give you a lesson on the propaganda type language media agency's use in headlines to attract a reader by first glance. As you are obviously not including yourself in the " uneducated masses ".

"Second ". Of course . Only if you say so.

[Soutpeel]

<deleted> has Sylvester Stallone got to do with anyof this this....he is not Portugese, well I dont think he is...Helicopter's and A-47....I know this thread is bizarre, but think we have a poster who has finally lost the plot.

Not sure if you're trolling or serious from reading all the other stuff I wrote in that same post, but anyway....

Did you seriously just read that part of the post? Has Hellhound got you all hot and flustered?

Mate, it's just tongue-in-cheek.

I'm sure that's what the bashers and conspiracy theorists see in their head when they're writing about this incident here.

That that's what these "hunted" Portuguese guys would go through when found. You know like a satirical take on how twisted people's minds get.

Throw Elvis and the Loch Ness monster in the chopper for good measure and the picture's complete.

Just trying to be silly to make a point. Sigh.

But you didnt put a smiley ...now your talking.... Elvis and the Loch Ness monster....they might even find Jimmy Hoffa as well...

My little mate...."Hellbound" hasnt got me fluster at all...just find the concept of an old man who is a complete stanger to the person concerned looking through a young girls holidays photo's looking for "incriminating evidence" and proclaiming she has deleted 139 photo's rather creepy thats all....

[Soutpeel]

possibly the whole island is contamined, and thats why the death rate is so high there...?

It might be Elbola..tin foil hat quick

[ManInSurat]

I'd imagine when you have a highly unregulated tourism/hotel industry this kind of thing will continue to happen and very few craps will continue to be given. I'm not bashing here, that's pretty much the truth.

You'd only hope that the adverse media coverage would be enough to force the government into some kind of action. If it's a question of negligence on the hotel's part in this case. There's no evidence that it is, but the island and other places do have form and I can understand that links will be made.

Following the NZ TV channel's private investigation on the Chiang Mai hotel and their findings of illegal insectisdes the Thai government is going to be forced to acknowledge (at least) the regulation of hotels and what chemicals they are allowed to use. Will it lead to real action? I wouldn't like to say. That hotel has now been torn down, I hasten to add. Quite rightly so. This does not mean that and this case are connected though.

Until there's some clear toxicology reports, hopefully done by a private investigation team somehow, there's no reason to think this is a similar incident in any way, other than people died in a hotel from unknown causes.

Also, it has already been clearly pointed out these Portuguese guys are in no way suspects, their only connection is that they happen to be the last people to see the girls alive. It would really stand to reason that the police would need to speak to said people.

If they don't get the Portuguese they're criticized for being lazy or stupid, if they DO get them they're heavy handed and brutal and HUNTING (seriously?) for a scapegoat.

People looking for a reason to refinorce their own Thai-hating agenda will always manage to find one.

We get branded as apologists when we try to point out the truth and fact.

Internet fora are so much fun!

Edited June 22, 2012 by ManInSurat

[F4UCorsair]

It is a no win situation for the police. If they say nothing they are covering up and if they say something they get bashed. Foreigners in this country amaze me, they are the biggest bunch of cry babies I have ever seen. Oh by the way I am not Thai.

Yep HH62, amateur detectives at their very worst (those posting on TV that is). My guess would be that the whole thing has been misreported from snippets gleaned from the wallopers (BiB) by the press. Relax, have a cold beer and let it happen. You can speculate on suggestions and half truths from the press, but mostly the press wouldn't know if their butt holes were punched, bored or drilled.

I see questions about how the BiB know that Tinto was a particularl nationality (he was staying at the hotel and likely had a passport). It's also likely that his friend/accomplice (or whatever he was) was known to the BiB. Nisa said, "Unidentified means not identified - it doesn't mean unknown.". right on the money Nisa.

[Hellhound66]

<deleted> has Sylvester Stallone got to do with anyof this this....he is not Portugese, well I dont think he is...Helicopter's and A-47....I know this thread is bizarre, but think we have a poster who has finally lost the plot.

Not sure if you're trolling or serious from reading all the other stuff I wrote in that same post, but anyway....

Did you seriously just read that part of the post? Has Hellhound got you all hot and flustered?

Mate, it's just tongue-in-cheek.

I'm sure that's what the bashers and conspiracy theorists see in their head when they're writing about this incident here.

That that's what these "hunted" Portuguese guys would go through when found. You know like a satirical take on how twisted people's minds get.

Throw Elvis and the Loch Ness monster in the chopper for good measure and the picture's complete.

Just trying to be silly to make a point. Sigh.

But you didnt put a smiley ...now your talking.... Elvis and the Loch Ness monster....they might even find Jimmy Hoffa as well...

My little mate...."Hellbound" hasnt got me fluster at all...just find the concept of an old man who is a complete stanger to the person concerned looking through a young girls holidays photo's looking for "incriminating evidence" and proclaiming she has deleted 139 photo's rather creepy thats all....

Firstly not holiday photos -work photos. Secondly, public domain, thirdly go to her website and it still says 134 photos (actually 134, my bad) this directory is now empty. This is not a "young girl" this is someone inextricably linked to the case. She has said one of the Portuguese guys was her friend, she has said she partied and danced with the Canadian girls, she is trying to get off the island as quickly as possible -what part of involved in this whole story do you not understand. I will tell you what is creepy -8128 posts on TV.

[gark]

"There were neither signs of fighting, nor robbery, but we found many kinds of over-the-counter-drugs, including ibuprofen, which can cause serious effects on the stomach."

Really, ibuprofen is the most dangerous drug they found in their room?

I've never been a basher but this one has finally got to me.

Good god, where is Columbo when we need him.

You can buy valium, clonazepam, xanax, tramadol, you name it, it can be bought without script in a lot of pharmacies here. If you mix benzos with alcohol and maybe a little opiates, you can get yourself into a very very intoxicated state where you pass out and can choke on your own vomit or die from where your breathing becomes so shallow it eventually stops. I should know, way back I was using valium and other benzos daily and one day I drank a lot of whisky with a lot of benzos and I don't remember 2 whole days after that incident. My GF came back from work to find me in a room full of vomit and with blue lips, but I was not dead luckily. She helped me back to recovery and everything from that point for a good week is hazy. I honestly think these girls maybe were very intoxicated and ended up dying because of it, alcohol plus benzos is really quite a dangerous mix. I could be wrong because they have both died, we shall have to wait and see.

Agree with all of the above as I've treated many patients who had both benzo and alcohol abuse problem. Truely a deadly mix. What puzzles me is that both girls succumbed to something at the same time. That suggests foul play or a powerful poison.

[StarFighter]

Having one contact only is a wise move, cut down on some of the more olympic leaps of conjecture by lazy journalists.

So we have massive vomiting, and young attractive western women, in a third possibly fourth death cluster at holiday destinations mmm what ever could it be. Gosh, I just can't imagine, what on earth could link those two ? Mmmmmm... such a mystery.

Edited June 22, 2012 by StarFighter

[belg]

my god, blaming an over the counter headache medicine ? suddenly after so long there is finaly a cctv footage, what else ?

[JohnAllan]

One man was identified as a Portuguese guest, the other is unidentified. In which case classing the unidentified man as Portuguese seems to be jumping the gun. Unidentified means unrecognised, as opposed to not, or non-, identified, which can be read as recognised but identity not revealed.

[ManInSurat]

Agree with all of the above as I've treated many patients who had both benzo and alcohol abuse problem. Truely a deadly mix. What puzzles me is that both girls succumbed to something at the same time. That suggests foul play or a powerful poison.

Chiang Mai deaths had multiple people succumbing at the same time. The previous 2009 Phi Phi deaths had 2 women succumbing at the same time. It is strange but by no means an isolated incident.

Occam's razor would point you toward illegal chemicals in this instant, as there is a proven precedent for it from Chiang Mai, but that's not to say it's the case here is it?

As for foul play? Hmmm. One thing going for that theory, is that if it was a banned chemical used by the hotel owners I don't see how they could have just affected two people in one room. I'll agree that is rather odd.

Hopefully some investigative journalist not affiliated with the Thai government will be able to get in there and get a sample. It's highly likely the room has been torched/whitewashed though.

Aren't the 2009 Phi Phi deaths still marked as unsolved?

Edited June 22, 2012 by ManInSurat

[JohnAllan]

<deleted> has Sylvester Stallone got to do with anyof this this....he is not Portugese, well I dont think he is...Helicopter's and A-47....I know this thread is bizarre, but think we have a poster who has finally lost the plot.

Not sure if you're trolling or serious from reading all the other stuff I wrote in that same post, but anyway....

Did you seriously just read that part of the post? Has Hellhound got you all hot and flustered?

Mate, it's just tongue-in-cheek.

I'm sure that's what the bashers and conspiracy theorists see in their head when they're writing about this incident here.

That that's what these "hunted" Portuguese guys would go through when found. You know like a satirical take on how twisted people's minds get.

Throw Elvis and the Loch Ness monster in the chopper for good measure and the picture's complete.

Just trying to be silly to make a point. Sigh.

But you didnt put a smiley ...now your talking.... Elvis and the Loch Ness monster....they might even find Jimmy Hoffa as well...

My little mate...."Hellbound" hasnt got me fluster at all...just find the concept of an old man who is a complete stanger to the person concerned looking through a young girls holidays photo's looking for "incriminating evidence" and proclaiming she has deleted 139 photo's rather creepy thats all....

Firstly not holiday photos -work photos. Secondly, public domain, thirdly go to her website and it still says 134 photos (actually 134, my bad) this directory is now empty. This is not a "young girl" this is someone inextricably linked to the case. She has said one of the Portuguese guys was her friend, she has said she partied and danced with the Canadian girls, she is trying to get off the island as quickly as possible -what part of involved in this whole story do you not understand. I will tell you what is creepy -8128 posts on TV.

You've got a way to go to catch up, then.

[Yunla]

The man, believed to be a foreigner

I also have a lot of doubts about the ibuprofen or exstacy or any other drug GHB etc. yes you can die from overdose but generally it doesn't make your gums bleed and nails blacken etc. They seem much more like they have been intentionally poisoned with insecticide concentrate or rat poison. It is like their systems were overwhelmed with toxins which is unusual for a OD. OD is more like black out, convulsion, asphyxiation etc, respiratory and brain problems, unlike the extreme toxic reaction symptoms these girls had. Also the long time they spent in the room being sick which suggest massive toxic-overload rather than drug OD which typically would knock them straight out. Obviously now we know it was foreigners involved in the deaths and obviously it was food poisoning, but I would suggest there might be a local serial-killer on the island who has been poisoning for a long time. I'm surprised this possibilty was never raised by the police.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Yunla

[ManInSurat]

One man was identified as a Portuguese guest, the other is unidentified. In which case classing the unidentified man as Portuguese seems to be jumping the gun. Unidentified means unrecognised, as opposed to not, or non-, identified, which can be read as recognised but identity not revealed.

Only one of the men would have had to have handed in their passport to the hotel when staying in one room.

I'd imagine the police have his name from the copy the hotel took and there's no record of the other. That's the most logical conclusion really.

I'd imagine they have ways and means to find out the name of the other Portuguese now they know who Mr Tinto is.

They have come out and said there is no connection to the men so therefore, it's a bit irrelevant really.