UK police arrive to observe murder probe
Play
BRITISH POLICE have arrived in Bangkok to observe their Thai counterparts' investigation into the widely publicised murders of two young British backpackers, which led to the arrests of two Myanmar men.
Pol Lt-General Pravut Thawornsiri, spokesman of the National Police, said yesterday that the British team first conferred with officials from their embassy in Bangkok. Later they will meet with the Thai side to learn more details and follow up on the progress police have made so far, he said.
The police inquiry into the deaths of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge met international standards and was unequivocally fair, he said.
British investigators were sent to Thailand after police here were criticised for rushing to solve the case and suggestions that the suspects could be scapegoats.
The two men, who are detained in Koh Samui prison, have retracted their confessions to killing both Britons on September 15. They have also claimed that they were physically assaulted by police during interrogation.
A coordinator assigned by the Myanmar Embassy said the parents and relatives of both suspects reached Surat Thani’s Samui district at 5pm yesterday and were scheduled to visit the men at 9am today.
They will be accompanied by lawyers, officials from the embassy and officials from the Human Rights Protection Bureau under the Thai National Human Rights Commission.
Meanwhile Pol Colonel Apichart Boonsrirote, acting Surat Thani police commander, said he would propose setting up a police station on Koh Tao to provide more security for tourists on the island.
If approved, the new station could be established in the fiscal year that started this month.
He added that more police had been deployed to Koh Tao to bolster the island’s seven-strong contingent, as well as vehicles and support equipment to strengthen security there.
