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Two Britons 'dead On Thai Beach'


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Two British nationals have been found dead on a beach in southern Thailand, according to local police.

A man and a woman are understood to have suffered serious head wounds on the island of Koh Tao. Their bodies were found early Monday.

The pair arrived in Thailand last month, according to a police official, who said officers were yet to identify a suspect or motive.

The UK Foreign Office said it was urgently investigating the reports.

Meanwhile, police have banned boats from leaving the island.

Koh Tao is popular with divers, but draws fewer travellers than other nearby resorts, says BBC correspondent in Bangkok, Jonathan Head.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29203116

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British Tourists Found Dead On Thailand Beach

 

 

The naked bodies of two British tourists who had apparently been attacked with a hoe have been found on a beach, police have said.

 

The victims - believed to be a 23-year-old woman and 24-year-old man - were found with gruesome head wounds on a rocky beach on Koh Tao, an island in Surat Thani province known for its diving sites and stunning beaches.

 

The victims' clothes and a hoe with blood stains were found nearby, Colonel Prachum Ruangthong from Thailand's police force said.

 

Police suspect the two were slain with the hoe, leaving deep wounds on their heads.

 

The pair had been staying in a bungalow 100m from where their bodies were found and had been at a party on the beach on Sunday night, according to Sky sources.

 

Bangkok-based journalist Flora Bagenal told Sky News police have cordoned off the island and shut down ferry routes to and from the mainland.

 

Investigators have been checking CCTV footage from nearby restaurants, hotels and shops for clues, Col Prachum said.

 

It is unclear whether either victim had been sexually assaulted.

 

Police are understood to be in the process of contacting the victims' families.

 

The Foreign Office has said it is aware of the reports and has sent a representative to the island to assist with the investigation.

 

http://news.sky.com/story/1336026/british-tourists-found-dead-on-thailand-beach

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Probe as bodies of two Britons found

 

 

The naked bodies of two British tourists were found beaten to death on a Thai beach Monday, police said, sparking a murder hunt on the popular resort island of Koh Tao.

 

The unidentified man and woman, both aged 24, were found with several wounds near a beachside bungalow on the island, a diving hot-spot near Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand.

 

A bloodied hoe was found 35 metres (115 feet) from the murder scene, local police official Jakkrapan Kaewkhao told AFP.

 

"They were murdered and found naked on the beach. The woman had three wounds on her face and the man had four wounds on his back," he added.

 

"Their bodies were found 30 metres from (the) bungalow," he said, adding the pair arrived in Thailand on August 25.

 

Police were told at 6:30 am (2330 GMT Sunday) and are interviewing witnesses but have yet to identify a suspect or motive, he added.

 

Distraught friends of the victims gathered at the local police station, another officer said. Checkpoints have been set up at the island’s piers although the ferries are still running.

 

"This is a very cruel crime," Prachum Ruangthong, superintendent of Koh Phangan police station, told AFP, adding the bodies would be sent for forensic examination in Bangkok.

 

Witnesses tod police the pair were earlier seen dancing at a local bar, Prachum said.

 

In a statement the British Embassy in Bangkok said officials are "urgently seeking information from local authorities".

 

"Consular staff stand ready to provide assistance to friends and family at this tragic time," it added.

 

A shocked employee at the budget seaside resort where they were staying told AFP the bodies were found behind large rocks on the beach.

 

"It was the first time this has happened on the island, I have never seen anything like this," the staff member added, requesting anonymity.

 

Koh Tao is popular with tourists but draws fewer travellers than the neighbouring Koh Phangan, home to the hedonistic "full moon" party.

 

Thailand’s lucrative tourism industry has been battered in recent months after a prolonged political crisis ended in a coup which saw the army blanket the country with a curfew and strict martial law.

 

Although the curfew was swiftly lifted from key tourist hotspots, visitor numbers have yet to rebound.

 

Military leaders have vowed to restore the nation’s reputation as the "Land of Smiles" with a clean-up targeting tourist resorts after a series of complaints about scams, assaults and even police extortion.

 

Britain says Thailand is the country where its citizens are second most likely to require consular assistance if they visit, behind the Philippines.

 

There were 389 deaths of British nationals in Thailand in the year to March 2013 -- about one for every 2,400 British visitors or residents -- although that figure includes natural causes.

 

But it is rare for tourists to be murdered in Thailand, although visitors frequently perish in accidents.

 

In July last year a 51-year-old American tourist was stabbed to death after an apparent row in a bar in Krabi, another popular tourist haven.

 

His death came just weeks after another American was slashed to death by a taxi driver in Bangkok after an apparent argument over the fare.

 

A 59-year-old Australian woman was killed in June 2012 in an attempted bag snatch on Phuket.

 

Two Thai men were later sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder.

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Probe-as-bodies-of-two-Britons-found-30243300.html

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Koh Tao 'sealed off' after two tourists brutally killed

 

 

POLICE have sealed off the resort island of Koh Tao off Surat Thani province to hunt down killers who brutally murdered a British couple and possibly raped the woman on Sunday night. The 24-year-old victims have been identified as Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.

 

Last night, one of Miller's friends was detained after he provided conflicting information, Surat Thani police commander Pol Maj General Kiattiphong Kaosam-ang said. There were multiple scratches on the suspect's body and he had a serious wound on his hand.

 

However, Kiattiphong said surveillance camera footage also showed an Asian man fleeing the scene at 3am, which prompted investigators to initially believe there might be a sole attacker. Police believed he could possibly have been a migrant worker or fishing-trawler crewman.

 

The deaths have come as a shock to tourists and residents on the small island, which is known as one of the best diving sites in Thailand.

 

Initial investigation at the site on Chor Por Ror beach has been completed and bodies will be sent to Bangkok for autopsy and further forensic examination.

 

Kiattiphong said both victims had arrived at the island separately. Witheridge checked in at Ocean Ville resort on August 27, while Miller arrived on September 13. Witheridge was with four girlfriends, while Miller came with two or three other men. As their rooms were close by, the two groups came to know each other.

 

Investigators learned that the victims had gone to a party at the neighbouring AC Resort, and left together before their bodies were found at 6.30am yesterday.

 

Police sealed off the island and kicked off a manhunt for the attackers. Residents have also been helping with the search.

 

According to Kiattipong, "most of the wounds were to their heads" and said he believed the suspect, or suspects, were "probably still on the island".

 

It was not immediately known whether Witheridge was sexually assaulted - that is expected to be determined in the autopsy. Both victims were naked when discovered.

 

A statement from the British Embassy in Bangkok said officials were "urgently seeking information from local authorities. Consular staff stand ready to provide assistance to friends and family at this tragic time".

 

Checkpoints have been set-up on the island's two piers, and local police called for reinforcements from Koh Pha-ngan, while high seas prevented ferries and boats from leaving.

 

Distraught friends of the victims - who had seen the pair partying just hours before their bodies were found - gathered at the local police station.

 

Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, meanwhile, said Tourist Police were already on high alert. She added that tourists visiting the Kingdom would all be under the protection of official bodies to prevent further damage to the country's reputation.

 

An employee at the budget Ocean Ville resort told AFP that the bodies were found behind some large rocks on the beach about 20 metres from each other and a bloodstained hoe was found nearby.

 

"This is the first time that this has happened on the island. I have never seen anything like this," the staff member added requesting anonymity.

 

Regional commander Pol Lt-General Panya Mamen and Kiattiphong had flown into the island earlier upon hearing of the gruesome killings.

 

This was yet another horrific crime against foreign tourists and British citizens in recent years - including the 2006 rape and murder of Briton Katherine Horton, 21, on nearby Koh Samui and the 2000 rape and murder of Kirsty Jones, 23, at a guesthouse in Chiang Mai.

 

There were 389 deaths of British nationals in Thailand in the year to March 2013, about one for every 2,400 visitors or residents although that figure includes natural causes.

 

 

http://www.nationmul...l-30243363.html

 

 

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