Koh Tao: Trial opens for 2 accused of killing British tourists

[webfact]

Koh Tao murder trial resumes today
By Coconuts Bangkok


Photo: Migrant Workers Rights Network

KOH SAMUI: -- Defense lawyers in the trial of two Myanmar men accused of killing two British backpackers on a Thai resort island last year said today they would focus on the reliability of crucial DNA evidence.

British tourists Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, were killed last September. Their bodies were found on a beach on Koh Tao, a Thai island in the Andaman Sea popular with backpackers and divers.
The killings drew outrage in Britain and raised questions about the competence of Thai police and the treatment of migrant laborers in Thailand.

Following weeks of pressure on authorities to solve the crime, Thai police said in October that Myanmar workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 22, had initially confessed to the killings. Both later retracted their statements, saying they had been tortured into confessing.

The murder trial, which began earlier this month, has been consumed by allegations of police incompetence and evidence mishandling by defense lawyers. Rights groups have also claimed the men are being used as scapegoats because of their status as foreign migrant workers in Thailand.

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/07/22/koh-tao-murder-trial-resumes-today

-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-07-22

[Wadan]

GOLDBUGGY

Come on you guy s wise up. I have told you before this Goldbuggy is a troll , the mouth piece for the Island mafia. If you choose not to take heed , this is your problem. Everyone knows that.

[JohnThailandJohn]

Sky News local Thai translator refused to return to court on day two of the trial saying she had been frightened off by the mafia.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6542764/Is-Thai-beach-murders-trial-a-cover-up.html

While I appreciate the link to the news story mentioning 1 Translator being scared off, I was responding to a post (you removed) that said ALL translators were scared off

That I cannot prove. It is probably mostly those translators in the Surat Thani/Koh Samui/Koh Tao area that are frightened to get involved. However, usually translators are pretty keen to do work with Western journalists, and Jerome Taylor's claim (that I believe) that all 18 he contacted were unwilling to translate at the trial (combined with very little Thai press coverage) is, as Jerome put it, suspicious.

There is nothing suspicious about Thai Language news not covering court cases. As far as I can tell the English Language Thai News is covering it. I have no idea the answer to this question but would question how many people in the area are qualified to even be translators in court.Not talking about certified but would be confident in doing this. Not even like these translators would be from Koh Tao.

Here is a link to an Aussie having trouble finding a translator in Koh Samui

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/713104-translation-service-samui/

Even if there was credible sources to translators being scared and there was credible sources to "mafia" scaring them ... the speculation as to why could be many things including the fact they just want to stop what they believe is biased reporting or what they think will hurt their island. It doesn't mean they are working to cover up a conspiracy by them, police, prosecutors and the judges to frame these two.

[Linky]

The Witheridge family said police and the court should be allowed to do their jobs during the coming months.

"Speculation, rumor and theory have been incredibly hurtful to our family and Hannah's friends, making an already unthinkable time harder to bear," said the family.

Just imagine how hurtful it would be for the accused if there was no discussion about the trial and the RTP where to get away with what is essentially murder of the scapegoats.

There are more than the 2 families of the deceased to consider, should the accused's wishes not be considered just as much?

[Linky]

Double post

Edited July 22, 2015 by Linky

[insiket]

The murder of backpackers in the prime of their lives and the murder trial seems less important than the (you said he said handbag fight between ye people..ye ought to be ashamed of yourselfs

[BoristheBlade]

The Witheridge family said police and the court should be allowed to do their jobs during the coming months.

"Speculation, rumor and theory have been incredibly hurtful to our family and Hannah's friends, making an already unthinkable time harder to bear," said the family.

yes and yours being some of the worst

After the RTP's disgusting behaviour in issuing a press statement allegedly from Her Majesty's representative in Bangkok that stated he was delighted with the investigation in to this crime and the subsequent very angry denial by the said British Ambassador, I would take any statement issued by the RTP with utter contempt.

At the end of this trial the two families will have there say, and I would imagine it will not shed Thailand in a positive light.

[DLang]

https://twitter.com/Atomicalandy/status/623698854555185152

Taking them through 'All the crime scene area CCTV footage'.

I don't believe that is true, as all of the bars along the beach did not hand over any of the CCTV footage from the cameras they had facing the beach.

[Rykbanlor]

The murder of backpackers in the prime of their lives and the murder trial seems less important than the (you said he said handbag fight between ye people..ye ought to be ashamed of yourselfs

Guilty! I know its bad, I have tried to refrain from rising to bait but every once in a while I can't help it.

[Linky]

Sky News local Thai translator refused to return to court on day two of the trial saying she had been frightened off by the mafia.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6542764/Is-Thai-beach-murders-trial-a-cover-up.html

While I appreciate the link to the news story mentioning 1 Translator being scared off, I was responding to a post (you removed) that said ALL translators were scared off

That I cannot prove. It is probably mostly those translators in the Surat Thani/Koh Samui/Koh Tao area that are frightened to get involved. However, usually translators are pretty keen to do work with Western journalists, and Jerome Taylor's claim (that I believe) that all 18 he contacted were unwilling to translate at the trial (combined with very little Thai press coverage) is, as Jerome put it, suspicious.

There is nothing suspicious about Thai Language news not covering court cases. As far as I can tell the English Language Thai News is covering it. I have no idea the answer to this question but would question how many people in the area are qualified to even be translators in court.Not talking about certified but would be confident in doing this. Not even like these translators would be from Koh Tao.

Here is a link to an Aussie having trouble finding a translator in Koh Samui

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/713104-translation-service-samui/

Even if there was credible sources to translators being scared and there was credible sources to "mafia" scaring them ... the speculation as to why could be many things including the fact they just want to stop what they believe is biased reporting or what they think will hurt their island. It doesn't mean they are working to cover up a conspiracy by them, police, prosecutors and the judges to frame these two.

Dare i say you are speculating, something you accuse others of doing and against the wishes of the murdered families.

How hypocritical.

[Darkknight666]

See those boats in the background? I bet Andy has... It would be easy for the cops to identify those vessels and talk to everyone on board because it is vital.

[smedly]

how about not cluttering up this thread with all the off topic personal attacks and other nonsense

One translator was scared off, that in my books would be enough to make any potential alternative translator to think twice about getting involved, it is that simple

end of conversation

[Darkknight666]

how about not cluttering up this thread with all the off topic personal attacks and other nonsense

One translator was scared off, that in my books would be enough to make any potential alternative translator to think twice about getting involved, it is that simple

end of conversation

Yes so long as you don't have an agenda to discredit anything and everything posted.

The schills are getting quiet.

[smedly]

See those boats in the background? I bet Andy has... It would be easy for the cops to identify those vessels and talk to everyone on board because it is vital.

who is the dirty looking scumbag on the left that looks like he's been sleeping rough for a week

[Mango Bob]

They show that same damn picture over and over with each story on this trail. You think they have other pictures to show.

[stephenterry]

how about not cluttering up this thread with all the off topic personal attacks and other nonsense

One translator was scared off, that in my books would be enough to make any potential alternative translator to think twice about getting involved, it is that simple

end of conversation

Reuters have a translator in place. That's good enough for the press to feed off. And the various tweets coming from the court as the trial progresses, keeps posters here up to date.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/22/uk-thailand-britain-murder-idUKKCN0PW03320150722

[AleG]

GOLDBUGGY

Come on you guy s wise up. I have told you before this Goldbuggy is a troll , the mouth piece for the Island mafia. If you choose not to take heed , this is your problem. Everyone knows that.

Everyone knows that.

Yes, everyone knows that if someone doesn't agree with them they must be paid stooges, members of a mafia or in some way connected to the murders and the cover up everyone knows about, because how could it be possible for someone to disagree with them?

That's the same "everyone knows that" the two men on trial are scapegoats, the same "everyone knows" who the real murderers are, the same "everyone knows that" there's a vast conspiracy to hide everything.

"Everyone" is taking their beliefs and granting them the status of knowledge; I posit that "everyone" should try to demonstrate a modicum of intellectual honesty, separate what they want to believe from what they actually know and act accordingly.

[stephenterry]

They show that same damn picture over and over with each story on this trail. You think they have other pictures to show.

a bit like your avatar...

[Nigeone]

GOLDBUGGY

Come on you guy s wise up. I have told you before this Goldbuggy is a troll , the mouth piece for the Island mafia. If you choose not to take heed , this is your problem. Everyone knows that.

Everyone knows that.

Yes, everyone knows that if someone doesn't agree with them they must be paid stooges, members of a mafia or in some way connected to the murders and the cover up everyone knows about, because how could it be possible for someone to disagree with them?

That's the same "everyone knows that" the two men on trial are scapegoats, the same "everyone knows" who the real murderers are, the same "everyone knows that" there's a vast conspiracy to hide everything.

"Everyone" is taking their beliefs and granting them the status of knowledge; I posit that "everyone" should try to demonstrate a modicum of intellectual honesty, separate what they want to believe from what they actually know and act accordingly.

Wow...well ...how about! Practice what you preach.... Comes to mind along with your buddies

[JLCrab]

how about not cluttering up this thread with all the off topic personal attacks and other nonsense

One translator was scared off, that in my books would be enough to make any potential alternative translator to think twice about getting involved, it is that simple

end of conversation

Reuters have a translator in place. That's good enough for the press to feed off. And the various tweets coming from the court as the trial progresses, keeps posters here up to date.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/22/uk-thailand-britain-murder-idUKKCN0PW03320150722

The Reuters Chief Thailand correspondent is Thai and does not need a translator.

[BoristheBlade]

See those boats in the background? I bet Andy has... It would be easy for the cops to identify those vessels and talk to everyone on board because it is vital.

who is the dirty looking scumbag on the left that looks like he's been sleeping rough for a week

The dirty scumbag who never slept that night, whom spent the early hours running up and down the soi in a very agitated state.

Edited July 22, 2015 by BoristheBlade

[fab99]

How come the certain posters are still posting huge long-winded posts related to details of the crime scene, which they keep screaming is speculation or fact or proven or disproven, yet on the very simple topic of why all the translators have been scared off and no-one is willing to work the case they remain deafeningly silent?

Where is the link to this BS speculation news story of translators being scared?

It happened already on the previous session of the trial, a translator stopped working for journalists after being threatened by the mafia, cf the sun article (I know, you will say the sun is a bullshit tabloid, but the author is a renowned journalist) :

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6542764/Is-Thai-beach-murders-trial-a-cover-up.html

On this session, it has been reported by journalists on twitter that they had trouble finding translators, 18 of them refused...

You can call this bullshit if you want, you are free to believe what you want, as we (the majority) are free to believe there is something suspicious with these threats and the silence of thai media (ask thai people, they don't know the trial opened...).

[MikeENZ]

So yeah - It’s been a while since I’ve posted on Thai Visa for a variety of things, most importantly due to Facebook Login not working properly and me forgetting my password/my username being my real name rather than my handle etc. Also was dealing with moving countries, getting my visa sorted and a family tragedy.

I’m the person who posted the original blog post “The Dark Side of Paradise” which has been often quoted with regards to info on the workings of Koh Tao etc (here: http://mikeestravels.com/2014/09/25/the-dark-side-of-thailands-island-paradise/)I lived in Sairee and Chalok, and used to work as a DJ 3-4 nights a week during the high season in both Sairee and Chalok. I didn’t think that when I posted it, that it would go so viral, getting shared on Facebook around 8,000 times. More recently I provided some of the information that was used in the Time article that came out last week: http://time.com/3955081/thailand-koh-tao-murder-david-miller-hannah-witheridge-zaw-lin-wai-phyo-burma-myanmar/

Thought I’d post a few things to address stuff that I’ve noticed, factual inaccuracies - and also a bit of a smear campaign originating from you guessed it - staff at businesses associated a certain family directed at myself. The Farang owner/manager of one bar (while at the same time, the former owner is posting stuff critical of the case on his personal page) - which is situated on land controlled by the same family has been posting wonderful stories on the Koh Tao Community Forum (where I’m blocked - for obvious reasons) about me in an attempt to smear me etc. Which just goes to show how in the pocket of the locals certain foreign expats are. I would post more about him, but I’m guessing the post would get taken down due to Thailand’s computer crimes act and defamation laws.

These ridiculous claims claims include:

* That I got “busted” stealing from donation boxes (Which is a completely insane claim)

* That I didn’t get a job as a DJ (I had a DJ residency at Bar Next 2 on Koh Tao, left for one at the Beach Village/Ku Club in Koh Phangan)

The real reasons that I left the Islands were due to trusting the wrong people and getting involved with a business where I loaned cash to an untrustworthy Farang (things went really down hill when he pulled a homemade 12 gauge pistol out to settle a business dispute) on Phangan, and getting screwed around with regards to getting my work permit sorted. Got shaken down by Samui immigration and local mafia started moving in on the business - ended up meeting my American (now wife) up in Bangkok while laying low, then the coup happened, and she was involved in research at Thammasat - we ended up leaving due to her professors getting rounded up for improving the countries happiness etc. That and she was researching human trafficking and migration, along with Thai politics, which considering the circumstances with Phuketwan - Thailand isn’t the safest place to be doing so.

Anyway - now that that is out of the way some general thoughts (I won’t name any names - because that will result in the post being taken down instantly due to forum rules):

Firstly - the Police that were there at the time were corrupt as sin. I know this, because I’ve been there when bribes were being paid (to the police officers who were involved in the case), I’ve seen them at parties, I’ve served them beer, and I’ve hung out with them (especially when certain VIPs who cannot be discussed due to forum rules or S112 were down on the Island diving - though these included off island police from Bangkok). (Then again, I’ve also been present on Phangan when the local coppers dropped off a bunch of unregistered firearms to my neighbour who was a Biker from Songkla).

There are local Thais who keep watch at Mae Haad for officials from off the island. As soon as they arrive a message goes out on the Koh Tao Rescue radio that most bar owners and business owners have access to. This stops outsiders from interfering with the workings of the island and allows western workers to leave the premises before being shaken down by immigration. I’ve also witnessed Samui immigration give “heads up texts” to business owners with significant western staff before hitting the island in return for cash kickbacks (on both Tao and Phangan).

The fact is - if you live long term in any of the island beach areas, and aren’t a 40+ year old sexpat, you’ll have witnessed the many dodgy dealings that go on in Thailand. Anyone who says otherwise is either a mormon missionary, or lying.

I’ve been present when Thai bar owners have done coke off the toilets and then told me how they could get me killed/arrested/protected when they were on a paranoid cocaine high. These same bar owners were in a running feud with with other bar owners on the beach, and were threatening to put drugs in peoples motorbikes to get them arrested. This is the same bar that when under previous owners had a well known local shot dead on the dance floor before closing down and being renamed. The shooter was caught on CCTV, and many locals have seen the footage. Of course being Thai on Thai - most don’t know about this, but the shooter still hangs around Freedom beach a lot.

I know of Farangs who were importing LSD onto the island in paperback novels and selling it to tourists. I know of other farangs who have been busted multiple times with coke, and are basically under the complete control of both the police and - you guessed it, a certain important family with close connections to said police officers.

I know that Cannabis and Mushrooms are sold openly at High Bar in Chalok Baan Kao, the reggae place in Mae Haad and Mol’s beach bar in Ao Hin Wong. Previous Farangs who were involved in the drug trade out of a certain resort now operate a bar that’s out of the way, but still often has police checkpoints outside it on the regular for pee tests. All of this is with local police knowledge, involvement and consent.

I’ve been present when Thai fire dancers from different bars have gotten into an argument, and both hand guns and knives have been pulled out. I’m assuming this was probably over a girl. Note that these fire dancers don’t tend to be related to a family by blood, but are usually Thais from other areas, who are VERY territorial regarding their patch (where they get tips).

I’ve seen Thai staff linked to families steal money from the till of bars. Then attempts to stitch up Farang staff (who were obviously working without a permit) because it would avoid a loss of face, the Thais were in fact working for the landlords of said bar… it’s completely insane.

I’ve got a friend who was DJing on the island who had 5 Thai males pull handguns on him when his party was more successful than another party down the road. You can guess which family was involved in this. He since moved away from the rock.

I’ve seen local Burmese get really touchy feely with people after a few drinks, especially one that was former military. It got to a point when I was there that many burmese were banned from drinking at bars.

Then of course there is the German who runs the motorbike rental place in Mae Haad, who has a long reputation of ripping off tourists, and even pulling a gun on them in order to extort money out of them. All of which is done with the consent on the local police and families.

A lot of what’s been posted by the Arm Chair detectives is merely heresay and clutching at straws, but these are things that have happened and continue to happen on the rock. The locals have loose lips when they get on the booze or drugs down there. Also there are a lot of people who have lived on the island for some time who have left in disgust, and are speaking more openly about what goes on. Of course none of this answers “who done it” , just the mentality of the place, and the sort of behaviour which is considered to be acceptable down there.

I still have my doubts as to whether the families were actually involved in the crime. I seriously doubt it, they might be corrupt and powerful, but they aren’t stupid - Foreign tourists are the goose that lays the golden eggs.

If I had to put my money on it though, based on personal experiences, I’d pick one of the many beach boy fire dancers that likes to party hard - as most of them are packing weapons, feel they are entitled to western women, and aren’t scared to fight. And they’d be off the island on the next boat - many of them are drifters, and spend time on Tao, Phangan, Krabi, Phuket etc… wherever the next tip bucket of tourist money and skipping ropes on fire is. These were also the Thais that tended to mess around with Yaba.

One of my female friends who lived on the island nearly got into a particularly dangerous situation involving one of them and lots of booze when I was there.

With regards to posters on here with island connections, I’m guessing that one is connected to a certain park that is near Mae Had, while the French connections are probably based in Chalok. Some western expats have been on the Island on and off for close to 20 years.

It still however is pointless speculation.

Even though the local DJs have posted some terrible stuff on Facebook, they are more “long term” and tend to have expat or local girlfriends and don’t want to mess up their own lifestyle. As for the pictures of guns and stuff on their personal Facebook pages - you’d find the same things on mine as well, so it’s hardly evidence of anything. They are all just acting tough, trying to look gangster etc, typical posturing etc.

I do however believe that the families did cover it up, and so do many locals or former locals. Just like previous suspicious deaths and murders have been covered up. They were just too ignorant to realise how something like this would be perceived by the western media in the era of social media.

The fact is, we will never know who did it - I doubt it was a local family, I really doubt old Nomsod had anything to do with it either - theres no real reason for it, I doubt even more that it was the two burmese kids. My guess is that the person who did it was Thai, not connected closely with local families and definitely not Hiso, but enough that he’d cause them to lose face, got the hell out of dodge the next morning and the locals covered it up. They had orders from high to solve the case quickly so that Sean first made a good patsy, but that didn’t work so Burmese were blamed. The failures of the case are more to do with Thainess, Face and that the only thing the local coppers are actually experienced at is taking bribes than anything else - remember, the police officers PAY to be there.

I think regardless of the evidence that the Burmese will be found guilty, but probably jailed rather than face the death penalty. And whoever did it is probably working on some beach, somewhere else in Thailand for tips.

[Bakseeda]

In the interest of the RTP possibly improving their abilities to investigate serious crimes, allow me to make a mention of how trained dogs could assist.

First off, GB pooped on an earlier mention of involving trained dogs, saying something about how it wouldn't have worked in this case because it was on a beach and the tide comes in and out.

Here's an example of how that's not true, and how dogs could have proved effective, even days after the crime:

>>> take a piece of clothing, let's say Hannah's shirt (with the scent of bodily fluids). Put it to dog's nose. Then take the dog, on a leash, to all places of interest. Suggest: Headman house and office, Mon's living quarters, nearby laundry facilities, places where Mon's tough-guy buddies dwell/sleep, Burmeses' dwelling, and so on. Maybe do the same at Nomsod's dwelling in Bkk, and where he does laundry. The idea being: a well-trained dog would seek any other things (clothing, weapons, etc) with Hannah's scent - thereby alerting the dog's handler on what to test for DNA/fingerprints/dandruff, etc. If anything remotely like that had been done within hours/days of the crime, this case would look a lot clearer. Even now, nearly a year later, it could be tried.

There are thousands of stories of dog sniffing miracles: One which stands out: 5 days after a murder at a suburban house, a trained dog was able to show a trail, across a rear lawn and through nearby woods. Discarded clothing was thereby found and tested, and the murderer was caught.

I Love Dogs and I know they have an incredible sense of smell. But in this case I still don' see much use they would be. Tracing Hannah's Footsteps back to Bar we already know she visited can't contribute to much. There wasn't anything taken from Hannah so the dogs didn't have anything to look for. Blood on clothes could easily be washed in the Ocean, and burned later.With Hannah's Scent, I am not sure you can train a dog just to look for her Blood. More likely they will lead you down a Garden Path and to all the places she has been.

They already believed they had the murder weapon on the first day. Also collecting DNA from the Crime Scene and nearby log. Great if they cold smell out who owned those cigarettes, but I am not sure they can. Then that would have been helpful. Maybe with David Millers missing Mobile Phone as well. But again not sure about it and if they could do that.

For Gods sake, the Thai police cannot be trained, never mind Thai dogs....

[JLCrab]

Re: The MikENZ Post above redux:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/829343-thailand-brit-murder-suspects-still-waiting-on-evidence-review/page-39#entry9531110

[catsanddogs]

Was it ever explained why early on these two, outside of police presence admitted their guilt to their embassy, human rights worker and lawyers from the embassy? I am sure given people's here wild theories their is lots of hypothesis but has their lawyer ever explained why he publicly stated they confessed to him?

If the RTP had ever bothered to turn up to face the the Human Rights lawyer to answer the questions and investigate the allegations of torture then perhaps we would have had a clearer picture of this. This same lawyer also saw the wound marks on them from the alleged torture.

Hey 4 cancelled meetings later and the beloved RTP still failed to show and now we're at trial! What do you have to say on there failure to show?

Odd to me that the Doctor who examined them on the day after they were arrested and they confessed to these crimes, he did not report such injuries. I mean a Doctor who's sole purpose was to go there and exam them with a Trained Eye. Although it was reported by the media that both of the accused confessed to him to.

But then suddenly, 7 days later, or was it 10 days later, when the Lawyers show up, one the accused lawyers sees these injuries, or as you said. I mean one of the very few who cannot be put on the stand to testify against the accused. What a coincidence!

Not odd at all. Doctor drafted in by RTP.

[MikeENZ]

Was it ever explained why early on these two, outside of police presence admitted their guilt to their embassy, human rights worker and lawyers from the embassy? I am sure given people's here wild theories their is lots of hypothesis but has their lawyer ever explained why he publicly stated they confessed to him?

If the RTP had ever bothered to turn up to face the the Human Rights lawyer to answer the questions and investigate the allegations of torture then perhaps we would have had a clearer picture of this. This same lawyer also saw the wound marks on them from the alleged torture.

Hey 4 cancelled meetings later and the beloved RTP still failed to show and now we're at trial! What do you have to say on there failure to show?

Odd to me that the Doctor who examined them on the day after they were arrested and they confessed to these crimes, he did not report such injuries. I mean a Doctor who's sole purpose was to go there and exam them with a Trained Eye. Although it was reported by the media that both of the accused confessed to him to.

But then suddenly, 7 days later, or was it 10 days later, when the Lawyers show up, one the accused lawyers sees these injuries, or as you said. I mean one of the very few who cannot be put on the stand to testify against the accused. What a coincidence!

Not odd at all. Doctor drafted in by RTP.

If it's the doctor I'm thinking of, he's nothing more than a rubber stamp to allow people to dive under SSI/PADI requirements, that and give people the white and green antibiotics for virtually anything. About as reliable as Zoidberg on Futurama.

[fab99]

Re: The MikENZ Post above redux:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/829343-thailand-brit-murder-suspects-still-waiting-on-evidence-review/page-39#entry9531110

It sure is a better explanation than the two burmese guys killing a tall British guy AND Hannah, good on you and on Mike to provide these.

It is shameful all the same that they aren't trying to find the real culprits and to close the case so desperately.

Just imagine the beasts (I wouldn't imagine calling them men) roaming around on Thai beaches (not necessarily KT anymore), free to do it again, it sure wouldn't be reassuring for tourists to know that...

A pack of drunk/high firework show guys (very strong people) could more easily have done it that than the B2, but the nation's image would suffer, so "better" culprits were found.

As was said at the very beginning by a police officer, "no thai man could do such a thing" (some very much thai boys did though, a few weeks later hurt a foreigner with a hoe as a copycat crime), it sure wasn't a very good start for a fair investigation.

Like I said before, I don't really care who did it, I care about justice and it is sickening to see how the case has been handled and how some want it closed no matter if the real beasts are behind bars (or executed) or free to kill again...

[StealthEnergiser]

[glenmohr]

Sky News local Thai translator refused to return to court on day two of the trial saying she had been frightened off by the mafia.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6542764/Is-Thai-beach-murders-trial-a-cover-up.html

While I appreciate the link to the news story mentioning 1 Translator being scared off, I was responding to a post (you removed) that said ALL translators were scared off

JTJ: It has been reported by the New York Times that locals are too afraid to be character referees for the accused.

Now we see reliable reports of interpreters and translators being scared for their lives.

In the court itself no reporter is allowed to take notes until the missing DNA has been found.

Does nothing strike you as being a bit unusual??