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Thai police hunt killers of two Britons found beaten to death


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Thai police hunt killers of two Britons found beaten to death

BANGKOK, September 16, 2014 (AFP) - Thai police Tuesday searched for the killers of two British tourists found naked and beaten to death on the southern resort island of Koh Tao, as their bodies were due to arrive in Bangkok for forensic tests.


David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found dead early Monday with head wounds near a beachside bungalow on the island, a diving hot-spot near Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand.

An island-wide search for suspects was under way with police deployed at Koh Tao's main pier.
"There are three possible suspects," southern regional police commander Panya Maman told AFP, without confirming their nationalities.

UK media reports said police were seeking a British man who had been travelling with Miller in connection with the killings.

"We have set up a coordination centre which is responsible for the investigation and mobilised both Koh Tao and Koh Phangan residents to help police," Panya said.

The bodies of the victims are due to arrive in Bangkok later Tuesday for forensic tests, said local police official Jakkrapan Kaewkhao.

The Britons, who arrived in Thailand on August 25, had been seen partying at a local bar just hours before their deaths, according to police.

Their bodies were found at around 6:30 am Monday with a bloodied hoe discovered 35 metres (yards) from the murder scene, Jakkrapan told AFP.

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.

The murders are likely to heap more misery on Thailand'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.

Although the curfew was soon lifted from key tourist hotspots, visitor numbers have yet to rebound and martial law remains in place.

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 it is not uncommon for a visitor to die in an accident.

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.

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-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-09-16

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Surat police detain three Myanmar workers for questioning in connection with Britons murder

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BANGKOK: -- Surat Thani provincial police chief said Tuesday that the police have detained three Myanmar workers for questioning after suspecting they might be involved in the brutal murder of the two British tourists on Sairee beach in Koh Tao Sunday night.

Pol Maj- Gen Kiatipong Khoasamarng said the police have at first targeted on foreign labour working in Koh Tao and now are closing in a group of suspects who are Myanmar workers.

They had liquor drinks near the scene on Sunday night before the two bodies would be found.

They were detained as suspects, he said.

He said the police are awaiting the DNA test on the british girl, 24, whose body was sent to the Police General Hospital’s Institute of Forensic Medicine for DNA test if she was raped by the suspects.

If the DNA test matches those of these suspects, then they will be prosecuted immediately.

Earlier the police chief of Surat Thani province said a foreign worker was captured by a resort’s surveillance camera running out of the scene where the naked bodies of the girl and her boyfriend were found.

Both tourists have serious wounds on the head and face, believed to be struck by a hoe which was abandoned near the place.

The hoe was bloodstained.

He also said more than two suspects were involved in the murder of the male tourist and possibly rape-murder of the female victim.

He also said earlier the police suspected one of her male friend as he had bruises on his body which might be caused from fighting with the victim over sex threat.

However this was cleared when he has proved the bruises were caused from fire during the beach party.

(Photo : ThaiPBS file)

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/surat-police-detain-three-myanmar-workers-questioning-connection-britons-murder/

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-- Thai PBS 2014-09-16

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Thai police question three Myanmar men over murder of British pair
by Preeti JHA

BANGKOK, September 16, 2014 (AFP) - Thai police Tuesday questioned three Myanmar men over the murder of two British tourists on the southern resort island of Koh Tao, as their bodies were due to arrive in Bangkok for forensic tests.

David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found naked and beaten to death early Monday near a beachside bungalow on the island, a diving hot-spot near Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand.

A bloodied hoe was discovered 35 metres (yards) from the murder scene.

"Three male Myanmar migrant workers are under police detention for investigation," southern regional police commander Panya Maman told AFP, without providing any further details.

His comments came after UK media reports said police were seeking a British man who had been travelling with Miller in connection with the killings.

Panya could not confirm Thai television reports that police had seized an iPhone and blood-stained jeans after raiding rooms used by the Myanmar suspects.

Thai authorities frequently accuse migrants from Myanmar and Cambodia of committing crimes in the kingdom, where they make up a vast, poorly-paid and low-status workforce.

The bodies of the victims, who arrived in Thailand on August 25, are due to arrive in Bangkok later Tuesday for forensic tests, said local police official Jakkrapan Kaewkhao.

- 'Affected our image' -

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.

On Tuesday Thai junta chief and prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha appeared to call into question the victims' conduct in addition to the perpetrators of the attack.

"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, referring to the two tourists.

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

The murders are likely to heap more misery on Thailand'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.

Although the curfew was soon lifted from key tourist hotspots, visitor numbers have yet to rebound and martial law remains in place.

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 it is not uncommon for visitors to die accidentally.

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.

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-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-09-16

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Thai PM orders speeded up probe into British tourists’ murder
By Digital Content

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BANGKOK, Sept 16 -- Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-o-cha has ordered the Thai authorities to speed up their investigation into the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao Island in the southern province of Surat Thani.

Gen Prayuth told journalists before attending today's cabinet meeting that the incident has tarnished Thailand’s tourism image, stressing that police officers have been ordered to intensify the hunt for the suspects in the double murder.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, in charge of internal security, also urged police and relevant authorities on the island to speed up search for the murderers.

Unclothed bodies of two British nationals with multiple wounds were discovered on a beach near a bungalow on the island early Monday morning.

They were later identified as David William, 24, and Hannah Victoria Witheridge, 23.

Police found blood stains, a blood-stained hoe – believed to be the murder weapon -- and a used condom near the bodies. (MCOT online news)

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-- TNA 2014-09-16

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The 'used' condom holds all the evidence, assuming it wasn't used 3 months ago bah.gif .... don't lose it guys or throw it into the bin as beach garbage..... facepalm.gif

That should have been the first thing to be analysed... so let's assume it is right now, and not the post-haste-mortem. coffee1.gif

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Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances.

crazy.gif Sounds like police doing policing. So many here LOVE to complain about police not doing their jobs but then complain when they do. FYI, paying authorities for crimes you commit is not blackmail but rather called a fine.

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Three Myanmar workers nabbed in connection with death of two British nationals
By Digital Content

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SURAT THANI, Sept 16 -- Three Myanmar labourers were brought in by the Thai authorities for questioning, after witnesses said the three men were seen drinking alcoholic drinks near the crime scene.

Meanwhile, a representative has been sent from the British Embassy in Thailand to follow up the case of the two British tourists whom were murdered while vacationing on Ko Tao Island in southern Surat Thani province.

More than 30 police officers from the Ko Pha-ngan Island Police Station raided a worker's bungalow near the crime scene earlier today, and detained three Myanmar workers, after witnesses revealed that the three suspects were drinking alcoholic drinks near the site during the time the murders took place.

The police confiscated four mobile phones from the suspects, one of which was a broken iPhone, and will examine them to determine if any of the phones belonged to the murdered victims.

The suspects' clothes were also seized, while police have been questioning them to look for any signs pointing that they had a hand in the murders.

In the meantime, a representative from the British Embassy, Consul Michael Hancock, arrived at the crime scene along with Thai Tourist Police to follow up on the case.

However the Pangan Police Station superintendent said the island would not be closed to visitors, ensuring that he has mobilised sufficient police to oversee safety on the area and to be on the lookout for suspicious persons.

Two British nationals' bodies, whom the Thai police identified as Hannah Victoria Witheridge, a 23-year-old woman from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and David William Miller, a 24-year-old man from Jersey, Channel Islands, were discovered nearly naked on Koh Tao yesterday morning.

Since then local police have been conducting a manhunt for those behind the deaths. (MCOT online news)

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-- TNA 2014-09-16

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The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

You can do better than that SS , the Brit is involved in this, along with probably a few Thai "friends" he made.... IMHO. Why would a "friend" flee, all of a sudden?

I only reported what Head said not what i think and i'm not solving this one from the comfort of my armchair in Udon Thani on all the rubbish that's being reported, rumoured etc.

I like facts, " Just the facts ma'am ". The names' Friday, Joe Friday - cue Dragnet theme.

What about Larry Kent

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2 facts not mentioned in any reports.

The crime scene is a stone's throw from the islands police station. Come out the police station, turn left and walk straight down the road for about 50 meters and you arrive at the crime scene. Any noise,screaming,shouting would easily be heard at the police station, providing there was somebody there and the tv volume wasn't cranked up.

The police have been busy extorting tourists in recent days, likely leaving the station unattended. I know this because I was rudely stopped while riding a scooter and an imposing physical search was carried out by a group of 5 policemen on the 14th. Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances. If anything changes as a result of this crime, I hope all Koh Tao police will be changed for real police.

You obviously know the island; at what time in the morning would it be possible to take a ferry to flee?

There is a mention of a man having fled to Bangkok. Also that the Island was sealed off.

Puzzled.

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The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

Could you provide a link to this please?

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The BBC's Jonathan Head is on the island and is reporting the police are rounding up Burmese migrant workers for interview.

He claims a senior police officer told him the are concentrating on the Burmese as he ( the police officer ) ' COULDN'T BELIEVE A THAI WOULD DO SUCH A THING !

How does he explain the violence, open fire cases etc when it's Thai against Thai for the most minor of reasons ? Well I suppose loss of face isn't exactly minor here.

Could you provide a link to this please?

BBC World TV news on the hour

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