Southern police chief: Enough evidence in British tourists' murder case to make arrest now

[Nowisee]

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More importantly how will this effect tourism??????

Well, ask yourself... "Will you be going to Koh Tao in the near future?"

Absolutely not, and I would like to see a mass boycott of said Island.

The only way for scum to really get the message is to hit them were it hurts, and in this case that's in the pocket. This has been a disgusting cover up form the very first minute that the victims were discovered.

This is the exact reason why I do not and will not ever go to those many places mentioned above. There are too many other great places to go... and not just in thailand.

[MobileContent]

Thais getting so much hate from the westerners here, lol. Its like no western does something like this, people must of forgotten the norweigan guy who hopped on the island to kill 80 people, he's got himself a nice cell with ps3, but you want capital punishment for the murderers of these two people, why? Because a farang got killed by an asian, hypocrisy at its best!

No, the hatred is towards mafia scum, and corruption . As for the Norway massacre, what has that got to do with it?

You appear to be a KT mafia apologist, something to lose?

I've never even been to KT before, I'm just tired of the constant thai bashing going on here. Every time something happens like this, people remind how corrupt Thailand is, and how violent Thais are. In my book murderers should get Capital Punishment, but its funny to see westerners here wanting capital punishment when rapists and murderers in their own country get treated so leniently.

USA has the best laws in the world, and every country should take the justice system in the states as an example, Europe has too lax laws!

Not sure how long you have been in Thailand but from my experience Thai's never get prosecuted when they kill a farang lady. Their have been many cases in the past 24 years that I have witnessed and not once have they prosecuted someone and put in jail. (eg Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi etc).

This has nothing about with Thai bashing to do. People on this forum bash the police and their incompetence of handling any case. Would Bangkok has not not got involved the whole case would have been closed with putting the wrong people in jail.

I said from the beginning that either Ya-ba people's are involved or influential people's.

I hope now the general cleans up the mess by getting rid of of those influential people's which are all over Thailand and are linked to the police.

No bashing really but you have no idea about Thailand.

[MJP]

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More importantly how will this effect tourism??????

Well, ask yourself... "Will you be going to Koh Tao in the near future?"

Absolutely not, and I would like to see a mass boycott of said Island.

The only way for scum to really get the message is to hit them were it hurts, and in this case that's in the pocket. This has been a disgusting cover up form the very first minute that the victims were discovered.

This is the exact reason why I do not and will not ever go to those places mentioned above. There are too many other great places to go... and not just in thailand.

Amen to that. Florence, Lake Como, Venice, Bruges, the French Riviera, Crete . . .

[yougivemebaby]

Looks like you are celebrating too early.

The brother of the village chief was questioned by police and released.

Either he is not guilty - or (you know influential family etc.)

So what about an arrest? Who was arrested? Was someone arrested?

In my understanding police has to arrest any suspect until guilt or innocense has been prooven - if the suspicion is very strong.

Would be necessary in order to prevent them to make a runner

I doubt they have any real arrests. If they did they would have said who it was. They tested these guys for DNA as earlier they refused a DNA test. I'm sure he was also told not to leave the island.

[MikePhuket1970]

Chiang Mai is 'THE' place to live or vacation. Good nightlife, few crimes, cheap housing, many tourist attractions, good hospitals (Bangkok General and RAM to name 2 of them), Labor extremely cheap (2 hours at my house to fix a water leak - $3), cooler weather, mountains but no ocean, large lake, etc.

But i like it warm all season and in january or february it would be quite cold

4 am when i love to go swim and enjoy the beer on the roof terrace

[khunjamesjohnson]

CRIME

Koh Tao 'sealed off' after two tourists brutally killed

THE NATION, AFP

Gruesome murders of British pair on island paradise shock locals and visitors

BANGKOK: -- POLICE have sealed off the resort island of Koh Tao off Surat Thani province to hunt down killers who brutally murdered a British couple and possibly raped the woman on Sunday night. The 24-year-old victims have been identified as Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.

16 Sept 2014

one of the alleged persons at the crime scene does not say much for the police

Standing next to his brother .....

Looks like the headman was running the investigation. The murderer, right there at the crime scene directing the police.

[almafudd]

Sorry for being a pessimist, but some feeling in my little toe tell me that they are going to blow this out of proportions and the village headman sons will sentenced to a life in prison.

When everything has calm down, they will be released on bail (like Sondhi) and they can continue their business on the island.

Or they will pay a poor family to let somebody serve the prison term instead of the village headman sons.

Sorry, but the sons of the village headman of KT are toooooooo high placed to serve any prison term.

I live long enough in Thailand to don't believe in fairytales.

Well, we can hope that the "new" Thailand might show improvements in this case, as we have seen many other changes doing the coup with PM/General Prayuth.

"New Thailand"

Not in my lifetime, or yours or your kids. Maybe the next generation if they keep at it!

Oh unless Thailand becomes a dictatorship...

[brizzle]

Rejoice, you miserable people.

The murderers have been caught.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Thai police force.

A job well done.

My condolences again to the families of the victims.

May they rest in peace, their murderers have been apprehended.

There is nothing to rejoice about two young people were struck down horribly in their prime - nothing changes that but hope that justice will be done. I always wanted to go to Ko Tao before as it is one of the few places I haven't been - I no longer want to go anywhere near the place.

Likewise Koh Tao was somewhere I would have liked to visit at some point.

Usually you might visit a place where someone had met their end to show your respect. Maybe bring some flowers.

It's ironic however that due to the nature of this disgusting crime and the corrupt local cover up ,that I personally feel the best way to show my respect to the deceased is to stay away.

[ElsonQuick]

Rejoice, you miserable people.

The murderers have been caught.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Thai police force.

A job well done.

My condolences again to the families of the victims.

May they rest in peace, their murderers have been apprehended.

There is nothing to rejoice about two young people were struck down horribly in their prime - nothing changes that but hope that justice will be done. I always wanted to go to Ko Tao before as it is one of the few places I haven't been - I no longer want to go anywhere near the place.

And now hopefully nobody will want to go to this godforsaken s|+hole of a corrupt island.

Boycott it and let the girly Village HeadWoman and his girly Mafia girls rot.

It long known to be a total craphole owned and run by the Village HeadWoman and his girly mafia kids.

Tell everyone you know not to go there and let the place die...

Bet the s|t RTP will be leaving there soon.

Hope they rot...

Do you think other venues are different........

Of course not, I just happen to know this craphole venue very well.

Montriwat Toovichien, is a well known girly boy thug that is protected by his girly boy Mama wannabe mafia VillageHeadWoman. And RTP are owned and controlled by said MummyMafia HeadWoman.

The fact that Montriwat Toovichien was at the scene post cleanup with his girly owned RTP brothers shows this. Interviewed...lol..and released. Farce.

No TransAm, there are many crapholes in Tland like this...but THIS ONE has world Media attention, which is why something is actually being done...this time...

[BestBitterPhuket]

Well done! Without the help of the central government, the local police would most likely have covered it up. Hope this will be confirmed and a proper punishment (life in prison without parole or death penalty) will be imposed on the guilty.

[Chutney]

That sean guy was full of BS, the expats living in koh tao said the information he gave is not factual and that he is a glory hunter. Bunch of guys who've never been to koh tao believe what he's saying. From his posts I can see he doesn't give a damn about his friends murder, 9 out 10 of his posts are about the scottish referendum.

There has to be a motive for murder, usually people who murder and rape are ones who got nothing to lose, why would someone who has a thriving business on the island murder and rape a girl. That sean guy should be put behind bars for slander IMHO.

Quite a few things in this case, does make it seem like Sean wasn't just making everything up. A lot does actually appear to be that Sean was right about some things, and could easily also be that the whole bar/7-11 incident is true and that he was about to be used as scapegoat which he would have been the perfect victim of.

Your point doesn't make sense either, DNA retrieved in the crime scene confirmed it was an Asian, why would they find a western scapegoat?

We've already been through all that ad infinitum. If you want to join in a thread it helps to read through first. Also check the relevant thread on here specifically about Sean Mcanna and you'll find your answers.

From the start the local police were harping on about 3 guitar playing singers on the beach ( supposedly) at that time of the FB Sean Mcanna media explosion some minor Burmese man and boat boy Thai were being held and questioned. If they were fitted for the rape and took that wrap and the surmise was they were with SM if he were found hanged in 'remorse' it could be said they raped and HE murdered. Because 1 dead flaky beach bum guitar playing farang + 2 disposable low Asians posessed of Asian DNA = 3 men making music on the beach.Case closed and a case of Chivas all round.We've all had to swallow far more unbelievable 'explanations' for crimes/deaths in LOS.

you are missing the point. DNA is very specific to the person not to the race only.

The DNA of the Asians has to match completely, this happens only when it is from THEM

All due respect to you but you are also missing the point. Likewise please don't assume I am stupid enough not to know that most basic fact of DNA matching.

The local 'celebrities' and local police were initially complacent about their ability and even assumed right to twitch witnesses and any evidence any way they wanted. The intrusion of BKK police and a determined international media campaign has taken that ball away from them.

However mishandling of evidence, DNA or other, can be used to overset incontrovertible proof of guilt: In the early stages of this investigation it was all a mess. Contamination of samples is almost a given.

Clear uncontaminated properly obtained, verified and kept samples may no longer be available. One of the things which has most astonished me is that the victims bodies were released into the families care after only a week 'despite' emerging claims of a crime scene and forensics being utterly corrupted. Even from the start there was reduced available evidence at autopsy because of incorrect procedures such as bodies having been frozen.

A good Lawyer could have a field day with all that in court even now. That there was an attempt to muddy the waters of any investigation by vested local interests is a point surely not really to be dismissed? It wasn't just incompetence.

[GertrudeL]

I do not understand the reason of happibess... You are all like a kid who was shown a candy... Do you understand that the sourse of the problem is not solved? You can punish those guys but will it make situation more secure? I have doubt...

[culicine]

CRIME

Koh Tao 'sealed off' after two tourists brutally killed

THE NATION, AFP

Gruesome murders of British pair on island paradise shock locals and visitors

BANGKOK: -- POLICE have sealed off the resort island of Koh Tao off Surat Thani province to hunt down killers who brutally murdered a British couple and possibly raped the woman on Sunday night. The 24-year-old victims have been identified as Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.

16 Sept 2014

one of the alleged persons at the crime scene does not say much for the police

Standing next to his brother .....

Looks like the headman was running the investigation. The murderer, right there at the crime scene directing the police.

You know the saying...keep your friends close and your enemies closer...doing a runner would look very suspicious.

[denby45]

The village headman is also the owner of a bar there, he can keep his bar open all night long why because he's the village chief.

I wonder if it was his bar the unfortunate couple were in that night?

Den

[Iumentum]

Sorry for being a pessimist, but some feeling in my little toe tell me that they are going to blow this out of proportions and the village headman sons will sentenced to a life in prison.

When everything has calm down, they will be released on bail (like Sondhi) and they can continue their business on the island.

Or they will pay a poor family to let somebody serve the prison term instead of the village headman sons.

Sorry, but the sons of the village headman of KT are toooooooo high placed to serve any prison term.

I live long enough in Thailand to don't believe in fairytales.

Well, we can hope that the "new" Thailand might show improvements in this case, as we have seen many other changes doing the coup with PM/General Prayuth.

"New Thailand"

Not in my lifetime, or yours or your kids. Maybe the next generation if they keep at it!

Oh unless Thailand becomes a dictatorship...

There was a reason i wrote "new" and not just new....

Anyway, democracy many places is an illusion and if it isn't truly a democracy wouldn't it somewhat be a dictatorship?

However, i do hope that the coup will last long enough to make a difference, else things will just go back to "normal" again. It will require a mentality change among the people, for things to actually stick, and it wont be easy for sure, because the mai pen rai attitude towards things allow corruption to exist.

Oh and by the way, the "new" Thailand is currently a dictatorship ;-)

[almafudd]

Thais getting so much hate from the westerners here, lol. Its like no western does something like this, people must of forgotten the norweigan guy who hopped on the island to kill 80 people, he's got himself a nice cell with ps3, but you want capital punishment for the murderers of these two people, why? Because a farang got killed by an asian, hypocrisy at its best!

Who is hating on the thai here? For what i see is that the majority of people are praising the fact that this might actually be solved without using scapegoats. There is no doubt people who are skeptics about the work of the police, and what corrupt plans there might have been at work, but one thing is to be skeptic about the work of the police/mafia and hating on the thai.

For the majority of TV members they are not skeptical of the bib / rtp, they just know how they operate and the chain on command...

They live 'in the real world', not some flash in the pan (so far) short term improvement to the country - been there before.

[ttthailand]

This will cost Thailand a billion Baht by time the losses are added up. I hope for Thailand that they set an example and hang these guys. Perhaps the islanders will save us time and do the job first as they will be the ones who will always be looked upon as hiding these scum bags from the law.

[Iumentum]

Thais getting so much hate from the westerners here, lol. Its like no western does something like this, people must of forgotten the norweigan guy who hopped on the island to kill 80 people, he's got himself a nice cell with ps3, but you want capital punishment for the murderers of these two people, why? Because a farang got killed by an asian, hypocrisy at its best!

Who is hating on the thai here? For what i see is that the majority of people are praising the fact that this might actually be solved without using scapegoats. There is no doubt people who are skeptics about the work of the police, and what corrupt plans there might have been at work, but one thing is to be skeptic about the work of the police/mafia and hating on the thai.

For the majority of TV members they are not skeptical of the bib / rtp, they just know how they operate and the chain on command...

They live 'in the real world', not some flash in the pan (so far) short term improvement to the country - been there before.

I am not sure if you decide not to understand my comment on purpose or not, because it's clear that we are talking about skepticism about their work in this case, and as i state, no wonder why they would be skeptic.

But the point that you're missing is that i am saying that NOBODY is hating on the thai, they are just skeptic about the police work.

[JoeLing]

One tourist murder suspect now arrested, another on the run

............

He also said another suspect is also a son of that village headman. But he has already to Bangkok.

............

Guess the missing word.

... gone ...

... run ...

... fleed ...

... moved ...

Guess I already covered this subject a few days ago

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=reply_post&f=18&t=762739&qpid=8426371

Nothing more I would have to add to it

[almafudd]

Thais getting so much hate from the westerners here, lol. Its like no western does something like this, people must of forgotten the norweigan guy who hopped on the island to kill 80 people, he's got himself a nice cell with ps3, but you want capital punishment for the murderers of these two people, why? Because a farang got killed by an asian, hypocrisy at its best!

No, the hatred is towards mafia scum, and corruption . As for the Norway massacre, what has that got to do with it?

You appear to be a KT mafia apologist, something to lose?

I've never even been to KT before, I'm just tired of the constant thai bashing going on here. Every time something happens like this, people remind how corrupt Thailand is, and how violent Thais are. In my book murderers should get Capital Punishment, but its funny to see westerners here wanting capital punishment when rapists and murderers in their own country get treated so leniently.

USA has the best laws in the world, and every country should take the justice system in the states as an example, Europe has too lax laws!

"Every time something happens like this, people remind how corrupt Thailand is, and how violent Thais are"

TIT

"USA has the best laws in the world"

[redsox44]

Think it's time to give the police a break. Personally I do not believe the current government will allow any sort of cover-up regarding this case. Things have changed in Thailand, now people who are in some sort of supposed power related position have to realize that the buck stops with the new P M.

[kwak250]

I feel a huge sense of relief that an arrest has been made for this dispicable crime. Maybe finally the police bashing will stop on this thread. It took British police over 6 YEARS to finally arrest Peter Sutcliff (the Yorkshire ripper ) in 1981. Thai police got a result in little over a week. The arrest of the other suspects is imminent. Good job guys.

You may be right but 1981 and 2014 are totally different times.

Dont forget this was on a small island not a City street and at present there are many forensic advantages

I for one am not taking anything away from the RTP and think they still have done a good job

All you posters with such negativity about the case must feel like right Tw*ts now and you deserve it only one poster has admitted his shame

[mauGR1]

I do not understand the reason of happibess... You are all like a kid who was shown a candy... Do you understand that the sourse of the problem is not solved? You can punish those guys but will it make situation more secure? I have doubt...

Same here.

Allegedly 1 suspect has disappeared from the radar, while the other 1 has been questioned and let free to go home.

.. there's nothing to be happy about this story anyway, even if the murderers are caught..

Hannah and David are gone forever in a horrible way.

I have to admit i am still shocked.

[2fishin2]

Isnt this police chief the one who got moved from Phuket after the dive shop fiasco?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[transam]

I feel a huge sense of relief that an arrest has been made for this dispicable crime. Maybe finally the police bashing will stop on this thread. It took British police over 6 YEARS to finally arrest Peter Sutcliff (the Yorkshire ripper ) in 1981. Thai police got a result in little over a week. The arrest of the other suspects is imminent. Good job guys.

You may be right but 1981 and 2014 are totally different times.

Dont forget this was on a small island not a City street and at present there are many forensic advantages

I for one am not taking anything away from the RTP and think they still have done a good job

All you posters with such negativity about the case must feel like right Tw*ts now and you deserve it only one poster has admitted his shame

Not me.

Seems you don't know much about stuff......Thats OK, please don't judge those who do with negativity eh..Theres a good chap...

[Jaggg88]

Looks like a few of us may eat humble pie (like me)

looks like the police may have found the correct murderers / not stitched anybody up etc

For that i apologise for doubting them and hope this is the future now

The murders have created world wide attention which has helped to focus their attention.

My UK ex-gf worked as a volunteer teacher on KT around 7/8 years ago and was amazed to be told the owner of the largest resort on the island was shot and murdered by local mafia, just before she arrived. She said it was the most idyllic place she had ever worked and couldn't believe the government would tolerate serious crime.

[steelepulse]

CRIME

Koh Tao 'sealed off' after two tourists brutally killed

THE NATION, AFP

Gruesome murders of British pair on island paradise shock locals and visitors

BANGKOK: -- POLICE have sealed off the resort island of Koh Tao off Surat Thani province to hunt down killers who brutally murdered a British couple and possibly raped the woman on Sunday night. The 24-year-old victims have been identified as Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.

16 Sept 2014

one of the alleged persons at the crime scene does not say much for the police

Standing next to his brother .....

Looks like the headman was running the investigation. The murderer, right there at the crime scene directing the police.

You know the saying...keep your friends close and your enemies closer...doing a runner would look very suspicious.

Is the village headman the only one wearing gloves in this photo, or does he have that Michael Jackson syndrome? Absolutely amazing that these two brothers were there to corrupt evidence and spin a yarn to the bibs about what really happened. Disgusting how the bibs allowed this, but hey, if the brothers are the paymasters, the bibs need to do as told.

[MikePhuket1970]

Thais getting so much hate from the westerners here, lol. Its like no western does something like this, people must of forgotten the norweigan guy who hopped on the island to kill 80 people, he's got himself a nice cell with ps3, but you want capital punishment for the murderers of these two people, why? Because a farang got killed by an asian, hypocrisy at its best!

The stinky smelly corrupted try to frame anybody but thais police investigation

right from the start

makes this and many other crime cases in the land of fake smiles so evil

[allan michaud]

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Relax everyone. They don't make arrests until all the DNA, etc are examined. In the meantime, the suspects are being held by the police. So many of you are really uneducated people on this board. The police are doing well. They want the case to be solid. In fact, they probably want confessions from the guys who did this. The confessions are normally easy to get in these cases in Thailand. You think torture forget that.

All they need to do is to explain DNA and other forensic evidence. Most people dont even know about DNA and what it can do and certainly many Thais isolated on a little island working at labor type of jobs probably dont scan the internet for the latest and greatest. They probably dont even know many cameras are around them.
Once the guilty realize they have no chance they confess for a promise of a less sentence maybe.

Seeing as this appears to have been done by the headmans kids, I think your assumption they are some kind of clueless country bumkins is not really valid, and I very much doubt they were working in "labor type jobs". More likely their 'work' entails collecting local 'taxes', aka protection money.

However it is the people most of us on TV said it was most likely to be, local thugs. i.e. relatives of local police or politicians. It also seems pretty clear why the local police made such a pathetic attempt to solve the crime at the beginning. I am absolutely sure the local cops knew exactly who did it from day 1.

[jabis]

Imagine you're the owner of AC BAR, or IN TOUCH, a person with decent reputation on the Island.

Some pedophile from scotland comes and accuses you of murder from Facebook.

What would you do?

I guess that depends on whether I was a murdering rapist or just an apologist.

And of course determining a person based on a mistaken(,well that's what I've read anyhow,) file download gives you, as a TVF user, the right to take this given credible information regarding this case, and throw it in the bin, because of "he is not a good person himself? Kinda like the corrupt mentality seeded deep into the LoS culture, that it's more morally right to extort 100baht than it is 1000baht, and per se - the one who only extorts 100baht will walk away without punishment - if you get my gist?

And without knowing any facts about his conviction, nor the man himself, you attribute him with this title? "Yes but F*** it - he plead guilty - now he's a monster" should be your next argument, and in response to that mine would be: "check the whole story and keep on the current topic please". Tarnishing his imago will gain you nothing, and as per the case facts seem to be that the alleged rapists and murderers in this topic indeed were the son and brother of the village elder, also bar owner, and per received information from the island, the other guy indeed was 'the man on the left', but until we have a conviction, and due court process, they still remain only as alleged rapists and murderers.