Luke Miller’s family vow to get justice after he was found dead in Koh Tao

[Deknoi2]

25 minutes ago, Just1Voice said:

You were in the Philippines, NOT Thailand.  Totally irrelevant. 

 

Please explain why you feel that my post is irrelevant.  What happened to me could have happened anywhere.   Do you actually believe that ALL foreigners that die here in Thailand were murdered?

[Nemesis7]

Koh Tao.. the island of deaths and suffering yet people are flocking there , knowing the bad reputation still visiting the place , seriously who to blame ? And getting justice in Thailand? Oh well that's a dream to hard to be true 

[free123]

6 hours ago, mark01 said:

I lived there 20 years ago and it was mafia controlled then too.

I did feel my life was threatened over an minor incident and I left the Island fairly soon after that.

So, maybe there have been deaths and coverups for a long, long time, but just more reported now due to social media.

I can understand that when u full time live there u can have some conflicts around this is natural and in a place like thailand u need powerful " friends" like police and / or a bunch of armed guards..and no fear to carry out any shit by yourself that when it happen ever,body knows but nobody can proove anything... but a tourist come on which conflict he could stir up that gets him killed...? a women alone sure she is in for a rape very very easy...but a guy going there for a short time with his friends..???

[free123]

28 minutes ago, Deknoi2 said:

Please explain why you feel that my post is irrelevant.  What happened to me could have happened anywhere.   Do you actually believe that ALL foreigners that die here in Thailand were murdered?

this happens everywhere..u jump and hit the bottom...very common lucky you recovered i think the same happened to luke but he was not so lucky like yourselves

[DiscoDan]

This article is a bit more detailed,

 

No evidence of Murder 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-40281095

 

And for those people who think there is a serial killer is on the loose on Koh Tao who killed David and Hannah and all the other deaths that all look like accidents (the perfect crime) should do some research these would be 2 different types of serial killer.

 

http://twistedminds.creativescapism.com/serial-killers-introduction/holmes-typology/characteristics/

 

[robsamui]

8 hours ago, Arkady said:

The land on Koh Tao was owned by the government before the 1932 revolution and used as prison for political prisoners. After the  revolution the prison was demolished and the prisoners released but the government retained all the land and still does to this day.  No land titles have been issued there and use of land is only through Por Thor 5 documents which certify the holder is paying nominal taxes to the local administration in return for the right to use the land for farming (or fishing in this case).  Holders have no right to erect permanent structures on the land.  The key to this type of land is that the administration of it is not under the Land Department but under local administrations.  So the local 'mayors' get to decide who has the right to use the land, which they can rescind and reassign, and they should be ensuring that it is used only for agriculture and fisheries.  That is why village headmen and mayors are so powerful.   The local administrations are all under the Interior Ministry which chooses to look the other way and ignore the abuse of government land under its care.  To comply with the law, all the local administrators should be sacked for violation of restricted land use permissions.  All the structures that are not of a temporary nature for use for agriculture and fisheries should be demolished.  

 

The very existence of Koh Tao as a tourist resort is based on the premise that there is no rule of law there and that central government has abrogated its right to govern as well as its duty to care for government owned land according to the law. Nothing much good can be expected to follow from this  philosophy.

Thank you for clarifying what, to me, has been a mystifying black hole within a nation which on the whole appears to take pride in holding itself unaccountable to the rest of the world.

The untouchable nature of Samui can be put down to its isolation - even the  military junta and its leader have turned its  back on the national shame of the rebellious Samui taxi maffia, which continues to flaunt the instructions from the government. But in spite of the once-in-a-while isolated suspicious death over the decades, there's no rampant and continued killing like on Koh Tao - perhaps the powerful families who run Samui are more aware of their dependency on tourist revenue. 

 

The same with Koh Pha-ngan: with half a dozen 5-star resorts now on the island, and more in the planning stages (not to mention the huge income from the Full Moon Party) I suspect there's more than more than enough internal restraint regarding tarnishing the international image of the island.

 

But it seems that Koh Tao is truly beyond the law in every sense of the term. Their tourists/visitors are very much in the younger range of 18 - 40 years and so not regarded with respect - from my own experience and the comments of others the visitors to Koh Tao are viewed as cash cows to be milked. And if a handful of the island's more volatile residents get upset by one of these cocky farang kids, then the remedy is, quite literally,  dead simple.

 

The family who runs Koh Tao has proved time and time again that any of its "sons" can regain face by slaughtering any tourist who upsets them. It's happened a lot over the years and  now the Hannah/David fiasco has sealed the deal: " . . . bring it on - send as many of your overseas police, investigators and forensic experts as you want!  Even the forensic expert from our own government, although contradicting our story, can't touch us. This is our island and we can do what we want, including murder and rape."

 

Now I understand the foundation for this attitude - Koh Tao is effectively an independent state within the Kingdom of Thailand and quite literally beyond any kind of law, national or international, except for its own. 

And yet the cattle keep coming to be milked. Amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by robsamui

[dunroaming]

Completely pointless exercise trying to get justice in Thailand.

[DiscoDan]

Hard to get justice anywhere in the would if there is zero evidence pointing to murder.

 

 

[Jackin1960]

Sadly justice is in very short supply unless you can afford it.

[samuijimmy]

A number of posts removed,  either nonsense or just poor taste....

[smew]

Two Burmese migrants did it, and not the island's  mayor's cousins as always:protect their own.

[IslandLover]

Report from the local Isle of Wight County Press:

 

Fight for justice continues for family of Isle of Wight man Luke Miller, found dead in Thailand

 

Mrs Cotton (Luke's mother) said: "We are as satisfied as we could be with the verdict on the basis of the evidence the coroner had before her.
"But there are far too many inconsistencies in the police reports.
"We know what happened and we will continue to fight for justice. Luke was unlawfully killed."

 

http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/fight-for-justice-continues-for-family-of-isle-of-wight-man-luke-miller-found-dead-in-thailand-315469.aspx

 

According to the Coroner, there was no evidence that Mr Miller had either died as a result of an accident, a fight or had been unlawfully killed.  In other words, an "open verdict" was recorded, which provides no closure for the family.

 

The family is being supported by the Lucie Blackman Trust

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by IslandLover
Added details

[bannork]

5 hours ago, robsamui said:

Thank you for clarifying what, to me, has been a mystifying black hole within a nation which on the whole appears to take pride in holding itself unaccountable to the rest of the world.

The untouchable nature of Samui can be put down to its isolation - even the  military junta and its leader have turned its  back on the national shame of the rebellious Samui taxi maffia, which continues to flaunt the instructions from the government. But in spite of the once-in-a-while isolated suspicious death over the decades, there's no rampant and continued killing like on Koh Tao - perhaps the powerful families who run Samui are more aware of their dependency on tourist revenue. 

 

The same with Koh Pha-ngan: with half a dozen 5-star resorts now on the island, and more in the planning stages (not to mention the huge income from the Full Moon Party) I suspect there's more than more than enough internal restraint regarding tarnishing the international image of the island.

 

But it seems that Koh Tao is truly beyond the law in every sense of the term. Their tourists/visitors are very much in the younger range of 18 - 40 years and so not regarded with respect - from my own experience and the comments of others the visitors to Koh Tao are viewed as cash cows to be milked. And if a handful of the island's more volatile residents get upset by one of these cocky farang kids, then the remedy is, quite literally,  dead simple.

 

The family who runs Koh Tao has proved time and time again that any of its "sons" can regain face by slaughtering any tourist who upsets them. It's happened a lot over the years and  now the Hannah/David fiasco has sealed the deal: " . . . bring it on - send as many of your overseas police, investigators and forensic experts as you want!  Even the forensic expert from our own government, although contradicting our story, can't touch us. This is our island and we can do what we want, including murder and rape."

 

Now I understand the foundation for this attitude - Koh Tao is effectively an independent state within the Kingdom of Thailand and quite literally beyond any kind of law, national or international, except for its own. 

And yet the cattle keep coming to be milked. Amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

You say 'rampant and continued killing.'  Who has been murdered apart from Hannah and David?

' slaughtering any tourist'- what are you talking about??

I see your name is robsamiu- presumably you live there- and you call the tourists who go to KohTao  'cattle (who) keep coming to be milked'.- you don't happen to have any interest in a business in Koh Samui by any chance and feel miffed at tourists for preferring Koh Tao?

[frank83628]

8 hours ago, Gracas said:

Thanks. Becoming a little clearer.

so, this guy types his 'theory' and and an imaginary scenerio and now you're going with that?? 

 

well done!!

 

[onthesoi]

Young Man: Check!!!

Drunk: Check!!!

Controlled substance in bloodstream that shouldn't be mixed with alcohol: Check !!!

Found at the bottom of swimming pool: Check!!!

Head injuries: Check!!!

Last message on social media: “Can honestly say this new year I am living the dream of to the full moon party on a speed boat drink cocktails strawberry daiquiris living life to the full yolo so let’s do this,”  Check!!!

Zero evidence of foul play: Check !!!!

 

Conclusion: It was the Thai mafia wot dunnit cos he had the same surname as another girl who died!

Edited June 15, 2017 by onthesoi

[frank83628]

22 minutes ago, bannork said:

You say 'rampant and continued killing.'  Who has been murdered apart from Hannah and David?

' slaughtering any tourist'- what are you talking about??

I see your name is robsamiu- presumably you live there- and you call the tourists who go to KohTao  'cattle (who) keep coming to be milked'.- you don't happen to have any interest in a business in Koh Samui by any chance and feel miffed at tourists for preferring Koh Tao?

yeah, i saw the pretend naivety, then 'rampant and continued' , just another samui resident/business owner trying to deter some tourists.

 

it doesn't work, Koh Tao has become even busier in the last few years, maybe its due to all the publicity its got, even though most have attempted to made this bad, 

 

 

 

 

[robsamui]

1 hour ago, bannork said:

You say 'rampant and continued killing.'  Who has been murdered apart from Hannah and David?

' slaughtering any tourist'- what are you talking about??

I see your name is robsamiu- presumably you live there- and you call the tourists who go to KohTao  'cattle (who) keep coming to be milked'.- you don't happen to have any interest in a business in Koh Samui by any chance and feel miffed at tourists for preferring Koh Tao?

As already stated in the lead post - which you appear not to have read,

 

Valentina Novozhenova reported missing - still no sign of her - Feb 15th 2017

Luke Miller found dead in swimming pool but with inexplicable injuries - January 2016

Dimitry Povse "committed suicide" but with hands tied behind his back January 2015

Christina Annersley died from a seeming "overdose of antibiotics"(!), but with no post mortem also January 2015

Hannah Witheridge and David Miller - dual murder and rape September 2014

Nick Pearson disappeared after a night out with his family - found dead out at sea by a scuba diver the next day, killed by "a fall" January 2014

 

I've witnessed myself on several occasions the angry, rude way that some of the locals have treated the new batch of "cash cows" (myself included") coming in off the boat.

 

And I have to smile at the astonishing presumption of two contributors here, yourself included, who have grabbed at a passing thought and deduced I must have some kind of a business on Samui and am thus miffed about competition.

 

A forced reaction. I haven't run any kind of business since I left England in 1995, and never even considered it in Thailand.

 

Have you a business interest on Koh Tao? It seems you are protesting - dismissively and angrily - just a bit too much . . . . 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by robsamui

[ThaidaGwaii]

Justice in Thailand???

[DiscoDan]

1 hour ago, onthesoi said:

Young Man: Check!!!

Drunk: Check!!!

Controlled substance in bloodstream that shouldn't be mixed with alcohol: Check !!!

Found at the bottom of swimming pool: Check!!!

Head injuries: Check!!!

Last message on social media: “Can honestly say this new year I am living the dream of to the full moon party on a speed boat drink cocktails strawberry daiquiris living life to the full yolo so let’s do this,”  Check!!!

Zero evidence of foul play: Check !!!!

 

Conclusion: It was the Thai mafia wot dunnit cos he had the same surname as another girl who died!

Before and after pics of damaged roof check 

[roo860]

As already stated in the lead post - which you appear not to have read,
 
Valentina Novozhenova reported missing - still no sign of her - Feb 15th 2017
Luke Miller found dead in swimming pool but with inexplicable injuries - January 2016
Dimitry Povse "committed suicide" but with hands tied behind his back January 2015
Christina Annersley died from a seeming "overdose of antibiotics"(!), but with no post mortem also January 2015
Hannah Witheridge and David Miller - dual murder and rape September 2014
Nick Pearson disappeared after a night out with his family - found dead out at sea by a scuba diver the next day, killed by "a fall" January 2014
 
I've witnessed myself on several occasions the angry, rude way that some of the locals have treated the new batch of "cash cows" (myself included") coming in off the boat.
 
And I have to smile at the astonishing presumption of two contributors here, yourself included, who have grabbed at a passing thought and deduced I must have some kind of a business on Samui and am thus miffed about competition.
 
A forced reaction. I haven't run any kind of business since I left England in 1995, and never even considered it in Thailand.
 
Have you a business interest on Koh Tao? It seems you are protesting - dismissively and angrily - just a bit too much . . . . 
 
 

Apart from the couple who were murdered, the others could well not be.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[TheLobster]

2 hours ago, onthesoi said:

Young Man: Check!!!

Drunk: Check!!!

Controlled substance in bloodstream that shouldn't be mixed with alcohol: Check !!!

Found at the bottom of swimming pool: Check!!!

Head injuries: Check!!!

Last message on social media: “Can honestly say this new year I am living the dream of to the full moon party on a speed boat drink cocktails strawberry daiquiris living life to the full yolo so let’s do this,”  Check!!!

Zero evidence of foul play: Check !!!!

 

Conclusion: It was the Thai mafia wot dunnit cos he had the same surname as another girl who died!

If you are going to rant get your facts right. The alcohol level wasn't excessive, the drugs level was a trace and it is the same surname as a guy (David Miller) 

[onthesoi]

7 minutes ago, TheLobster said:

If you are going to rant get your facts right. The alcohol level wasn't excessive, the drugs level was a trace and it is the same surname as a guy (David Miller) 

It was a list of facts not a rant

 

He was twice over the limit, I would say if he was not fit to drive a car then hes also not fit to jump off a high, flimsy roof into the hotel pool ...and he still had drugs in his blood regardless of the amount.

 

It's the most likely explanation ...unless you have other concrete facts that support an alternative explanation as to the cause of his death??

Edited June 15, 2017 by onthesoi

[Khun Han]

So, Luke's friends (the ones who were on death island with him) are absolutely certain he was murdered. But the local police (one of whom is best buddies with a notorious island mafia figure, and another DJs at said mafia figure's club) say that he had a fall from the roof of a diving stand. No witnesses, cctv, as usual, 'not working' for the period covering Luke's 'accident', mysterious injuries not consistent with a fall into water on Luke's face and body. Hmmmm.....who to believe?

[DiscoDan]

UK coroner : No signs of foul play 

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/uk-coroner-no-evidence-foul-play-year-luke-miller-found-dead-koh-tao-pool/

[Jonathan Swift]

16 hours ago, Crash999 said:

Wasn't there CCTV footage on this one? 

 

 

If the place is as thoroughly controlled by mafia as people say then it's easy to make camera footage, or cameras disappear. Like US cops do with their body cams.

[DiscoDan]

Just now, Jonathan Swift said:

If the place is as thoroughly controlled by mafia as people say then it's easy to make camera footage, or cameras disappear. Like US cops do with their body cams.

"Witnesses and cctv at the bar showed he was there till the early hours of the morning"

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-35285866

[Khun Han]

19 minutes ago, DiscoDan said:

"Witnesses and cctv at the bar showed he was there till the early hours of the morning"

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-35285866

 

But then the cctv mysteriously stopped working during the period that would have filmed his death .

[Khun Han]

42 minutes ago, DiscoDan said:

UK coroner : No signs of foul play 

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/uk-coroner-no-evidence-foul-play-year-luke-miller-found-dead-koh-tao-pool/

 

Based on information provided by the Thai police .

[DiscoDan]

4 minutes ago, Khun Han said:

 

But then the cctv mysteriously stopped working during the period that would have filmed his death .

Link ?

[Arkady]

10 hours ago, robsamui said:

Thank you for clarifying what, to me, has been a mystifying black hole within a nation which on the whole appears to take pride in holding itself unaccountable to the rest of the world.

The untouchable nature of Samui can be put down to its isolation - even the  military junta and its leader have turned its  back on the national shame of the rebellious Samui taxi maffia, which continues to flaunt the instructions from the government. But in spite of the once-in-a-while isolated suspicious death over the decades, there's no rampant and continued killing like on Koh Tao - perhaps the powerful families who run Samui are more aware of their dependency on tourist revenue. 

 

The same with Koh Pha-ngan: with half a dozen 5-star resorts now on the island, and more in the planning stages (not to mention the huge income from the Full Moon Party) I suspect there's more than more than enough internal restraint regarding tarnishing the international image of the island.

 

But it seems that Koh Tao is truly beyond the law in every sense of the term. Their tourists/visitors are very much in the younger range of 18 - 40 years and so not regarded with respect - from my own experience and the comments of others the visitors to Koh Tao are viewed as cash cows to be milked. And if a handful of the island's more volatile residents get upset by one of these cocky farang kids, then the remedy is, quite literally,  dead simple.

 

The family who runs Koh Tao has proved time and time again that any of its "sons" can regain face by slaughtering any tourist who upsets them. It's happened a lot over the years and  now the Hannah/David fiasco has sealed the deal: " . . . bring it on - send as many of your overseas police, investigators and forensic experts as you want!  Even the forensic expert from our own government, although contradicting our story, can't touch us. This is our island and we can do what we want, including murder and rape."

 

Now I understand the foundation for this attitude - Koh Tao is effectively an independent state within the Kingdom of Thailand and quite literally beyond any kind of law, national or international, except for its own. 

And yet the cattle keep coming to be milked. Amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

In Samui and Phangan there are a lot of issues of land titles.  In Samui it was announced by the Land Department a decade or two ago that no more Bor Thor 5 land would be upgraded to Nor Sor 3, which is the first step to getting a proper title deed.  Nevertheless, much of the Bor Thor 5 land has permanent structures illegally built on it, as in Koh Tao.  There have also been many title deeds illegally issued for forest reserve land.  A couple of senior Land Department officials have been murdered over this issue.   I am not too sure about Phangan but I think it is much the same as Samui, i.e. resorts built on Bor Thor 5 land and on illegally titled forest reserve.   However, what is different compared to Koh Tao is that there is genuine title deed land in Samui and Phangan, which has allowed major Thai and foreign groups invest in tourist infrastructure.  Althoough local influential figures are still powerful, this changes the game a bit as external investors come with their own connections in Bangkok and elsewhere which dilutes the local guys' influence somewhat. At the end of the day they probably don't mind being slightlysmaller fish in a much bigger revenue pool created external investment.   In Koh Tao there can never be any investment from serious external investors due to the land ownership issue.  Since there are no land titles anywhere on the island, it is not even possible to get land officials to issue unlawful deeds for forest reserve land.  No external investment means the power of the local figures who control the government land holdings through the Bor Thor 5 system will continue abated.