Must Read Authorities fire back over Koh Tao ‘Death Island’ label

[Dogmatix]

30 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Dark Tao is one of the most dangerous places in all of SE Asia. That is due to the authorities refusing to go after the serial killer, due to his family being too rich, and completely above the law. So, this Surat Thani Governor Uanchai, is making a big deal, since he is losing a fortune on his Tao franchise. He is upset, due to the fact that bookings are way down. And he is showing himself to be a tremendous fool, by making a big deal about the Samui Times articles. All of those articles are completely true. Sometimes the truth stings. And most Thais have an incredibly hard time dealing with truth, and have a total inability to look within for the source of the problem. 

 

Turns out the owner of the Samui Times has gone overseas, to avoid the authorities, and this potential vendetta. Hope they never find them.

 

I am not sure that bookings are really down.  Young farangs believe they are immortal and that it will never happen to them.  

 

The governor is appointed by the Interior Ministry which is supposed to administer Phor Tor 5 land owned by the government which includes the entire island of Koh Tao which was retained by the government in perpetuity after the prison for political prisoners was closed down in 1932, following the bloodless revolution against absolute monarchy.  The land on Koh Tao can never be upgraded to title deeds or sold.   Phor Tor 5 land can only be legally be used for agriculture and fisheries and it is illegal to build any permanent structures on it.  Only temporary shelters for for farmers and fisherman are permitted.  Last time I looked it seemed that the Surat governor was not doing a really good job in ensuring the land on Koh Tao was only be used for the designated purposes.   Perhaps he should be promoted to an inactive position and investigated.

 

The owner of the Samui Times is not hiding.  You can follow her movements on Facebook.  

 

[joecoolfrog]

I hope the international media keep the pressure on and Koh Tao declines in popularity.

[hanssna]

5 hours ago, JLCrab said:

No warning about the dangers?? This is from the UK Government Travel website:
Foreign Travel Advice: THAILAND

CRIME
Violent sexual assaults and unprovoked attacks have been reported in popular tourist destinations, including in the Koh Samui archipelago and Krabi province. These are particularly common during the monthly Full Moon parties and generally occur late at night near bars.

Drink spiking has been reported in tourist destinations around Thailand, with both male and female victims. Be careful about taking drinks from strangers and at clubs and parties, or leaving your drinks unattended, particularly in Koh Samui, Pattaya and at the Full Moon party on Koh Phangan, where date rapes have been reported.

Alcohol and drugs can lead to you being less alert, less in control and less aware of your environment resulting in accidents, injuries, robbery, assaults and lost travel documents. If you drink, know your limit. Drinks served in bars overseas are often stronger than those in the UK. Some British nationals in Thailand have suffered severe psychiatric problems because of drug use, resulting in some suicides.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/safety-and-security

Well.. clear enough here. Lots of travellers binge drinking and drug using get in trouble in.Thailand. Anything new ? 

[JLCrab]

16 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

I hope the international media keep the pressure on and Koh Tao declines in popularity.

That can work both ways -- international media pressure is also international media publicity and some, who maybe have never heard of Koh Tao, will see stuff like this and say LET'S GO

[bamukloy]

2 hours ago, Dave67 said:

So the truth has been well and truly covered up then . I though the same as them when I was a novice in Phuket in1998. A little bit vexing when authorities are conspiring to mislead people about what goes on

 

Maybe also a certain amount of these tourist are what you may call "sick frills tourist" and go there just to gawk at the place thats notorious.

 

I cant claim to know any truth. these things could all be some horrible coincidence of misfortunes

 

not sure what goes through these tourists heads but if i was young and had a good looking blonde girfriend i certainly wouldnt be going anywhere near the place

[spidermike007]

29 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

 

I am not sure that bookings are really down.  Young farangs believe they are immortal and that it will never happen to them.  

 

The governor is appointed by the Interior Ministry which is supposed to administer Phor Tor 5 land owned by the government which includes the entire island of Koh Tao which was retained by the government in perpetuity after the prison for political prisoners was closed down in 1932, following the bloodless revolution against absolute monarchy.  The land on Koh Tao can never be upgraded to title deeds or sold.   Phor Tor 5 land can only be legally be used for agriculture and fisheries and it is illegal to build any permanent structures on it.  Only temporary shelters for for farmers and fisherman are permitted.  Last time I looked it seemed that the Surat governor was not doing a really good job in ensuring the land on Koh Tao was only be used for the designated purposes.   Perhaps he should be promoted to an inactive position and investigated.

 

The owner of the Samui Times is not hiding.  You can follow her movements on Facebook.  

 

 

And you are correct about the land. And the reason the five ruling families of Dark Tao are so fabulously wealthy, is that they have been selling land illegally for decades, with the complicity and cooperation of the land office, and most likely the local government. So fortunes are being made. And guess who is looking the other way? How many consecutive administrations have been looking the other way? Koh Samui and Koh Phangan are to some degree, lawless. But, the way those islands are operated, bears some resemblance to responsibility, and is done in a somewhat organized fashion. Dark Tao is a lawless land unto itself. It makes Tombstone, Arizona, back in the 1860's and 1870's,  look like a beacon of law and order. 

[aslimversgwm]

8 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

I hope they keep denying it. Their denials are informing the world of the disturbing realities of Koh Tao. Hopefully a major book and film are upcoming.

Lets hope so

[DiscoDan]

52 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

You must be delighted !

It's already been confirmed this is not true. 

 

I like to get the facts rather than rely on Chinese whispers.

[Dogmatix]

Just my own hunches on the cases based on publicly availably available information which is incomplete on many key points.

 

Nick Pearson - Most probably murdered.  The explanation of suicide seems to stretch credulity too far.

 

David and Hannah - It is certainly not impossible they were murdered by 2B but the evidence against them is only circumstantial and forensic. The forensic evidence lacked credibility in the way it was compiled by police pathologists, was not verified by an independent pathologist and would without doubt have been thrown out by any Western court.  Important forensic evidence, such as Hannah's clothing and the blond hair she was found clutching in death were discarded without explanation.  The way the 2B were not accorded Thailand's equivalent of Miranda rights when they were arrested and the mode of interrogation and lack of qualified translator would have resulted in prosecutors not even taking the case to court in the West.  With all due respect to the court, it seems hard to rule out the possibility that David and Hannah were murdered by persons unknown.    

 

Dimitri Povese - Although doubts remain, it seems quite possible that he did hang himself.  It is unusual for suicides to tie their own hands before suspending themselves but it is not entirely unknown by Western pathologists and is explained by a desire to prevent themselves from changing their minds.  However, this aspect does make his death somewhat more suspicious.

 

Christina Annesley - Death by misadventure seems entirely possible in this case.  In her FB page she referred to taking Tramadol, a synthetic opioid pain killer that is or was at that time available in Thai pharmacies without restrictions.   It is a prescription drug only in the UK, so it was likely that Christina was experimenting with this with drug for the first time and was not fully aware of the potential side effects and risks related to this drug. Like all natural and synthetic opiods Tramadol can severely depress the central nervous system leading to death, particularly if mixed with alcohol.  Anyone who has taken Tramadol can attest to the shallow breathing that even a normal dose can induce.  

 

Luke Miller - The British coroner was convinced of the Thai police report of death by misadventure.  The circumstances surrounding his death do seem somewhat suspicious but he reportedly had a high blood alcohol count in his body and traces of ritanol.  Death by drowning is several times more likely when an intoxicated person falls into a swimming pool, as the natural reaction to expel water from the lungs is suppressed, potentially resulting rapidly in death.

 

Valentina Novozhyonova - No information available.

 

Elise Dellamagne - There is not much information on this death but it does seem highly suspicious.  Western pathologists attest to the fact that it is relatively rare for women to hang themselves and virtually unknown for them to seek out a deserted spot in a forest or jungle to hang themselves. They are far more likely to kill themselves in the comfort of their home or a hotel room.  On the other hand, a quiet spot in the jungle would be perfect for a murder by hanging or staged suicide of someone murdered elsewhere.  Unlike the Hannah and David case, police have been careful not to leak photographs of the death scene but reports of the body being found on a rock wrapped in tee shirts sound bizarre.  She had only been dead for a few days when her body was discovered which means there was not enough time for the body to decompose that it would have fallen down from the suspended position. There has been no adequate explanation of her movements and actions in the days prior to death, including why did she leave the ferry at Koh Tao, why did she check in under a fake name, etc.  Also there seems to have been little or no attempt to track her final movements through CCTV footage and exhaustively interviewing people who might have seen her.   As is usual in Thailand the forensic examination was only carried out by police with no autopsy by an independent pathologist.  Elise's mother opted for local cremation, rather than sending the body back to Belgium where it could have been examined by a pathologist according to Western standards.      

               

 

         

 

 

[Mickmouse1]

Can you prove the Autopsy independence and the suicide theory?

If those few deaths were not crime related can you give details of exactly what happened to them and how they got killed? 

There is no Authority on that island as it is resting in Surat only levying ..talking but no real control?

[angsta]

Quite right, it's Murder Island NOT Death Island!!

[JLCrab]

I do not think anyone claims Nick Pearson was a suicide. Accidental drowning and no plausible explanation as to why someone would want to murder him.

Same with Luke Miller -- no explanation as to why someone would want to murder him. SamuiTimes speculated because maybe his name was Miller and related to David Miller as if he was the first 'Miller' in 16 months to visit the island.

While tying one's own hands behind one's back in suicide may be uncommon, having a Thai write a suicide note in French may be more uncommon.

"Police said there were no signs of a fight or a struggle. There was suicide note on his bed that said, in French, “Iris, I love you. Suicide seems easy but it is actually difficult.”'

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/french-man-hanged-koh-tao-hands-tied-handled-suicide/

[Wilsonandson]

That's right: If AIR is what you got then you got nothing but AIR.
But if you want to play Abbot & Costello that's fine with me:

Costello: What's the guy's name on first base?
Abbott: No. What is on second.
Costello: I'm not asking you who's on second.
Abbott: Who's on first.
Costello: I don't know.
Abbott: He's on third, we're not talking about him.
Costello: Now how did I get on third base?
Abbott: Why you mentioned his name.
Costello: If I mentioned the third baseman's name, who did I say is playing third?
Abbott: No. Who's playing first.
Costello: What's on first?
Abbott: What's on second.
Costello: I don't know.
(ETC. ETC.)

Are you alright, petal?
You know you should stay on your medication or the voices will come back.
We don't want you back in rehab now, do we.

[JLCrab]

Well at least I take my medication

[Dave67]

Just now, JLCrab said:

I do not think anyone claims Nick Pearson was a suicide. Accidental drowning and no plausible explanation as to why someone would want to murder him.

Same with Luke Miller -- no explanation as to why someone would want to murder him. SamuiTimes speculated because maybe his name was Miller and related to David Miller as if he was the first 'Miller' in 16 months to visit the island.

He was found at the bottom of 50ft cliff the Police said he may have walked in his sleep. Problem for this theory is the terrain between his room and cliff he was supposed to fall off was very rough terrain and he would of woken up the first time he fell over . Family ruled out suicide he left them the night before he was found dead 

 

Fom Beeb

 

Pathologist Dr Michael Biggs told the hearing that there were many injuries on Nick's body, including to the head, limbs and face.

But, he said that most of these would have been present prior to his death - although he could not completely rule out the possibility that Nick had been attacked.

The coroner Ms Pinder concluded there was not enough evidence to say where or how he met his death.

Derbyshire Police are liaising with Thai authorities and the Foreign Office over Nick's death.

 

 

[Dogmatix]

20 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

And you are correct about the land. And the reason the five ruling families of Dark Tao are so fabulously wealthy, is that they have been selling land illegally for decades, with the complicity and cooperation of the land office, and most likely the local government. So fortunes are being made. And guess who is looking the other way? How many consecutive administrations have been looking the other way? Koh Samui and Koh Phangan are to some degree, lawless. But, the way those islands are operated, bears some resemblance to responsibility, and is done in a somewhat organized fashion. Dark Tao is a lawless land unto itself. It makes Tombstone, Arizona, back in the 1860's and 1870's,  look like a beacon of law and order. 

 

Actually it is nothing to do with the Land Office because the Land Department has nothing to do with Phor Tor 5 land, unless it is designated for upgrade via the steps that ultimately lead to issuance of a proper title deed.  But all the land on Koh Tao has been designated Phor Tor 5 in perpetuity.  Incidentally,  similar edicts have been issued to prevent any further upgrades to Phor Tor 5 land taking place in Phangan and Samui but Koh Tao is very clear cut, since there is not even one square wah of title deed land on the island, nor any land that is eligible for upgrade.

 

Phor Tor 5 land is directly under the Interior Ministry which is responsible for managing the state's real assets, whereas the Land Department only supervises creation and transfer of title deeds.  That is why it is the governor's direct responsibility.  The land cannot be bought or sold at all but the Interior Ministry delegates responsibility for its management to local Or Por Thors, or local administrations.  That is why the people referred to variously as mayors or village headmen have become so wealthy and powerful on this islands.  The local administrations assign the land for use for agriculture and fisheries and collect nominal taxes.  The users of the land get a local tax number and tax receipts which signifies their right to use the land.  Transactions take place in the form of the sale of the local tax number relating to a piece of land. This is not a legal transfer of ownership and it is up to the Or Por Thor to accept the transfer of the tax number to a new user and agree to issue tax receipts to him.  The Or Por Thor can determine that a piece of land is not being used for agriculture and fisheries and refuse to accept tax and issue a tax receipt which means the land user has to vacate the land. It can also refuse to allow the transfer of a tax number to a new owner.  I am not sure how it works in Koh Tao and the other islands but I would guess that the influential families retain all the tax numbers for themselves and just rent the land out.  Rental contracts cannot be registered with the Land Department because there are no title deeds and rental is not allowed anyway.  So the only redress of a lessee would be in the civil courts.  So I imagine that renting the land is a rather tentative affair for the lessees and the families probably own nearly all the hotels themselves, as regular investors would be unable to borrow from banks or commit their own funds to such a risky structure.  

[Wilsonandson]

Dark Tao is one of the most dangerous places in all of SE Asia. That is due to the authorities refusing to go after the serial killer, due to his family being too rich, and completely above the law. So, this Surat Thani Governor Uanchai, is making a big deal, since he is losing a fortune on his Tao franchise. He is upset, due to the fact that bookings are way down. And he is showing himself to be a tremendous fool, by making a big deal about the Samui Times articles. All of those articles are completely true. Sometimes the truth stings. And most Thais have an incredibly hard time dealing with truth, and have a total inability to look within for the source of the problem. 
 
Turns out the owner of the Samui Times has gone overseas, to avoid the authorities, and this potential vendetta. Hope they never find them.

[JLCrab]

To the above from SamuiTimes:

http://www.samuitimes.com/parents-convinced-sons-death-koh-tao-murder/

... but his parents are disputing that version of events and believe he could have been followed back to his bungalow

So he was fatally beaten and dragged from his hotel room and taken down the shoreline and not one person heard or saw any of this. Nor has there been any plausible explanation as to why anybody would want to do this.

[Juan B Tong]

Its  crime to lable Koh Tao as Death Island!

 

Lets send spending a lot of community time and resources in fighting this brand.

 

Why should we take the time and resources to investigate facts apprehend suspects, identify "mafia" and corruption and stop the murders?

 

That's work and no fun

 

[Alllivesmatter]

2 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

To the above from SamuiTimes:

http://www.samuitimes.com/parents-convinced-sons-death-koh-tao-murder/

... but his parents are disputing that version of events and believe he could have been followed back to his bungalow

So he was fatally beaten and dragged from his hotel room and taken down the shoreline and not one person heard or saw any of this.

Or did they... Funny no one ever hears or sees anything on such a tiny piece of land isnt it? No witness statements by locals . Almost as though there is some covert side to the island- I would say -if I were the suspicious type... :)

[Dogmatix]

21 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

I do not think anyone claims Nick Pearson was a suicide. Accidental drowning and no plausible explanation as to why someone would want to murder him.

Same with Luke Miller -- no explanation as to why someone would want to murder him. SamuiTimes speculated because maybe his name was Miller and related to David Miller as if he was the first 'Miller' in 16 months to visit the island.

While tying one's own hands behind one's back in suicide may be uncommon, having a Thai write a suicide note in French may be more uncommon.

"Police said there were no signs of a fight or a struggle. There was suicide note on his bed that said, in French, “Iris, I love you. Suicide seems easy but it is actually difficult.”'

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/french-man-hanged-koh-tao-hands-tied-handled-suicide/

 

Re Nick Pearson.  You are right. I apologise.  I should have said the explanation of accidental death lacked credibility, rather than the explanation of suicide,  

 

Re Dimitri Povese.  Was there any forensic analysis of the handwriting of the apparent suicide note?  I don't remember any of his family or friends challenging the police theory.  So it seems to have been allowed to stand unchallenged and very facts came out, other than what is in the coconuts report.   

[AGareth2]

7 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

To the above from SamuiTimes:

http://www.samuitimes.com/parents-convinced-sons-death-koh-tao-murder/

... but his parents are disputing that version of events and believe he could have been followed back to his bungalow

So he was fatally beaten and dragged from his hotel room and taken down the shoreline and not one person heard or saw any of this.

not the first time no one has heard anything

[sambum]

9 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I wonder if this bullshit being offered up is connected to the recent headline stories in the UK papers ? It is about time they stopped with the These quotes were from reputable immigration officers and start a very serious and thorough investigation as to what and who is behind all the deaths. By now it is common knowledge that the island is mafia controlled and people there know, but are too scared to talk about it.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3953216/koh-tao-death-island-mystery-brit-mafia-threatened-hang-frame-murder-tourist/

I am not convinced that the B2 should be behind bars behind bars, but your assertion that "it is common knowledge that the island is mafia controlled" would hold more water if you had used a more reputable paper than The Sun for your source of information! Probably the least believable paper in the West!

 

[khunPer]

9 hours ago, tukkytuktuk said:

 

When digging up the 3 year old original murder-case, and sean McAnna, it may be worth to recall the what Sondhi Limthongkul said (believe this short sub-titled cut is part of a 47 min. video):

 

 

[Alllivesmatter]

4 minutes ago, Juan B Tong said:

Its  crime to lable Koh Tao as Death Island!

 

Lets send spending a lot of community time and resources in fighting this brand.

 

Why should we take the time and resources to investigate facts apprehend suspects, identify "mafia" and corruption and stop the murders?

 

That's work and no fun

 

Dust under the rug..... there will be a tipping point in all this. We may be witnessing the start of something much larger. GO ST !!

[Wilsonandson]

Or did they... Funny no one ever hears or sees anything on such a tiny piece of land isnt it? No witness statements by locals . Almost as though there is some covert side to the island- I would say -if I were the suspicious type... :)

Hmm?

[Dogmatix]

5 minutes ago, Alllivesmatter said:

Or did they... Funny no one ever hears or sees anything on such a tiny piece of land isnt it? No witness statements by locals . Almost as though there is some covert side to the island- I would say -if I were the suspicious type... :)

An autopsy back in the UK revealed that Nick had drowned but had no broken bones that seemed strange if he had fallen 50 meters, the postmortem said that it was possible he was attacked before drowning. 

 

Most of the people who work in the hotels are illegal Burmese labour who speak little English or Thai and are terrified of being deported. The police know they are there and collect monthly bribes from their employers that are deducted from their wages.  There is little incentive for such people to do anything other than keep their noses to the grindstone and send money home and no incentive to speak out about anything that is not their business. 

[frank83628]

6 hours ago, rockingrobin said:

From the BP article , Christina Anneseley ; no other human dna, and died from taking drugs and alcohol.

 

There was another person with her a few hours before Christina was discovered, and no toxicolgy report with no investigation to determine if the mixture was sufficient to cause her death.

was there??

[Dogmatix]

9 minutes ago, khunPer said:

When digging up the 3 year old original murder-case, and sean McAnna, it may be worth to recall the what Sondhi Limthongkul said (believe this short sub-titled cut is part of a 47 min. video):

 

 

 

I think Sondhi implied there was a political connection as well as money at work, i.e. the Koh Tao boys were disproportionately influential because they had organised and supplied a lot of the gunmen contributed from Surat province who went to work as guards for the PDRC. So he was entitled to a reward for his services in the immediate post-coup era.  This is all of course unverifiable speculation and Sondhi is currently unavailable for comment, since he is now serving a 20 year sentence for fraud.   

[JLCrab]

I lived in New York City during the 'Son of Sam' serial murder killings 1976-77. A lot of what is going for serial killings on Koh Tao is ridiculous