Police promised cash reward to buy false testimony: Koh Tao taxi driver

[Soutpeel]

truly,

this is an insanity,

where is the military?

where are the rest of the world's dictators?

the General needs some advice, maybe, it is time to send in Janet Reno?

time to send in the big guns me thinks

[bongoz]

If the police are are calling him in twice, they obviously think he knows something. Perhaps the village headman is encourageing the driver to be quiet.I dont think the cops just chose a random taxi driver and beat him up. There are two sides and i am standing by the police. The english police are known to give their suspects a beating now and then. I think the police are quite close to an arrest, but just need abit more information. If that guy was so innocent he would be sueing the cops a---s. All praise to the police, beat him up again and get his mouth relaxed

Are you for real??

[NeverSure]

Waaaalllll... I think it's about time for our cousins in the UK to colonize Thailand and find out what the heck is happening.

Wouldn't you just love to see a couple of nuclear subs with trident and cruise missiles pop up beside a couple of destroyers in the Gulf of Thailand and ask the Thais just what the hell is going on?

[andypatt]

It amazes me that the corrupt incompetent clowns ruled out the usual "suicide " verdict

[SteveFong]

Waaaalllll... I think it's about time for our cousins in the UK to colonize Thailand and find out what the heck is happening.

Wouldn't you just love to see a couple of nuclear subs with trident and cruise missiles pop up beside a couple of destroyers in the Gulf of Thailand and ask the Thais just what the hell is going on?

Never Sure,

those aren't submarines,

they are just Sea Turtles,

now, stay calm and remember

one less mushroom in your pancakes tomorrow

[boomerangutang]

If the police are are calling him in twice, they obviously think he knows something. Perhaps the village headman is encourageing the driver to be quiet.I dont think the cops just chose a random taxi driver and beat him up. There are two sides and i am standing by the police. The english police are known to give their suspects a beating now and then. I think the police are quite close to an arrest, but just need abit more information. If that guy was so innocent he would be sueing the cops a---s. All praise to the police, beat him up again and get his mouth relaxed

I think you're on track. One or both of the 'guys off the street' we've heard about recently - both of whom claimed to have been threatened (and/or beaten) by and offered big money by police ....they probably have some pertinent info. Methinks Big Shot Daddy hears about everything concurrently with the cops, and he makes it known: potential witnesses better not say anything that could implicate the headman's brood. Whether by money or threats of bodily harm, there are ways of getting a strong message across.

The cops may not be the baddies in these two scenarios - of possible witnesses who claim to have turned down payment offers.

Also: the powerful family has back-up plans. If one or more of the Headman's kin are arrested/indicted, he's not going just sit on his hands and allow justice to take its course. He will continue to be an active player in all this. And he's certainly not going to offer any clues which could further implicate his brethren or sons. In a farang country, withholding key evidence (or lying to police) or aiding/harboring a criminal are illegal. In Thailand, not.

[lostinisaan]

Speaking later to reporters, Prasit said: "I don't want to take any action against the policemen, but want to demonstrate my innocence and I will cooperate with other requests in the future. Just don't force me to acknowledge [something] I never knew [about]," he said

Had a strange experience with a tourist police officer, who played good friend and helper, when an older German man past away last year.

He lied about everything, said that he'd used his "police credit" and payed 38 K for the hospital bill out of his own pocket, when we were trying to get the dead body out, to his house for the usual ceremony.

We gave him the cash paid the "rest" at the hospital, but later found out that he was just a freaking liar. 38 K for his pocket.

When talking to thew hospital superiors it was clear that I wouldn't be in the pole position to tell the truth.So, we just forgot about the money and moved on.

I'm pretty certain that they'd have found some drugs in my car/house, etc, or that he'd have found a witness saying that I raped a little girl. or anything else that you can think of.

I fully understand why the cab driver doesn't want his name to be mentioned. Completely. ...

You gave 38K to anyone and a cop of all people and without checking with the hospital? Are you in your right mind? You deserve to lose it.

This happened inside the hospital, next to the cashier, where the elder guy deceased. His still wife came from Germany, the cop actually had to fill out some forms that the body could be released as it was a Sergeant Major from Tourist police.

The cashier was involved coming up with a weird story that her Master Card would be sufficient to withdraw/ pay 500K, but for whatever reason, she's lying to us and said that the card reader would be too old to make such a transaction.

There were about seven witnesses and believe me, the cop is ( now) well -known for ripping foreigners off.

You seem to be a real arschhole and nobody deserves to lose such an amount of money, especially when considering that a friend/ husband had just recently passed away under unbelievable circumstances.

I was looking for guys who donated urgently needed blood and many other things. Hope you'll be in a similar situation soon. It's always easy to point your finger at others. Please look in a mirror. What do you see?

All you deserve is to grow up and get some balls.

Edited October 2, 2014 by lostinisaan

[GAZZPA]

If the police are are calling him in twice, they obviously think he knows something. Perhaps the village headman is encourageing the driver to be quiet.I dont think the cops just chose a random taxi driver and beat him up. There are two sides and i am standing by the police. The english police are known to give their suspects a beating now and then. I think the police are quite close to an arrest, but just need abit more information. If that guy was so innocent he would be sueing the cops a---s. All praise to the police, beat him up again and get his mouth relaxed

"the English police are known to give their suspects a beating now and then"?

What are you talking about? After that comment I can only assume everything else is not worth reading,, Yep just read it and i was right.

He probably lives in Issan with nothing better to do than watch old Sweeny episodes all day while guzzling the Chang. He's also another one who's seen Elvis herding buffalo through the village every Wednesday morning.

Probably right, the Sweeney used to give the scum a good slap every now and then.

"Dont muck about Son, it's getting late and I haven't had me dinner!",,,, priceless Sweeney.

[shaggy851]

Knew this would happen.. Pressure to hold someone responsible and return the safe image for tourism. Tit pc out

[SamuiAxe]

This is a very brave man! Not many Thai, (or farang!), would have the balls to say a thing like that in public.. Sir, I salute you...

[ggt]

Prasit Sukdam also accused the police of giving him a large sum of money in exchange for false testimony to frame the wrong people.

Because of all the publicity these murders has stirred up...and the pressure being brought on the police to solve this problem...this is not a big surprise...wonder how many "murder" cases are solved this way...This my friend...is Thai justice...

[Chao Lao Beach]

News like this gets out and the police chief gets promoted??

Amazing Thailand.

This is normal, well, not unexpected.

[Soiyamoto]

Is anyone really that surprised. This is Amazing Thailand.

[KOZMO]

News like this gets out and the police chief gets promoted??

Amazing Thailand.

Land of smiles if you have BIG BUCKS!!!!

[phuketandsee]

What we've all been waiting for:

http://www.thephuketnews.com/myanmar-suspect-confesses-to-the-rape-and-murder-of-british-tourists-48972.php

[phuketandsee]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29461757

[sid1281]

Not football player.

I think we know who did it

[boomerangutang]

This is a very brave man! Not many Thai, (or farang!), would have the balls to say a thing like that in public.. Sir, I salute you...

If true, yes salutable. However, there are some heavy players and big chunks of money bandying around. So we can't be too sure the taxi driver is on the level. Thus far, it's just his word.

What we've all been waiting for:

http://www.thephuketnews.com/myanmar-suspect-confesses-to-the-rape-and-murder-of-british-tourists-48972.php

I hope it's not scapegoat time. Will be interesting to see the DNA match results, though at this time, 2.5 weeks after the crime, how much credence do any of the players deserve? It would still be opportune to DNA test the son of the Headman, and other male members of that family.

[bunglebag]

What we've all been waiting for:

http://www.thephuketnews.com/myanmar-suspect-confesses-to-the-rape-and-murder-of-british-tourists-48972.php

What a crock of sh!t

Too late for justice now it seems but I bloody hope someone from UK gets covert DNA samples from various members of our friendly island family that can still be tested. And i hope as many people as possible boycott Koh Tao from now on, or at a minimum boycott the part of the island that this family controls

[Bangmod]

That's it. I'm done with it.

Done, they just started....

[MarkCyr]

I love Thailand. But the police...all of them...are the lowest scumbags on earth. The Thais hate them and don't trust them, and s4it like this makes you understand why.

Sickening stuff.

[Soiyamoto]

I love Thailand. But the police...all of them...are the lowest scumbags on earth. The Thais hate them and don't trust them, and s4it like this makes you understand why.

Sickening stuff.

[Soiyamoto]

Cant see it changing in near future either r.e police from the nasty little men outside soi 9 police station and soi 11 2nd rd pataya, no bike license take your motorbike key off you give you the penalty notice go to police station pay the 200bt or whatever go back to nice policeman show him the stamped paid ticket he gives you your key back and off you go on your motorbike that you'v just been fined for riding with no license. If they were serious it would be no bike back until license provided same with rental motors no hire unless can show license

[spidermike007]

At least all this has opened the eyes of the world as to how Thailand's police force etc operates.

The term LOS should be changed to something like LOC, land of corruption, for the simple reason it is totally accepted in every single avenue of the place..

The irony is from the start they were doing their hardest to "down play" this and not damage Thailand's "reputation" for the fear of losing the mighty tourist dollar, hoping it would "go away" but their own actions over the last week or have done more to damage Thailand's reputation and in fact have put more of a spot light on them...

so the situation they were desperately trying to avoid, they have created themselves.

Does the term hapless neophyte come to mind? Or nincompoop? Or Abbott and Costello? Or Keystone Cops? If only this case were about incompetence, it would somehow be less horrifying. You cannot play down a double murder committed on foreigners, unless you are Putin, or the Chinese govt. with total control over the media.

[kiwikeith]

what happened to the man running away from the scene on cctv in the victims pants, what happened to the man running away on cctv in the victims pants , what happened to the man running away in the victims pants on cctv, this is a recording .

Edited October 2, 2014 by kiwikeith

[spidermike007]

What is the real moral to this story? Well, one of them is that we are not going to see any meaningful change, to the fabric of Thai society. Many of us were incredibly hopeful that we would see some positive changes. And I think it is quite possible that Prayuth, and his top guys have their hearts in the right places, and want to see this change take place. Many expats, and many Thais really want to see progress, and want to see this country moving forward into this century. Yes, we will see some land crimes solved, and some illegal beach vendors removed. But, in terms of dealing with the massive corruption issues, the kind of power guys like the headman of Koh Tao have, and their ability to abuse that power, and positive changes at an institutional level, and at a national level, where it really counts, many of us now doubt it will happen. This case proves, that many are still above the law, and even the Army cannot touch them. That is the devastating moral to this story. A very disappointing outcome indeed.

[lostinisaan]

THIS is "Thainess"...

Donnknow what's wrong with Thainee? Please add her to your facebook account.-

Edited October 3, 2014 by lostinisaan

[Cake Monster]

Basically, this is now a bell weather for the depths of depravity that this pround nation has now been dragged down to.

[khunjamesjohnson]

Cant see it changing in near future either r.e police from the nasty little men outside soi 9 police station and soi 11 2nd rd pataya, no bike license take your motorbike key off you give you the penalty notice go to police station pay the 200bt or whatever go back to nice policeman show him the stamped paid ticket he gives you your key back and off you go on your motorbike that you'v just been fined for riding with no license. If they were serious it would be no bike back until license provided same with rental motors no hire unless can show license

The police owned motorbike rental shops lease out bike to tourists with no proof of license then book them for riding without license.

A circle jerk.

Scumbags.

[hughben]

If any police approached you with something like this, I would think they could stitch me up. Best to walk away if you can from the mafia