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Two Britons 'dead On Thai Beach'


Mekong
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BBC is reporting that the Thai police are looking for Burmese because they can't believe that a Thai could do such a thing.

 

BBC south-east Asia correspondent Jonathan Head said the police's focus on Burmese migrants would be "quite controversial" as Burmese people were "often scapegoated" for crimes in Thailand.

He said police reinforcements had arrived on the island to help with the investigation, along with a consular official from the British Embassy.

Police still want to speak to a British man who was with the victims on Sunday evening, but the man is probably not a "major suspect", our correspondent added.

"They simply want to question him because they believe he was with David Miller and Hannah Witheridge as part of their group and then left early [on Monday] morning," he said.

Police said they had CCTV of Mr Miller and Ms Witheridge walking together, and later footage showing a man - described as being of Asian appearance - who is now the prime suspect.

 

The shocking death of the two young tourists has cast a pall over this scenic island resort

Locals say they can remember nothing like it happening before.

The police say they are focussing their investigation on Burmese migrant workers on the island.

One senior officer told the BBC he did not believe a Thai person could have committed such a crime.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29217490

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Remember the backpacker girl raped and murdered on Samui a few years ago? PM Thaksin personally called the police chief and told him to get busy. He did and the killers were arrested within a few days. PM Prayuth has already stepped in on this one. You can be sure the police are actually doing something to solve this one. The Thai police can be quite professional ... when they are forced to be.

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<< Police sources said that police had found a pair of blood-stained jeans and four iPhones - two of which had screens that were cracked - in a search of nine rooms occupied by six migrant workers. This was part of a blanket search of the area conducted yesterday.

 

The six migrants were questioned and had DNA samples collected. No details given as to whether they include the man cited by Somyot or the three cited by Prawit.

 

A special team of police, including senior Phuket-based investigator Pol-General Santichai Niramai, who is known for his experience in tourism-related criminal investigations, has been set up to help probe the murders. >>

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Migrant-suspect-for-murders-30243445.html

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Hi,

 

"..and *** if *** the culprit was from Burma or Cambodia....it was the Army that made it easier for them to

register and work in Thailand....opppppppsssssss...."

 

You really have a bug up your ass about the army taking over, right? :)

 

Sanuk!

 

Not quite, just pointing out some of the PR that is mostly hidden.

 

Every day, about 6PM "updates" are given on Thai TV.

 

The Generals lead, the troops follow or at least that was the way it used to be, maybe all the way back

to the Roman times, but much different today :dunno:

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Myanmar suspects released

 

 

POLICE LAST NIGHT ruled out three Myanmar workers being involved in the murder of two British tourists, as the government appeared to call into question the "behaviour" of the victims themselves.

 

The bodies of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, both 24, arrived in Bangkok late yesterday for forensic examination.

 

The victims were found naked and beaten to death early on Monday near a beachside bungalow on Koh Tao, a popular diving spot near Koh Pha-ngan. A bloodied hoe was discovered 35 metres from the murder scene.

 

Three male Myanmar workers were held for questioning, but ruled out of the investigation yesterday afternoon, southern regional police commander Panya Mamen told AFP.

 

"They were very far from the scene ... it was probably not them," he said, adding that DNA samples had been collected from the men. However, he did not give details of any further leads as the manhunt on the small, normally tranquil island stretched into a second day without an arrest.

 

Police have also cleared a number of British tourists who travelled with the victims of being involved.

 

Earlier yesterday, local TV news reports showed police officers searching several shacks belonging to Myanmar migrants on the island.

 

Yesterday, Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha said "We have to look into the behaviour of the other party too, because this kind of incident should not happen to anybody and it has affected our image," he told reporters, adding the authorities were working "swiftly" to find the killers.

 

Koh Tao, home to stunning white sand beaches and azure waters, is popular with divers but is smaller and more laid-back than neighbouring Koh Phangan—which draws hordes of backpackers to its hedonistic "full moon" party.

 

Later Prayuth said local people must tell "tourists when the safe times are to be outside, we have to help them understand".

 

Police had earlier said the pair had been seen partying at a local bar just hours before they died.

 

Police sources said police had found a pair of blood-stained jeans and four iPhones - two of which had screens that were cracked - in a search of nine rooms occupied by six migrants yesterday.

 

The country is desperate to avoid further damage to the nation's lucrative tourism industry, which has been battered in recent months after a prolonged political crisis ended in a coup.

 

The army swiftly blanketed the country with a curfew and strict martial law, frightening off visitors.

 

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 it is not uncommon for visitors to die accidentally.

 

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmueng earlier said the suspect is seen in the footage walking around the scene of the murders, on Chor Por Ror beach.

 

Somyot said it was assumed that the killer or killers would be local residents or migrant workers, as they would know where to acquire the murder weapon - a hoe.

 

He said Prayuth Chan-ocha had phoned him to directly instruct him to identify and arrest those responsible as a matter of utmost urgency.

 

Prayuth spoke to reporters at Government House, acknowledging that the murders had affected Thailand and its public image in terms of tourism, and that he would ask the police to speed up the investigation.

 

Meanwhile, the regional Tourism Authority office tasked with affairs in Europe, Africa and the Middle East issued a statement to the press in the United Kingdom expressing sorrow over the double-murder and condemning the violence as unacceptable, while vowing to maintain efforts to identify and arrest the killers.

 

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Myanmar-suspects-released-30243457.html

 

 

Going by where it happened, and past crimes down south, I'd be checking to see if any fishing boats were around at the time. :hmmm:

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