Bodies of foreign tourists found brutally murdered on Koh Tao beach

[emilymat]

If they are unidentified, how do they know they were both 24 years old?

I thought the same at first. Maybe it is simply translation and they know who they are but will not 'identify' them until the families have been informed etc.

This is awful news. But, like a previous poster I don't want to see some scapegoat arrested simply because the authorities have called for a quick arrest. It happened in Pattaya following the murder of a couple of Russians some time ago.

As I said, tragic news.

[car720]

Koh Tao is a tiny island with just over twenty boats leaving per day. They have to catch this scum.

I have seen them kill an oxen with one of those hoes..........as well as just about everything else..........don't look on the boats.............this is a local who has/had a hoe...........believe it or not I would say that the Thai police will get them. Which is something I wouldn't normally say.

[car720]

The only way to solve this problem (and I have only been here half a decade so I assume those old timers saying things have changed is true), is to address why at the very core. Sure catching and prosecuting the offenders is a given, but that is like taking a tiny part of a cancerous tumor away, it doesn't address the entire issue. Why are these violent crimes occurring more often, what is encouraging it to happen? This is the thought process that the authorities and government should be taking, if they I is another matter.

Simple answer. Go and check any internet place on any street corner and see what they are playing. I believe that hollywood has got a lot to answer for.

[laobali]

If they are unidentified, how do they know they were both 24 years old?

There's always one...

Means their identities haven't been officially released to the media yet.

[NextStationBangkok]

Last may i was there, probably more foreigners than Thais there on the beach. I can recognize the location as well. It is on the left side of the main beach, we have to pass the stoney area to go to the next beach on the left, and only 1 or 2 boats docked. On the left there is high raise bar there, and probably for night time drinking and partying. There were about 50 foreigners there in the lonely beach, and place was beautiful with trees and lonely and good for swimming and snorkeling. We did not stay after 5 PM, because we went with 2 children and returned back to our resort. Very lonely place and we cannot fully blame Thai people, or Thai police. Basically resorts around there, and tourists themselves have to take care and access the situation about safety. When you are 20 and fully drunk anything can happen in Thailand. Now number of tourists have reduced. So, most people depends on tourists expect more money from small group of tourists, because of business competition. Often disputes happens due to distressed tour operators and local business for survival. Tourists have to take care the safety sometimes when to be alone, and when not to be alone in the beach. Pattaya becoming criminal captial of Thailand for tourists, because lot of bar girls and working girls learned the habits of extorting money from innocent farang man who basically want sex services, and they cannot go to police because they found shame to complain after losing everything to them. Most crimes happens when a man want to take the bar girls to their rooms. Probably Pattaya should start giving bar girls & room service at one place so that crimes can be avoided for innocent Farang man want sex.

[exalll]

If they are unidentified, how do they know they were both 24 years old?

There's always one...

Means their identities haven't been officially released to the media yet.

So they've been identified then. I understand now

[monk213]

If they are unidentified, how do they know they were both 24 years old?

There's always one...

Means their identities haven't been officially released to the media yet.

Just saw on Channel 3 and it showed the passport of the male...

[bangon04]

Very sad RIP.

Also sad to read the comments about the possible effect on tourism - some heartless morons here in Thailand. I sometimes wonder how much longer it will be before they realize how stupid they look in the eyes of the civilized world.

but the positive part of the tourism angle is that we can hope that the RTP will be embarrassed into doing their job properly..

[webfact]

Thailand deaths: 'Two Britons found dead' in Koh Tao

(BBC) 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, boats have been blocked from leaving the island.

Police have been reviewing closed circuit TV footage from nearby restaurants, hotels and shops.

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


-- BBC 2014-09-15

[Bountyhuntr]

R.I.P

[daoyai]

Oner can almost visualize some of the foreign tourists rushing towards the exits-and rightly so-however Thailand is known for the place to party and for its liberal environment with youngsters, which policy does clash with many local Buddhists etcansd muslims as well),so one may say does Thailand really need the foreign dollars that badly that it can risk corrupting its own children,which of course have been brought down to the hedonistic level of the foreigners by the forced association and the bad example the foreigners(kinnok)set ,and therefore completely ruining whatever culture was here.??Did Thailand really have a drug problem before these deadheads from the west began introducing all things evil,and now we are seeing the result.Just sayin.I have been here over ten years and I can scarcely believe how the local youth have been changed and degraded in that short period of time from what I experienced when first arriving.Cheers.

Rubbish on every level.... Asia has been well aware of every "vice" known to man for centuries.

I know this tiny island very well, my useless speculation is that the perps were laborers (hoe found at scene) from Myanmar (Burmese outnumber Thais on the island) possibly drunk and or tweeking on meth. Everyone knows everyone else so if they were able to stop the first boats out in the morning they will be found soon, if not, maybe on KP, Samui or at Chumpon border crossing...

[webfact]

Island On Lockdown After Gruesome Murder of British Tourists

By Khaosod English

SURAT THANI — Police have closed down all piers on the island of Koh Tao as they search for the suspect behind the brutal murder of two 24-year-old British tourists on the island.

The British man and woman were found dead near Hat Sai Ri Beach early this morning. The female tourist was partially naked and "slashed" to death, police say, while the naked male tourist had a serious wound on the back of his neck.

Police believe the suspect may have attempted to sexually assault the female victim before she was killed.

The two bodies were found 20 metres apart from each other, and approximately 30 metres away from a resort on the beach. A bloody hoe was also found in the area, leading police to suspect that it was the weapon used in the gruesome murders.

Police say that they have closed down all piers on the island to prevent the suspect from fleeing the area.

"I believe the perpetrator is still on the island," said Pol.Maj.Gen. Kiattipong Khaosam-ang, a commander of Surat Thani police.

Witnesses said they saw the pair drinking and dancing with other party-goers on the beach in front of their resort on the previous night. The pair then left the party, presumably to take a stroll, witnesses said.

According to Pol.Maj.Gen. Kiattipong, the man arrived in Thailand with "2-3" male friends while the woman came with four female friends. They met at Ocean View Bungalow, where they were both staying, the officer said.

The bodies were found at around 6.20 am by a group of Burmese workers who were cleaning the beach, Pol.Maj.Gen. Kiattipong said.

A friend of the male victim, who also had wounds on his body, was initially being considered as a suspect in the case, but police say he is no longer being treated as a suspect because it has been established that his injuries date back to a recent Full Moon Party.

Khaosod English is witholding the identities of the victims until it's confirmed that their families have been notified.

Source: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1410768025


-- Khaosod English 2014-09-15

[Rooo]

Please stay on topic, I have deleted several disrespectful posts already. Also please stop with the racism angle.

[SOTIRIOS]

.... at the risk of being inflammatory...this is quite gruesome......

[Nemesis7]

Where is the END of all these? Its sad in deed. Drugs, Gang fights, Street Fights, Gun fights, abduction, rape on almost regular basis, snatching, beating, abusing, what not is not taking place on tourists.

and its all limited to a HEADLINE OF A NEWS ONLY....

How long?

[webfact]

Murder probe as bodies of two Britons found naked in Thai resort
by Apilaporn VECHAKIJ

BANGKOK, September 15, 2014 (AFP) - 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.

- Horror in paradise -

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.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-09-15

[Geordie59]

Disgusting that some are concerned with the effect this will have on tourism with no thoughts for the murdered!

[matman]

So sad, two young people only just starting out on this short life we all have RIP.

The suggestion that ex-pats should band together for protection is also a non starter, some ex pats have been criticised in other forum postings for not going to the aid of others being beaten.

What must be remembered here is that if you are a long term resident, whether or not you frequent bars, other establishments or just lead a quiet life, you will be noticed and recognised by people you have nothing to do with, possibly just because you follow a routine in your normal day.

Encountering a fracas and assisting someone is brave but foolhardy, you will almost certainly be remembered if you do so, and thereby become a target yourself from the extended family of which there could be many, of those you took against. Following this you will never know where or when or who will be waiting to extract retrebution just for going to a strangers assistance. I know of some who have returned home or moved to another location in Thailand because of such fears following a good deed on their part.

I appologise if the latter part is off topic, but it is made in response to other suggestions posted previously

[Briggsy]

Fishing boats.

[greenchair]

For the first time in my 20 years of being here, I am feeling frightened. Just because I am a foreigner. my whole life is here with my thai family. but trying to figure out now. this country has just become so dangerous for anyone who is not Asian.

[iReason]

the double murders could affect thai tourism.what a statement.

what about the affect on the victims family's.

i am so ashamed to say i live here.

R.I.P.

Agreed.

Only worried about the Baht.

Absolutley outrageous under such Hellish circumstances.

Cold Hearted and Souless.

Such concern they have for the "falang"...

Disgusting.

R.I.P. Folks.

[euroflash]

According to Daily News, they have arrested a male friend of the deceased male. It doesn't say if that person is a Thai or a foreigner, but it is indicated that he might have been in sort of a relationship with the deceased.

[churchill]

CNN

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/15/world/asia/thailand-tourist-deaths/index.html

[NextStationBangkok]

For the first time in my 20 years of being here, I am feeling frightened. Just because I am a foreigner. my whole life is here with my thai family. but trying to figure out now. this country has just become so dangerous for anyone who is not Asian.

We cannot judge over all Thailand with one incident. I live here for 15 years and traveled most part of Thailand and to remote Islands too. I feel majority of Thais welcome and respect foreigners as tourists. Out of 10 million tourists one or two incidents can happen. This is low season, and tourists are less on the beach. One should take extra care. During peak season nothing to worry, because people are not alone. If you are here for 20 years, you could be speaking good Thai by now. They even treat you most respectful compare to new tourists. Probably the most safest place in Asia is Thailand.

[flyingdoc]

Horrific. R.I.P.

[clockman]

the double murders could affect thai tourism.what a statement.

what about the affect on the victims family's.

i am so ashamed to say i live here.

R.I.P.

Surat Thani TAT made this statement, He should be sacked.

[starkey_rich]

R.I.P guys.

Terrible news

[webfact]

Two foreign tourists robbed and killed on Tao island

KOH TAO: -- Police have launched a manhunt for the killers of a Caucasian couple who was found beaten to death on the beach of Tao Island, Surat Thani province, this morning.

The two victims were among hundreds of foreign tourists who flocked to Ree beach in Tambon Koh Tao for full moon party on Sunday night. Police suspected that the couple left the party and took a leisure stroll on the beach and encountered men who tried to rob them.

They were however killed when they attempted to resist the robbery as the male victim’s back of the head was crushed believed by a hard object and the woman’s face was also smashed, also believed by a hard object.

Pol Lt-Gen Panya Mamen, commissioner of 8th regional provincial police and Pol Maj-Gen Kiatpong Khaosam-ang, commander of Surat Thani provincial police, accompanied by forensic experts went to the crime scene this morning after being notified of the murder.

The police later ordered a closure of all the peirs and port on Tao island to prevent the killers from escaping in case they are still on the island.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/two-foreign-tourists-robbed-killed-tao-island/


-- Thai PBS 2014-09-15

[starkey_rich]

For the first time in my 20 years of being here, I am feeling frightened. Just because I am a foreigner. my whole life is here with my thai family. but trying to figure out now. this country has just become so dangerous for anyone who is not Asian.

We cannot judge over all Thailand with one incident. I live here for 15 years and traveled most part of Thailand and to remote Islands too. I feel majority of Thais welcome and respect foreigners as tourists. Out of 10 million tourists one or two incidents can happen. This is low season, and tourists are less on the beach. One should take extra care. During peak season nothing to worry, because people are not alone. If you are here for 20 years, you could be speaking good Thai by now. They even treat you most respectful compare to new tourists. Probably the most safest place in Asia is Thailand.

It used to be the safest in Asia but I do not feel that safe when being eyed by gangs of scum on bikes riding around looking for trouble.

And I have lived here for 11 years and been a visitor for 33 years

[churchill]

'They were however killed when they attempted to resist the robbery'

So they have a witness ??