Thread: Two Tourists Brutally Murdered on Koh Tao, One Raped: Police Spark Thailand Manhunt

The authorities can not care less! They have their guilty scapegoats.

They live in a parallel universe where evidence and logic do not exist.

They have had 10 months to adequately stitch up and fabricate to their hearts content but apparently don't posses the inclination or knowledge to do this.

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

A senior officer said to me the strong defense of the suspects was disrespectful to the parents, families and memory of the deceased.

Truly the scariest utterance yet.

Forensic evidence not 'lost': police chief - The Nation


National police chief says officer 'misunderstood; case enters third day

THE TRIAL on the murder of two British backpackers on Koh Tao entered its third day yesterday, with witnesses testifying that the Samui provincial court was not able to rule on the defence team's request for a re-examination of forensic evidence.

Chief prosecutor Thawatchai Siengjaew said the cross-examination of the witnesses would take time, but should be completed by the end of this month.

The defence team has asked the court to get the forensic and DNA evidence re-examined by the Justice Ministry's Central Institute of Forensic Science. It had initially been collected and examined by the Police Forensic Science Institute.

The trial of the two Myanmar migrants - Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun - for allegedly murdering David Miller and Hannah Witheridge has caught the attention of both local and international media as it is widely believed that they have been made scapegoats for the crime.

Miller and Witheridge were murdered in September last year on Koh Tao off Surat Thani province.

Meanwhile, national police chief Pol General Somyot Poompunmuang dismissed reports that the DNA evidence in the case could not be re-tested as some of it had either been "used up" or lost.

He said this "miscommunication" may have resulted from a misinterpretation of the police investigator's remark.

On Thursday, BBC News reported on its website that crucial DNA evidence in the case could not be re-tested because it no longer exists. It quoted Pol Lt-Colonel Somsak Noorod, who led the original investigation, as saying that some of the original DNA samples had been "used up", while the hair sample found in Witheridge's hand was among samples that was lost.

"There's nothing left. It was all used up when we tested the first time," he was quoted as saying.

However, Somyot referred to Provincial Bureau 8 chief Pol Lt-General Decha Butrnampetch, who oversees the area, as saying that the evidence was not lost.

"This report may have resulted from a mistranslation of the officer's statement," Somyot said, adding that maybe the officer wanted to say that the evidence had been handed over to the Institute of Forensic Medicine after the investigation finished.

"So when the defence lawyer asked him in the court about the DNA samples and evidence, he said he did not have them. This may have made people misunderstand that the evidence no longer exists or was lost," the police chief said.

Thawatchai agreed, saying the BBC had misunderstood the officer and that the evidence had not been lost. However, he said, some DNA samples may have been used up in accordance with the examination process.

"We still have specific DNA samples from the hoe," he said, without elaborating. Police had collected a hoe from a garden near the crime scene where the bodies were found and it was believed to be a murder weapon.

British daily, The Telegraph, quoted lead defence lawyer Nakhon Chompuchat as saying, "We have received information from British authorities that shows inconsistencies in the prosecution case. This is significant evidence."

However, the lawyer said the evidence was not provided by British police or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It is believed it came from examination of the victims' bodies in the UK and is tied to DNA found on Witheridge's corpse.

It seems that the family members of the victims are approaching this farrago with" open minds ". One wonders just what inane platitudes spouted by the cavilling Foreign Office have been lapped up by these poor folk so obviously and easily duped by their naivety and the irresponsible British authorities. Surely by now they should have grasped what is unfolding before their very eyes. Still, I suppose if the press are muzzled by a lack of impartial interpreters, warned off by " people with influence", the process is somewhet hindered.

Originally Posted by citizen33

Items that can be retested: hoe, shoe, bag. Items that can't: ("finished") -all DNA from Hannah Witheridge body.

Wonder if the UK police can help there. Reports are that they recovered and tested DNA from her body, and that it is inconsistent with the reports of what the Thai Police Forensic Institute claim. Such a shame that the Thai police used up all their specimens so it cannot be retested independently.

Would be interesting to see Plod publicly offer some of their specimens to be independently tested, the ones that are reportedly inconsistent with the results from the Thai Police F.I.


Although evidence recovered by the British Police in the UK, being allowed to be entered as evidence in a Thai farce-trial would be another matter, and would likely not be allow to be tendered.


Not that it would matter, the boys are toast already. The General declaring them guilty and a panel of judges choosing their guilt sees to that. Thai face before everything else. Most certainly before a couple of Burmese peasants and few young raped and murdered farangs.

Used-up? Finished?? The two scapegoats are an endless supply of DNA, Shirley.

The shambolic, inconsistent and opaque nature of this bizarre circus that is masquerading as a murder trial as the prosecution attempt to ignore fact and discredit evidence typifies the venality, corruption, misinformation, mendacity, perjury, negligence, misrepresentation and unprofessional-ism that pervades just about every aspect of life in Thailand.

Originally Posted by Hans Mann

Used-up? Finished?? The two scapegoats are an endless supply of DNA, Shirley.

Nothing unusual about that. A lot of DNA testing is destructive and if you have only recovered a tiny amount, you may only have enough for one test.

^Yes professor, but I was alluding to how easy it would be to replenish "finished" samples of the scapegoats DNA allegedly found in the victims body.

Originally Posted by Gerbil

Originally Posted by Hans Mann

Used-up? Finished?? The two scapegoats are an endless supply of DNA, Shirley.

Nothing unusual about that. A lot of DNA testing is destructive and if you have only recovered a tiny amount, you may only have enough for one test.

This is more plausible for DNA traces on objects than for semen from Hannah's body, which should provide sufficient material for many tests. But according to the BBC it is DNA from the body that the Thai authorities say is "finished".

I read from other reports that the families have now returned to Britain.

If so, one can assume the scales have fallen away and they have seen Thai justice for what it is.

Originally Posted by taxexile

The shambolic, inconsistent and opaque nature of this bizarre circus that is masquerading as a murder trial as the prosecution attempt to ignore fact and discredit evidence typifies the venality, corruption, misinformation, mendacity, perjury, negligence, misrepresentation and unprofessional-ism that pervades just about every aspect of life in Thailand.

Too short a list. And you forgot the Mafiosi-style menacing tactics often used my perpetrators.

Originally Posted by citizen33

Originally Posted by Gerbil

Originally Posted by Hans Mann

Used-up? Finished?? The two scapegoats are an endless supply of DNA, Shirley.

Nothing unusual about that. A lot of DNA testing is destructive and if you have only recovered a tiny amount, you may only have enough for one test.

This is more plausible for DNA traces on objects than for semen from Hannah's body, which should provide sufficient material for many tests. But according to the BBC it is DNA from the body that the Thai authorities say is "finished".

No the BBC mistraslated as I posted The Nation article yesterday The DNA from cigarettes is finished, but that was weak evidence, yes they were on the beach smoking.

The evidence the British authorities have is from Witheridge. That's the samples that allegedly match the suspects which the defense would like retested.

Just read the BBC report. It seems the families were only ever intent upon a short visit. From the quoted comments it is probably fair to say they remain utterly clueless and are as naive as the day they were they born.

Truly sad on so many levels. This place really is an abomination.

The only DNA evidence against these two lads the RTP had were on the cigarette butts and the hoe. The hoe belonged to them and they don't deny being on the beach that night.

The DNA evidence never matched that found in/on the deceased but that didn't fit the stitch-up so it is simply ignored.

Dreadful nonsense that will simply be put down to Thai Justice....

I wonder, is the RTP quite simply not capable to carry out reasonably competent investigations or is it that they just cant bo bothered, have more interesting
things to do, like watching TV or play games or whatever?

Originally Posted by melvin

I wonder, is the RTP quite simply not capable to carry out reasonably competent investigations

Oh they're highly competent, at hiding the people that are paying millions of baht for them to frame these 2.


Wonder what sort of conviction bonus they're on.... Just stacks of cash or shares in their Koh Tao bars.

I have absolutely no insight into Thai court procedures.
So I am just wondering.
Is there legally room for putting forward "evidence"/"findings"
from the UK police that visited or the findings of the UK Coroner for that matter?
Or would that be (formally) considered not relevant in a Thai court case?

Melvin, have you ever found yourself in a Go-Go bar thinking you were in a Department store and wanted to buy some socks?

Originally Posted by melvin

Is there legally room for putting forward "evidence"/"findings" from the UK police that visited or the findings of the UK Coroner for that matter?

The UK Coroner has adjourned the case awaiting results of the (cough) Thai justice system.

^ Of course, when they are both all said and one, and there are some major differences in the outcomes, it will be down to the Farang not understanding and the farangs making mistakes.






Gotta luv 'em, eh.

How hard is it to hire competent Burmese/Thai/English translators so no more "misunderstandings" are made?

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

How hard is it to hire competent Burmese/Thai/English translators so no more "misunderstandings" are made?

I think you intimated earlier that, 'no one cares' so they probably try to keep expenses to a minimum and just aid their cause by giving as many opportunities for misunderstanding as possible. Plausible deniability?
Why build a solid case when there are so many opportunities to be misled, misunderstood, or the for suspension of rational thought.

I rather think folk are overlooking the fact that independent, qualified interpreters contracted by news agencies, and the media generally, to assist in the trial coverage have been warned off and threatened by " people of influence " thus leaving all the non Thai speakers in a fog of ignorance and "misunderstanding".

Truth and justice are quite irrelevant to the script.

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

How hard is it to hire competent Burmese/Thai/English translators so no more "misunderstandings" are made?

I think that the trick is to retain them once hired. One lot have been scared off already by the mafia.