Thailand beach murders: Hannah Witheridge and David Miller may have argued in bar with gangster

[GOLDBUGGY]

What do they think? That a killer is going to hang around to see if he can get caught?

Of course he fled the Island. Who wouldn't? This is why they should have closed the door right away and stopped everyone from leaving until they were sure this was safe to do so.

I have heard of this once, when a friend of mine got stuck on a passenger ship for 3 days during a Police Investigation, as one of the crew members disappear. Turns out he jumped Overboard and Police ruled it a Suicide. But until they knew that for sure, and had something to back that up that belief, nobody was going anywhere!

[culicine]

"But there were also fears the killer may already have fled"

Translates as "bungled investigation" and now some poor soul is probably going to hang for it to save face for the bunglers.

I think it will be hard to find a patsy for this, especially as DNA had been collected. I certainly hope the best Thai detectives are working on this, and not just the local cops, who probably have very little in the way of dealing with murder investigations.

[mango66]

This latest "possibility" is what the smart money has been on for some time. It's yet to be proven but I felt from the outset that yaba wouldn't be far away from this crime. Users literally lose their minds on that stuff. Has the autopsy ascertained whether the victims had partaken in it ? One possibility could be a drug gathering that got out of hand, hence the victims were not necessarily stalked or pounced upon whilst walking home. Just a possibility given the shared cigarette scenario and the attackers being more than one.

Trying to become a honorary Thai citizen??

Blaming it on the victims, I thought, that was reserved for the Thai authorities. So according to your theory the victims were not only wearing beachwear on the beach, but were drug-users as well?? Keep your stupid theories to yourself and show some respect for the families of the victims!!

As for the OP, it is from an English rag. About as trustworthy as the Thai police!!

100% sure, 99,99 % doen't go for drugs to Koh Tau or Haad Rin !!

And their families 100% sure their kids never took drugs;

so please dont mention it here that their kids could take drugs on Koh Tau !!

[JoeLing]

Yet another press release.......this is investigation/trial by media and just serves to give an even stronger impression of how little the police seem to know about conducting an investigation of this nature

Well sometimes police press releases do serve a useful purpose.

LONDON — British police apologized Wednesday for using a stun gun to subdue a blind stroke victim they wrongly thought was carrying a samurai sword, a bizarre case of mistaken identity that left the man fearing for his life.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/uk-police-stun-gun-blind-man_n_1973635.html

Speaking of stronger perceptions of ineptitude, the Brits are miles ahead of Thai police and probably have a whole department solely for alerting the public to their latest cockup.

.

Now to be honest, who cares if in the UK, USA or wherever it's better or worse than Thailand?

If I'd care what's going on in those countries, I would praise or blame the system in a local

forum but, I live here in Thailand with all it's good and bad sides, that's why I joined an ex-pat

forum in Thailand to discussions about the good and the bad sides of the place I live in.

Enough problems and s##t is going on here in Thailand, so absolute not interested how good

or bad things are in the western world, what the Arabs do or if a Name sounds British, French

or whatever. I lived there, made a picture of it and that's good enough.

So instead of bickering around here on TV, the "Thai Bashers" could post in their own country's

forums, sure there are plenty of them. Warn and save some potential victims of what ever there

is so bad in Thailand.

As for the "Thai Basher Police" they too, could post in their own countries forums and tell people

how beautiful this country is. TAT sure would appreciate a bit of free advertising.

Now the grammar police, well suppose they are just teachers who can't stop lecturing everyone

and show how intelligent they are. I was married once to one ....

Edited September 21, 2014 by JoeLing

[mojorison]

"But there were also fears the killer may already have fled"

Translates as "bungled investigation" and now some poor soul is probably going to hang for it to save face for the bunglers.

I think it will be hard to find a patsy for this, especially as DNA had been collected. I certainly hope the best Thai detectives are working on this, and not just the local cops, who probably have very little in the way of dealing with murder investigations.

I agree with you, it is indeed ironic though that the police don't know how to deal with a murder investigation... when there are so many murders in the province. Surat = murder capital of Thailand if I'm not mistaken... (and I live here )

[bristolgeoff]

that was one of my thoughts too,he upset a local or some else it seems.very easy to do if you don,t know the rules

[SPB65]

This latest "possibility" is what the smart money has been on for some time. It's yet to be proven but I felt from the outset that yaba wouldn't be far away from this crime. Users literally lose their minds on that stuff. Has the autopsy ascertained whether the victims had partaken in it ? One possibility could be a drug gathering that got out of hand, hence the victims were not necessarily stalked or pounced upon whilst walking home. Just a possibility given the shared cigarette scenario and the attackers being more than one.

Trying to become a honorary Thai citizen??

Blaming it on the victims, I thought, that was reserved for the Thai authorities. So according to your theory the victims were not only wearing beachwear on the beach, but were drug-users as well?? Keep your stupid theories to yourself and show some respect for the families of the victims!!

As for the OP, it is from an English rag. About as trustworthy as the Thai police!!

100% sure, 99,99 % doen't go for drugs to Koh Tau or Haad Rin !!

And their families 100% sure their kids never took drugs;

so please dont mention it here that their kids could take drugs on Koh Tau !!

Dear JOC,

with all due respect to you but more so the families of this horrific crime, kids (and remember these are not kids) get up to all sorts of things their parents don't know about and especially when they are unhindered by the confines of being at home. Lots of people behave differently when they come out here, that's precisely why they come out here. I grant you not necessarily to take drugs but certainly to try new or different things to home, beit food, drinks, fooling around on a beach at night, whatever. That's precisely the point of travelling. I agree with you that 99.99% wouldn't come to Koh Tao with the intent to take drugs but this is not a 99.99% situation. They probably weren't doing anything more than drinking but how do you or I know for sure ? You must have read from other posts that it is known that those drugs are available there. All of this is armchair speculation and lets face it if the police had done their job properly from the get go none of us would be here arguing about these details. I will say this though from being on Koh Tao numerous times and most recently three years ago. There is a party scene there, not KPN FMP proportions but I've seen people that age get into all sorts of states. Even if they weren't taking drugs chances are they were drinking a lot, usually buckets, and probably in a pretty bad state by the time of the crime, if not why would they be out at that time ? I know very few people who would go to a bar until it closes and not drink anything. Actually my wife would do that, backpackers travelling who stay out most of the night usually get hammered though. To pretend otherwise is naivety in the extreme.

I haven't meant any offence with my posts but you've really had a bee in your bonnet about them. I hope for everyones's sake there is closure soon and my condolences go out to the family of the victims.

[mok199]

i think it is ''reward time''...throw 500,000 bt out thier ,shake the tree and see the coconuts drop...

[metisdead]

This is an English language forum, except for the Thai language forum where Thai language is allowed. With that in mind, if you're going to post links to news sources, let's use English language sites for any news updates. Posts containing links to Thai language sites have been removed as well as the replies.

Other nonsense posts have been removed as well as the replies.

[ALFREDO]

By the way, gangsters do not kill with wooden sticks or hoes. If they do, they don't leave them behind. Nor they leave semen or any traces that will lead to them. This wasn't a gangster. More of want to be a gangster.

Know all about gangsters do you? Know all about Thais as well?

Probably he knows from both, with his name, likely African, he is well aware from the "business" with the "right" Thais. A "wise guy?"

[Tony121]

Thai news is reporting they have a new suspect 23 year old thai who works on the speed boats apparently they found him hiding in a cave.

[belg]

is there any local farang tourist police that know all the bars, owners, gangster ? and could see who is missing right now ? aka possible killers on the run ?

[Wilsonandson]

Yes that's true reports are coming in via several Thai news websites of 2 individuals arrested for hiding in a cave on Ko Samui and are suspects in the Ko Tao murders. DNA has been taken and so has urine samples which tested positive for illegal substances.

[laolover88]

The knowledge is out there. They just have to access it. Have you ever tried to have a pee in the dark, or toss an empty over the wall? at 03.00. 99.9% of the time there is some one watching you!

[thenewgoo]

WHY doesn't this country just offer a 30 million baht reward for information that leads to conviction. Save your country's reputation and future cash flow to-boot! Watch the rats show up for that one.

As I write this though, I wonder how cheap a fall guy is, especially if they aren't Thai - unless they are gangsters of course.

RIP victims and I hope true justice will be served.

[ALFREDO]

The reward should be upped to 300,000 baht for info leading to a conviction. Perhaps T.Visa posters can donate to a fund.

I surprised, that, the PM after stepping in the "fat dish" already, - was caught in some "pitfalls" with his comments,

did not come forward with a more hefty sum to find the culprits.

A Million or better 5 Million Baht, sounded just well for me and could bring "some hidden leads".

[Bluespunk]

Has it really taken them a week to find out what many expected from the start. I am sure half of koh Tao knows exactly who did it. I would also be sure the local police know exactly who did it.

How they can keep this under wraps is shocking, especially now bkk police are involved.

Things need to change Thailand, the eyes of the world are on you.

So sorry for the 2 souls, and the family they were taken from.

yes few tourists understand this or realise that these are like backwood little communities with their own secrets that they visit and party in. I'm sure European tourists are nice people but to give an analogy of how inappropriate some of their behavior and the places they are visiting is, imagine a couple of black people visiting a Southern white bible belt town in the 1950s to party and dance. On the surface people are polite - albeit with their racial slurs used in front of them - but there are always some others that want to do harm to them.

Why people would go to a dive resort island to get drunk and drugged is their own choice, but don't forget they really are putting themselves into danger, bikini or no bikini, male or female, young or old, asian or farang.

So you're saying they are to blame for the vicious assault they suffered? Why? Because they had a good time on holiday?

P.S. you're comparison to the racist bigotry of the southern USA in the 50s bears no resemblance to this crime other than the victims in both scenarios are in no way responsible for what happened whereas the scum behind them are the lowest filth the human race can produce.

[transam]

Yes that's true reports are coming in via several Thai news websites of 2 individuals arrested for hiding in a cave on Ko Samui and are suspects in the Ko Tao murders. DNA has been taken and so has urine samples which tested positive for illegal substances.

Fingers crossed here............

[changnaam]

Does anyone really think we would have had the run around for a week because of a couple of "boat boys"? They would not have risked their tourist industry for a couple of nobodies.

We were not born yesterday.

[Echo Tango]

If the suspect is a gangster, or works for gangsters, he will never be caught! At least not alive! The suspect probably has half of the cops on the island on his payroll! If they catch him, he'll sing like a bird and roll them under! That's why they're doing DNA swabs on female Burmese workers and other useless nonsense......to buy time for the suspect to get away! Just my opinion....

[H1w4yR1da]

Yet another press release.......this is investigation/trial by media and just serves to give an even stronger impression of how little the police seem to know about conducting an investigation of this nature

Well sometimes police press releases do serve a useful purpose.

LONDON — British police apologized Wednesday for using a stun gun to subdue a blind stroke victim they wrongly thought was carrying a samurai sword, a bizarre case of mistaken identity that left the man fearing for his life.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/uk-police-stun-gun-blind-man_n_1973635.html

Speaking of stronger perceptions of ineptitude, the Brits are miles ahead of Thai police and probably have a whole department solely for alerting the public to their latest cockup.

This post is so typical of Suradit. His M.O. is that whenever they're is a post or thread critical of Thais, no matter how warranted, he will always try to prove westerners are just as bad, if not worse.

Everyone agrees that the RTP's handling of this case had been atrocious at worst and downright incompetent at best. The Thaier-than-Thai apologist hate to see such truths become apparent to everyone.

[RickBradford]

i think it is ''reward time''...throw 500,000 bt out thier ,shake the tree and see the coconuts drop...

There is already 700,000 baht on offer -- the Ko Samui Tourist Promotion Board just kicked in 500,000 to go on top of the 200,000 previously promised, according to the Thai press.

[Alwyn]

"Meanwhile DNA found on her body came from two unknown Asian men, tests revealed" Yet just last week the police told us there was no evidence of rape...

[Emster23]

"The evidence now suggests the girl shared a cigarette with her killer, given the DNA match and lipstick traces." I could envision killer coming upon her smoking, and as part of intimidation taking her cigarette. Murdering someone is a "social situation", unless it is suicide.... like some suicides we have in Pattaya anyway....

[toooa]

"Police are probing claims a drug called “ya ba” - pill available in certain bars on the island - may have been involved in the murder."....grasping at straws aren't they? This is a police trump card usually, but think about it. The victims came from sunny England, the land where every kind of drug is available ...except ya ba. So what's the theory? Young English graduate students looking to hook up some ya ba in paradise? That would be the equivalent eating a cowpat when you know what a nice omelette tastes like. Still when nothing else works pull out the "drugs" trump card....predictable.

If of course they mean the killers were on "ya ba" then that's more than possible. As I understand it, its more of a Thai thing.

Also as a side note, I'd like to see a visual of some sort of the police "probing" things....

[Jean Pierre Jacquot]

Ahh.... what a relief that we have now drugs involved in this case. It lost previously all its spice as the two backpackers had no sex on the beach just before the murder. So drugs ... and sharing a cigarette with one of the Asian rapist. LM is not cheap, so tends more to be a Thai than a migrant worker...

[lucaswallachia]

"The evidence now suggests the girl shared a cigarette with her killer, given the DNA match and lipstick traces." I could envision killer coming upon her smoking, and as part of intimidation taking her cigarette. Murdering someone is a "social situation", unless it is suicide.... like some suicides we have in Pattaya anyway....

Well surely we could of just found out from her friends whether she is a smoker or not.

[Jean Pierre Jacquot]

"Meanwhile DNA found on her body came from two unknown Asian men, tests revealed" Yet just last week the police told us there was no evidence of rape...

You are right, there still isn't any evidence that she was raped. Nor is there any that anybody having had sex with her is the murderer. Highly likely yes, but as long as it has not been established you cannot just leave out any possibilities. And mabye here the friend of the boy could come in. Why the hell is living in a hurry the island? Involved himself? Witnessed something and is afraid now?

Basically we know nothing. Apart of the fact that they died violently, that the girl had sex with two Asian men and that one of these Asian men puffed on the same cigarette as her (shared? who knows, maybe just picked up....).

[SupermarineS6B]

I'll bet my bottom dollar that security, barmen, the local wasters know who committed this terrible crime, but of course the "Thai rak Thai mentality prevails, or the more precise fear factor is working it's magic on the spineless parasites. I'll suggest to put up the "Grass" money to a level where their own families would shop them, shouldn't be too much considering the local morality....... This is very similar to a case a few years ago in Kanchanaburi where an Australian nurse was shot whilst sitting in a bar by a local lunatic demanding money off the bar owner who wouldn't pay. This particular lunatic was the son of a high ranking Cop, and of course nobody knew what happened....... Little Sh-t should of been strung up, but of course not in the land of smiles.......... Starting to smell like total BS to me.......

[Credo]

I would imagine that having your best friend murdered in a foreign country and then being detained by the police as a suspect would be rather traumatic. I think his leaving the country is rather understandable.