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

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

It's hard to believe that she was told all that directly by an official and only brought it up when she's got back to UK

Gee, Pat. I wonder why she didn't air her complaints and make them official in the country that has made a sham of her sister's murder, shown the police to be inept and corrupt and generally crass and primitive.

Hmm, I wonder why . . .

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

It's hard to believe that she was told all that directly by an official and only brought it up when she's got back to UK
If she was so upset about that at the time why not mention it to someone and try and make a proper official complaint, instead of sharing it on fucking facebook

Wonder how many likes she got for that, that was probably more important to her

a bit callous pat. quite obvious why she waited until she was safe before airing her feelings. the victims aren't only the deceased, they, hopefully are at peace, there loved ones will suffer for many more years yet.

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

It's hard to believe that she was told all that directly by an official and only brought it up when she's got back to UK
If she was so upset about that at the time why not mention it to someone and try and make a proper official complaint, instead of sharing it on fucking facebook

Wonder how many likes she got for that, that was probably more important to her

Errr, perhaps she was waiting for that small matter of the trial to conclude and no doubt was acceding to the daft Foreign Office request that she says nothing lest it upset the Thai.

I suppose there can't and never will be any enquiry into these so-called officials, and what they may have said.

In a civilised nation different things would happen

Originally Posted by thailazer

Hannah's sister Laura Witheridge has released a statement. Good to see she hasn't been fooled by the Thai justice system.

From a quick glance it appears 'hasn't been fooled' doesn't mean she thinks the Burmese were set up but but that she was insulted by some silly official with no empathy ?
If the Burmese were not involved (doubtful) lt's time they said what they do know...
but I guess like all other prison inmates in the world they are totally innocent ...

https://www.change.org/p/david-camer...m_medium=email

nothing much to add only to say a link has quickly been deleted and how the family got set up.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

It's hard to believe that she was told all that directly by an official and only brought it up when she's got back to UK
If she was so upset about that at the time why not mention it to someone and try and make a proper official complaint, instead of sharing it on fucking facebook

Wonder how many likes she got for that, that was probably more important to her

Errr, perhaps she was waiting for that small matter of the trial to conclude and no doubt was acceding to the daft Foreign Office request that she says nothing lest it upset the Thai.

Agreed, the FCO have acted shamefully.

Hannah's sister has had to endure all manner of tactics and shit thrown her way.

Good on her for telling her story and letting rip at the corrupt system.

Masked eye witness at Koh Tao rally demands meet with Interpol!

At a fresh round of protests at the Bo Sein Hman Grounds in Bahan township yesterday, the unnamed man equipped with a megaphone and a zeal for the case demanded to speak to Interpol, the international crime-fighting organisation.

The man claimed to be a migrant worker recently returned from Thailand who was near the scene of the crime at the time of the murders.

“I can only say what I know about the Koh Tao case to Interpol without Thai police intervention due to fears for the safety and security of my friends and the other workers in Koh Tao,” said the man, who wore a cloth to obscure his face. “I don’t believe the Thai police. I know about the relationship between police and gangs over there.”

Thai police admitted during the trial that they did not follow up all leads during the investigation, and that the suspect pool was narrowed quickly to the migrant workforce. Initially, three Myanmar workers on the holiday island were arrested, but the third – a bar worker at the beach along with Ko Wai Phyo and Ko Zaw Lin – was later released on grounds that he had returned home early.

Video footage from surveillance cameras was also not followed up, though originally eyed as a potential clincher in the case. The footage showed a man walking from the hotel and bar the deceased were staying in and then rushing back around the same time as the murders.

A team put together by the Myanmar embassy to assist the defence claimed early on that witnesses from the migrant community could prove the defendants’ innocence. But dozens of interviewed witnesses fled back to Myanmar for fear of being implicated in the case.

The Myanmar National Network, the Myanmar Nationalist Monk Union and leading members of Ma Ba Tha have promised they will lead protests every two weeks against the verdict until the appeal settles the case to their liking.

“We will protest until we save their lives,” network chair Ko Win Ko Ko Latt said yesterday.

A splinter protest faction in Magwe yesterday also struck up the Koh Tao cause, waving banners and demanding the Myanmar pair be released.

In Yangon, after the Interpol demands were made at the Bo Sein Hman Ground, the protesters made for the Thai embassy to deliver a note from Ma Ba Tha to the Thai king, the Thai prime minister and the Thai sangha demanding the Koh Tao case be reviewed.

Masked man at Koh Tao rally demands meet with Interpol

Be interesting to see what he says, but its seems suspect to me.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Comeback the old Terry.

them bladdy statins.

The sister of murdered backpacker Hannah Witheridge has warned that Thailand is a “dangerous trap”, suggesting her sister’s killer walks free and slamming the Thai police and government for mistreating her bereaved family.

In a long Facebook post, Laura Witheridge said “the vast majority of the Thai police are corrupt” and the investigation that led to the death sentence last month for two Burmese men was “bungled”.

She also hinted she believed Thai, not Burmese, nationals killed her sister on Koh Tao island and she received death threats throughout the trial, including one saying the killers had completed only “half the job”.

“What if I told you that I am now frightened of my own shadow?” she wrote.

Analysis Koh Tao’s dark side: dangers of island where Britons were murdered
Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were killed in Koh Tao, where fear of mafia involvement hides under paradisical façade
Read more
Witheridge said she was compelled to write the public post after an “ignorant (Facebook) comment someone had made about how Thailand is the most beautiful place in the world”.

“Aesthetically, on a postcard or photograph, maybe,” she said. “Aesthetic beauty can lure you into a very dangerous trap.”

When her family visited in 2014, Witheridge said, Thai police offered to provide them with an official update at their headquarters but “200 journalists were allowed into the room and we were ambushed by this mob of hungry journalists shoving cameras in our faces”.

She added: “The Thai police chief had no intentions of giving us an update … after all, the bungled investigation meant he had nothing to tell us. The invitation was merely an opportunity for the press to take photographs of our family.”

The family was later “absolutely appalled” when “the Thais offered us ‘compensation’”.

Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, was found on Sairee beach on Koh Tao alongside 24-year-old David Miller, from Jersey, in September 2014. Witheridge had been raped and bludgeoned to death and Miller had been attacked and left to drown in the surf, Thai police say.

Laura Witheridge said that, since then, there have been many more suspicious deaths on Koh Tao, including Briton Luke Miller – unrelated to David Miller – whose body was found in a pool last week. Thai police said he drowned while heavily drunk.

“You probably haven’t heard of them all, as not all were British nationals. The deaths, where possible, are covered up as suicides and accidents. This would have happened with Hannah, if it had not been for the hideous brutality of her passing.”

Witheridge said that in the recent case of Luke Miller, she suspected Thai authorities would say it was an accidental death caused by drugs. “Hiding the truth and offering a story that suits, is something that they do often,” she said.

The Witheridge family neither supported nor condemned the sentencing of migrant bar workers Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo on 24 December. Laura’s Witheridge’s post provides a stark view of the concerns the family hold over the entire investigation, which has also been widely condemned by rights groups.


British backpacker murder case that put Thailand on trial
Read more
The Burmese pair initially confessed to the murder but later rescinded their statements, saying they had been tortured by police to admit to the brutal beach attack.

The Thai police, who deny any wrongdoing, were also accused by the defence team of mishandling crucial DNA evidence. Royal Thai Police spokesperson Dejnarong Suthicharnbancha told the Guardian the authorities were not aware that Laura Witheridge was receiving threats.

“We need to question her regarding this issue and launch [an] investigation. And we can assist her if she wants to do anything in this matter,” he said. He added that Witheridge’s allegations of corruption were presented “without evidence and without fact. If there’s any corruption, it has to be seen on a case by case basis.”

David Miller’s family were at the sentencing and told reporters afterward they believed the police investigation and forensic work “was not the so-called shambles it was made out to be” and said justice was delivered.

Corrupt police make Thailand a 'dangerous trap', says sister of murdered British tourist | World news | The Guardian

The sister of murdered backpacker Hannah Witheridge has warned that Thailand is a “dangerous trap”, suggesting her sister’s killer walks free and slamming the Thai police and government for mistreating her bereaved family.

In a long Facebook post, Laura Witheridge said “the vast majority of the Thai police are corrupt” and the investigation that led to the death sentence last month for two Burmese men was “bungled”.

She also hinted she believed Thai, not Burmese, nationals killed her sister on Koh Tao island and she received death threats throughout the trial, including one saying the killers had completed only “half the job”.

“What if I told you that I am now frightened of my own shadow?” she wrote.

Analysis Koh Tao’s dark side: dangers of island where Britons were murdered
Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were killed in Koh Tao, where fear of mafia involvement hides under paradisical façade
Read more
Witheridge said she was compelled to write the public post after an “ignorant (Facebook) comment someone had made about how Thailand is the most beautiful place in the world”.

“Aesthetically, on a postcard or photograph, maybe,” she said. “Aesthetic beauty can lure you into a very dangerous trap.”

When her family visited in 2014, Witheridge said, Thai police offered to provide them with an official update at their headquarters but “200 journalists were allowed into the room and we were ambushed by this mob of hungry journalists shoving cameras in our faces”.

She added: “The Thai police chief had no intentions of giving us an update … after all, the bungled investigation meant he had nothing to tell us. The invitation was merely an opportunity for the press to take photographs of our family.”

The family was later “absolutely appalled” when “the Thais offered us ‘compensation’”.

Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, was found on Sairee beach on Koh Tao alongside 24-year-old David Miller, from Jersey, in September 2014. Witheridge had been raped and bludgeoned to death and Miller had been attacked and left to drown in the surf, Thai police say.

Laura Witheridge said that, since then, there have been many more suspicious deaths on Koh Tao, including Briton Luke Miller – unrelated to David Miller – whose body was found in a pool last week. Thai police said he drowned while heavily drunk.

“You probably haven’t heard of them all, as not all were British nationals. The deaths, where possible, are covered up as suicides and accidents. This would have happened with Hannah, if it had not been for the hideous brutality of her passing.”

Witheridge said that in the recent case of Luke Miller, she suspected Thai authorities would say it was an accidental death caused by drugs. “Hiding the truth and offering a story that suits, is something that they do often,” she said.

The Witheridge family neither supported nor condemned the sentencing of migrant bar workers Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo on 24 December. Laura’s Witheridge’s post provides a stark view of the concerns the family hold over the entire investigation, which has also been widely condemned by rights groups.


British backpacker murder case that put Thailand on trial
Read more
The Burmese pair initially confessed to the murder but later rescinded their statements, saying they had been tortured by police to admit to the brutal beach attack.

The Thai police, who deny any wrongdoing, were also accused by the defence team of mishandling crucial DNA evidence. Royal Thai Police spokesperson Dejnarong Suthicharnbancha told the Guardian the authorities were not aware that Laura Witheridge was receiving threats.

“We need to question her regarding this issue and launch [an] investigation. And we can assist her if she wants to do anything in this matter,” he said. He added that Witheridge’s allegations of corruption were presented “without evidence and without fact. If there’s any corruption, it has to be seen on a case by case basis.”

David Miller’s family were at the sentencing and told reporters afterward they believed the police investigation and forensic work “was not the so-called shambles it was made out to be” and said justice was delivered.

Corrupt police make Thailand a 'dangerous trap', says sister of murdered British tourist | World news | The Guardian

Ten times, the same posting...

Anonymous take down Thai Judicial websites.

The international hackers group ‘Anonymous’ launched a second attack on the Thai government early today Thai time taking down some 297 sites run by the country’s Courts of justice.

Protesting against the guilty verdicts on two young Burmese for the murder of Britons Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on the Thai island of Koh Tao they brought the sites to a standstill.

All sites check showed a picture of the Court of Justice in Bangkok with the caption ‘Sorry the website is being updated’.

Earlier in the day they had signalled their action by announcing on Facebook: and announcing:

HACKERS SUPPORTING LAURA WITHERIDGE 'BLOCK' THAI COURT SYSTEM - Andrew Drummond

Can the concept of face melt into your features until you can no longer take air into your body?...

Originally Posted by Lantern

The international hackers group ‘Anonymous’ launched a second attack on the Thai government early today Thai time taking down some 297 sites run by the country’s Courts of justice.

Protesting against the guilty verdicts on two young Burmese for the murder of Britons Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on the Thai island of Koh Tao they brought the sites to a standstill.

Brilliant

They're not going to like that.

Thai Police Chief threaten to sue Laura Witheridge for her Facebook post regarding Koh Tao Case.



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Sue her for what?...Telling the truth? Which they don't know how to do. Could the Thai police stoop any lower? They're obviously scared shitless that the truth is gonna come out..more worried about saving face than actually doing their job.They just want to make it look like THEY're the victims, when fact is....these two young Brits and their families and the two young Burmese guys and their families are the real victims. What a scumbag police chief(crybaby). Anything to save face. Too bad he's so stupid that he has no clue that he's actually losing more face by doing this. what an idiot!

Quite incredible - what an utter cretin

Thai Police Chief threaten to sue Laura Witheridge for her Facebook post regarding Koh Tao Case.

What an utter kunt. So much face lost, how much more can he and the Thai nation lose?

the thai article doesnt actually confirm that the police will sue, it merely says that an investigation will be carried out into whether there is any truth in her allegations against the police regarding the offer of compensation etc.

i doubt very much if even the thai police would be so stupid as to sue her for a facebook posting made from another country. it would heap even more ridicule on a police force already discredited in the eyes of the world for their behaviour.

Originally Posted by taxexile

i doubt very much if even the thai police would be so stupid as to sue her for a facebook posting made from another country.

Don't forget that it isn't he first time the police have said they wanted to arrest people extrajudicially.
Their thinking is enveloped in saving face and hating humiliation to the extent of talking complete garbage - the first thing that pops in their head is blurted out.
The sad thing is they don't even see how utterly ridiculous their actions are, so ensconced in their self-value cocoon they are.

true, they are force made up mostly of unprincipled gangsters and thugs used to dealing with thais and getting their own way whatever the cost, but this is an international story and their actions and statements regarding this case will be analysed, criticised and publicised by foreign media.

i think they will have to rein in their pride and pomposity over this facebook posting and i suspect they will publish a simple denial of her accusations rather than embarrass themselves with a court case that in any case could realistically never take place.

but this is the thai police we are dealing with, and to satisfy the thai audience i suppose anything could happen.