Police question backpacker as focus shifts to blonde hair found in victim’s hand

ABOVE: Victims Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in images released by their families.

Police are questioning another Western backpacker while they attempt to establish whether a single strand of blonde hair found in the hand of Koh Tao murder victim Hannah Witheridge belongs to the person who killed her and David Miller.

The institute of Forensic Medicine will attempt to match the DNA in the golden hair to other suspects. So far, this strand of hair has been proven to not belong to either victim, police said.

Police also questioned Narongdech Karnpin and his wife, the owners of Oceanview Bangalow, where the deceased stayed, and searched the premises. Police said they found a pair of pants in David’s possession which belonged to a friend named Christopher Alan Ware. Manager reported the pants were stained with Christopher’s blood.

Ware, another Briton, has been held by the police for further questioning, NationTV and Manager reported.

Earlier police released three Myanmar workers in connection with the murder of the two young British tourists, as Thailand’s military ruler appeared to call into question the “behavior” of the savagely murdered victims themselves.

The bodies of David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, arrived in Bangkok late Tuesday for forensic examination. They were found naked and beaten to death early 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.

Three male Myanmar migrant workers were held for questioning but ruled out of the probe on Tuesday afternoon, southern regional police commander Panya Maman told AFP.

“They were very far from the scene… it was probably not them,” he said, adding DNA samples had been collected from the men. He did not give details of any further leads as the manhunt on the small, normally tranquil island stretched into a second day without an arrest.

Police have also cleared a number of British tourists who travelled with the victims of any involvement in the killings.
Earlier Tuesday local television showed Thai authorities searching several shacks belonging to Myanmar migrants on Koh Tao.

Affected our image
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 behavior of the other party too because this kind of incident should not happen to anybody and it has affected our image,” he told reporters, referring to the two tourists. Thai authorities were working “swiftly” to find the killers, he added.

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.

Speaking later Prayuth said Thais must tell “tourists when the safe times are to be outside, we have to help them understand.”
Police earlier said the pair had been seen partying at a local bar just hours before they died.

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.

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, 2013 – 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.
 

Story: Coconuts Bangkok / AFP