Coss

Trafficking report: The facts versus the fury The Nation August 4, 2015 1:00 am Even die-hard supporters of the government must acknowledge that Thailand hasn't done enough Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was dignified in his response to the annual US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report last week when he said Thailand needed to solve its own problems rather than blaming the United States for keeping the country relegated to Tier 3, its most damning rating. Cheerleaders for the government are disappointed with the report for its apparent failure to reflect Thai authorities' crackdown on the trade, which has led to the discovery of a mass grave at an abandoned camp in Songkhla province and the arrest of a high-ranking military officer on charges of aiding the traffickers. But these government supporters should recognise that the information upon which the report was based collected between April 2014 and March this year - before the round-up of people-trafficking syndicates Information from that period showed that the number of trafficking investigations and prosecutions had actually declined dramatically since last year. According to the TIP report, the Thai government conducted 280 trafficking investigations (compared with 674 in 2013), prosecuted 155 traffickers (483 in 2013) and convicted 151 (225 in 2013). Despite the prevalence of forced labour in Thailand, the government reported only 58 investigations (154 in 2013) into suspected cases and prosecuted only 27 traffickers for forced labour, down from 109 in 2013. Twenty traffickers received prison sentences greater than seven years, and the majority of convicted offenders received sentences of more than two years' imprisonment. The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) reported that 107 investigations into money laundering linked with suspected people trafficking are under way. In one case the AMLO seized Bt30 million in suspected traffickers' profits. People-trafficking is a chronic problem in Thailand and its solution will not come overnight. It will take time, but the Thai authorities should have no excuse for lowering their guard. With or without the TIP report, Thailand needs to work hard to curb this crime against humanity. There are Thais who blame poor relations between Thailand and the United States for the Tier 3 rating. The US State Department has been accused of placing trade benefits ahead of the battle against trafficking in deciding to upgrade Malaysia to Tier 2 on the Watch List. But this is hardly an excuse for Thailand to ease up on efforts to solve the problem. The TIP report also offered the government valuable tips in combating the illicit trade. Stamping out the complicity of state officials is the key. The TIP report said corruption within Thai officialdom continues to undermine anti-trafficking efforts. Corrupt officials are accepting payments from smugglers moving migrants between Thailand and neighbouring countries, according to the report. Media reports have backed up that allegation. Yet, rather than investigate the claims, the authorities and the Royal Thai Navy are cracking down on the "messengers", suing two Phuket-based journalists for defamation after they published part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters report on trafficking here. Prayut and his government need to take a fresh look at the facts if they are serious about tackling this problem. "The prosecution of journalists and advocates for exposing traffickers, and statements discouraging media reporting on trafficking crimes, undermined some efforts to identify and assist victims and apprehend traffickers," the US report says. The Navy and other authorities should heed the calls from the international community and rights groups, drop the charges against the journalists and turn their focus on catching and prosecuting corrupt officials who are abetting the illicit trade. The government's supporters also need to learn from the report. Instead of whipping up anti-American sentiment, they could make better use of their time by seeking to raise social awareness of the miseries of human trafficking and the fight to eradicate it from Thai shores. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Trafficking-report-The-facts-versus-the-fury-30265844.html

Airport authorities to introduce background screening check at six airports with 35 baht extra charge per head BANGKOK: -- Beginning early December inbound and outbound passengers at the country's six international airports have to pay 35 baht each for background screening check charge after the Airports of Thailand (AoT) introduced the new system to check passengers. The system called the Advance Passenger Processing System (APPS) will boost airport security by screening each passenger more closely than the current system in use. According to Bangkok Post, It allows customs officials, airport and airline staff and immigration police to obtain the profiles of passengers from their countries of origin. They will be able to check if passengers are blacklisted or banned from leaving a country. Authorities will share passenger information and ordinary passengers whose profiles are clean can pass immigration checks faster. AoT says it will take about three months to introduce the system and another month for testing before putting it in use in December. The APPS will be put in use in six international airports namely Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Mae Fa Luang in Chiang Rai, and Hat Yai. The APPS fee will apply to international passengers arriving and departing from the airports, as well as transfer and transit passengers, he said. Airlines will be responsible for collecting the 35 baht additional charge, which will be incorporated into the air ticket price, AoT chairman Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said. However, the Airline Operations Committee (AOC) has complained that airlines aren’t ready for the change as they have already sold a number of advance international flight tickets. It has urged the AoT to consider postponing the plan for three months from December to allow sufficient time for the airlines to prepare. Source: http://englishnews.t...charge-per-head ---------------------- And from the bleeding obvious: So they don't do this now? Unlike every other country with a few exceptions like Laos. And no-one in the entire, exorbitant process, can absorb a measly 35 bht cost.

german bass american bass

just seen the deadline was extended till 31 August

No I'm not having a go, it's a real thing MunchiesVice.com https://munchies.vic...nking-in-public Well done old chap

likely they were looking for money

Here's another one, misinformation at it's best. The key tenets are: Bambi factor, after Finding Nemo, Turtles are cute. Facts, Turtle numbers are in decline, or at least, everyone seems to know this. If sea levels rise, the Turtles nesting grounds will be flooded. The Experiment shows that for eggs of Turtles, those underwater for six hours resulted in a 40 per cent increase in embryo deaths. OK Yes they are cute. And tasty. Turtle numbers may be in decline, but this is more likely too be, lack of food, hunting etc, this Experiment's reporting, relies on a supposition that sea levels will rise significantly, not have risen significantly. Turtles' nesting grounds, are beaches, just above high tide mark generally. Anyone who has lived next to beaches knows that they come and go on a regular basis, sometimes weekly, rising sea levels just mean the waves wash sand in or out, at a slightly higher level. And lastly "a 40 per cent increase in embryo deaths" 40% of what number? From a million Eggs, is it 14 deaths over a norm of 10? or what? misleading. Now read the article Rising sea levels are likely to prove 'turtle disaster' Rising sea levels are likely to prove a "turtle disaster" and people power may be required to ensure their survival, Queensland scientists have found. An experiment has shown green sea turtle embryos are much more likely to die when they are inside eggs that go underwater for six hours. Scientists say the study shows the turtles, which rely on low-lying coastal habitats, are likely to feel the early impacts of rising sea levels. "In some places it only takes a small rise in sea levels, when combined with a storm or a king tide, to inundate what had previously been secure nesting sites," said lead researcher Dr David Pike of James Cook University. The study used eggs from a green sea turtle hatchery on Queensland's Raine Island, which were exposed to saltwater for varying amounts of time. Scientists found the eggs inundated for one or three hours showed no significant level of mortality. However those underwater for six hours resulted in a 40 per cent increase in embryo deaths. Dr Pike said this meant volunteers may be needed to physically move nests further inshore to save the species. "We might be able to save them with people power," he said. Raine Island, on the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, supports the world's largest green sea turtle nesting area, with as many as 60,000 females swimming from their feeding grounds thousands of kilometres away to lay their eggs. But the turtle sanctuary is in danger of collapse due to rising sea levels and changes in the island's landscape. Dr Pike said while inundation impacted the species' survival, the larger mystery surrounding the decline of green sea turtles on the island was yet to be solved. He said turtle numbers were also likely impacted by other factors, including high microbial levels and heavy metals in the soil. http://www.nzherald....jectid=11486724 I'll wait for 20 years and see if the turtles are still here. Oh and if they are so concerned about the fate of the young of 60,000 Turtles on one Island, ( circa - mean clutch size = 112 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3892160?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents) some 6,720,000 eggs, why are they experimenting in a way that kills them?

Police 'Never Checked' CCTV After Britons Killed There are gasps in court as judges hear of a series of apparent blunders in the hours after the two Britons were found dead. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were killed in September By Sarah McBride in Koh Samui Police failed to check CCTV images of a boat leaving a pier close to where two British backpackers were found murdered, a Thai court has heard. There were gasps in the courtroom as Police Colonel Cherdpong Chiewpreecha revealed a series of apparent blunders in the investigation into the deaths of David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, on the island of Koh Tao. The court in Koh Samui heard that the senior investigating police chief and his officers did not believe the killer would have taken that boat, which left an hour or so after the estimated time of death of the pair. "We have the footage, but we never checked it," Police Colonel Cherdpong said. He went on to admit a series of other apparent blunders in the investigation, which began after the pair were found beaten to death at dawn on 15 September. Suspects Win Zaw Htun (L) and Zaw Lin ® It is alleged Ms Witheridge had been raped, and Mr Miller had been left to drown in the sea with severe head wounds. He said his inquiry had not investigated rumours of an altercation between Ms Witheridge and the son of the Koh Tao headman, a local politician, in the early hours of 15 September. Neither he nor his officers interviewed the headman's son, who is nicknamed Dodo, who was captured on CCTV in Bangkok later that morning. He said he did not have the results of DNA samples taken from Dodo, and had not received a report from Bangkok of an interview with the youth. Police Colonel Cherdpong insisted there was no evidence to suggest that the victims had been followed from the bar where they had been in the early hours. However, the court heard there was no video evidence of the pair at all after they entered the bar separately between 12.30am and 2am. The judges were told 200 of the 300 CCTV cameras in the vicinity were not working. The alleged murder weapon - a wooden garden hoe - was never extensively forensically tested. The court was told officers had inspected it with a magnifying glass but deemed there were no viable fingerprints on it, and no DNA evidence to collect. The prosecution spent 12 hours on Wednesday showing CCTV pictures of the victims’ final hours, and also video of the alleged suspects - 22-year-old Burmese nationals Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun - riding a motorbike and buying alcohol and cigarettes. But on Thursday the defence team pointed out that the two suspects were not wearing the same clothes as the alleged suspects caught on camera, allegedly running from the scene. Police Colonel Cherdpong said he did not see that as relevant. He was also unable to confirm if the DNA samples collected from the scene, or from the bodies of the victims, had ever been sent to Singapore for independent testing. The trial continues on Thursday and Friday before it will be adjourned for a month. http://news.sky.com/...-britons-killed

I don't know what size the shark was, but the upper part of the tail appeared to me to be about 3 foot. This would suggest a length of 21 feet.

I met a guy who'd been in Laos since the Viet war, of course the Lao think it was their war. This guy was American, hobbled around on a walker. I don't know if he was ever a POW though. By way of interest, not a negative dig at any participants in the war, here's an interesting graphical representation of the bombing in Laos. Bombing Missions Over Laos From 1965-1973. http://laosuntouched.com/images/media/Bombing-Missions-Over-Laos-From-1965-1973.mp4 Cheers Coss

I've never had a bag opened in a Thai airport, in or out. Always brought way more duty free than I'm allowed. Only places ever to check were once Auckland where they checked Suitcase 1990 and Sydney, a Carryon with a camera in it, transit in '92 I think.

I'll comment. Nothing to do with timing - the gay thing - was known to be coming, allowing planning for the event to take place. The sad deaths on Chattanooga, unexpected, so maybe it took a little time, to get the order out. But even so, what do they want - speed mourning? That they were mourned, is the important point and a sedate mourning is appropriate. Now that's really important! - more than two, but less than ten people, were moved to comment, in half sentences on electronic devices. I'm glad they are watching over the world.

They recognised your name

And the .03% ? Gone.

No Comment http://www.euronews.com/nocomment/2015/07/20/local-elections-in-north-korea-draw-99-97-percent/

No worries, I got to start early tomorrow any hoo, so many sheep, so little time

So Stick's in Town MLG and I just had dinner down the road at the Angus Steak house, missed the boy pretender, him busy with business. I had a rump steak the size of a stingray - can hardly walk.

But you miss the point! Warming makes everything more extreme by increasing the entropy of the overall system resulting in wider fluctuations of everything it's true because marketing types and politicians have said so. And that's one extreme taxidermied Kangaroo.

And he's not even measuring the foot prints, the tape is across the cleared area

Is it just me ? Or does this photo appear to show a police person measuring a set of foot prints in a patch of sand that/s been wiped smooth? If it's the original evidence they're representing, does it not look strange that the 'killers' would have prepared their tracks in such a manner? I suppose the BIB could be measuring this set of prints for comparison to the original evidence, but it would, IMHO be entirely possible that this photo was used as original evidence. Also, how many people on the island have feet that are the same size as the foot prints in the sand?

This Septic Isle: Backpackers, Bloodshed and the Secretive World of Koh Tao Time.com The death-penalty case has caused an international sensation The balcony of room A5 at Ocean View Bungalows commands one of the finest vistas of Koh Tao’s sweeping Sairee Beach. Traditional longtail boats, a rainbow of scarves adorning their bows, bob on the lapping water of the glistening bay. And right in the foreground, rising proudly from sliver sands, protrude a scattering of granite boulders, a furtive relic of this tranquil 21-sq-km (8 sq. mi.) island’s volcanic inception. These rocks are no strangers to explosive secrets. On Sept. 15, one of the occupants of that same room A5, Hannah Witheridge, was found bludgeoned to death in their midst alongside fellow British tourist David Miller, just a short stumble from her door. Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, a seaside town on the English east coast, had been raped and killed by blows to the head. Miller, a year older and from Jersey, one of the U.K.’s Channel Islands, had likewise suffered deep lacerations to his skull before drowning in the shallow surf. A mute Burmese beach cleaner stumbled upon the bodies shortly after dawn. A garden hoe and wooden club found nearby were quickly fingered as the principal murder weapons. The crime’s brutality amid Koh Tao’s insular, backpacker charm caused an international sensation and threatened to further weaken a tourist industry already reeling from the military coup of May 22, 2014, which saw hundreds arbitrarily detained and draconian new controls imposed on freedom of speech and assembly. Junta chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha enraged many by hinting that the blame, at some level, lay with the attractive victims. “Will [tourists] survive in Thailand if they dress in bikinis?†he asked Sept. 17. He added that they would if “they are not beautiful.†Prayuth soon backtracked on his remarks on travelers, saying, “Sometimes I speak too strongly.†But virtually his next breath again sought to assign blame: “We have to help take care of [our nation],†he said, “and not let not-good people mingle with us, such as unregistered alien workers.†Investigators had already steered their attention to migrant workers, via a friend of the deceased, and the son of a local headman, who were briefly considered as suspects. DNA testing of casual workers was introduced and many migrants complained of rough interrogations, with some claiming that they were scalded with boiling water. (Police deny these allegations.) Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 22-year-old ethnic Rakhine from Burma’s restive Arakan state, were arrested on Oct. 2. The police quickly elicited a confession and, after a macabre reconstruction of the murders before a swarm of media — including a staged session of penitent prayers by the accused — probably hoped that the case looked closed. But it unraveled just as quickly. After finally receiving independent legal counsel, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, who had no prior criminal records, claimed they had been tortured during interrogation and recanted. Human-rights groups expressed serious concerns. The 18-day trial of the two defendants, divided into three equal parts over several weeks, began on July 8. A verdict is expected in October and they could face the death penalty if convicted. “Over the coming weeks we hope to gain a better understanding as to how such a wonderful young man lost his life in such idyllic surroundings in such a horrible way,†said Miller’s family in a statement at the opening of the trial. Athit Perawongmetha—Reuters Family members of Hannah Witheridge comfort one another at the headquarters of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok, on Sept. 18, 2014 ‘THE WORST THAIS IN THAILAND’ The murders of Witheridge and Miller sent shock waves through Thailand. “That the victims were tourists automatically drew more attention,†says Thai political analyst Saksith Saiyasombut. “And the shambolic investigation also didn’t help.†Foreigners die surprisingly often here. There were 362 U.K. citizens who met their end in Thailand in 2014, more so even than in France, which attracts almost 20 times as many British visitors. But generally they lose their lives through traffic accidents, overdoses and suicides. This was very different. Of the 25 million foreign visitors who touch down in Thailand each year, half a million grace Koh Tao, the smallest of three popular tourist islands in the Thai Gulf. The largest and most developed is Koh Samui, which also boasts the archipelago’s only international airport. The next in size is Koh Phangan, home of the infamous Full Moon parties, with a reputation for drugs and debauchery. Koh Tao is by far the smallest. Ringed by coral gardens and teeming with kaleidoscope shoals of tropical fish, it was primarily known, until now, for its diving. But Koh Tao was a political penal colony from 1933 until 1947, and a sense of self-sufficiency and isolation exists to this day. Far from official oversight, de facto control falls to the owners of booming hospitality businesses that were developed on land originally obtained, via government concessions, for coconut plantations. Feuding here is common and vicious. Greg Shepherd, 34, from Luton in the U.K., tells TIME he witnessed a man getting shot in the face in a bar north of Sairee Beach in the mid-2000s. “They took the victim away in a pickup truck and the barman just got a mop out and cleaned up the blood,†he says. In general, tourists are almost comically unaware of this malevolent undercurrent. Yet it remains an open secret that “organized crime is rampant on these islands,†says Saksith. Little wonder the conversational staple of many long-term expats is, “These are the worst Thais in Thailand.†Drugs play a key role. The sweet reek of marijuana is commonplace even in prominent beachfront bars, while cocaine and crystal meth, known locally as yaba or “crazy drug,†are not hard to find, say locals. At one establishment by Chalok Baan Chao, joints are sold for 200 baht ($6) while a magic mushroom milkshake costs 700 baht ($20). “Nice and strong,†grins the heavily tattooed barman. The families that run the island and police that guard it deny any involvement with narcotics. But the sheer ubiquity of drugs on Koh Tao suggests at the very least a high toleration of the trade. Naturally, a pall of silence engulfs this clannish, cliquey atoll, owing in no small part to the legal standing of its foreign contingent. There are no official figures for the number of expats who call Thailand home, but it likely runs into the hundreds of thousands. Pensions and incomes that would be less than optimum in Europe, say, or North America, can fund a life of carefree hedonism in Thailand. On tiny Koh Tao alone, there are some 2,000 expats alongside the 2,500 registered Thais, according to Mayor Chaiyan Turasakul. Most are running guesthouses, eateries and scuba-diving operations or working as diving instructors. However, according to Rhys Bonney, an immigration adviser to expats in Thailand, even the legality of scuba-diving instructors is an “extremely gray area†as Thai work permits are specific to particular company premises. “There’s no work permit that allows you to work in 15 different locations [under the sea],†he says. “Legally, it would seem quite easy to shut these dive shops down.†Insecure residency tends to breed compliance. “Once you’ve been living there for a while, you’ll turn a blind eye to some pretty sketchy stuff,†says Mike Earley, 30, from New Zealand, who spent six months on the island working as a DJ. Complaining about wrongdoing may invite official questions and demands for passports and documentation. Expats “don’t want to lose their time in paradise,†Earley says, “as it’s cheap, it’s nice living, and it’s very easy to ignore what happens.†Even murder. Athit Perawongmetha—Reuters Burmese migrant workers Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin arrive at the Koh Samui Provincial Court, in Koh Samui, Thailand, on July 8, 2015 SEVEN DAYS A WEEK FOR A PITTANCE Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo are two of an estimated 2 million irregular Burmese migrants, along with smaller numbers from neighboring Cambodia and Laos, currently working low-paid jobs in comparatively thriving Thailand. They toil in slavelike conditions for pitiful wages in occupations typically described as 3-D — dirty, dangerous, degrading. Some work on fishing boats for years without seeing land, getting passed between trawlers, catching fish, squid and shrimp for American dinner tables. (Thailand is the world’s third-largest seafood exporter.) Others labor for long hours under the burning sun farming pineapples, exposed to hazardous doses of pesticides and other chemicals. And on Koh Tao there are around 5,000 Burmese — conspicuous by the golden streaks of thanakapaste, a traditional sunscreen and beauty product, garnishing their cheeks — who build hotels, sweep rooms and serve drinks to the coppery throngs of tourists. They flee extreme poverty and ethnic violence in Burma (officially now known as Myanmar), the legacy of a half-century of civil war and suffocating military dictatorship. Even though recent quasi-democratic reforms have seen an influx of tourist dollars and the rolling back of sanctions, that means little for the nation’s rural poor. In fact, says Sean Turnell, a professor and expert on Burmese economics at Australia’s Macquarie University, “The economic circumstances of Myanmar’s majority rural population are now marginally worse than before the reforms were launched.†Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo know this too well. Speaking exclusively to TIME at Koh Samui Prison, both appear much younger than their 22 years. Zaw Lin, as pimply as any teen, chats eagerly of his love of Manchester United and star Portuguese winger Nani. Wai Phyo, a Real Madrid fanatic who idolizes FIFA world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo, moves a virtually hairless top lip as he talks. “My father died when I was very young,†says Zaw Lin, “so l left school aged 8 and started helping my mother in the fields when I was 10.†Facing worsening poverty, around two years ago he paid a broker 5,000 baht ($150) to transport him to Koh Tao, heartened by tales he’d heard of fellow villagers who had eked out a successful living there. Since then, he had managed to send back almost $2,000 to help his destitute family. “It’s something but it’s not enough,†he says. To be able to work on Koh Tao, illegal Burmese migrants paid a 500-baht ($15) bribe each month, plus another 500 baht if they want to use a motorbike without a Thai driving license. Typically, they work seven days a week for a pittance, sleeping in bamboo shacks erected in jungle clearances. Possessing no official status or documents, their vulnerability is extreme, and complaints of rape, extortion and physical violence are legion. “Burmese people are treated as second-class citizens,†says Saksith. “Dehumanizing as it sounds, they are a commodity for some people.†Asked whether he has a message for his compatriots considering working in Thailand, Wai Phyo simply says, “Be careful when you go out at night as you might step in the wrong place.†Chaiwat Subprasom—Reuters Police measure footprints of a man as data is collected from people who work near the spot where bodies of two killed British tourists were found, on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand, on Sept. 19, 2014 ‘WE HAVE LEARNED TO TAKE CARE OF VISITORS’ Theories abound on Koh Tao about who killed Miller and Witheridge. Many believe the true culprits are local, and these suspicions were fueled after a Scottish friend of Miller fled the island claiming to have had his life threatened by local thugs. Nevertheless, few have rallied to the defense of the accused. One of Wai Phyo’s former employers, who saw him soon after Sept. 15 and noticed no perceivable change in his demeanor, has refused to be a character witness or be named by TIME. “I’ve not been threatened, but I’ve too much to lose,†he says. “This is the wild west.†At present, the case rests on DNA evidence linking cigarette butts found around 20 m from the bodies next to a crooked log where Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo admit they were playing guitar and drinking beer on the evening in question. These samples purportedly match those retrieved from Witheridge’s corpse. But many have concerns that the scene was contaminated immediately after the discovery of the bodies; myriad officials, journalists and even bewildered tourists were seen traipsing through the area while evidence was still being gathered. Gruesome photos of the bloodied corpses circulated online, either leaked by officials or even taken by passersby. Thailand’s forensics chief, Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand, has said that by not using trained specialists, “police contradicted the principles of forensic science.†Forensic evidence is processed independently in the U.S. or U.K. and many other jurisdictions around the world, safeguarding a proper chain of custody. But in Thailand, the police perform the entire process. This is troubling when set against the allegations of torture made by the accused. Wai Phyo says officers removed his clothes and left him naked in a freezing room for 20 minutes. “They beat me and put a bag over my head, humiliating me by taking pictures and a video,†he said. “They threatened to kill me, saying: ‘We can throw you into the sea and feed your corpse to the fish.’†Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission investigated these allegations, but progress has been glacial, not least because police representatives failed to turn up to four arranged meetings. The police categorically deny any mistreatment and no officer has been charged to date. Torture allegations aside, the proceedings have been peppered with oddities. The families of Miller and Witheridge even put out a statement saying the evidence against Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo was “powerful and convincing.†This assertion was facilitated by the U.K. Foreign Office despite being prejudicial toward the possibility of a fair trial. (Both families declined to comment when contacted by TIME.) More recently, a court order to allow Dr. Pornthip to review the DNA evidence was rescinded. “The defense lawyers urgently need both crucial information gained from the re-examination of forensic evidence in this case and also adequate time to consider this information prior to the trial beginning,†said lead defense lawyer Nakhon Chomphuchat in a statement last month. On July 10, the bench again ordered the DNA to be retested, only for the police to reveal that certain key samples — specifically those retrieved from the victims’ bodies — had been used up. The only items still available for retesting were objects found around the crime scene, including the suspected murder weapons, but one witness claimed that these had been washed. According to Kingsley Abbott, Southeast Asia legal expert for the International Commission of Jurists, “The defense must be afforded adequate time and facilities to explore whether the alleged destruction of evidence in this case was appropriate and unavoidable, and to test the prosecution case overall.†Back on Koh Tao, authorities have scrambled to blot out the tragedy. “Koh Tao is very safe,†says Mayor Chaiyan. “Because we have learned for generations to take care of visitors.†A brand new police station has been built with 40 full-time officers replacing the five previously based here. A process of registering irregular Burmese migrant workers has been introduced to tackle the semiofficial bribes, though many say abuses continue unabated. Few of the visitors on Sairee Beach today are even aware the murders took place. “I had no idea,†says Jordi Cramer, 21, a waitress from Edmonton, Canada, when TIME speaks to her strolling past the granite-hemmed crime scene. “I did feel safe, but that is scary.†Scared is right. For while the surf has washed the blood from the sand, and life returns to normal for the island’s hodgepodge of wealthy and penniless inhabitants, one fact remains clear: not just the boulders hide secrets on Koh Tao. Family handouts David Miller, 24, from Jersey, left, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth ______________________

Down here in the Southern Ocean, where men are becoming less so, due to the slavish adoration of 'merican culture by our young, the Jenner speech and award were given prime time attention and adulation. Shame really. On the one hand I have no issues with any gay, bi, trans, whatever, goings on, it's their lives and they're welcome to it. What I will say is I don't want it in my face. No reason to publicise it, over and above, an 'oddity' story on page 11 of the cheaper rags. Too much money to be made by f*ckknuckles like the Hilton spawn, Kardashian bottoms and egos trapped in low IQs.

55555 what you said

Huffington post is a favourite of the very large, white, bitter, single, expat, feminists in Laos. This may account for the flavour of the author's drivel.

I use justhost for free site hosting - not the best in hosting - it's free I assume these are the same folk