Thai police hunt killers of two Britons found beaten to death

[transam]

If the UK police fly out here and get involved there will be nooooo cover up....

[max72]

On Tuesday Thai junta chief and prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha appeared to call into question the victims' conduct in addition to the perpetrators of the attack.

"We have to look into the behaviour of the other party too because this kind of incident should not happen to anybody and it has affected our image," he told reporters, referring to the two tourists.

No! he also said: this kind of incident should not happen to anybody

and what is wrong if they care for their image?

Dreadful, draconian, chauvanistic comments......this from the PM....."affected our image".....unbelievable!!

What does he attempt to say ?

That the other party's behaviour caused that horrendous crime ?

That was it a consequence ?

It is terrible somebody could say something like that.

Tell me something: what about if the couple was sit hand to hand on the beach watching the sea and listening to the waves crushing ?

They could be attacked anyway, couldn't they ?

If we want to question the behaviour of couples making love on the beach, we can do that, but another day. Not today.

[shaurene]

This is such a sad horrible murder, police should get the swabs from the poor young lady ASAP then do the DNA tests on the guys. Police could possibly get voluntary blood samples from most males in and around the area then they stand a gig chance of success. Let's hope, if people refuse then there could be further questioning. Innocent people would give the blood for testing so the police could investigate a lower amount of males in the island.

Let's hope Guys.

[sweatalot]

On a another note, I must say its not fair to say that these poor migrants from Myammar, Cambodia etc are always used as scapegoats as some of these Cambodians, Burmese and even Fillipinos (a lot in Thailand these days).....can be very nasty and terrible creatures too.

Same as some Thai people

[tracker1]

One thing that surprises me after attending some crime scenes is the total lack of a thing called Preserving the Crime Scene everyone and anyone tramps around for a look, never have I see such happen! so all minor evidence is almost totally destroyed in the hoards of feet treading the immediate area.

[shaurene]

If the UK police fly out here and get involved there will be nooooo cover up....

UK Police will not get any further than the Thai police. The Thai police will not cover this up transam. They want their man badly. They will get a bloody good pat on the head if they solve this fast.

[Torrens54]

Who can you blame for any wrong doing, if NOT the "Bad" Burmese?

If the sun should fail to Rise in The East...it WILL BE the FAULT of the BURMESE! Just ask my wife, SHE KNOWS!

[sweatalot]

You can be sure that in-between 24 hours we hear that these 3 non-thais are the killers. thai police has to show quick results now, it's a matter of business and national pride. How they get the confession out of these poor guys, you and me know how they do.....

I hope the present government will not be that stupid. Would not fit to their performance up to now.

[shaurene]

One thing that surprises me after attending some crime scenes is the total lack of a thing called Preserving the Crime Scene everyone and anyone tramps around for a look, never have I see such happen! so all minor evidence is almost totally destroyed in the hoards of feet treading the immediate area.

Ye, like the hoe, bet all the police have held it so many times and no fingerprint testing. No crime area sealed off walking all over the sand foot prints.

[Incobart]

The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

Personally I know a lot of Burmese and I almost cannot imagine they will leave there construction to go kill 2 foreigners that have sex .. , maybe looking a bit and laughing ....

a yea-louse friend maybe, but how he get the hoe ? or some muslim Thai, that feel like unacceptable behavior on there land ? robbery ?

many possibilities but accuse a Burmese is an easy target

[spidermike007]

OMG. what a bunch of whiners. THEN GO TO COURT and asked to be arrested instead of taking the much easier and cheaper way out. It is not extortion, it is a choice you have many times and when I say many times I mean sometimes there is no option to pay a bribe or pay a fine on the street. Not to mention you can also ask for a receipt if paying a legitimate fine on the street. It is as much extortion as it is paying a fine anywhere else in the world when you do something wrong.

If only in my home country you could avoid expensive tickets, court fees, higher in insurance rates by paying $3 or $6 o the spot. And by the way POLICE ACCEPT FINES in Thailand, you have the choice to go to the station or court and post bail and all that but it is perfectly legal and acceptable to pay the fine to the police officer when caught doing something wrong.

It's rare to find someone so naive, not to mention annoying. BIB fines paid on the street to do not result in a receipt; if you want a receipt you have to go to a police station and spend the rest of the day waiting for it.

The situation here is that you are arrested and incarcerated. POLICE, not court, bail will not be granted unless you have a legal representative, and surprise, the BIB will arrange one for you at an exorbitant price. Those unwilling to pay are kept locked up without access to the courts, and delays seem to occur and recur.

Here on Samui, we warn people about these practices, and they still come back much lighter in pocket on a regular basis.

Thanks so much for saving me the effort of trying to enlighten this man who almost appears to be a Thai police PR rep.

[draftvader]

As often with a high profile case the BiB make a fast arrest. Often it concerns foreign workers (from Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar). Now see if there's a DNA match. If not start looking for Thai suspects.

Call me a skeptic but I have zero faith that the DNA will match anyone other than exactly who the Thai police wish it to match, and for sure this will not be a Thai.

I just hope they don't overlook taking a DNA sample from the dead man. Seems most likely he was having sex with her. Now there is some evidence that they found a used condom.....seems more and more likely that the Brit on the mainland has a larger part to play in this than they thought.

How keystone can it get?

"You have injuries"

"I got them last week on Koh Phan Ngan"

"Ah, that's OK, bye"

Did it ever occur that there might be NO injuries on the attacker....fack-tards

[spidermike007]

The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

Personally I know a lot of Burmese and I almost cannot imagine they will leave there construction to go kill 2 foreigners that have sex .. , maybe looking a bit and laughing ....

a yea-louse friend maybe, but how he get the hoe ? or some muslim Thai, that feel like unacceptable behavior on there land ? robbery ?

many possibilities but accuse a Burmese is an easy target

I guess he never read the international statistics. Thailand is almost dead even with the US, in terms of the per capita murder rate. 4.9 per 100,000 here. It is 5.1 in the US. So, there is murder here after all. What he may be saying is, I cannot imagine a Thai killing a foreigner. Mostly, Thais kill each other. But, a fabulously ignorant thing for any policemen to say, much less a senior officer. Wow.

[joebrown]

This is just so very sad and cruel. Think about the parents of these young people. How must they be feeling now? Impossible to comprehend such pain.

I hope they find the people that did this whatever nationality.

.

Thank you minikev. I've been reading all the posts, the up-dates and what the PM and police are reported to have said, and something is MISSING from almost all I've seen. Yours is the first post to mention the grief of the parents/family of these victims. Most noticable is the lack of any form of sadness for the families of the murdered pair. All we see is the usual Thai sorrow of how this will affect the tourist industry, ie the baht in the pockets of the 'so pristine' and deserving tourist service industries in LOS. Maybe a little sympathy and sorrow by the PM/TAT for the families of the the deceased might be in order!

[JohnThailandJohn]

OMG. what a bunch of whiners. THEN GO TO COURT and asked to be arrested instead of taking the much easier and cheaper way out. It is not extortion, it is a choice you have many times and when I say many times I mean sometimes there is no option to pay a bribe or pay a fine on the street. Not to mention you can also ask for a receipt if paying a legitimate fine on the street. It is as much extortion as it is paying a fine anywhere else in the world when you do something wrong.

If only in my home country you could avoid expensive tickets, court fees, higher in insurance rates by paying $3 or $6 o the spot. And by the way POLICE ACCEPT FINES in Thailand, you have the choice to go to the station or court and post bail and all that but it is perfectly legal and acceptable to pay the fine to the police officer when caught doing something wrong.

It's rare to find someone so naive, not to mention annoying. BIB fines paid on the street to do not result in a receipt; if you want a receipt you have to go to a police station and spend the rest of the day waiting for it.

The situation here is that you are arrested and incarcerated. POLICE, not court, bail will not be granted unless you have a legal representative, and surprise, the BIB will arrange one for you at an exorbitant price. Those unwilling to pay are kept locked up without access to the courts, and delays seem to occur and recur.

Here on Samui, we warn people about these practices, and they still come back much lighter in pocket on a regular basis.

Thanks so much for saving me the effort of trying to enlighten this man who almost appears to be a Thai police PR rep.

Except for the fact that Police do provide legal receipts for paying fines on the spot for minor infractions and if you have ever driven and been stopped here you'd know this or you can simply open your eyes as you walk down some areas and see them giving receipts to those paying fines for littering such as throwing down cigarette buts -- same is true when you see check points on the road and them having their receipt books out. It is not only normal but common and legal and is a legal process of doing things. Please be careful of providing people incorrect information as it is not extortion which would imply it is illegal ... not would it be extortion to offer to pay less and pass on the official receipt, this would be a bribe.

[Andre0720]

Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances.

Sounds like police doing policing. So many here LOVE to complain about police not doing their jobs but then complain when they do. FYI, paying authorities for crimes you commit is not blackmail but rather called a fine.

Paying cash directly to the officers in order to avoid arrest is the definition of blackmail and is what jaidam is referring to. This is very, very common in Thailand, not just with tourists.

Perhaps more an "easier way out" rather than blackmail.

Sometimes police act as judge and jury, and allow a problem resolution without going through the regular process.

For a fee....

[joebrown]

The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

Personally I know a lot of Burmese and I almost cannot imagine they will leave there construction to go kill 2 foreigners that have sex .. , maybe looking a bit and laughing ....

a yea-louse friend maybe, but how he get the hoe ? or some muslim Thai, that feel like unacceptable behavior on there land ? robbery ?

many possibilities but accuse a Burmese is an easy target

I guess he never read the international statistics. Thailand is almost dead even with the US, in terms of the per capita murder rate. 4.9 per 100,000 here. It is 5.1 in the US. So, there is murder here after all. What he may be saying is, I cannot imagine a Thai killing a foreigner. Mostly, Thais kill each other. But, a fabulously ignorant thing for any policemen to say, much less a senior officer. Wow.

Do you really believe these statistics? I ask his because the BIB have a somewhat over exuberance in classifying almost all farang deaths as being a result of suicide.

[dBrown]

The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

Personally I know a lot of Burmese and I almost cannot imagine they will leave there construction to go kill 2 foreigners that have sex .. , maybe looking a bit and laughing ....

a yea-louse friend maybe, but how he get the hoe ? or some muslim Thai, that feel like unacceptable behavior on there land ? robbery ?

many possibilities but accuse a Burmese is an easy target

I guess he never read the international statistics. Thailand is almost dead even with the US, in terms of the per capita murder rate. 4.9 per 100,000 here. It is 5.1 in the US. So, there is murder here after all. What he may be saying is, I cannot imagine a Thai killing a foreigner. Mostly, Thais kill each other. But, a fabulously ignorant thing for any policemen to say, much less a senior officer. Wow.

He cannot imagine a Thai killing a foreigner ?

He should start reading the newspaper, because I know of at least 17 cases so out of my head.

[zyphodb]

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2 facts not mentioned in any reports.

The crime scene is a stone's throw from the islands police station. Come out the police station, turn left and walk straight down the road for about 50 meters and you arrive at the crime scene. Any noise,screaming,shouting would easily be heard at the police station, providing there was somebody there and the tv volume wasn't cranked up.

The police have been busy extorting tourists in recent days, likely leaving the station unattended. I know this because I was rudely stopped while riding a scooter and an imposing physical search was carried out by a group of 5 policemen on the 14th. Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances. If anything changes as a result of this crime, I hope all Koh Tao police will be changed for real police.

People with such behavier, scooter - no helmet,

only a little bit of drugs,

only a little bit druncan and driving,

this are not tourists which we like here in thailand,

Police is correct to check and panish them !

And send them back and blacklist for ever !

Hope more police will show up in future and escort back

such elements to the airport !

The best thing that you could do is go back to which ever planet that you landed from, back in the real world all these things are very minor offences....

[MJP]

On Tuesday Thai junta chief and prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha appeared to call into question the victims' conduct in addition to the perpetrators of the attack.

"We have to look into the behaviour of the other party too because this kind of incident should not happen to anybody and it has affected our image," he told reporters, referring to the two tourists.

Dreadful, draconian, chauvanistic comments......this from the PM....."affected our image".....unbelievable!!

Agreed.

&lt;deleted&gt; 'em. Go holiday some place else everyone. It's not safe, nor is it even pleasant.

[Jinjo14]

Very tragic news. My heart goes out to their families. Just had to convince my mum on the phone that we're not at any risk. She was on the verge of hysterics.

May they RIP and whoever did this be brought swiftly to justice

[JohnThailandJohn]

The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

Personally I know a lot of Burmese and I almost cannot imagine they will leave there construction to go kill 2 foreigners that have sex .. , maybe looking a bit and laughing ....

a yea-louse friend maybe, but how he get the hoe ? or some muslim Thai, that feel like unacceptable behavior on there land ? robbery ?

many possibilities but accuse a Burmese is an easy target

I guess he never read the international statistics. Thailand is almost dead even with the US, in terms of the per capita murder rate. 4.9 per 100,000 here. It is 5.1 in the US. So, there is murder here after all. What he may be saying is, I cannot imagine a Thai killing a foreigner. Mostly, Thais kill each other. But, a fabulously ignorant thing for any policemen to say, much less a senior officer. Wow.

Do you really believe these statistics? I ask his because the BIB have a somewhat over exuberance in classifying almost all farang deaths as being a result of suicide.

Have to be careful too because probably around 25% of the homicides are due to the unrest in the south.

[spidermike007]

The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

Personally I know a lot of Burmese and I almost cannot imagine they will leave there construction to go kill 2 foreigners that have sex .. , maybe looking a bit and laughing ....

a yea-louse friend maybe, but how he get the hoe ? or some muslim Thai, that feel like unacceptable behavior on there land ? robbery ?

many possibilities but accuse a Burmese is an easy target

I guess he never read the international statistics. Thailand is almost dead even with the US, in terms of the per capita murder rate. 4.9 per 100,000 here. It is 5.1 in the US. So, there is murder here after all. What he may be saying is, I cannot imagine a Thai killing a foreigner. Mostly, Thais kill each other. But, a fabulously ignorant thing for any policemen to say, much less a senior officer. Wow.

What kind of mushrooms are you on? Good stuff, huh? Thanks for doing the Thai policemens work, and declaring a foreigner the perpetrator.

[recycler]

2 facts not mentioned in any reports.

The crime scene is a stone's throw from the islands police station. Come out the police station, turn left and walk straight down the road for about 50 meters and you arrive at the crime scene. Any noise,screaming,shouting would easily be heard at the police station, providing there was somebody there and the tv volume wasn't cranked up.

The police have been busy extorting tourists in recent days, likely leaving the station unattended. I know this because I was rudely stopped while riding a scooter and an imposing physical search was carried out by a group of 5 policemen on the 14th. Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances. If anything changes as a result of this crime, I hope all Koh Tao police will be changed for real police.

If you are stupid enough to think that having small amounts of prohibited substances is small offense in Thailand you are really applying for an extended stay in a government sponsored hotel!

[halloween]

Except for the fact that Police do provide legal receipts for paying fines on the spot for minor infractions and if you have ever driven and been stopped here you'd know this or you can simply open your eyes as you walk down some areas and see them giving receipts to those paying fines for littering such as throwing down cigarette buts -- same is true when you see check points on the road and them having their receipt books out. It is not only normal but common and legal and is a legal process of doing things. Please be careful of providing people incorrect information as it is not extortion which would imply it is illegal ... not would it be extortion to offer to pay less and pass on the official receipt, this would be a bribe.

Dear John, there is a difference between official check points and "unofficial." What you see in BKK does not necessarily correlate to small islands 700km away. It would seem that locals relating their experience and that of others is insufficient for you, that we must have something to gain by attempting to educate you and others less naive.So I can only ask you if you would like to come down here and try it for yourself.

Bring money, lots of it.

[spidermike007]

2 facts not mentioned in any reports.

The crime scene is a stone's throw from the islands police station. Come out the police station, turn left and walk straight down the road for about 50 meters and you arrive at the crime scene. Any noise,screaming,shouting would easily be heard at the police station, providing there was somebody there and the tv volume wasn't cranked up.

The police have been busy extorting tourists in recent days, likely leaving the station unattended. I know this because I was rudely stopped while riding a scooter and an imposing physical search was carried out by a group of 5 policemen on the 14th. Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances. If anything changes as a result of this crime, I hope all Koh Tao police will be changed for real police.

People with such behavier, scooter - no helmet,

only a little bit of drugs,

only a little bit druncan and driving,

this are not tourists which we like here in thailand,

Police is correct to check and panish them !

And send them back and blacklist for ever !

Hope more police will show up in future and escort back

such elements to the airport !

The best thing that you could do is go back to which ever planet that you landed from, back in the real world all these things are very minor offences....

Thank you. Insinuating that a young tourist smoking a joint harms the country is a bit silly. Not does it imply they are a bad element. However, the police extorting 100,000 baht, for possession of a joint, does represent a bad element. Make your judgment.

[khunpa]

Its pretty amazing.

When I first told about the murders to my Thai-girlfriend, her first response was "Someone from Burma or Cambodia did it". She must be psychic!

[ukrules]

My girlfriend who is Thai was watching the Thai language news about this incident on the TV last night and she complained to me that they seem more worried about Thailands image than the fact that two young holidaymakers were killed.

She was pretty pissed off by the remarks reported on TV and said that human life is worth more than any image issue Thailand might have.

[FangFerang]

Could be any national but it is striking only foreigners are current suspects. Far too much "its them" since this tragedy happened

No point blaming foreign workers from Myanmar or anywhere else and trying to pass off its not Thailand's responsibility, even if it does turn out to be a non Thai the Thais employ them, they don't care what background or history people have as long as they come cheap. Ultimately Thailand is responsible for tourists safety in Thailand, and they totally failed these two people.

This is an extremely high profile incident in the UK and The British government will no doubt be taking a keen interest and quite possibly will want to substantiate any DNA matched to any suspects before its rushed through any courts. I don't think this time a half baked rush job on any patsy will cut it or accepted by HM Gov and nor should it.

It's like the woman who had sand kicked on her because she didn't rent a tourist chair. It was a Myanmar illegal worker...and NO ONE in authority questioned the Thai boss of the worker, nor was their an inquiry into who hired the illegal worker...

The whole thing is wrapped up like the Cambodian women who were raped and rushed to the border for export. I swear, I think TAT thinks no one has a memory longer than yesterday's news.

No Thais involved...move along...nothing to see here...again....

yeah, right.

[GTI68]

The 'used' condom holds all the evidence, assuming it wasn't used 3 months ago .... don't lose it guys or throw it into the bin as beach garbage.....

That should have been the first thing to be analysed... so let's assume it is right now, and not the post-haste-mortem.

A USED CONDOM as evidence in a rape and murder case? My, what a considerate rapist! Give me a break...

The condom could have come from the couple and not the murder/possible rapist

I guess the clever Thai police already found out the most likely story what happened is this:

the young couple left the party to have some fun with each other. That's why there is a condom found.

For what reason should a rapist use a condom?

They were naked. Not unusual when having sex.

The perps came to the scene and wanted to have some "fun", too - or only the money or the mobile ...

When the couple tried to chase them away - the hoe was used

Anyway may be quitre different - who knows?

To what ethnic belong most of the people on the island?

It is most likely that the perps belong to that ethnic whose number is biggest. (Only likely not proof)

But that does not say anything about the violence proneness of that ethnicity

"Thais do not do that" is utter BS - enough proof for the opposite.

That stupid racist copper should be sacked

Jeppers cried Mate. Get something else to do.

These are two people who WERE murdered!

And you have solved the ":mystery" from your flippen chair!