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Two Britons 'dead On Thai Beach'


Mekong
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No wonder it took so long, locals have been tightlipped, possibly out of fear for their own lives. Suspect is a brother of a Koh Tao subdisctrict village chief and he's barman at the AC bar, where the girl was last seen alive. Most likely the guys who threatened the Scottish guy

The police have arrested a suspect in the murder of two British tourists in Koh Tao and are still hunting for a second suspect who has escaped into Bangkok.

Eighth Region Police Command commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Panya Mamen identified the first suspect as Mon.

He is the brother of a village headman in Koh Tao.

He was arrested after evidence which police collected were examined and proved he was involved, he said.

He also said another suspect is also a son of that village headman. But he has already to Bangkok.

He said both suspects were captured by CCTV cameras and the police have gathered enough evidence to implicate them in the murders.

He said the southern police were coordinating with the metropolitan police to hunt him down, and expected to apprehend him today.

The southern police chief also assured the public that there was no arrest of scapegoats in this murder case as it now is a focal attention of the world.

He also dismissed any suggestion of local mafias or influential people that could twist the investigation with promise that local influence would pose no obstacle to the police investigation.

Instead the police will eliminate all these mafias, he said.

Meanwhile a police source said the police are also looking into the cooperation of those who helped to arrange the suspect to escape. They also will be arrested.

 

Thai PBS

 

More in this article of the Bangkok Post

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He's probably too stupid to understand and thinks his brother can get him out of anything, being the pooyabaan and such. His brother knows better.

 

There were reports in the UK press about local being afraid to talk to the police out of fear of repercussion by local families.

 

Makes one also wonder how long the information has been sitting idle on a table somewhere and how they got away a few days ago with not giving dna samples.

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SO they refused to give DNA. and nothing done? Hmmm, who are they connected too?

 

Yep. I'm even surprised that made it into the newspaper. Suspects refuse to give DNA sample and are let go -- that's the foul odor of bullshit and shady influence. Be grateful there is international attention on this otherwise a couple poor blokes from Myanmar would have had their difficult life shit on even more in taking the blame for these cowardly pricks.

 

I'm losing some of my liberal ideals over the years in that when I hear stories like this - my response is to let the perpetrators endure the same treatment they were willing to mete out on these young tourists.

 

Hats off to the Scottish lad for doing something about it.

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Police free bar owners and look for ex-village headman's son

 

 

Police are looking for the son of a former Koh Tao village headman in their pursuit of the killers of two British backpackers on the night of September 14, after learning that the man left the island the following morning.

 

A police source said the man they want to find landed on the Surat Thani coast and disappeared. Police say they want to interrogate him first.

 

The police last night released two men, who own Intouch Bar and AC Pub on the resort island, after interrogating them for three hours and finding no evidence linking them to the crime.

 

One of the two men released last night, who reporters did not identify, said he was unable to contact his son and did not know if he had a hand in the killings.

 

Another man, the younger brother of the former village headman, who is believed to be the man seen on a security camera near the crime scene, is still in custody.

 

Pol Lt-General Panya Mamen, who is overseeing the investigation, said yesterday that the headman's son is believed to be hiding in Bangkok. Panya refused to reveal the suspects' names, saying police were questioning one man and expected to arrest another in Bangkok today.

 

Today marks the 10th day since David Miller and Hannah Witheridge were brutally murdered on the island. Both suffered serious head wounds, while police said Witheridge was also sexually assaulted.

 

"We expect results within 48 hours as DNA samples have been sent out for testing, and we are confident in this latest turn in the investigation," he said.

 

All sides should have confidence in the police investigation and believe that no scapegoats will be arrested so that the case can be closed, he said.

 

"The world has been watching the case and police has been doing what it can to ensure that the evidence obtained is strong and tight enough to arrest the killers," he said.

 

Panya also promised that the investigation would not be influenced by reports that some influential persons on the island might try to obstruct police work.

 

The chief investigator was speaking after police had summoned the owner of the Intouch Bar for questioning after investigators discovered that both victims had visited the bar and had had an altercation before they were found dead. Another person summoned was the owner of AC Pub, who local residents say is an influential person and the older brother of the man who owns Intouch Bar. Panya led the interrogation of both individuals.

 

Local people and tourism operators on the island yesterday attended an annual religious rite to make merit for their deceased loved ones. They also made merit for the slain Britons and prayed that the police would be able to arrest the killers.

 

Meanwhile, a police source said it was not possible that people on the island did not have any knowledge of what might have happened on the night of the murder. The source said may be they don't want to talk to police, as they do not want to have problems with an influential group.

 

Udom Tantiprasonchai, an executive with Orient Thai Airways, said he will add Bt500,000 to the bounty placed for arrest of the killers, Senee Puwasettathaworn, president of Koh Samui Tourism Association, said.

 

This sum will bring the total bounty up to Bt713,000.

 

Though the murders took place more than a week ago, and police have yet to charge anyone, tourism has not been affected too badly as it is still the low season. Local tourism operators, meanwhile, said they would not put any pressure on police, leaving them to focus on the job at hand.

 

 

http://www.nationmul...a-30243997.html

 

 

Hint: if they want to know the son's Y-DNA, test his father! :shakehead

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The way the victims have been treated indicates the murderers may have been high on yaa baa. It's very difficult to understand why you would otherwise go berserk like that on a person.

 

 

One of my first thoughts. It reminds me of an assault that happened at Soi Cowboy some years back during Songkran. A group of Thai men brutally murdered another Thai just for bumping into their pickup with his mo'cy.

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Belated coverage in NZ - this will not boost tourism...

 

 

AFP140917060925_620x310.jpg

 

British students, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. Photo / AFP

A British student found dead in Thailand was raped by two men while another watched before she was murdered, police have said.

No suspects have yet been arrested for killing Hannah Witheridge, 23, and 24-year-old David Miller but three people are believed to be involved.

Lieutenant General Panya Mamen, police commissioner for the island of Koh Tao, told the Bangkok Post: "Two of the suspects raped and killed Witheridge while another one witnessed the murder.

"We're confident we have a very high chance of finding the suspects."

Two different semen samples collected from her body are the basis for DNA analysis being used to test hundreds of men.

The pair's bodies were found on a beach on the tiny island, which is marketed as a palm-fringed paradise for foreign tourists, on 15 September.

Post-mortem examinations revealed that Ms Witheridge, from Great Yarmouth, died from head wounds, and Mr Miller, from Jersey, was killed by severe blows to the head and drowning.

A bloodstained garden hoe, believed to be the murder weapon, was found nearby.

Officers have collected 200 DNA samples from people on Koh Tao and the results are expected later this week.

All previous suspects have been released and a group of Thai footballers are the latest to be questioned by police amid criticism that the hunt for the killers has stalled.

Read more:

• Two British tourists found dead on Thai beach

• Thai beach murders remain a mystery

A spokesman for the Royal Thai Police confirmed that DNA samples were taken from "more than eight" footballers - who reportedly threw a late-night party at the nightclub where the victims spent their final hours - and officers were awaiting the results.

Last week police colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen announced the offer of a 700,000 baht (£13,300) reward for information leading to arrests.

Ms Witheridge and Mr Miller did not know each other from at home in the UK and are believed to have met on holiday.

CCTV footage shows them leaving a bar together just hours before their battered bodies were discovered on a beach.

Ms Witheridge, who was doing a post-graduate speech and language therapy course at the University of Essex, was travelling with three female friends and had only arrived on Koh Tao, or Turtle Island, three before her death.

Mr Miller, from Jersey, was studying civil and structural engineering at Leeds University and was travelling in South East Asia following a work placement in Australia.

His father, Ian, earlier said that he believes his son stepped in to help Ms Witheridge during an altercation.

He told the Daily Mail: "It has become clearer and clearer that it is quite likely David was stepping in to help a girl who was in trouble."

Thailand has been suffering large losses in tourist revenue following the murders and the martial law imposed following May's military coup.

In an effort to ease safety fears, the tourism minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul has outlined a plan for identification wristbands for visitors and a "buddy system" to keep them safe.

The programme, which could impose a curfew on bars, is still being discussed and is expected to meet with resistance from tourists if imposed.

Thailand's military ruler Prayuth Chan-ocha had earlier provoked outrage by suggesting that "beautiful" female visitors to his country should not expect to be safe in bikinis.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11334712

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Police promised cash reward to buy false testimony: taxi driver

 

 

A TAXI driver on Koh Tao off the Surat Thani coast yesterday went public with his accusation that police investigating the murders of two British tourists had tried to intimidate him into providing false testimony.

 

In a media interview yesterday, Prasit Sukdam also accused the police of giving him a large sum of money in exchange for false testimony to frame the wrong people. He claimed the money was taken from the Bt700,000 offered as a reward by Koh Tao residents for information leading to the arrest of the killers.

 

Separately, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha dismissed reports that tourists will be encouraged to wear wristbands or register electronically upon arrival in addition to passport verification at the airport. "We can't make them wear any chip-embedded device. We want them to keep visiting Thailand," he added.

 

Meanwhile, Prasit brought the issue up with Assawin sae-Phoo, head of local taxi drivers on the tourist island, citing "fear for his life after turning down the offer". Assawin later took Prasit's complaint to Korbchai Saowalak, the kamnan of tambon Koh Tao.

 

Korbchai then spoke publicly to the police, calling on them to not work on the case in an aggressive manner and not find scapegoats. "Don't harm innocent people or frighten them," he said.

 

Speaking later to reporters, Prasit said: "I don't want to take any action against the policemen, but want to demonstrate my innocence and I will cooperate with other requests in the future. Just don't force me to acknowledge [something] I never knew [about]," he said.

 

Prasit admitted to celebrating with a football team after a match at an unnamed pub on the night of the murders, but said he knew nothing about the team members' activities or police suspicions about them.

 

He said some policemen approached him at 1.30pm on Monday trying to convince him to cooperate and let him go five hours later.

 

Meanwhile, assistant national police chief Lt-General Jakthip Chaijinda has been instructed to supervise the investigation, taking over from Police Region 8 commander Lt-General Panya Manen who has been promoted to assistant national police chief. Officials said different police units should work together on the probe.

 

The Police Region 8 chief's post has been filled by Lt-General Decha Butrnamphet, who said later that the same set of investigators would continue working on the case.

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Police-promised-cash-reward-to-buy-false-testimony-30244573.html

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