Myanmar says workers innocent of murdering Britons on Koh Tao

[JOC]

All the usual rhetoric from the expat community ... accusing the RTP and Government of being complicit in all the corruption, murder and other illegal activities ... and yet here you all are supporting the regime.

How many times have I heard people calling for change and yet refuse to take action that brings about that change. You should all be ashamed of yourselves but I guess there's no dragging you off that bar stool.

I've said it before, I'll say it again ... it is YOU, not the Gov, that holds the power to change. All you need to do is leave and then publicly state why you left ... yes change is possible but only if you initiate it otherwise anything you say here is mere hollow words that the Thai officialdom will laugh at.

It's not the RTP or the Gov that's just corrupt or inept ... it's the foreigners who live in Thailand.

Has to be the most stupid post of the day!!

Hope you are following your own advice and are on the way to the airport!!

Without the postings on social media (some stupid, some smart, some outright crazy) the two scapegoats would have been executed by now!!

The power to change is by staying and being critical, not by running away making empty statements!!

[daoyai]

All the usual rhetoric from the expat community ... accusing the RTP and Government of being complicit in all the corruption, murder and other illegal activities ... and yet here you all are supporting the regime.

How many times have I heard people calling for change and yet refuse to take action that brings about that change. You should all be ashamed of yourselves but I guess there's no dragging you off that bar stool.

I've said it before, I'll say it again ... it is YOU, not the Gov, that holds the power to change. All you need to do is leave and then publicly state why you left ... yes change is possible but only if you initiate it otherwise anything you say here is mere hollow words that the Thai officialdom will laugh at.

It's not the RTP or the Gov that's just corrupt or inept ... it's the foreigners who live in Thailand.

Strangest post on any topic I have seen in a long time, an inflated sense of importance maybe? Last i checked, no officials cared what i thought about anything, now you are saying I have the power, wow. Anyway this story is getting interesting, IF the witnesses can provide an alabai (sp?) for the accused then the whole prosecution case falls apart, or does it? TIT.

[lildragon]

I'd wager most Thai officialdom would chuckle if we all staged and left in 'protest'. Would probably tell us not to let the door hit our asses on the way out.

[catweazle]

All the usual rhetoric from the expat community ... accusing the RTP and Government of being complicit in all the corruption, murder and other illegal activities ... and yet here you all are supporting the regime.

How many times have I heard people calling for change and yet refuse to take action that brings about that change. You should all be ashamed of yourselves but I guess there's no dragging you off that bar stool.

I've said it before, I'll say it again ... it is YOU, not the Gov, that holds the power to change. All you need to do is leave and then publicly state why you left ... yes change is possible but only if you initiate it otherwise anything you say here is mere hollow words that the Thai officialdom will laugh at.

It's not the RTP or the Gov that's just corrupt or inept ... it's the foreigners who live in Thailand.

...aaaand you are doing exactly what to fight back? Respectively, let me better ask what exactly did you do to "bring change" to this system whenever you were in Thailand, regardless if as tourist or expat????

Besides the fact that this is one of the most irritating posts in months, I'd like to ask you what reactions you thought your post would generate, but disapproval and negative comments? If you were looking for sympathy, you certainly did hit the wrong notes, my blue froggy friend...

And besides, your comments were off topic on top of all that!

Edited December 19, 2014 by catweazle

[EyesWideOpen]

All the usual rhetoric from the expat community ... accusing the RTP and Government of being complicit in all the corruption, murder and other illegal activities ... and yet here you all are supporting the regime.

How many times have I heard people calling for change and yet refuse to take action that brings about that change. You should all be ashamed of yourselves but I guess there's no dragging you off that bar stool.

I've said it before, I'll say it again ... it is YOU, not the Gov, that holds the power to change. All you need to do is leave and then publicly state why you left ... yes change is possible but only if you initiate it otherwise anything you say here is mere hollow words that the Thai officialdom will laugh at.

It's not the RTP or the Gov that's just corrupt or inept ... it's the foreigners who live in Thailand.

"It's not the RTP or the Gov that's just corrupt or inept ... it's the foreigners who live in Thailand."

I wish to nominate this for the most bizarre statement of the year. The last time I checked I did not

have a billion dollars in corruption money sitting around my house like Pongpat. Oh crap, did I just

get sucked in by a troll ? Surely anyone with operational brain cells would not make such a statement.

Unless.........there is a giant boiler room somewhere full of computers, staffed with people in the employ of the government, pecking out mindless responses to any criticisms of Thailand...

Edited December 19, 2014 by EyesWideOpen

[Soutpeel]

Myanmar probe team says it has witnesses to prove two Myanmar suspects are innocent

BANGKOK: -- The spokesman of the Myanmar special committee said today that the committee now has some witnesses who were ready to prove the innocence of two Myanmar suspects accused of murdering the two British tourists on Koh Tao on September 15.

In a press conference held Thursday in Bangkok, the spokesman said the two Myanmar suspects, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun did not murder the two tourists, David Miller, 24, and Ms Hannah Witheridge, 23.

He said the two confessed to the murder because they were tortured and forced to confess. But he said they later retracted the confession because the Thai police imposed several serious charges upon them, one of which was the rape and murder conspiracy.

The Myanmar embassy has appointed a committee to investigate and so far it has questioned more than 40 Myanmar migrant workers in Koh Tao.

The committee has found a number of witnesses who could help to prove the two suspects were not involved in the murder.

But these witnesses said they were reluctant to testify as witnesses for fear of the Thai police, and their employers. But what they were most concerned about was that they could be laid off if they testify.

The Myanmar embassy’s investigation team was assured that they would cooperate to testify under condition that they must be protected.

Meanwhile the Samui provincial prosecutor Mr Tawatchai Siengjaew said that the press conference today by the Myanmar embassy was considered a normal judicial procedure to defend the suspects and have no impact on the evidence which the prosecutors have in prosecuting both of them in the court.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/myanmar-probe-team-says-witnesses-prove-two-myanmar-suspects-innocent

-- Thai PBS 2014-12-19

Best Xmas present in many years!!

Brave witnesses willing to testify.

Myanmar government standing up for its citizens.

Proof that the B2 are indeed scapegoats.

The RTP shamed again.

It doesn't get much better than that!!

So where are the RTP glee club to refute this with howls of conspiracy theories ?

Even a foreign government is saying it was a stitch up, one wonders if they have been talking to coppers from the UK as well ?

[JungleBoy2]

Some of those interviewed were "strong witnesses" who might provide evidence to exonerate the accused, said Kyaw Thaung, who heads the committee, but they were reluctant to testify and had returned to Myanmar for fear of being implicated in the crime.

"If they go to court and speak as witnesses, they’ll have problems with the Thai police and Thai bosses," Kyaw Thaung told reporters in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.

Doesn't make sense, if they are back in Myanmar why would they have problems with the Thai police and Thai bosses?

They can't Testify if they are in Myanmar. Read the line above your line.

[Dogmatix]

The Burmese have access to evidence that the Thai police didn't in the form of lots of Burmese witnesses who are now to afraid to testify in court or even stay in Thailand.

The British plods only had access to the Thai police and chose to go along with their case that to avoid rocking the boat. They seem to have dressed up the Thai police evidence up to make it sound good to the poor distraught family members who, of course, have no clue how Thai police operate.

Funny that the Thai public was totally unconvinced by their own police. It seems pretty certain that the RTP case rests almost exclusively on their own analysis of the DNA evidence which is obviously unreliable. The crime scene was completely contaminated with access given to potential suspects and evidence, such as finger prints was not gathered. They have no a single witness.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Dogmatix

[JOC]

So where are the RTP glee club to refute this with howls of conspiracy theories ?

Even a foreign government is saying it was a stitch up, one wonders if they have been talking to coppers from the UK as well ?

The RTP glee club is in an emergency meeting, on how to the rebuild their house of cards, which came tumbling down after the Myanmar Government gave the RTP the finger!!

Well done to the Myanmar authorities to stand up for their nationals!!

[Dogmatix]

Burmese have become a slave race in Thailand.

[Tatsujin]

I'm wondering if the PM is now gonna stop defending the RTP in public (other than the usual bland comments) and let the RTP get hammered on this one in Court as part of the cleaning up process he has in mind ...

[Dogmatix]

I'm wondering if the PM is now gonna stop defending the RTP in public (other than the usual bland comments) and let the RTP get hammered on this one in Court as part of the cleaning up process he has in mind ...

The cleaning up process is extremely selective and only includes police who have fallen out of favour and can be safely thrown to the dogs without implicating anyone who is still important.

[AleG]

So where are the RTP glee club to refute this with howls of conspiracy theories ?

Even a foreign government is saying it was a stitch up, one wonders if they have been talking to coppers from the UK as well ?

The RTP glee club is in an emergency meeting, on how to the rebuild their house of cards, which came tumbling down after the Myanmar Government gave the RTP the finger!!

Well done to the Myanmar authorities to stand up for their nationals!!

I, for one, am in a place called the real world.

You don't know what the testimony is, so why are you so convinced by it?

[BoristheBlade]

Not a chance,

Dear Leader has put his friend and ally as Head of the RTP.

Dear Leader has very publicly backed the investigation.

Dear Leader has insulted the female victim and western women in general, and made a token apology.

Dear Leader can't loose face, hence the Burmese will be found guilty.

I'm wondering if the PM is now gonna stop defending the RTP in public (other than the usual bland comments) and let the RTP get hammered on this one in Court as part of the cleaning up process he has in mind ...

[lostinisaan]

Burmese have become a slave race in Thailand.

Not just Burmese people. They look down on almost all other races, I'm pretty sure that also we're induced. Please Google the Anthem in English.

"Rich" guys have their slaves from Laos, paying them almost nothing. Then the trick that they threaten them to go to the cops, if they're not okay with something.

An Indian man in Sisaket has such a slave from Laos, just for the amusement of his impertinent and very selfish little daughter.

The little girls jells at the Laotian woman to bring her this, do that. It's frustrating.She might have 3-4 K a month. What happened to human rights?

I tend to agree that Thais are not the Creme De La Creme on this planet.

Continue covering your teeth, when you pull out some food rests, but openly take all the crap out of your nose in the middle of a restaurant and eat it.

Then eat sticky rice together, eaten with your hands. Watch guys who come back from the toilet and stayed longer than for a pee. Please check if there's soap in the bathroom.

Nope. You don't need that. Just eat your.....aeeeh Kau Niau and Gai Thoot and enjoy the "good" taste.. --

Did I miss something, when I passed the difficult examination for my Thai Culture Awareness Course? -

[siampolee]

interesting comment below, could we perhaps be led to believe that there is or may be connection twixt the ''police office and jdinasia?

Now matters are becoming more public perhaps agenda's are becoming somewhat embarrassing for some, hence there silence up to now?

The buzz around the office is that this is not a done deal yet.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/785090-matichon-dissolution-of-the-royal-thai-police/page-3 post # 73

jdinasia post # 73

Edited December 19, 2014 by siampolee

[Fred Flinstone]

This could get interesting.

Yes - it might

[Willy Eckerslike]

I'm wondering if the PM is now gonna stop defending the RTP in public (other than the usual bland comments) and let the RTP get hammered on this one in Court as part of the cleaning up process he has in mind ...

The cleaning up process is extremely selective and only includes police who have fallen out of favour and can be safely thrown to the dogs without implicating anyone who is still important.

Not quite if you believe this, posted yesterday as breaking news........ Matichon: Dissolution of the Royal Thai Police - Thailand News ...

[greenchair]

The British cororner would be a fantastic witness, but I think the icing on the cake would be Sean.

Sean knows what happened, indeed I think he was an eye witness.

Sean, it's rumoured your were a friend of David....don't let David or his family down.

Be brave and do the right thing

Don't let another two innocent young lives be taken away.

Their is one very important witness they could call. He would have nothing to fear from this country. That would be the British coroner.

Yes,bori. I saw that video of Sean on the truck. When he mentioned the murders, he looked like he had a very clear picture of the horror in his mind.

Star witnesses for defense.

1.mon

2.policeman with mon.

3.Sean

4.British coroner.

[uty6543]

So where are the RTP glee club to refute this with howls of conspiracy theories ?

Even a foreign government is saying it was a stitch up, one wonders if they have been talking to coppers from the UK as well ?

The RTP glee club is in an emergency meeting, on how to the rebuild their house of cards, which came tumbling down after the Myanmar Government gave the RTP the finger!!

Well done to the Myanmar authorities to stand up for their nationals!!

I, for one, am in a place called the real world.

You don't know what the testimony is, so why are you so convinced by it?

Have you got any comments on the OP?

When was the last time a government publicly stood up for its citizens in this way?

[Soutpeel]

So where are the RTP glee club to refute this with howls of conspiracy theories ?

Even a foreign government is saying it was a stitch up, one wonders if they have been talking to coppers from the UK as well ?

The RTP glee club is in an emergency meeting, on how to the rebuild their house of cards, which came tumbling down after the Myanmar Government gave the RTP the finger!!

Well done to the Myanmar authorities to stand up for their nationals!!

I, for one, am in a place called the real world.

You don't know what the testimony is, so why are you so convinced by it?

Well here is a real world observation, the Burmese must have some pretty strong testimony or evidence to word things they way they have

But be sure to let us know the outcome of the RTP glee club emergency meeting

[Centrum]

Tainted process, no guilty verdict could be considered 'safe'. They will have to let them go even if they are guilty. The RTP can blame themselves and the conga line of dimwits making conflicting and contradictory statements from day one.

I think that has been the plan all along. The RTP can congratulate themselves for allowing the culprits to be buried (figuratively speaking) in the incompetent investigation.

[EyesWideOpen]

Not a chance,

Dear Leader has put his friend and ally as Head of the RTP.

Dear Leader has very publicly backed the investigation.

Dear Leader has insulted the female victim and western women in general, and made a token apology.

Dear Leader can't loose face, hence the Burmese will be found guilty.

I'm wondering if the PM is now gonna stop defending the RTP in public (other than the usual bland comments) and let the RTP get hammered on this one in Court as part of the cleaning up process he has in mind ...

Dear leader can act as tough as he wants, until Burma cuts off the natural gas line

to Thailand. Then people in the RTP will start getting thrown under the bus....

[boomerangutang]

....IF the witnesses can provide an alibi for the accused then the whole prosecution case falls apart, or does it? TIT.

If witnesses present testimony to support the defendants, the first thing the prosecution will try to do is discredit the witnesses. The next thing the prosecutors will do is try and discredit the testimony. However, there's one man who holds a lot of sway in the court. That's the judge. The Decider. He knows he should be impartial and objective, but I venture that he can't help acknowledging that he's part of 'The System.' He also knows that the entire monolithic block of Thai officialdom is aching for a guilty verdict - all the way up to the top. The judge's salary is paid from on high, and he knows which side of his bread is buttered. The short answer to your Q is 'no, the prosecution case does not fall apart.' Edited December 19, 2014 by boomerangutang

[greenchair]

The British cororner would be a fantastic witness, but I think the icing on the cake would be Sean.

Sean knows what happened, indeed I think he was an eye witness.

Sean, it's rumoured your were a friend of David....don't let David or his family down.

Be brave and do the right thing

Don't let another two innocent young lives be taken away.

Their is one very important witness they could call. He would have nothing to fear from this country. That would be the British coroner.

Yes,bori. I saw that video of Sean on the truck. When he mentioned the murders, he looked like he had a very clear picture of the horror in his mind.

Star witnesses for defense.

1.mon

2.policeman with mon.

3.Sean

4.British coroner.

And let's not forget. All new brit approved dna testing.

[boomerangutang]

It's not the RTP or the Gov that's just corrupt or inept ... it's the foreigners who live in Thailand.

Ummm, ok? You keep thinking that, and we'll bring you two meals a day of rice and milk, and pat you on the head when you're feeling sad, ok? Do you need your straight jacket adjusted a bit?

[Soutpeel]

Not a chance,

Dear Leader has put his friend and ally as Head of the RTP.

Dear Leader has very publicly backed the investigation.

Dear Leader has insulted the female victim and western women in general, and made a token apology.

Dear Leader can't loose face, hence the Burmese will be found guilty.

I'm wondering if the PM is now gonna stop defending the RTP in public (other than the usual bland comments) and let the RTP get hammered on this one in Court as part of the cleaning up process he has in mind ...

Dear leader can act as tough as he wants, until Burma cuts off the natural gas line

to Thailand. Then people in the RTP will start getting thrown under the bus....

This ain't going to happen over 2 people accused of murder, cutting gas off is a two edged sword, Thais don't get their gas, burma don't get their cash and big issues with contracts Edited December 19, 2014 by Soutpeel

[AleG]

I, for one, am in a place called the real world.

You don't know what the testimony is, so why are you so convinced by it?

Have you got any comments on the OP?

When was the last time a government publicly stood up for its citizens in this way?

My comment is that they should present the testimony during the trial and see what it actually amounts to and how it stands up to scrutiny.

[BritTim]

And of course, had the police said the toxicology reports showed the victims had drugs in their systems before their deaths, then that would open up another crate load of worms that they would have to deal with.

(No, I do not believe the B2 are guilty, but ...) if David had really been strung out on drugs, it would be slightly more credible that the B2 could overpower him without suffering any injury themselves. Just maybe, the RTP pitched this to the British cops and made them believe it. This would tie in with the statements by the families.

[EyesWideOpen]

Not a chance,

Dear Leader has put his friend and ally as Head of the RTP.

Dear Leader has very publicly backed the investigation.

Dear Leader has insulted the female victim and western women in general, and made a token apology.

Dear Leader can't loose face, hence the Burmese will be found guilty.

I'm wondering if the PM is now gonna stop defending the RTP in public (other than the usual bland comments) and let the RTP get hammered on this one in Court as part of the cleaning up process he has in mind ...

Dear leader can act as tough as he wants, until Burma cuts off the natural gas line

to Thailand. Then people in the RTP will start getting thrown under the bus....

This ain't going to happen over 2 people accused of murder, cutting gas off is a two edged sword, Thais don't get their gas, burma don't get their cash and big issues with contracts

Well it is an interesting call. Thailand is ultra nationalistic in order to rally the people around its government. Why could Burma not do the exact same thing ? Thai people hate the Burmese ( look up Thai history), so am pretty sure there is no love lost on their side either. Besides I suspect the big energy buyer from Burma in the future will be China, thus making Thailand a bit player. Currently Thailand gets roughly 20 % of its natural gas from Burma.

Burma has stepped forward and made fools of the RTP by implying this is a stitch up, so clearly it is important to them. Otherwise they would have kept quiet... Burma wants to make its entrance on the world stage, why get pushed around by Thailand ???