Britons' murder: Police claim Koh Tao investigation hindered by media

[GlaswegianTam]

This is what happens if you take a convicted pedo seriosuly, i told the whole forum he was a glory hunter from day one.

Who?

Need to read this !!!!

[GlaswegianTam]

This is what happens if you take a convicted pedo seriosuly, i told the whole forum he was a glory hunter from day one.

Who?

Need to read this never knew !!

[khunpa]

What about the police looked at themselves and their farce of a communication strategy? If the police had not been totally disorganized and had control over what was leaked to the press, then they would have had lots of time to focus on the evidence and case.

So typical Thai. Blame everybody else, when you fxxk up. The only reason why this case is not closed (with a scapegoat found", is only due to the media. The police actually said this themselves in a statement - indicating that they would have to find (or at least look for) the right killers, due to the media pressure. We should actually, all thank the media for being able to keep this case alive. But of course it is a pain for a police force, who has no real intention of finding the real killers, now that it seems rich local families are involved.

Already from the start in this case, I knew the killers would never be found or scapegoats would be put in place, if this turned out to be rich Thai-related. Its the Red Bull case all over again. This investigation is a total joke and has been so from the first day. No doubt envelopes have already changed hands and the goal is now to drag this case forever, until it is forgotten. I feel sorry for Thailand and especially the decent Thai-people in this country. The can only watch while corrupt and greedy officials ruin this country for their own personal gain.

[phuketandsee]

This is what happens if you take a convicted pedo seriosuly, i told the whole forum he was a glory hunter from day one.

Who?

Need to read this !!!!

Read what?

[sweatalot]

How long do murder investigations take in your countries?

I guess from your posts every brutal crime is solved immediately back home with 100% success rate.

If the murders took place on a tiny island, and the island was 'locked down' they would be solved very quickly. You DNA every single person on the island without exceptions. Instead of letting people leave on the first ferry to freedom!

What country do you live in?

Even in thailand it is against the law for the police to demand DNA samples of every resident.

"Pol Maj Gen Suwat, who is one of the best investigators at the MPB, defended the mass collection of DNA samples, saying police were not doing it simply at their own will but would be on persons who were suspected otherwise it could infringe on the rights and freedom of the people which is against the law."

They do not need to demand. But being on the island at the time of a crime makes you a suspect. If you disagree checking your DNA you will stay in the group of suspects and you cannot leave the countrie until the perp is found or your innocence proven.

This way the list of suspects will get pretty small - and they stay available.

[BradWilkins]

Reward started at B100,000 now its B700,000. They must have been hopeing they could get the info cheap.

[seajae]

ok, who was it that put up the victims murder pics on their facebook pages, the bib,

who was it that said it was not done by a thai, the bib,

who was it that started making false claims about why it happened, the bib,

who was it that refused to take dna samples from the local "bosses.families, the bib,

who was it that allowed these same bosses to contaminate the crime scene, the bib,

who was it that did not seal off the crime scene, the bib,

who was it that kept making bullsh*t statements to the press to big note themselves, yes the bib again but it is the reporters fault!!!!!!

They are totally incompetent and have no intention of finding the real murderers, maybe if they actually got proper investigators from the US or UK this would be solved very quickly but they will not do that either, face is too important along with their pay packets from certain people.

[IamNoone88]

The TIME article is a well written summary of this dreadful double murder and positions the facts regarding the soft underbelly that includes Thailand's violent tendencies towards both fellow countrymen and increasingly foreigners. The litany of bad news and finger pointing in the absence of progress is astounding. A crime scene littered with evidence, murder weapons, CCTV and DNA and still not progress. You be the judge.

[WhizBang]

Or, in other words, the Police do not like working under an intense spotlight. Makes 'fixing' things much more difficult.

And, at this point, it is so obvious that the fix is in and that no person of influence or connection will be fingered as the murderer. So now the hunt is on for a suitable scapegoat.

If the RTP were not so totally unprofessional, incompetent and corrupt, social and foreign media reports/claims would not have hampered or interfered with the investigation. That is the RTP's own doing.

[ZABA]

"Police had to waste their time following leads from these rumours," Pol.Gen. Somyot told reporters yesterday."

No they didn't. They could have ignored them and carried on doing their job.

Exactly, the police shouldn't be basing their enquiries around social media!! Lazy lazy work on their behalf.

Exactly - why were the police following the medias "rumors"?

They "had" to??

Its the media's fault that the police followed what they said?

[farang000999]

I have read many idiotic comments on Thai Visa over the years but Cluster Clark deserves some kind of award for his work in this topic.

[Globeman]

This is what happens if you take a convicted pedo seriosuly, i told the whole forum he was a glory hunter from day one.

Good for you on being right - thanks for reminding us. Some of us might have forgotten otherwise and neglected to shower you in glory for your cleverness.

By the way, is there some sort of special pathology you know of that causes all pedos to be liars on every subject?

[Iumentum]

Reward started at B100,000 now its B700,000. They must have been hopeing they could get the info cheap.

Actually, the reward has been growing as more are interested in having the case solved. As an example, chairman of Orient Thai Airlines added 500k to the reward, so it has nothing to do with they hoping to get it cheap, since the reward comes from private sectors mainly.

[Plutojames88]

At the very least a preserved crime scene ( Forensic wise)

Isolate suspects ( entire island)

Gain all island Phone traffic after midnight until dawn .

All male DNA ( no ifs or butts)

Pressure people .

Blame some ( see what they know)

Check all Criminal records

Ignore bad leads like gay Scottish drug takers wanting fame.

Send in army to heavy locals suspected -

Restrict all persons leaving without DNA samples.

All CCTV footage examined over and over .

Do the best to match DNA and if needs be acknowledge Thais are capable of this barbaric crime .

Restrict your statements and don't blame the victims

[Iumentum]

"Police had to waste their time following leads from these rumours," Pol.Gen. Somyot told reporters yesterday."

No they didn't. They could have ignored them and carried on doing their job.

Exactly, the police shouldn't be basing their enquiries around social media!! Lazy lazy work on their behalf.

Exactly - why were the police following the medias "rumors"?

They "had" to??

Its the media's fault that the police followed what they said?

Of course the police has to look into any hints they get, no matter if those hints comes from social media or not. If they didn't then people would be bashing them for not taking evidence into account.

[dean008]

and they could have sealed the crime scene immediatley and kept the press out and kept their big mouths shut but they appear beyond incompetent

"Police had to waste their time following leads from these rumours," Pol.Gen. Somyot told reporters yesterday."

No they didn't. They could have ignored them and carried on doing their job.

[BestBitterPhuket]

The police has no shame and no pride. Only they can be blamed for their failure. Only they. These excuses make them look even more useless.

This case has made it more obvious that the junta needs to overhaul the police completely. No reform in Thailand will stick otherwise. If the country is going to develop, the police needs to do so as well. Look at the singapore police force. Their pay is low (except from the high ranking officers), but they are 100% honest and pride is their driving force. They catch criminals. In Thailand the police are driven by greed and many are criminals themselves who sometimes catch other criminals. My advice. Talk to singapore and get their help on police reforms. They have been there and done it....successfully.

[toybits]

In the Boston Bombing incident, Boston police were helped by videos from Private Citizens. Without those videos, they would not have been able to zero in on the terrorists. Same thing in Koh Tao. Police are complaining because they can't be their usual sloppy investigators that they are. No easy way out for them by just picking up some looser as a scapegoat.

They should be thankful for Media and Private Citizens and not blame them for the lack of progress.

This should not have happened in the first place. Security is a job by the police. They failed miserably on this.

[ZABA]

"Police had to waste their time following leads from these rumours," Pol.Gen. Somyot told reporters yesterday."

No they didn't. They could have ignored them and carried on doing their job.

Exactly, the police shouldn't be basing their enquiries around social media!! Lazy lazy work on their behalf.

Exactly - why were the police following the medias "rumors"?

They "had" to??

Its the media's fault that the police followed what they said?

Of course the police has to look into any hints they get, no matter if those hints comes from social media or not. If they didn't then people would be bashing them for not taking evidence into account.

I'm just saying "take some responsibility for you actions RTP."

[JacChang]

If you can't find a suspect to point your fingers to...

Then...

Pointing to a banner is acceptable as a substitute.

[Nickymaster]

After solving this case, Sean was right to leave the country asap. His life was in grave danger for exposing the truth.

As for the police rubbishing his story, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

I think the world now understands why no witnesses rushed forward!

The truth? LOL

He said mafia threatened him with death!

That was clearly BS, why would they threaten some pedo loser instead of killing him right on the spot. Since they're the mafia they can do whatever they want on the island, which mafia would let you take a picture of them and let you surf on FB!

Correct. They also told him that they would take him to the mountains for him to hang himself....

Which mafia will reveal their plan? It doesn't make sense.

[farang000999]

Changmai,

Police have focused their investigation on migrant workers on the island and it is likely that some Thai superiors are involved. Fishermen were unlikely to be the killers as their boats were docked on the other side of the island, far from the crime scene. Tour boats were also not near.

So the fisherman docked, then went to otherside of island. Commited murder. Made it back to other side of the island avoiding CCTV capture and escaped?

[Iumentum]

Exactly, the police shouldn't be basing their enquiries around social media!! Lazy lazy work on their behalf.

Exactly - why were the police following the medias "rumors"?

They "had" to??

Its the media's fault that the police followed what they said?

Of course the police has to look into any hints they get, no matter if those hints comes from social media or not. If they didn't then people would be bashing them for not taking evidence into account.

I'm just saying "take some responsibility for you actions RTP."

Saying to a thai that they didn't make a proper job, is like making them lose face (in general). They don't have same "western" mentality about having space for mistakes, no correcting em, no apologizing for em and most importantly... no learning from em either.

[chiang mai]

Changmai,

Police have focused their investigation on migrant workers on the island and it is likely that some Thai superiors are involved. Fishermen were unlikely to be the killers as their boats were docked on the other side of the island, far from the crime scene. Tour boats were also not near.

So the fisherman docked, then went to otherside of island. Commited murder. Made it back to other side of the island avoiding CCTV capture and escaped?

Dunno, is it possible to access the shoreline by boat in only a single location, if so, that would seem to be an odd island?

[bander]

"Thai police have accused foreign journalists and social media users of muddling their ongoing investigation into the murder of two British tourists in southern Thailand last week."

When you are to stupid to solve a double homicide, blame the foreign journalists, that should tell us all about the BIB's intelligence level.

[Emster23]

RTP had a major hand in turning this into media circus. Putting a mic and camera on one of them is like giving a drunk the stage at karaoke bar. They can't help themselves. Most of them are used to Thai press, which is like students at school: nod heads, print what you're told, ask no questions. These pesky foreigners, wanting answers and not being respectful of "Thainess" (must be foreigners, no Thai could do).

The press has a role of keeping officials honest, or at least pointing out when being less than honest or inept. May I suggest "All the President's Men" (film or movie). Nothing was happening in that crime that eventually brought down Nixon except for investigation by two reporters.

[ZABA]

"Saying to a thai that they didn't make a proper job, is like making them lose face (in general). They don't have same "western" mentality about having space for mistakes, no correcting em, no apologizing for em and most importantly... no learning from em either."

Thanks for the "teaching"...

[j15mth]

Professionalism by Thai Police and Loss of Face by the Head Man on Koh Tao---Amazing Thailand

[Thaiready]

"Police had to waste their time following leads from these rumours," Pol.Gen. Somyot told reporters yesterday."

No they didn't. They could have ignored them and carried on doing their job.

playing the Blame Game

[animatic]

It's common practice for police forces to make public appeals for information and to encourage results the request will indicate nothing is too trivial and everything will be checked. In practice this will involve an assessment and prioritisation for follow up.

The BIB are making it clear they will make an instant decision whether or not to follow up and if they don't like the source the info goes in the waste paper bin.

Foreigners not not apply.

Very professional.

There are few bad leads that shouldn't be examined, just leads that don't pan out. Unless a possible lead is clearly from a known nutcase or someone with no possibility of knowledge about the crime, it must be investigated at least somewhat. Yet even nutters can have a seed of truth in their ramblings.

McAnna may not have pin pointed the exact culprits, but there is a reasonable chance he has pin pointed people connected with the guilty.

Even if 'public' police statements rule them out, doesn't mean their circle of influence and their actions are not still under observation. I would find it useful to watch them after they think they got away scot free.