Key witness says foreigner kills British tourists

[mesquite]

Regarding the OP, Ah, good, we're back to the foreigners again, the only ones who commit crimes in Thailand.

[lapd]

blame the foreigner game has started

even foreign DNA of mongolian men were found inside the poor victim....

everybody should BAN this ban island

Yes please do. Might make it worth a trip once again. Used to be a nice place before it was overrun by backpackers.

[partington]

For heaven's sake!

In Thai criminal reporting "foreigner" almost always means Burmese!! Almost every time a serious crime is reported and investigated a Burmese did it. This is a strategy that influential people use to avoid criminal proceedings and Burmese are often kept around just for that purpose, as a strategic sacrificial "non-Thai" to blame it on.

Foreigner is code for Burmese, is code for universal scapegoat, is code for escapee on mysterious boat, and fictional resolution to case. This was predictable after three days!!!

This is no doubt the reason that "DNA tests" that it is hard to believe were truly carried out indicated Asian DNA, and why the witness has taken nearly two weeks to reveal his eyewitness account of a murder which is nationwide news.

Edited September 27, 2014 by partington

[givenall]

And the "key witness" didn't come forward until now because..................

It's so hard to believe anything police says anyway.

Money buys everything here including lies

[Pundi6446]

OH !! now we have a key witness to the murders, who just mysteriously appears after all this time, I bought it very much, after all the crap about DNA and for sure they were Asian.

Lets face it, the real killer is long gone, this whole investigation is a complete and total farce.

[Franky Bear]

No comment today, except I sense we are in the endgame, the outcome of which will either be climatic or fizzle out as unsolved...

I guess you are right Stephen. They can see the media interest waning. They've simply talked and talked with story after story. All designed to confuse, divert and allow nothing to go anywhere.

Give it a few more days and it will be a murder "by person or persons unknown". They won't bother fitting some poor sod up as that would mean a trial and attract press coverage.

I suspect many on the island and in the police know exactly who did this and how/what/why it was done. That information will simply be buried and rot away.

That's been my train of thought from the 2nd or 3rd day Stephen.

[laobali]

People lie, DNA doesn't.

But people can lie about DNA (its whereabouts or origins).

[rickirs]

A "foreigner" is a legal or societal construct. It relates usually to a person's nationality and has nothing to do with a person's appearance or DNA. The allegation that someone witnessed a "foreigner" committing murder is absurb unless the witness knew beforehand the killer's nationality or the witness has a bias or hidden agenda (ie., obstruct the investigation).Given this police "discovery," no doubt we'll have a confession within a week. Case closed, police cheers all around.

[Tazwa]

Are we all jumping to the conclusion that a foreigner is not Asian ?

From Myanmar they are Asian , from Cambodia , they are Asian , from Vietnam . The murderers may not be Thai , but neither are they likely to be US ,

European or Australian . The girl was raped by whoever killed her , Asians .

Do you think you could tell the difference between a Thai and an Asian foreigner on a beach at 4am? Really?

[WhamBam]

I thought the Police were going to tighten up on these leaks to the Press.

Could make a good defense, a crazy farang killed the couple and then two Asians only assaulted the dead female victim.

That way they are not charged with a brutal murder but still serve time since their DNA was found in the semen they left behind.

Could make a good defense to an audience that wants to believe...

Plus it plays into the Thai prejudice against farang that is only rivaled by the farang prejudice against Thai seen on this TV forum the past 12 days.

Necrophilia?

No, surely not. That would be worse than the murder itself to a Thai. Wouldn't it?

More Flying pig stories from the RTP in this story, methinks.

[transam]

I thought the Police were going to tighten up on these leaks to the Press.

Could make a good defense, a crazy farang killed the couple and then two Asians only assaulted the dead female victim.

That way they are not charged with a brutal murder but still serve time since their DNA was found in the semen they left behind.

Could make a good defense to an audience that wants to believe...

Plus it plays into the Thai prejudice against farang that is only rivaled by the farang prejudice against Thai seen on this TV forum the past 12 days.

Necrophilia?

No, surely not. That would be worse than the murder itself to a Thai. Wouldn't it?

More Flying pig stories from the RTP in this story, methinks.

Yep, the RTP think we farangs are as daft as ............

[SPB65]

With every new "development" my heart sinks a little more. I've never followed a crime quite so avidly before and it is having a profound effect on how I look at Thailand as a whole. I came to Thailand about 10 years ago because I loved it and wanted to live here, now I'm sick of it and can't wait to leave (next month with my Thai wife and daughter). Something has shifted here in the last 5 years or so, even Thais feel this. This is not the happy-smiley country it once was and it's getting uglier by the day. I personally won't be sorry to leave. This murder case has really been the last straw for me. It really is an appalling state of affairs. It just makes me depressed now.

[traviss]

I have not seen this story on CNN or BBC TV.

I watch a lot of news, but maybe I missed it on TV.

I think it would make an interesting story.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/17/world/asia/thailand-british-tourist-deaths-tribute/

[laobali]

And the "key witness" didn't come forward until now because..................

It's so hard to believe anything police says anyway.

Money buys everything here including lies

Lies are free in Thailand too. They can be found 'lying' everywhere.

[transam]

With every new "development" my heart sinks a little more. I've never followed a crime quite so avidly before and it is having a profound effect on how I look at Thailand as a whole. I came to Thailand about 10 years ago because I loved it and wanted to live here, now I'm sick of it and can't wait to leave (next month with my Thai wife and daughter). Something has shifted here in the last 5 years or so, even Thais feel this. This is not the happy-smiley country it once was and it's getting uglier by the day. I personally won't be sorry to leave. This murder case has really been the last straw for me. It really is an appalling state of affairs. It just makes me depressed now.

This stuff has always been there. What has changed is access to media, your PC etc.

Nothing has changed.

[Pundi6446]

And the "key witness" didn't come forward until now because..................

Because there wasn't one until now, the cops have to find a scapegoat to the crime so lets start it off into a new direction, they exhausted the Thai or Asian version, even though they said DNA proved it.

[bongoz]

That's not what this Thai news source has just reported.

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

That is dated 23rd...... not 27th........ get ur dates right...... payment came after that!

It is interesting that the article states that Eighth Region Police Command commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Panya Mamen said "He (Mon) was arrested after evidence which police collected were examined and proved he was involved"[sic].

So the BIB had collected and examined the evidence which proved "Mon" was guilty, only to be release a few days later?

Say so much about their competency...

[dieseldave1951]

And the "key witness" didn't come forward until now because..................

as soon the scapegoat will appear DAM OUTRAGOUS what the police will do to exonerate all Thais

and all for the sake of tourism cash all this twoing and frowing make me dizzy

[laobali]

With every new "development" my heart sinks a little more. I've never followed a crime quite so avidly before and it is having a profound effect on how I look at Thailand as a whole. I came to Thailand about 10 years ago because I loved it and wanted to live here, now I'm sick of it and can't wait to leave (next month with my Thai wife and daughter). Something has shifted here in the last 5 years or so, even Thais feel this. This is not the happy-smiley country it once was and it's getting uglier by the day. I personally won't be sorry to leave. This murder case has really been the last straw for me. It really is an appalling state of affairs. It just makes me depressed now.

Sadly, it's not that the country and people have changed so much over the past 5 or even 10 years, it's just taken you that long to see what really goes on.

[Tazwa]

This key witness must be an exceptionally outstanding citizen.

He/she witnesses a foreigner murder someone on the beach yet it's left up to beach cleaners to discover the murder scene in the morning! How about bringing it to someone's attention when you witnessed it!

[metisdead]

Some posts with sick and perverted speculation have been removed as well as the replies.

[jollyhangmon]

Have you ever seen such total incompetence in all your life? First it's one then the other then someone else, then it's the bar owners son, or a cousin or we are nearly ready to make arrests, (nearly???), and then we are 85% there and now a 'foreigner' meaning I presume not Thai ( because Thai's couldn't possibly could they) . Do these people know the whole world is watching them act like complete fools? Can you imagine what the victims families are thinking and how they are suffering? Someone somewhere is going to get away with this. Do they really think the guilty are still on the island waiting to be arrested?

No, they are most likely on the island, partying every night as usual! Spoke to a friend of mine, who lived and worked on Koh Tao for several years in the past. He said that beheadings and violent murders are a "standard" occurence on this island. Often victims are Burmese because nobody cares about them, unwanted competitor's businesses go up in flames, from time to time a bullet finds it way into a skull of a competitor unwilling to close down or sell. One day a headless victim was dragged around the island to the peer attached with a rope to the rescue boat, while tourists were swimming on Koh Tao's beaches. If there's a place to avoid when travelling in Thailand, Kidney Bean it is!

... not that big a surprise your described state of things there as the region does have a pretty abdominable 'recent' history (1975 to almost 1990 !! according to reports of UN High Comissioner for Refugees) concerning 'fishermen as pirates' ... not that long ago, is it!?

[ratcatcher]

With every new "development" my heart sinks a little more. I've never followed a crime quite so avidly before and it is having a profound effect on how I look at Thailand as a whole. I came to Thailand about 10 years ago because I loved it and wanted to live here, now I'm sick of it and can't wait to leave (next month with my Thai wife and daughter). Something has shifted here in the last 5 years or so, even Thais feel this. This is not the happy-smiley country it once was and it's getting uglier by the day. I personally won't be sorry to leave. This murder case has really been the last straw for me. It really is an appalling state of affairs. It just makes me depressed now.

It's really none of our business, but you didn't tell us what destination you have found that will give you and your family a 'better' life. It certainly can't be the U.K., as, by all reports, that green and pleasant land is also getting uglier by the day.

[catweazle]

With every new "development" my heart sinks a little more. I've never followed a crime quite so avidly before and it is having a profound effect on how I look at Thailand as a whole. I came to Thailand about 10 years ago because I loved it and wanted to live here, now I'm sick of it and can't wait to leave (next month with my Thai wife and daughter). Something has shifted here in the last 5 years or so, even Thais feel this. This is not the happy-smiley country it once was and it's getting uglier by the day. I personally won't be sorry to leave. This murder case has really been the last straw for me. It really is an appalling state of affairs. It just makes me depressed now.

I was parking in your garage before, SPB56, and this after 23 years in LOS! I was close to selling it all and moving to either Canada or Europe, but then found my footting again, just recently.

Even though by now I am in the front line when it comes to rants about corrupt and inept Thai officials and "the system", I still love Thailand as such. I found that once you are on the tipping point, it is very easy to be intimidated to overrate the negative news which are always present and! - surprise, surprise - in any country!

Your focus shifts from the good sides to all the bad ones, and the more your mindset shifts the more bad news and reasons to leave you find. In the age of the internet and with social media, it is easy to apply a virtual filter to your browsing and posting behaviour that eventually supports the decision you have made, "I have to leave, this country is going down the drain"... There's a good read about the cognitive biases that prevent us from being rational: http://io9.com/5974468/the-most-common-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rational

Not mean to lecture you, I have full sympathy and am as depressed about this cover up as much as you are. Hang in there, pal!

Edited September 27, 2014 by catweazle

[bongoz]

If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance then baffle them with your bull....

The Thai way...

[JOC]

This key witness must be an exceptionally outstanding citizen.

He/she witnesses a foreigner murder someone on the beach yet it's left up to beach cleaners to discover the murder scene in the morning! How about bringing it to someone's attention when you witnessed it!

As I said before, I believe the new witness is the German beggar!

With his swollen leg, he can't walk very fast, so after witnessing the murders he just managed to drag himself to the policestation this morning!!

[h90]

But the DNA??

So the female victim is raped by two Asian men, and this mysterious farang comes along and kills her and David??

Please, please Thai police keep your mouths shut!!

Where is the Farang?

Foreigner: Chinese, Myanmar, Lao, Cambodia, Japan, etc etc

Every farang is a foreigner (with a few very rare exceptions)

But not every foreigner is a farang.

[falangjim]

Who cares what anyone says anymore...The Royal Thai Police are a joke. I hear the PM has an idea for a new soap opera. With fodder produced by the fools he's employed to protect this country, it should be an easy plot.

[bongoz]

That's not what this Thai news source has just reported.

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

Report released on the 23rd...I was almost certain that today was the 28th.

If today's the 28th can you please PM with the lotto numbers, anywhere in the world would be fine

[Jim walker]

and he is 86% sure about this