DNA tests will be done in Singapore

[Lite Beer]

KOH TAO MURDERS
DNA tests will be done in Singapore
The Sunday Nation

National police chief Pol-General Somyot Poompanmoung, second from left at front, visits Koh Tao yesterday to oversee the hunt for the killers of two British tourists.

KOH TAO: -- Semen and cigarette butts seen as key to finding who killed Britons on Koh Tao

Semen found on the body of one of the two British tourists murdered on Koh Tao in Surat Thani province last Sunday will be examined in a Singapore laboratory, national police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung said yesterday.

Somyot said the DNA test would be able to identify the race, hair colour and skin colour of the person, which would help with the police investigation.

It is understood cigarette butts found at the crime scene will also be sent to Singapore for DNA analysis, although Somyot did not mention the butts in his remarks to reporters yesterday during a visit to the island.

Somyot had earlier said the authorities would ask the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct the test, as the police's Institute of Forensic Medicine's DNA test was capable of only identifying the sex.

He said police had clues that pointed to the perpetrators of the crime being Asian men and he was "confident" they remained on the island in the Gulf of Thailand. Surveillance camera footage obtained one day after the brutal slayings showed an Asian-looking man running from the scene.

Somyot was speaking on Koh Tao, where police investigators simulated the crime using a few scenarios.

They were: the attackers followed the victims from a bar; the attackers randomly selected them after spotting them walking; with police following the route they suspect the attackers took before they killed the victims on the beach.

Somyot said police were trying to pinpoint how long the attackers were at the scene based on cigarettes that were discarded there. Police found, through DNA analysis, that one of the cigarette butts was smoked by two people, and semen from both men was found in the female victim's body.

Somyot said a theory had been established about another possible weapon used in the murder apart from a blood-stained garden hoe found near the crime scene. The theory centred on the weapon being returned from where it was taken from in a hurried manner.

Three musicians played at beach

The general said surveillance camera footage of all travellers coming onto the island and leaving it in the days leading up to last Sunday was being examined.

DNA samples had been collected from 12 suspects and another 30 people who were potential suspects.

Somyot said migrant workers and Thai residents lived near the crime scene, including three musicians of unknown nationality who were playing on Chor Por Ror beach, where the crime took place, on the night of the murders. Police had not excluded there being other potential suspects, whom he said could be anyone including Thai residents or tourists staying on the island.

Somyot offered a Bt100,000 reward, which is on top of the Bt100,000 bounty offered by Koh Kao residents and tour operators on the island, for information leading to the arrest of the killers.

Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday issued a letter of condolence to his British counterpart David Cameron and the families of victims, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, both aged 24.

He vowed to closely coordinate with the British authorities and the British embassy about the hunt for the killers.

Prayuth had earlier apologised over his controversial bikini comments in the wake of the murders. He suggested women in bikinis could be more vulnerable to attack.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/DNA-tests-will-be-done-in-Singapore-30243745.html

-- The Nation 2014-09-21

[cloudhopper]

That is all encouraging news.

[JeremyBowskill]

Really cloudhopper? I don't see anything new, other than DNA tests will be now done in Singapore........

[dickyknee]

Really cloudhopper? I don't see anything new, other than DNA tests will be now done in Singapore........

well they had already established the perps were Asian, now they will be able to identify skin and hair colour.

[Kabula]

The rewards should expedite justice.

[Soutpeel]

Really cloudhopper? I don't see anything new, other than DNA tests will be now done in Singapore........

I do....

"Three musicians played at beach" talk about a random sentance being added, well done the Nation, another example of superb, concise, factual copy writing, do they actually have anyone who can proof read at the Nation ?

[JeremyBowskill]

Really cloudhopper? I don't see anything new, other than DNA tests will be now done in Singapore........

well they had already established the perps were Asian, now they will be able to identify skin and hair colour.

Well being as its a beach location and they are Asian, I will go out on a limb and say black hair and dark skin lol

[NongKhaiKid]

We will call in FBI experts - No we can do it ourselves - No the tests will be done in Singapore !

Let's hope the chain of evidence has been properly preserved otherwise the lab may refuse to do the tests or at least warn their findings may not be accurate due to improper handling prior to reaching them.

[IMA_FARANG]

I'm sorry, but frankly the information that all that data can be found in the DNA is pure television nonsense.

Especially, the information that any DNA test can determine the hair color.

All that DNA can provide is the probabilities it assumes of your origin.

As an example, if an English couple is living in Singapore at the time when they have a child, the child's DNA will NOT show he or she was born in Singapore.

And HAIR COLOR is NOT determined by DNA. Nor for that matter is skin color.

All that can be definitely stated is what the DNA reveals of the possible combinations and the likelihood based on the PROBABILITIES the DNA indicate.

All that can be said is that if he or she is of Asiatic origin, the probability that his or her hair will be black colored is GREATER than the probability that his or her hair will be blond.

So all that DNA testing can assert is the probabilities, but it can not PROVE a person's Race, Hair Color, National Origin, or area of birth.

All that can be done is to state the probabilities based on the percentages .

But, so as not argue, I'll just say this one time, and that is the end of the matter for me, now.

I'm gone now.

[Soutpeel]

Really cloudhopper? I don't see anything new, other than DNA tests will be now done in Singapore........

well they had already established the perps were Asian, now they will be able to identify skin and hair colour.

Well being as its a beach location and they are Asian, I will go out on a limb and say black hair and dark skin lol

elementary my dear Watson....

[draftvader]

"...capable of only identifying the sex"

Yep, and that is while discussing DNA testing on.....SEMEN!!!

[Somtamnication]

Not much of a crime scene, after onlookers and rescue workers trampled all over the area. What a joke! This is so unbelievably sad.

[Chang_paarp]

Yet again the Thai police are demonstrating the need for a professional police force with competence as the criteria for promotion.

[Fred Flinstone]

I emailed this case to a friend who studies criminal psychology .

She seems to think that the particular viciousness of the attack on the woman's face , hints at psychopath behaviour.

She went on to say because its a small Island the usual procedure apart from Male DNA testing , would be background checks.

Psychopaths often have a common thread like the hurting of animals as children or adults.

Torturing and killing a dog for instance.

The fawning of empathy while being responsible for a crime.

Many are extremely intelligent and plan these things for weeks/months/years and have evidence in their abodes or computers as such.

Often they reoffend if not caught.

Triggers include rejection, and sexual fantasy -

Many have clues such as stalking someone in the past but quickly desist.

She thinks the victim has at some point most likely met her killer-

And the woman's attractiveness aroused the killers profile wants .

The chances of another victim being slain and raped will depend on the accomplice being of a similar mind set.

Its almost certain they will lie low for a while.

And the killer wait until things settle .

But within 2-3 years rape and murder again

[thesetat2013]

The question still remains. If they had initially sought any race as the perp and initially sought to identify the race rather than openly state a thai could not do this and it focus their search on farangs then maybe, just maybe the killers would have been identified and captured already. Their open comment here about being certain the killer is on the island still is merely a load of B.S. Wishful thinking and at the same time is restoring so much confidence for all women there wanting to go out at night. Hmmpp! Their ineptness and blunders in investigation techniques is amazing. I sincerely hope that even given so much time has passed and so many f-ups were done by the police that this killer\rapist is caught quickly.

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[chooka]

they were doing it themselves, then the FBI was going to do it then they completed it themselves and now it is going to be done in Singapore? I guess tomorrow it will be done in Fiji.

[BSJ]

Were the 3 musician's bought to the beach to provide background music for the police chief. It must be pretty boring looking at rocks and sand!

"National police chief Pol-General Somyot Poompanmoung" He doesn't carry a side arm!

[BSJ]

Were the 3 musician's bought to the beach to provide background music for the police chief. It must be pretty boring looking at rocks and sand!

"National police chief Pol-General Somyot Poompanmoung" He doesn't carry a side arm!

[draftvader]

As a Brit I think it is high time that Mark Kent was made to prove his relationship development to his employers at the FCO by pressuring on the ground involvement of Scotland Yard.

As a Brit I have also decided to spend the day outside counting the flying pigs.

[jpeg]

Another tourist has said two of his female friends had recently been mugged by two Thais on a motorbike at that same spot. I would have thought a police report would have been made, if only for insurance purposes. Why don't they start there? Or is it too Thai? The fact they have primarily focused on other Westerners and migrants only (if reports are to be believed) beggars belief if muggings by Thais occur on the island. It also occurs to me that the gang boss of any migrant worker group would have noticed if any of his staff were missing. too easy?

[chooka]

Were the 3 musician's bought to the beach to provide background music for the police chief. It must be pretty boring looking at rocks and sand!

"National police chief Pol-General Somyot Poompanmoung" He doesn't carry a side arm!

and that just shows these bumbling numb nuts look even more stupid.

[rametindallas]

I wonder if having the Army in charge had any influence on the police reaching out beyond Thailand's borders. This is a humility I haven't seen reported since the Yingluck government got assistance from Singapore for the pipeline break that fouled the waters around Koh Samet. In any case, it is a good thing for Thai people to look beyond their borders; especially with the AEC so close. This is good news.

[culicine]

wow! So they are saying police have never used DNA to identify rapists in Thailand, yet the technology is readily available overseas. I hope they get with the times and spend a bit of money and training of staff to utilize it.

[thailiketoo]

Were the 3 musician's bought to the beach to provide background music for the police chief. It must be pretty boring looking at rocks and sand!

"National police chief Pol-General Somyot Poompanmoung" He doesn't carry a side arm!

and that just shows these bumbling numb nuts look even more stupid.

Perhaps he was trained in a country where the police don't carry side arms?

[coma]

Cigerettes at the scene may well prove to be the best evidence yet. Identifying how many individuals in the group will go a long way to help point the BIB in the right direction. It also may show that the group spent a fair amount of time at the scene. Which equals familiarity with the area and an apparent view they would not be interupted. Local of if not Koh Tao, the from one of the other party Island nearby.

I wonder if the BIB have been looking into speed boat movement to and from the Island on the day/night of the crime.

[mrtoad]

As a Brit I think it is high time that Mark Kent was made to prove his relationship development to his employers at the FCO by pressuring on the ground involvement of Scotland Yard.

As a Brit I have also decided to spend the day outside counting the flying pigs.

Kent is probably too busy sipping G an Ts with the rest of the morons at The Embassy.

[Soutpeel]

As a Brit I think it is high time that Mark Kent was made to prove his relationship development to his employers at the FCO by pressuring on the ground involvement of Scotland Yard.

As a Brit I have also decided to spend the day outside counting the flying pigs.

Kent is probably too busy sipping G an Ts with the rest of the morons at The Embassy.

i think these days, it more likely to be a cup of stewed British rail tea, as in order not to offend other cultures, the Britsh Civil Service has banned many "British institutions" such as the G&T and the bacon/HP sauce sandwich at its facilities..

[draftvader]

As a Brit I think it is high time that Mark Kent was made to prove his relationship development to his employers at the FCO by pressuring on the ground involvement of Scotland Yard.

As a Brit I have also decided to spend the day outside counting the flying pigs.

Kent is probably too busy sipping G an Ts with the rest of the morons at The Embassy.

i think these days, it more likely to be a cup of stewed British rail tea, as in order not to offend other cultures, the Britsh Civil Service has banned many "British institutions" such as the G&T and the bacon/HP sauce sandwich at its facilities..

Good. This subject should not get too derailed by this embassy talk (even though I bought it up) however my own personal involvements with the embassy have been negative. Money for old rope and no help when really needed by a British Citizen (we're not talking arrest here we're talking supporting a British couple having a baby outside of the normal environment in Thailand (even longer story) which ended up with us being supported by a well meaning member of staff at the FCO in London who was disappointed by the British Embassy in Thailand).

As far as I am concerned I am happy for Mark Kent to be bridging business partnerships, etc but he should remember the support services for his citizens. When I talk to citizens of many other countries about how their embassies work for them I am ashamed.

Cup of British Rail tea is too good for these free-loaders.

--EDIT TO BRING THIS BACK ON TRACK--

Mark Kent, if you actually bother to monitor the busiest expat discussion in the country for mentions of your name or "British Embassy", please push for Scotland Yard involvement. FBI, Singapore....this is great....should be Scotland Yard (which can now keep its name). This is important for your business relationships in this country. If you don't understand this then you are just more evidence of "jobs for the boys".

Edited September 21, 2014 by draftvader

[starky]

Really cloudhopper? I don't see anything new, other than DNA tests will be now done in Singapore........

well they had already established the perps were Asian, now they will be able to identify skin and hair colour.

hmmmm I don't know hard one that, it won't be light skin fair hair and blue eyes now will it? I will take a wild stab in the dark and go with dark skin, black hair, brown eyes. Really it's getting farcical they initially couldn't identify anything from the sperm, then they were going to call in the FBI. Then all of a sudden it was determined by the sperm sample that the perp was asian now it's being done in Singapore. What a joke I really feel for the families of these poor kids what a tragedy and what a cluster f... this investigation is turning out to be.

[ToddinChonburi]

Everyday brings something new, this is reading like a really bad book now. OK WHO IS REALLY GOING TO DO THE DNA TESTING !!!!!!

I wonder why they are not working with the British authorities on this, to much stubborn Thai pride or a cover up.