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

[bander]

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One tourist murder suspect now arrested, another on the run



KOH TAO: -- The police have arrested a suspect in the murder of two British tourists in Koh Tao and are still hunting for a second suspect who has escaped into Bangkok.

Eighth Region Police Command commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Panya Mamen identified the first suspect as Mon.

He is the brother of a village headman in Koh Tao.

He was arrested after evidence which police collected were examined and proved he was involved, he said.

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

He said both suspects were captured by CCTV cameras and the police have gathered enough evidence to implicate them in the murders.

He said the southern police were coordinating with the metropolitan police to hunt him down, and expected to apprehend him today.

The southern police chief also assured the public that there was no arrest of scapegoats in this murder case as it now is a focal attention of the world.

He also dismissed any suggestion of local mafias or influential people that could twist the investigation with promise that local influence would pose no obstacle to the police investigation.

Instead the police will eliminate all these mafias, he said.

Meanwhile a police source said the police are also looking into the cooperation of those who helped to arrange the suspect to escape. They also will be arrested.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/one-tourist-murder-suspect-now-arrested-another-run/


-- Thai PBS 2014-09-23

"He was arrested after evidence which police collected were examined and proved he was involved, he said."

Who was telling the police the lokals was behind the killings?

A Scottish guy was threatened by the killers and took pictures of them in a convenience store and posting them on Facebook, but still the BIB's didn't believe it since he had a criminal record in Scotland.

The thai police have done everything to find a foreign killer instead of question the locals, I see this kind of violence in Thai newspaper every day and know that Thai males are the only ones capable to commit a brutal rape and murder like this. Case closed.

[canuckamuck]

The case has likely been theoretically solved for a days already. The DNA from the semen would have shown a close family match between the perps which by now could have been narrowed down to eliminate nearly any one else with a fairly high probability. And there is just too many people that knew what went on for the true story not to have become obvious to the investigation team. The circumstantial evidence is mounting too.

Now we have a power play and it will be fascinating to see if desire to protect Thailand's image and perhaps even a desire for justice, will be strong enough to bring down a big fish. And really is this family so big? Certainly they are minnows in comparison to the real money families in this country.

It would give the general some genuine credibility in his mission to make some real change here. Why not give Koh Tao a squeeze and pop out some of them old zits. That's they way towards a better face isn't it?

[bander]

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The one in custody is the guy they have on the video that night, he was apparently wearing the dead guys light coloured shorts, having left his own at the crime scene.

Sounds like a really clever killer...NOT

Give me a clue about the investigators who is more interested in collecting bribes from the village chief than solve a double homicide .

[bander]

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Most of the posters have chosen to parse every sentence, every phrase, every word of the authorities. The problem began much earlier. Both of the suspects had been detained, refused to provide a DNA sample, and then released. This could have been resolved a long time ago.

How much bribes do you think the village chief payed the BIB's to get them released? My guess is 10 million.

[steffi]

In Thailand is it a crime to have sex with a corpse? Unless they can link DNA to the murder weapon they don't have a case for murder.

Edited September 24, 2014 by steffi

[soalbundy]

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Most of the posters have chosen to parse every sentence, every phrase, every word of the authorities. The problem began much earlier. Both of the suspects had been detained, refused to provide a DNA sample, and then released. This could have been resolved a long time ago.

How much bribes do you think the village chief payed the BIB's to get them released? My guess is 10 million.

pure speculation,why 10 million? why not 5 million ? how do you KNOW that bribes were paid at all. I don't think corruption was involved here at all,just pure incompetence, they are/were just village cops who suddenly got thrown into the limelight and they became overwhelmed and frightened.

[ukrules]

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.

Cross contamination allegations are the best defense against DNA. Of course the guy's DNA will be at the crime scene - he is seen in video and photos standing next to one of the bodies with the police! The police let him contaminate the crime scene - now any lawyer worth his salt will argue that his DNA is of course at the crime scene, since he's standing there barefoot, and that the cops cross contaminated by touching one thing then another, moving dna about to the extent that no sample is unadulterated.

Cross contamination ? The DNA they are testing against will be from semen found inside the victim.

[soalbundy]

In Thailand is it a crime to have sex with a corpse? Unless like they link DNA to the murder weapon they don't have a case for murder.

you are being silly, you mean they just happened by,found a corpse and decided to have sex with it, how believable is that as a defence ????

[steffi]

In Thailand is it a crime to have sex with a corpse? Unless like they link DNA to the murder weapon they don't have a case for murder.

you are being silly, you mean they just happened by,found a corpse and decided to have sex with it, how believable is that as a defence ????

I'm not trying to be silly just saying that to conclusively link them to murder you need to be able to tie them to the weapon.

These cases always work the same way. You wait until the public interest has waned and that's when the real negotiations take place.

Edited September 24, 2014 by steffi

[mojorison]

In Thailand is it a crime to have sex with a corpse? Unless like they link DNA to the murder weapon they don't have a case for murder.

you are being silly, you mean they just happened by,found a corpse and decided to have sex with it, how believable is that as a defence ????

I'm not trying to be silly just saying that to conclusively link them to murder you need to be able to tie them to the weapon.

These cases always work the same way. You wait until the public interest has waned and that's when the real negotiations take place.

Yeah I saw that on CSI:Miami, I think?

[timewilltell]

Most of the posters have chosen to parse every sentence, every phrase, every word of the authorities. The problem began much earlier. Both of the suspects had been detained, refused to provide a DNA sample, and then released. This could have been resolved a long time ago.

How much bribes do you think the village chief payed the BIB's to get them released? My guess is 10 million.

pure speculation,why 10 million? why not 5 million ? how do you KNOW that bribes were paid at all. I don't think corruption was involved here at all,just pure incompetence, they are/were just village cops who suddenly got thrown into the limelight and they became overwhelmed and frightened.

If you have lived here more than a month or two you must realise that bribery is commonplace, especially to police. Whether the bribe was accepted is open to question but the incompetence of the investigation generally borders on the unbelievable. I have no doubt in my mind money was offered and little doubt at all that someone has not been arrested so far because of it. There is of course the slightest chance that these Thai murderers are so altruistic that bribery would not occur to them.

Dream on!

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[Grauwulf]

Mmmm a week and a half later and they still need more central forensic teams to go and collect evidence from a crime scene that was already contaminated by locals and police too busy taking photos for their Facebook pages... Absolute disgrace...only in Thailand eh....couldn't organise a piss up ina brewery. Let's hope that this collection of incompetent fools have actually got some hard evidence and bring whoever the lowlife scum actually responsible for this brutal and cowardly act to justice and swift retribution.

[dieseldave1951]

i can only assume that because of world condemnation and the fact no one would settle for the scapegoat image that Thailand is well known to produce, The world has demanded this case has HAD TO BE solved in a way that's seen to be coreect

Well done to total world pressure so much so that even the center of the universe (Thailand) could not resist

but read between the lines what is really at stake here TOURISM Thai officals have at last realised that tourists have the last say and may not come here for years to come

for far to long tourist have been treated like lumps of meat with fat wallets and no recourse

i am not saying that solving the case will make a difference to tourism but it just seems to me suddenly the blaming every ethnic apart from the good willed Thai people suddenly stopped, and real policing actually started

i do smile at the remarks made about the performance of the poilce, its a good job the Thai people can not grasp sarcasm, whit, irony, etc which we do

if they did they would really be spiting there dummies out

He is the brother of a village headman in Koh Tao.

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

Wow...impressed !!! Not what I was expecting at all

Village Headman = Mafia local mafia boss on a place like Koh Tao. So yeah, very impressive.

I can only speculate that the international coverage coupled with pressure from someone like the PM Prayuth are the reason for this. I cannot recall any similar arrests of relatively influential people in cases such as this (perhaps others can?).

Good news for the victims family, and a step in the right direction for Thailand.

[abitmiffed]

I hope and prey they have 100% nailed the right animals for this and the police publish the DNA evidence for the world to see then push for the death sentence no plee or bargain. Make an example for the world to see and the thais to understand that you cant do this to people and get away with it.....Thailand is f****d now for the tourism,who in their right mind will let their children of any age travel here? Ko Tao was always about back packers and lonesome travellers....a massive R.I.P to those youngsters.

[sae57]

The brother of the village chief

2014 and there are still 'village chiefs' has there ever been a position in Thailand so utterly interlinked and embedded with corruption than that of the local chief

Oh, nonsense.

There are corrupt town mayors and squeeky clean ones, like everything else. They are elected in and elected out. Some people choose corruption (e.g. a mayor who will falsly certify crop losses for compensation purposes), but there are also town meetings where the books are scrutinized etc.

Don't know why we have to keep calling them "chiefs" and "headmen" (BTW, some are women) like some primitive tribal position.

The problem with the institution, IMO, is that it is a position in the national bureaucracy & the mayor is thus answerable to the national heirarchy as much as to the townspeople...

[jabis]

I'd written an essee-length response to last few posts - and suddenly my dog decided to snoop in on what I was doing - and suddenly I was outside the door and he ran from me... <BiB contributed - TVF fill in the rest please>

[BradWilkins]

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/09/24/09/15/thai-police-ready-to-make-arrests-for-murdered-british-backpackers#

[steven100]

After reading the last 2-3 pages of posts I can now clearly comprehend why I avoid TV from time to time.

comments on bribery, dead corpses, boycott the island ...... bla ... bla ....bla

If only some of you could rationalize and use logic thinking .... then read your post again !

Of coarse the BIB had the culprits pinned for the past several days .... they need sufficient evidence to ensure an absolute conviction can be implemented.

I said all along that the criminals would be caught ..... it was only a matter of time ...

[Keesters]

I have been following this with great interest for the last week , is anyone able to confirm that the man on the left of SM 's 7/11 picture

is the same man seen hanging around with the police at the crime scene on day one ?

And , is there any truth in the statement that two men in SM's 7/11 picture refused to be DNA tested .

Refusing a DNA test doesn't indicate guilt.

Would you want the bib to have a sample of your dna?

But it does make for suspicion.

BIB can sample my DNA if they wish to test for my involvement in this case. I have nothing to hide. It's what they may do with it afterwards, place it in some national database perhaps, that would concern me and I'd be questioning.

Just what does happens to all the DNA records? Destroyed I hope.

[traviss]

Nothing in the western press about this,too early maybe.

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/what-the-murder-of-two-british-tourists-tells-us-about-thailand%E2%80%99s-dark-side

[jabis]

After reading the last 2-3 pages of posts I can now clearly comprehend why I avoid TV from time to time.

comments on bribery, dead corpses, boycott the island ...... bla ... bla ....bla

If only some of you could rationalize and use logic thinking .... then read your post again !

Of coarse the BIB had the culprits pinned for the past several days .... they need sufficient evidence to ensure an absolute conviction can be implemented.

I said all along that the criminals would be caught ..... it was only a matter of time ...

Character play and rumour - easiest to take on and yet so few think about the injury towards the close ones... I see a dozens of topics - none are about the sanctity of the lost loved ones... Makes one a sad panda

[Strangebrew]

Well yes to those who said Mr big said enough is enough After he saw heat being but on him and his operations, Decided I don't care who committed this crime or who's son friend or whatever turn him over. It is hurting business . If not I will take over all your business and turn him or them in.

[pasak]

Well, even though these terrible crimes shook the world, I personally will travel back to Ko Tao because I fell in love with this Paradise island. Will I be afraid for my safety? Probably to interested in what ocean life I see. I am being honest. I have followed what has happened from the beggining,, but that island is still my paradise.

+1

As I know Koh Tao, those lost will never be forgotten, but rather their spirits will join in the fun and their lives celebrated by their likeminded travelers.

Wow! What an intrepid traveller you are Leila.

You should write a book about your adventures.

[canuckamuck]

So they can take anyone off the street and make them pee for a drug test (without cause) but they cannot get a DNA sample from the prime suspects of a major murder investigation?

No problem, get them to take a drug test and the DNA sample is golden.

[cekipa]

ThaiVisa, trying to hook readers saying 'suspect now arrested' when actually this is not what happened, it makes you less reliable

[transam]

ThaiVisa, trying to hook readers saying 'suspect now arrested' when actually this is not what happened, it makes you less reliable

Why the pop at Thaivisa..?......

[wilcopops]

It seems likely, if this IS the chap that due to his high profile on the island many people would have known from the start who it was......for one reason or another the police both local and othwise seemed to have failed to pick up on this.....their first detainees and statements would seem to support this.....and in this time the alleged perpetrator gained the necessary time to leave the island and go into hiding?

[wilcopops]

ThaiVisa, trying to hook readers saying 'suspect now arrested' when actually this is not what happened, it makes you less reliable

Why the pop at Thaivisa..?......

He says why

[transam]

ThaiVisa, trying to hook readers saying 'suspect now arrested' when actually this is not what happened, it makes you less reliable

Why the pop at Thaivisa..?......

He says why

I can read, but don't understand why the bash..

[Leila30]

Well, even though these terrible crimes shook the world, I personally will travel back to Ko Tao because I fell in love with this Paradise island. Will I be afraid for my safety? Probably to interested in what ocean life I see. I am being honest. I have followed what has happened from the beggining,, but that island is still my paradise.

+1

As I know Koh Tao, those lost will never be forgotten, but rather their spirits will join in the fun and their lives celebrated by their likeminded travelers.

Wow! What an intrepid traveller you are Leila.

You should write a book about your adventures.

I have. You should buy it. It's brilliant.