Koh Tao murder probe 85% complete: Panya

[MediaWatcher]

How do they come to 85% complete, when they don't know who did it, don't know who was on the island, or where they went and still haven't received the DNA tests from Singapore. You simply can not put a % complete tag on it. But hey, it does sound good and makes it seem as though they have achieved something.

[Thai at Heart]

Yesterday they were complaining that foreigners were hindering their investigation and making things hard for them, what happened in the last 24 hours?

This bloke arrived from on high to tell them to stop disgracing the country

[ttthailand]

The funny/sad thing about Sean : after-only after his run and statement about the real murder etc. - only then they revealed the " blood on face story'...

Strange, isn't it???

I still wait for this girl to come forward or the police to get her and provide this information. Where is she ? Does she even exist ? This is one of the most important pieces of information in this entire investigation .

[Gang Warily]

One thing concerns me about this case.

How come the Scottish guy Sean and the other friends of the deceased, who have already left the island, either not come out and made public announcements about what happened with the alleged confrontations in the bar. Why have none of the investigative journalists who were originally involved on the island, not sought these people out to get their side of the story?

Its as though they have been warned off by the British Embassy not to stick the fly in the ointment11

Surely somebody who was with the deceased before their untimely deaths, would have valuable info?

Why no newspaper interviews? Why has it all gone quiet from these journalists who were there and for sure know what the majority of people on this board suspect to be true.

Yet day after day more ridiculous and sublime statements are coming from the Police which are completely unchallenged.

The Scottish guy has made a statement. The British Embassy as a matter of course tells all relatives of victims etc not to talk to the press. Friends of Hannah and David have made statements which have been passed on to police in Thailand. I understand it has not been 'valuable info'. The British Embassy has not warned off journalists. That would require them actually talking to journalists.

Newsdesks have considered sending journalists to visit McAnna in Milan. They probably see it as bad investment. If he has anything to do with the murder, which is unlikely he can be found soon enough. 'Untimely deaths' is a bit weak. Hannah was hacked to death with a garden hoe. I have rarely seen such crazed brutality or what the killer(s) did to her body afterwards. There is no conspiracy of silence among journalists ( which in any case would be a contradiction in terms). There is of course the usual: 'Its more than my life's worth' cry among the foreigners on the island. Plus ca change.

[ChiangraiTony]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The killers will be found soon and put into custody. We are 10% away from being 100% done with the investigation. If all society works together we will definitely solve this crime. We are 90% done by solving this crime, thankfully. There are as of today no suspects and most evidence has been corrupted. We have taken the proper steps to ensure that a killer will be arrested by the end of the month we believe. We can now be peaceful with this revelation. Remain vigiliant. The public is the only hope for solving this crime which is solved soon.

I just realized that the RTP are the guiys who write American fortune cookies.

"The public is the only hope for solving this crime which is solved soon."

YES...because the police alone gives no hope! As an American saying goes, "Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades." - Frank Robinson.

From what I understand that was written in Thai, David (victim), his Mum will not pursue the case. She doesn't want to prolong the hurt she and her family have to deal with. She said that she knows David went to Thailand with his gay friend (indicating that David was gay). She doesn't want to rehash what has happened.

What? This is David with his gf:

Yes, it has been said that David had a girlfriend back in his country and a gay boyfriend that he went to Thailand. Some reports said that he came with him and another report said he met him there and that he knew him before.

[SteveFong]

frankly, I hope the island suffers in total and that is stops being a destination,

lets lobby those who promote it to british kids

[Jeremy50]

The funny/sad thing about Sean : after-only after his run and statement about the real murder etc. - only then they revealed the " blood on face story'...

Strange, isn't it???

Yeh but look at his guitar, it does have blood all over it so he obviously did have an accident or something at some point:

The only thing that is obvious from that photo is that something that looks as though it may be blood is, or has been put, on his guitar. If he really had had an accident before the murders were known about and then went to get cleaned up why would he not have cleaned his blood from his beloved guitar?

I can't see the significance of blood on his guitar. I have a video of Jack White's guitar after a gig with blood all over the strings, he was playing it so hard. Besides, these backpacker types always seem to 'be in the wars' - whenever I see a group of them there are always some who have cuts and bruises, open sores, bandaged feet etc etc. Like they haven't yet learned how to look after themselves in the tropics or something.

[SteveFong]

I thought the blood reports was days earlier?

have people forgotten that fact?

[ttthailand]

The funny/sad thing about Sean : after-only after his run and statement about the real murder etc. - only then they revealed the " blood on face story'...

Strange, isn't it???

Yeh but look at his guitar, it does have blood all over it so he obviously did have an accident or something at some point:

The only thing that is obvious from that photo is that something that looks as though it may be blood is, or has been put, on his guitar. If he really had had an accident before the murders were known about and then went to get cleaned up why would he not have cleaned his blood from his beloved guitar?

I can't see the significance of blood on his guitar. I have a video of Jack White's guitar after a gig with blood all over the strings, he was playing it so hard. Besides, these backpacker types always seem to 'be in the wars' - whenever I see a group of them there are always some who have cuts and bruises, open sores, bandaged feet etc etc. Like they haven't yet learned how to look after themselves in the tropics or something.

It looks like a lot of blood from the photo.

The question really is where is the girl who cleaned the blood from his face ? Does she really exist or was this just a story to mislead the investigation ? If she does not come forward or is not found then I would say the person stating that is involved. Obstruction of justice I think they call that ....

[Heisenberg01]

Too many threads, people getting confused.

The police have said it WAS NOT mon in the cctv, as he doesnt have a Tattoo, the man in the ccv tv has.

The police have ruled out it being Mon in the cctv.

[Albertosez]

The blood on Seans' Guitar can easily be DNA Tested to either connect him to the crime scene or otherwise.

[mrtoad]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The killers will be found soon and put into custody. We are 10% away from being 100% done with the investigation. If all society works together we will definitely solve this crime. We are 90% done by solving this crime, thankfully. There are as of today no suspects and most evidence has been corrupted. We have taken the proper steps to ensure that a killer will be arrested by the end of the month we believe. We can now be peaceful with this revelation. Remain vigiliant. The public is the only hope for solving this crime which is solved soon.

I just realized that the RTP are the guiys who write American fortune cookies.

"The public is the only hope for solving this crime which is solved soon."

YES...because the police alone gives no hope! As an American saying goes, "Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades." - Frank Robinson.

From what I understand that was written in Thai, David (victim), his Mum will not pursue the case. She doesn't want to prolong the hurt she and her family have to deal with. She said that she knows David went to Thailand with his gay friend (indicating that David was gay). She doesn't want to rehash what has happened.

Are you serious, or are you just swallowing the Thai BS from a few days ago? I don't. Think the Brit Journos who are monitoring this are in agreement with your statements. A number of Thais that I have spoken to have already said its a cover up, maybe some of The Thai members here might be able to verify your fairy tale.

[animatic]

1st

We so far have only the word of one of the influencials as stating, second hand, what a spa massage girl 'allegedly' told him.

There is no police statement to say she has been talked to by them. She only was brought up after foreigners could not be blamed,

and the search was turned from Burmese migrants to local thais.

2nd

it has been reported and never refuted since,

that two mens semen was found in the victim and that is was asian and not caucasian.

Which begs the question; why would a foreigner kill a rape victim if he was not the rapist?

The instinct would be to help her.

3rd

We now have a concerted effort of locals doing K. Tao damage control, quite obviously.

They are trying this in the face of national and international pressure on the police.

This is not a position the locals have ever been in and so experience wise they

would logically be flailing as their local cash cows are going broke and they risk

long term loss of face and if one of their connections is found guilty long term

revulsion at their whole world, which can not reflect well on the local business models.

4th

Of course the Thai press is getting things a bit faster, it is the native language and networks,

but the confusions seems to emanate from Thai statements as much as their translations for foreigners.

Not to mention a premium is place on proper translations from Thai to English and other languages.

No doubt there are mistakes of interpretation, but most of the translators are likely Thai,

and most of the reports seem to be in reasonably properly worded english.

More trouble some is the serial screw ups talking to the press by police desperate to show 'progress'.

And as troubling is the statements and offers by local K. Tao influencials and their proximity to the whole debacle.

[CantSpell]

Also don't be surprised if the focus of attention turns to Sean. There is still much to be said because many fingers point to him.

Nothing new in what you've reported from the Thai news sources. We heard it long ago.

Yes, there are a lot of Thai fingers pointing at Sean because they probably prefer a farang was involved. The DNA points at an Asian/s being involved.

A gruesome murder like this requires a motive that I don't believe Sean had. He spoke highly of David in his interview.

As for Sean being covered in blood and requiring assistance to have it cleaned off- if you murdered someone, would you go and ask someone to clean the blood off your body? I believe this was fabricated/trumped up by the people involved.

I do agreethat the Sean story is not very clear:

- Blood stains on the guitar look like splashes rather dripping from personal wounds, though it would be rather silly not to wash those splashes if he was really involved.

- He apparently lived 18 months in KT so he must know some locals so yes he could have been involved; but

- even if he knew some locals (if locals did it); I do not believe locals would trust a foreigner enough to let a foreigner be involved in such gruesome murder.

- Am indeed surprised that he hasn't come forward with some details since a week that he left KT; which somehow still makes him suspicious...

Too many twists in this story and too much has not been analyzed properly or too many things that remain unanswered like the man running away from scene with victim's pants on...

[umbanda]

The Thai police are watching Peter Sellers movies...and learning?

[sabaitoo]

do not forget the message send out from AC Bar / Bar next Door..about Sean had been seen covered in blood, this message was made during the night only shortly before/during Seans encounter with Mon & his Back-up guy,- but several days after the actual murder took place...

[sabaitoo]

just in :

Key witness says foreigner kills British tourists

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/key-witness-says-foreigner-kills-british-tourists/

[Tazwa]

The funny/sad thing about Sean : after-only after his run and statement about the real murder etc. - only then they revealed the " blood on face story'...

Strange, isn't it???

I still wait for this girl to come forward or the police to get her and provide this information. Where is she ? Does she even exist ? This is one of the most important pieces of information in this entire investigation .

Agree this is a very crucial piece of info.

Montriwat claimed that an employee helped wash blood off Sean on the night of the murders. So the murders likely occurred around 4am and Sean waited until later that night to get the blood cleaned up? Yeah right! Maybe he meant the night before the murders? Maybe he doesn't know what he means because he's making it all up!

If this employee can't substantiate the story under cross examination then it shows Montriwat is lying.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/763492-police-shift-focus-to-foreign-tourists-in-koh-tao-murdere-probe/

[Tazwa]

"have obtained a key witness who said foreigner killed the two British tourists in Koh Tao."

Replace "obtained" with "bought".

[SteveFong]

what happened to the one man arrested with proof he did it, and the 2nd that fled to bkk?

[Albertosez]

I think it goes without saying that all of this is very, very tough for the families to take. However, I also hope that they appreciate that there are people in Thailand that also do care as well - and care deeply enough to keep the pressure on the authorities to bring the perps to justice ! It would not be easy for them to keep up any momentum on their own and from the UK - and whilst the speculation is upsetting for them, I think it is the lesser of the 2 x evils in this particular scenario. No doubt some of the evidence has been deliberately with held and other evidence poorly conveyed / translated - and this has caused some confusion - maybe deliberately so ?

I heard in one of the earliest reports that the male victim ( David ) also seemed to have been raped - but now that line has also gone quiet. If he is Gay - maybe the DNA that was found on him was not from the actual crime scene and maybe that is why that particular line has seemingly been dropped.

My own observation is that this was much more of a hate crime that a rape crime. The Photo's would support that. Without being too explicit, I am not aware that the police have said whether they found fresh semen ( DNA ) inside the female victim ? They have repeated asked for people to come forward that might have had a previous sexual liaison with the girl ( meaning in the preceding days ).....not sure if this is because they have some doubt as to how old the DNA is ?

The DNA that was found was proved to be from " 2 x different Asian Men." The Police have said on various occasions that there wasn't any evidence of rape before she was murdered ( was this a poor translation or just incompetence )? They did not say that sex was consensual, nor did they say that rape did not take place after her death. There are many things that they haven't said that has caused so much speculation. One thing is for sure, the photo's depict a wild and gruesome crime scene that many would find very strange if the motive was only rape. Was the condom used on the handle of the Hoe to violate the girl - there is only DNA on the outside ? Someone was obviously very upset or completely out of their mind on drugs. I have heard that Thai Men can become very upset if anyone wiggles their little finger at them in a sort of " mocking manner " to suggest that they are not as big downstairs as they appear to be upstairs ? Was something said earlier in the night in the bar that could have triggered such a rage ?

The guy in the photos and CCTV IMO is the same guy - maybe the " Tattoo " was just an Henna Tattoo and he simply removed it once he knew he was in the frame ? Why cant this CCTV Video be sent for digital enhancement ? If he was caught on CCTV before 4am, why was the crime not reported until 06.30am ? What happened in between this time ?

If any of the Western guys were involved then they should be implicated by their DNA - but none found - so far.

On the other hand, whilst it does sound like a brutal / mafia style execution - why would the bodies be left on the beach ? They have enough contacts and power to seemingly arrange what ever they want on that Island. If it was the mafia, why did they not arrange a speed boat to collect the bodies and shift them to an area that they would never be found / likely ever be found ? Allowing someone to find these bodies on the beach would surely be the last thing a mafia gang would want, particularly so close to their own business interests.

There are many questions that so far remain unanswered. I hope the British Media demand the opportunity to ask all of these questions at some stage, rather than just reporting what they are told !

[metisdead]

A trolling nonsense post has been removed.

[BradWilkins]

It is now more like 82.333 % due to the new exchange rate

[lucaswallachia]

do not forget the message send out from AC Bar / Bar next Door..about Sean had been seen covered in blood, this message was made during the night only shortly before/during Seans encounter with Mon & his Back-up guy,- but several days after the actual murder took place...

There is blood all over his guitar so it could be from the night:

[kcirtapyelrah]

A blind man on a galloping horse can see that they have no intention of finding the Thai's responsible for these murders, get real and face the facts, they have achieved absolutely nothing, apart from total chaos and confusion, NOBODY IS GOING TO BE CHARGED WITH MURDER. They are just hoping that it will all blow over so everything on the island can carry on in the same vain as it always has

[boomerangutang]

After reading various news articles and comments I have come to reconize that many of the foreigners here on TV that make comments are doing so without seeing another side of the news reports and comments that are written in Thai. I'm not really sure why that is but the Thai folks seem to know about things days before the foreigner. Example: I have read many times about the CCTV picture that captured the Thai running and only wearing shorts. One story I read said that this Thai man was wearing David's (the victim's) shorts. And that this Thai person must have mistakenly put on the victim's shorts and left his shorts there on the beach. Then written in Thai, the news said that this Thai guy's name in Mon, and the reason that he is running is because since the murders occurred around his area he was made aware of it by the police. He apparently quickly hurried to put only his shorts on and ran to the crime scene to see what happened.

Another example: Sean, the guy that quickly attempted to get off the island and fly back to his country because he felt threatened.

His story seemed very solid, even taking photos. Most foreigners that read about Sean believed him and then began focusing on the two Thai guys (Mon and the other guy which is a policeman).

Written and reported in Thai provided so much more and different information about Sean. The story about the two Thai men were much different than what Sean had portrayed. The Thai news suggests that they have witnesses that not only saw Sean with Blood all over him the night of the murder but they actually helps him clean-up himself. When questioned by locals that helped Sean, he said that he had been in a motorbike accident. Another story suggested that he told someone that he was in a fight with someone.

There has been a lot of focus on Sean. Based on what has been reported in Thai, there are many suggesting that Sean was involved in this gruesome murder.

There is much more that was written in Thai. My only point is that if many of the TV members were aware of many of the stories that have been written in Thai, I think that many of the comments, opinions and anger would be directly somewhat differently.

The only thing that I can suggest is that most should try to refrain from making comments where they are so sure of what took place. There has been so much about the headsman and these Thai guys. So many have gone way out there on a limb stating that they are so corrupt and that they are the guilty ones.

I think very soon within the next couple days or so, more information that was written in Thai will start to be filtered in a way that will be better written and understood by the TV community.

For those that believe that the two or three Thai guys working at AC's bar/club carried out the murder, and are totally guilty, and that it will all be covered up by the authorities, will have a hard pill to swallow when later they catch-up on the news that most all Thai's know about days in advance. Just understand that when you hear what evidence they have, know that it was already reported in Thai before you becomes aware of it.

Also don't be surprised if the focus of attention turns to Sean. There is still much to be said because many fingers point to him.

Thai papers have a veracity quotient of about 6% on a good day. For starters, they ache to have the blame put upon either a Burmese (1st choice) or a falang. 2ndly, it would be easy to feed faulty info to a Thai paper and have them gobble it up.

just in :

Key witness says foreigner kills British tourists

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/key-witness-says-foreigner-kills-british-tourists/

Interesting, but very vague. Could be true, but more likely a 'witness' who was groomed by the real culprits to provide a diversion and/or scapegoat. Notice: it's nearly 2 weeks since the tragic event. I'll bet dollars to donuts the witness proves to be as incognito and vague as a ghost.

[khunpa]

just in :

Key witness says foreigner kills British tourists

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/key-witness-says-foreigner-kills-british-tourists/

And more confusion is added to the case. What a joke this is!

[BangkokHank]

"We do not have a warrant to arrest anyone yet, but the evidence we have points to someone who was in the area between 2am and 5am that morning."

NO SH1T SHERLOCK ................ Talk about stating the bleedin obvious

Right. They might as well have said "We are looking for people who were at the crime scene at the time the crime was committed." But does making that statement bring them any closer to solving the crime? Of course not.

[belg]

bars on the beach ? get them all removed

clearly drugs involved, but police know of nothing , remove them all

[Number 3]

I think it goes without saying that all of this is very, very tough for the families to take. However, I also hope that they appreciate that there are people in Thailand that also do care as well - and care deeply enough to keep the pressure on the authorities to bring the perps to justice ! It would not be easy for them to keep up any momentum on their own and from the UK - and whilst the speculation is upsetting for them, I think it is the lesser of the 2 x evils in this particular scenario. No doubt some of the evidence has been deliberately with held and other evidence poorly conveyed / translated - and this has caused some confusion - maybe deliberately so ?

I heard in one of the earliest reports that the male victim ( David ) also seemed to have been raped - but now that line has also gone quiet. If he is Gay - maybe the DNA that was found on him was not from the actual crime scene and maybe that is why that particular line has seemingly been dropped.

My own observation is that this was much more of a hate crime that a rape crime. The Photo's would support that. Without being too explicit, I am not aware that the police have said whether they found fresh semen ( DNA ) inside the female victim ? They have repeated asked for people to come forward that might have had a previous sexual liaison with the girl ( meaning in the preceding days ).....not sure if this is because they have some doubt as to how old the DNA is ?

The DNA that was found was proved to be from " 2 x different Asian Men." The Police have said on various occasions that there wasn't any evidence of rape before she was murdered ( was this a poor translation or just incompetence )? They did not say that sex was consensual, nor did they say that rape did not take place after her death. There are many things that they haven't said that has caused so much speculation. One thing is for sure, the photo's depict a wild and gruesome crime scene that many would find very strange if the motive was only rape. Was the condom used on the handle of the Hoe to violate the girl - there is only DNA on the outside ? Someone was obviously very upset or completely out of their mind on drugs. I have heard that Thai Men can become very upset if anyone wiggles their little finger at them in a sort of " mocking manner " to suggest that they are not as big downstairs as they appear to be upstairs ? Was something said earlier in the night in the bar that could have triggered such a rage ?

The guy in the photos and CCTV IMO is the same guy - maybe the " Tattoo " was just an Henna Tattoo and he simply removed it once he knew he was in the frame ? Why cant this CCTV Video be sent for digital enhancement ? If he was caught on CCTV before 4am, why was the crime not reported until 06.30am ? What happened in between this time ?

If any of the Western guys were involved then they should be implicated by their DNA - but none found - so far.

On the other hand, whilst it does sound like a brutal / mafia style execution - why would the bodies be left on the beach ? They have enough contacts and power to seemingly arrange what ever they want on that Island. If it was the mafia, why did they not arrange a speed boat to collect the bodies and shift them to an area that they would never be found / likely ever be found ? Allowing someone to find these bodies on the beach would surely be the last thing a mafia gang would want, particularly so close to their own business interests.

There are many questions that so far remain unanswered. I hope the British Media demand the opportunity to ask all of these questions at some stage, rather than just reporting what they are told !

Forensics superimposed this mans picture onto the CCTV image if you recall and it was a perfect match.

This enhanced picture was posted on TV