The Dead Farang Thread

[Torbek]

Very strange way to go about background research, isn't it?

Cynical of me, but surely anyone can come up with a few plausible stories to earn some beer money?

[dirtydog]

Of course it's a well known fact that there is a gang of katoeys there that wander the beach of a night and anally gang rape old men, do you think they would pay for that one if i was a bit more explicit

[Torbek]

Of course it's a well known fact that there is a gang of katoeys there that wander the beach of a night and anally gang rape old men, do you think they would pay for that one if i was a bit more explicit

I dunno...

You got any photos?

[poolcleaner]

Of course it's a well known fact that there is a gang of katoeys there that wander the beach of a night and anally gang rape old men, do you think they would pay for that one if i was a bit more explicit

Peacey's been known to leave his hotel room late at night for a stroll along the beach!!

[dirtydog]

Friday, January 6, 2006
Four questioned in Horton murder probe

KOH SAMUI (The Nation/Phuket Gazette): Police detained four men last night for questioning as part of their investigation into the murder of Welsh university student Katherine Horton on this popular resort island.

They also took DNA samples from the four, all employees of a resort close to the bungalow where Ms Horton, 21, was staying. Witnesses saw the men dining at a food stall nearby on the night of the murder, police said. No charges had been filed against the four as of last night.

A motorcycle owned by one of the men, whose identities were not immediately released by police, was seen parked outside Katherine’s bungalow at the New Hut resort on the evening of January 1. But the owner said he had earlier rented it to a foreign tourist, investigators said. The man produced a document to support his claim, they added.

Police yesterday questioned the four for several hours after taking them into custody at the Sea View Paradise resort on Lamai Beach. The resort is next to the one where Ms Horton, a third-year psychology student from Cardiff, was spending her New Year’s holiday with friends at the time she was killed.

Investigators took samples from the men for DNA analysis after questioning them yesterday and taking them to Samui Hospital for medical checks last night. They were later brought back to Samui police station for further questioning.

A source at the hospital said DNA sampling was carried out yesterday on seven foreigners and eight Thais, including the four men under detention, as part of the police investigation.

Ms Horton’s body was found on Monday in the sea off Thong Krok Beach, a few kilometers from the resort where she had been staying. Police said she had been hit several times on the head and body with a blunt instrument, before being thrown into the sea to drown.

A primary police investigation showed that Ms Horton was likely attacked while walking on the beach near her bungalow on the evening of January 1.

Ms Horton was talking to her mother, Elizabeth, on her mobile phone when the attack took place, and her mother reportedly heard her scream before the call was cut off.

Police at first said that an initial examination had shown no signs that Ms Horton was raped before she was murdered, but Pol Maj Gen Santhan Chayanont, Deputy Commissioner of Police Region 8, told the Gazette today, “After looking at much of the evidence we have concluded that Ms Horton was raped and murdered. A forensic examination discovered semen in her body.

“DNA samples are being taken from all suspects, and officers from the Police Forensic Science Office in Bangkok are checking these against evidence already found. We expect complete results of this analysis soon. It will be our main route of investigation.”

The results of the tests are expected today or tomorrow, he said.

Investigators also plan to check photographs from an automatic security camera installed near the spot where Ms Horton was believed to have been attacked, a police source said yesterday.

“At a resort nearby, there is a set of sensor-equipped cameras and lights that automatically snap pictures when something moves past at night. We hope to find some leads from the photo records,” the source said.

Police yesterday set up a field command centre on Koh Samui for the murder investigation. More than 100 police personnel from local and Bangkok-based units fanned out across the island in search of leads in the case.

Central Investigation Bureau deputy commissioner Pol Maj Gen Asavin Kwanmuang and Tourist Police commander Maj Gen Panya Mamen held a meeting with investigators to inquire about their progress.

“We have found some leads but cannot publicly discuss the details now. Some witnesses have been questioned and evidence gathered that leads to certain suspects,” Maj Gen Panya said.

“I am a father with daughters too, and so are many other officers who are racing against time to solve the case here with the heart of a father,” said Surat Thani Provincial Police Chief, Pol Maj Gen Voravate Vinitnatyanon.

phuketgazette

[Bwana Brad]

The following is a lengthy feature article on the number of deaths of British tourists in Thailand in recent times. The numbers of murders have grown rapidly in recent times and is now a major problem, that the authorities of both countries need to address. From the Sunday Times - Britain

The Sunday Times January 08, 2006
Focus: Murder in paradise
Last week Katherine Horton was raped and murdered on a Thai beach. She is the seventh Briton to have died in Thailand in the past 16 months. Dean Nelson in Koh Samui and Claire Newell report

If only they hadn’t argued; if only they had stuck together. That is the thought haunting Ruth Adams, travelling companion of Katherine Horton, the British tourist raped and murdered in Thailand last week.
As Thai police continue to hunt for Horton’s killers, it has emerged that Adams fears that a row between her and Horton inadvertently contributed to the tragedy.
The pair had flown to Thailand just after Christmas for a break before concentrating on their university finals. They were close, but their trip soon began to turn sour.
The trouble began, Adams told friends last week, when they met some young men on the boat to Koh Samui, an island resort in the Gulf of Thailand. Adams was attracted to a 24-year-old Australian called Ben Greig, who was travelling with a friend.
It soon dawned on Horton that while she wanted to “dance on a beach, to ride an elephant, to have a vacation before her finals”, as her father Ian tearfully recalled last week, her friend had become more interested in the Australian.
Horton felt “like a gooseberry”, said Terry Harris, a British resident on the island whose family looked after Adams after the murder.
The tensions were exacerbated on New Year’s Eve and Horton saw in the new year alone. On New Year’s Day she and Adams returned to their bungalow on Lamai Beach and later went shopping. “But as soon as they returned, the Aussie came back,” said Callum Macdonald, 23, from Edinburgh, whom they had talked to.
“Ruth sat with him and his mate. Kath took her phone and walked down the beach. It was dark and you couldn’t see more than 100 metres.”
Had Horton’s annoyance with Adams and the Australian driven her off into the night? Or did she just want some privacy to phone her mother?
Whatever the details, Horton, like so many young Britons, appears to have thought she was perfectly safe. Certainly she betrayed no disquiet when she spoke to her mother by mobile from the beach.
“She seemed quite happy,” said Elizabeth, her mother. “She told me how she was planning to ride an elephant and to take a trip to Chiang Mai for the full moon festival. Then all of a sudden the phone fell out of her hands. I heard a scream, then I heard a dog bark and then nothing.
“At first I thought a wave had taken her by surprise and she had dropped the phone. But as time went by I began to fear the worst.”
Chris and Jill Burrows, walking along the beach after dinner, were probably the last people to see Horton alive. “She came out of the dark, we were a bit startled,” said Chris Burrows yesterday after taking Thai police to the spot. “She was chatting on the phone. She was very happy.”
On their walk back down the beach 10 minutes later the couple, from Silsoe, Bedfordshire, found her phone lying in the sand. “We saw a light in the dark, the water was lapping against it,” said Jill Burrows. “It was a very dark night and we saw people, but no one we would recognise now. They were just shadows.”
The next morning Horton’s body was found floating in the sea by a jet-skier. Detectives say evidence indicates she had been raped by two men, beaten and suffocated. DNA tests have now ruled out three western backpackers as the attackers, though others are still being investigated as well as three Thai men who had a party on the beach that night.
Horton is the seventh British tourist to have been killed in Thailand in the past 16 months, a statistic that alarms Thai ministers and British diplomats alike. It reflects the changing nature of travel as ever more people fly off in search of paradise in a shrinking world.

Page 2

Believing that far-flung places now pose no unusual risk, travellers are becoming complacent, say some experts. At the same time, destinations such as Thai beach resorts are transmuting fast, sometimes for the worse.
Only 20 years ago Koh Samui was sleepy and unspoilt; now it increasingly resembles a Spanish resort, complete with tattooed sun-burnt Brits, prostitute bars, live Premier League football and McDonald’s. The potential for culture clash between rich westerners and relatively poor locals is clear.
British officials fear the island — which has a permanent population of just 40,000 but receives 770,000 visitors a year — is being targeted by violent gangs from the sex trade. In the past eight weeks the island has suffered at least five murders, 21 robberies, 20 violent assaults and 14 gun- related incidents.
Though the odds of being murdered in Thailand remain low, they are rising. Some 750,000 Britons visit the country each year and until recently murders were rare. But in each of the past two years at least five have been killed.
For the 200,000 young British travellers who set off all over the globe each year, it is a worrying trend evident elsewhere on the backpacker trail.
TO MANY young Britons, the developing world offers an intoxicating antidote to western consumerism, a sort of escape to sun-drenched poverty. But visions of a cheap paradise can mask some brutal realities.
One traveller captivated by Cambodia was Eddie Gibson, a student from Brighton, who visited the country during his gap year. “He had fallen in love with the country and the people there,” his mother Jo recalled last week. “He saw how they had very little but were very kind and open.”
In 2004, soon after starting at Leeds University, he returned to Cambodia, intending to stay only a few weeks, but disappeared.
“The last contact Eddie had with us was on October 24, 2004,” said his mother. “He had a reservation on a flight to come home on November 1, but he never got it. We went to the airport to meet him and he wasn’t there.
“We were just waiting at Heathrow for ages and he never appeared.”

Page 3

As the Gibson family searched for Eddie, the lack of investigative systems taken for granted in the UK swiftly became apparent. “We’ve been over to Cambodia four times since Eddie has gone missing, to the capital, Phnom Penh, and to the border town Poipet,” said his mother. “At the beginning it was just like looking for a needle in a haystack. Eddie’s disappearance wasn’t taken seriously at all. It seemed he just didn’t matter.”

She believes many young travellers underestimate the risks they take.
“When you travel to southeast Asia or other faraway places, you’ve got to understand that the people in that country have different values and cultures. To people in Asia, westerners have lots of money. They have very little and think we’re all rich. Sometimes behind the smiles people are thinking about money and other bad things.”
Nor does travelling with a companion necessarily provide protection. In February 2004 Gareth Koch set off for a trip to Nepal with a friend who was a former police officer, aiming to go to the Everest national park. They fell out at the beginning of the trek and his friend flew home early. Gareth never returned.
His parents went to Nepal for four weeks in September 2004 to retrace the route he would have taken. But no trace of him or his belongings has been found and the British embassy has been of little help. “They have no protocol for these kinds of things. There is no system,” said David Koch, his father.
Koch believes young travellers are becoming complacent about the risks they take: “Walking around late at night is dangerous on holiday, just like it is at home.”

Page 4

A niche business has grown up providing training courses for those who want to be as prepared as possible. One company is Objective Travel Safety, where Charlie McGrath, a well-travelled ex-serviceman, is a director. “Lots of people say that travelling is no more dangerous than being at home,” he said. “But the problem is you are a lot more in tune with your environment at home. You can read the signals easier. You have local knowledge.”
Even the best prepared backpackers can run into trouble. When Vanessa Arscott and Adam Lloyd hit the trail in 2004 they studied guidebooks and planned their journey in detail. But after an argument in a restaurant in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, they were shot by the owner, who was a policeman. Adam was shot at point blank range; Vanessa was killed as she tried to flee.
“They were smart, intelligent young people, and yet still ended up being murdered,” said Adam’s father Brian. “Evil lurks in paradise. We live in a country that is still one of the freest in the world. Most of the world is a dangerous place.”
IN A typical year about 60 Britons are murdered abroad, according to the Foreign Office. Several hundred also go missing. To the great mass of travellers, those are reassuring figures. Britons make more than 60m trips abroad each year and only a tiny number end in murder.
By that measure exotic travel remains remarkably safe. Indeed, more Britons tend to get murdered in France and Spain than in, say, India — though that is probably because greater numbers travel in Europe.
But each murder or rape or missing person is a family tragedy. Yesterday Horton’s grieving father flew back from Thailand with her body. Adams has also returned to the UK.
Messages of sympathy have flowed to the Horton family. Among them was one from the parents of Kirsty Jones, a British backpacker who was strangled in a guesthouse in northern Thailand in 2000. “I have had lovely cards from them which mean so much to me,” said Elizabeth Horton. “They’re the only ones who can really understand our pain and our loss. “When we heard Katherine was dead, it felt as if the whole world had fallen apart. She was a warm, passionate girl and we will miss her more than words can say.”
Additional reporting: Steven Swinford
TOURISTS WHO DISAPPEARED
EDDIE GIBSON
Disappeared in Cambodia on a break from Leeds University in October 2004. Had visited region before and planned to travel to Thailand. If alive he will be 21 this month.
MELODY O’GARA
From Bolton, she was 28 and was backpacking in Australia in October 2004. Left friend’s house one day but failed to return. Handbag found nearby.
GARETH KOCH
From Wantage, Oxfordshire, he was 24 when he went missing in Nepal. Last sighting was in March 2004 in the Everest region. No trace of him or his belongings found.
ALEXANDER JAMES RATNASOTHY
Missing since February 2003. A 23-year-old from Ireland, he had travelled extensively in southeast Asia. He last contacted his family from Nepal.
NATALEE HOLLOWAY
Aged 18, she went missing on a school trip to Aruba in the Caribbean in May 2005. Her family fear she was kidnapped and taken to Venezuela or Colombia.
JEFFREY MOORE
The 37-year-old from Fareham, Hampshire, disappeared while on a hiking holiday with his fiancée in the Austrian Alps. He set off alone on August 25, 2003, and never returned.

[dirtydog]

Natural causes needs confirmation Mr Mick Carey, a 66 year old Australian from the Gold Coast, was found dead in his flat in Jomtien’s View Talay condominium complex after condo staff alerted the Sawangboriboon Foundation. Police at the scene initially refused to let journalists enter the apartment, quoting media restrictions recently introduced by national police chief, police general Kowit Wattana. The body was found on its stomach and there was a lot of blood on the floor and covering the corpse which had been lifeless for about 24 hours. There was extensive damage to the head and what appeared to be a hole in the throat. Police said it was likely that Mr Carey had collapsed in the bathroom following a stroke or an accident and had banged his head as he hit the floor. Murder could not be ruled out and an autopsy would be held in Bangkok.


Police added that robbery does not seem to have been a motive as some personal possessions and cash were still in the room. However, some residents in the apartment block pointed to Mr Carey’s heavy drinking and practice of taking young men back to his flat when he was already inebriated. The manager of the complex’s restaurant confirmed that he had on many occasions helped Mr Carey get back to his room in a drunken state. Mick Carey was a wealthy man of independent means who had held political office in Australia’s Gold Coast region and had invested successfully in property in both his home country and in Thailand. He had retired to Pattaya around 10 years ago and had initially kept up his sporting interests. In recent years his health had deteriorated and he had been warned by doctors to cut down on his drinking. Police are now awaiting a provisional autopsy report before deciding in which direction their investigation, if at all, should continue.

by Somboon Phanit

Pattaya today

[dirtydog]

Our News is Always New

LATEST NEWS
Tuesday 17th January 2006

Canadian Man discovered dead inside his South Pattaya Apartment.
Another foreign tourist has spent his final days here in Pattaya. Police Lieutenant Colonel Tirasak from Pattaya Police Station was called to room number 212 on the 2nd floor of the Cherry Lodge Apartments on the Pratamnak Road in South Pattaya after staff and residents reported a foul odor coming from the room and they suspected the worst. Rescue workers joined Police and entered the room to find the badly decomposed body of Mr. George Jiri Klicpera aged 54 from Canada on the bed. Police followed procedure and inspected the room and body and found nothing suspicious and determined the body had remained undiscovered for a minimum of six days. For now the exact cause of death is unknown, however Police expect a post mortem examination to show he died of natural causes.

[dirtydog]

Our News is Always New

LATEST NEWS
Tuesday 17th January 2006

Another suicide at the Tiffany Shooting Range. American man shoots himself in the head.
On December 12th last year we reported on a suicide at the Tiffany Shooting Range where a German man used a hired pistol and shot himself in the head. On Tuesday afternoon at around 3.30pm it happened again. This time an American man, using a revolver shot himself in the side of the head. Police Lieutenant Colonel Omsin from Pattaya Police Station was assigned to the case and removed the gun from the shooting range as evidence. Once again we were not permitted to film inside the Shooting Range. What we do know is that the dead man is Mr. Ronas Joseph Merrow aged 63 from America and the incident happened at Booth number 9. The smartly dressed man arrived at the range and rented a 38mm revolver. He finished one pack of bullets and asked his supervisor to bring another packet for him. He loaded the gun with six bullets, fired the first one and then turned the gun on himself and pointed the gun at his right ear and pulled the trigger. His body was removed from the scene and taken to the morgue at Banglamung Hospital. His personal possessions including 50,000 Baht in cash which he was carrying in his pocket are now in the possession of the Sawang Boriboon Foundation awaiting collection by the American Embassy who will now conduct an investigation into the matter.

[Gerbil]

Fucking hell. Getting to be a habit this!

Surprised that the 50K in cash in his pocket was actually declared by the bodysnatchers.

[mad_dog]

One less sepo to worry about

[kingwilly]

Fucking hell. Getting to be a habit this!

Surprised that the 50K in cash in his pocket was actually declared by the bodysnatchers.

nah it was prolly actually 500K

[colourful-era]

what kind of guns can you fire at Tiffany's?

How much do they cost as well?

I had fun shooting an M-16 last month in Cambodia and would like to do that again- do they have these in Pattaya?

[SiamCutie]

did you get to shoot a cow c-e? they were only about $50 extra

[aging one]

One less sepo to worry about

Low rent there MD.

[laoshi]

Maybe a movie, "Murder At Tiffany's" or summat?...

[mad_dog]

One less sepo to worry about

Low rent there MD.

I thought it was "cute" I'll give you plenty of tequilla at the TD bash to make it up to you.

[aging one]

Damn dont think I am gonna make it. But thanks for the offer MD.

[friscofrankie]

So this means if I do go i'm gonna be a the only fuckin' 'merikun there? maybe I can get into a real loud conversation with the owner?

What is it with Pattaya and no-heart selfish fuckin' idiots offin' them selves there? Now, the guy had 50K in his pocket, couldn't he have, like, gone out in a better manner? Overdose of viagra, pussy and booze maybe? Was me, I'd figure if I still had a fuckin' dime in my pocket, ain't done, yet.
This shit keeps up the Thais'll make it law you gotta wear a helmet while shooting guns or some such nonsense.

[Bwana Brad]

Jeez Louise, the farangs are dropping like flies in Pattaya, must be something they put in the drinks, but not the food, or is it the other way around ?

[Marmite the Dog]

So this means if I do go i'm gonna be a the only fuckin' 'merikun there? maybe I can get into a real loud conversation with the owner?

There will be a few loud Merkins there, but not TD guests. Knock yourself out Frankie!

[dirtydog]

Our News is Always New

LATEST NEWS
Wednesday 18th January 2006

Interesting update on the Tiffany Shooting Range Suicide.
We now update you on the story we ran on yesterdays show regarding the suicide shooting at the Tiffany Shooting Range in North Pattaya. His correct name and age is Mr. Ronald Joseph Meloy aged 62 from America. We have found out that he worked as an English Language teacher for a small private academy in Naklua according to his work permit. Around the end of December he was alleged to have shown sexually explicit photographs to his students aged between 12 and 13. Last Wednesday he was released from his job because of that unexplained incident. We received this information from the American Embassy who have in-turn forwarded the details to the Police.

[dirtydog]

Our News is Always New

LATEST NEWS
Wednesday 18th January 2006

German man missing, blood stains found in his apartment.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Chaiwat from Pattaya Police Station was called to the Niran Grand Condo in Soi Arunothai, Central Pattaya on Wednesday Afternoon after receiving a call from Khun Dowleung, who rents rooms in the condo complex. Room number 518/285 had been rented to Mr. Paul Kreuger aged 44 from Germany and he was late in paying his monthly rent. A concerned Khun Dowleung decided to go to the room on Wednesday afternoon and decided to use her spare key and open the room. What she saw inside shocked her and led her to calling the Police. An inspection of the room uncovered large amounts of dried blood around the room and footprints made by blood-stained feet. Forensic teams were called in to take samples of the blood and collect other evidence. What is known is Mr. Cougar was a homosexual and would often be seen taking young men back to his room, he resided at this location for at least 2 years and was never late with his rent. Police found no signs of any other disturbances in the room and could not find the man’s passport anywhere. Police theorize the man may have been murdered inside the room, possibly by a former boyfriend and his body was removed from the room and dumped in a secret location. The German Embassy in Bangkok has been informed of this case and have already joined the investigation. A search for Mr. Cougar is now on and Police hope that the investigation does not culminate in the discovery of his body and he is found safe and well.

[dirtydog]

Soldier a prime suspect in killing of American couplePublished on January 21, 2006
During their investigation into the recent slaying of two Lao-American social activists, a special police task force zeroed in on a Thai military sergeant as a prime suspect.
The group of senior police officers headed by Major Aswin Kwang-muang, deputy commander of the Central Investigation Bureau, held a meeting with local police officers and US Embassy officials in Nong Khai to discuss the murder on Wednesday.
US citizens Anouvong Sethathi-rath and his wife Oulayvanh Set-hathirath, both of whom claimed descent from the kings of Lan Xang, were shot dead on Wednesday in a Buddhist monastery in the North-eastern province.
The couple arrived in Thailand the week before to attend a conference in neighbouring Udon Thani province to promote Lao identity and culture.
Witnesses said two men had walked into the monastery and executed the husband and wife at close range at about 10am as they were about to pray.
Police believe the gunmen were Thai nationals, one of whom may be a military officer with the rank of sergeant who had previously met a senior Lao military officer on the Lao side of the Mekong River. Police gave no further details about the identity of the suspected soldier but noted that political motives might have been behind the apparently targeted assassination of the couple.
Despite their claims, it seems the couple were not directly related to the Lan Xang White Parasol Dynasty, which reigned in Luang Prabang before the takeover of Laos by the Communist Pathet Lao forces in 1975. Anouvong, who lived in the US state of North Carolina under the name of Philip McRowan, said he was a descendant of Xay Sethathi-rath, who founded Vientiane. He moved to the US in 1985 from Cuba, where he was studying. His wife Oulayvanh, who went by the name of Ashley McRowan, said she had been born in Laos and moved to Nong Khai’s Sri Chiang Mai district when she was six years old before moving to North Carolina in 1984 to be with her brother.
Their associates told The Nation that the couple had been advocating a return of the monarchy to the communist-ruled country. Despite their monarchist leanings, they seemed to have maintained no close contacts with political movements or armed groups hoping to overthrow the government in Laos.
A Lao official, however, said that monarchist feelings and claims of royal descent were very sensitive issues politically in the country.
The couple are not the first Lao activists to have been killed in Thailand.
Several Lao dissidents have died in Thailand since late 2003, when Sisouk Sayaseng, the suspected leader of an attack on the Vang Tao checkpoint in Laos’s Champassak province in July 2000, was shot dead in Ubon Ratchathani.
Phra Uthai Thammasopit, an elderly Buddhist monk who was a former captain in the Laotian Royal Army, was shot dead in Bangkok last October following the death of many fellow royalist military officers who fled from Laos after the communist takeover of 1975. None of the cases has been solved.
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

[dirtydog]

Three German tourists killed in road accident
Published on Jan 23 , 2006


Chon Buri - Three German tourists were killed and another severely injured after their van crashed into the back of a trailer, police said.
Police said the accident took place at about 11 am on the Bangkok-based motorway at the Kilometre marker 77 in Chon Buri's Muang district.
The drive of the van was identified as Suthep Chiangklang, 44, who died at the scene.
Police said the slain tourists were a man, a woman and a boy. Another German woman was also severely injured. She was rushed to the Chon Buri provincial hospital. Police said Suthep was transporting the tourists from Pattaya to Bangkok and he might fall asleep and at crashed into the back of the trailer at high speed as the road did not show any trace of the van's brakes being put on.


the nation