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The bodies of two murdered British tourists were found on a beach on Thailand's Koh Tao island.
The naked bodies of two British tourists were found on a Thai beach yesterday, sparking a murder probe on the popular resort island of Koh Tao.
Police described the two as a 23-year-old woman from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and a 24-year-old man from Jersey, in the Channel Islands. They were found stripped with several wounds to their bodies close to a beachside bungalow on the island, a diving hot spot near Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand.
Police Colonel Prachum Ruangthong said that the pair were found dead on a rocky beach on Koh Tao. The victims' clothes and a hoe with blood stains were found nearby, he said.
Police suspect the two were killed with the hoe. The man was chopped in the back and on the side of his head, while the woman was chopped in her face, Prachum said, describing the scene as "very gruesome".
"They were murdered and found naked on the beach. Police were informed at 6.30am," police official Jakkrapan Kaewkhao added. "Their bodies were found 30 metres from [the] bungalow."
Jakkrapan said the pair had arrived in Thailand on August 25.
Police are searching for witnesses and are yet to identify a suspect or motive, he added.
Local media reported that outraged residents of the island, which is home to about 2,000 people and survives on tourism, had blockaded its piers to help police prevent the killers from escaping.
An employee at the budget seaside resort where they were staying said the bodies were found behind a set of large rocks on the beach.
Koh Tao is a popular destination for divers.
"It was the first time this has happened on the island, I have never seen anything like this," the staff member added, requesting anonymity.
Koh Tao is popular with tourists but draws fewer travellers than the neighbouring Koh Phangnan, home to the hedonistic full moon party.
Thailand's lucrative tourism industry has been battered in recent months after a prolonged political crisis ended a coup which saw the army blanket the country with a curfew and strict martial law.
Although the curfew was swiftly lifted from key tourist hot-spots, visitor numbers have yet to rebound.
Thailand's military leaders have vowed to clean up the kingdom's tourist resorts after complaints of scams, assaults and even police extortion.
David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found naked and beaten to death early on Monday near a beachside bungalow on Koh Tao.
Thai police on Tuesday questioned three Myanmese 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 on 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 from the murder scene. Police suspect that Witheridge was also raped, according to a report in the Bangkok Post newspaper.
“Three male Myanmar migrant workers are under police detention for investigation,” southern regional police commander Panya Maman said, without providing any further details.
A second officer said police were not looking for a British man who had travelled with Miller, contrary to UK media reports. “All of the British nationals are now on their way home,” provincial police chief Kiattipong Khawsamang said, adding they had been “cleared” as suspects.
The bodies were discovered on Koh Tao on Monday morning. Photo: AP
The pair travelled to Koh Tao with friends and met each other on the island while staying in neighbouring rooms at Ocean View Bungalows, said police Major General Kiattipong Khawsamang.
“They went out to a bar and left together after 1am, according to closed circuit TV camera footage,” he said.
Police have released still images from surveillance cameras in the area. One showed what police said were the two victims walking together hand-in-hand. Another image from later in the morning showed a single man walking in the same direction.
Police said the man looked Asian and was considered a prime suspect, but investigators were pursuing several leads.
“We are focusing on migrant workers because of the surrounding witnesses and evidence, including the video footage,” Kiattipong said. “We are sweeping hotels, bars, businesses and residences of migrant workers on the beach to find the suspect.”
Another police official, Colonel Prachum Ruangthong, said investigators were also looking for a group of bar employees and had questioned a group of foreigners as well.
“This morning we surrounded three locations, including the residences of migrant workers, to search and collect DNA,” Prachum said on Tuesday.
On Monday night, about 100 local residents gathered on Sairee Beach for a candlelight vigil and said prayers for the young British couple close to the spot where their bodies were found.
The bodies of the victims, who arrived in Thailand on August 25, are being driven the 500km from southern Surat Thai province and are due in Bangkok later on Tuesday for forensic tests.
Southern regional police commander Panya could not confirm Thai television reports that police had seized an iPhone and blood-stained jeans after raiding rooms used by the Myanmese 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.
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 Prayuth Chan-ocha 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 said, referring to the two tourists.
Speaking a few hours later he said Thai authorities must tell “tourists when the safe times are to be outside, we have to help them understand.”
Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said police were working “to make an arrest as soon as possible.”
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Koh Tao is a popular destination for divers.
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 last year – 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.
The body of one of the British tourists killed on Koh Tao arrives at Bangkok's police forensic department. Photo: Reuters
Thai police on Wednesday identified a man caught on security camera as the “prime suspect” in the murder of two British tourists on a resort island, as detectives raised hopes that a post-mortem examination would yield valuable clues.
The man was seen on CCTV near a bar on Koh Tao where David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were partying shortly before they were beaten to death early on Monday.
Local media reports said the man – believed to be of Asian appearance – was twice seen on camera, the first time passing the bar and later hurriedly returning from the direction where the bodies of the British pair were found behind some rocks.
“He is the prime suspect but we don’t know his whereabouts yet,” Kiattipong Khawsamang, Surat Thani provincial police commander, said, confirming the man in the CCTV footage was Asian.
Several Myanmese nationals working on the resort have already been quizzed over the killings, which have shocked the small community of travellers and residents on the normally tranquil resort island, a diving hot-spot near Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand.
“We have questioned four to five Myanmar migrant workers and allowed them to go back to their rooms – but under their employers’ watch,” he said.
Myanmese migrants are frequently accused of committing crimes in the kingdom, where they make up a vast, poorly-paid and low-status workforce.
On Wednesday scores of police continued to hunt for clues to the gruesome crime, as pressure to resolve the case mounted with the investigation entering a third day without an arrest.
Senior officers are hoping a post-mortem examination of the victims’ bodies – which arrived at a Bangkok forensic centre late on Tuesday – could yield a breakthrough.
“We have to wait for the result of DNA tests,” regional police commander Panya Maman said, adding genetic samples had been taken from six Myanmese nationals.
Another senior policeman said two of Miller’s friends – both British men in their 20s – had agreed to remain in Thailand at the request of the police.
“They are not yet suspects ... but we have asked them to cooperate until the case becomes clear,” Deputy National Police Chief Somyot Poompanmoung said.
In a statement issued late on Tuesday Miller’s family described the engineering graduate as “hard-working, bright, conscientious, with everything to look forward to”.
Thailand’s military ruler on Tuesday urged investigators to conclude the cases “swiftly”, no doubt aware of the potential damage the grisly killings could do to the country’s image as a tourist haven.
Condemning the crime, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, who is also the outgoing army chief, also appeared to question the conduct of the victims and warned foreigners to take care in the kingdom.
Thailand will be desperate to avoid further damage to the nation’s lucrative tourism industry, which has been battered in recent months after a prolonged political crisis ended in a coup.
With the start of the tourist high season just two months away, the junta has vowed to restore the nation’s reputation as the “Land of Smiles”, embarking on a clean-up of tourist resorts after a series of complaints about scams, assaults and even police extortion.
