Rescue workers prepare to remove the bodies of the two British tourists who were found battered to death on Sairee beach of Koh Tao in Surat Thani province yesterday. SUPAPONG CHAOLAN
By Terry Fredrickson
Two young British tourists, a man and a woman, were found brutally murdered on a beach on the popular tourist island of Koh Tao yesterday morning. The story is receiving wide international coverage and Thai police are making every effort to quickly find the killer(s).
Early morning update
The British media is reporting this morning that Thai police are seeking a British male backpacker, likely a friend of male victim David William Miller, for questioning. He is believed to have left the island shortly after the murders. His name is known but has not been given to the media.
Here is the Bangkok Post's morning report
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Two Britons found murdered on Koh Tao
Supapong Chaolan
Police have sealed off Koh Tao of Surat Thani province in the hunt for the killer of two British tourists found battered to death on a beach early yesterday.
Pol Maj Gen Kiettiphong Khaowsam-ang, commander of Surat Thani's provincial police station, said he ordered officers to place all boat jetties under surveillance and ban all vessels from leaving the island while the manhunt was underway.
Police said they believed the murderer was still on the island because bad weather prevented most vessels from putting to sea.
Local police said they were alerted to the brutal murder about an hour before noon yesterday. A combined team of police, forensic experts and relief workers who went to the scene by helicopter found the bodies of a man and woman on Sairee beach on Koh Tao, located near Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand.
The team identified the male victim as David William Miller, 24, a British national. He was found naked with a fractured skull and a deep cut to his neck, believed to have been inflicted with a sharp weapon, police said. The body of the female victim, also naked and identified as British national Hannah Victoria Witheridge, 24, was found about 20 metres away.
Police say her face was disfigured and she was probably hit with a heavy object.
Police said they also found thongs, a pair of black trousers, a T-shirt, a pair of underpants and a used condom at the crime scene. Investigators also found traces of a struggle which indicated possible fighting near the murder scene, police said. A bloodstained hoe and a fertiliser sack were found nearby.
On Sunday, police said, foreign tourists attended a party on Sairee beach in front of Ocean View Bungalow, about 30m from where the bodies were found. The bodies of the two victims were found yesterday morning by Myanmar workers while they cleaned the beach.
Pol Maj Gen Kiettiphong said police believe the murder was committed between 3am and 5am yesterday. Pol Maj Gen Kiettiphong said Miller and some male friends arrived in Thailand on Aug 23, while Witheridge and four female friends arrived on Aug 27.
The two groups of tourists did not know one another before the trip, police said. They checked in at the Ocean View Bungalow and had joined the party in front of the hotel before the murder, according to police.
The victims' bodies were sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok for further examination yesterday.
The double-murder has sent shockwaves through the island, popular for its full-moon parties and scuba diving.
"It was the first time this has happened on the island, I have never seen anything like this," said an employee at the seaside resort where they were staying.
Vocabulary
alert: to tell someone in authority about a danger or problem so that they can take action to deal with - แจ้งให้ทราบ, บอก
backpacker: A person who travels on holiday/vacation carrying equipment and clothes in a backpack (a large bag, often supported on a light metal frame, carried on the back and used especially by people who go climbing or walking) - ผู้ใส่กระเป๋าสะพายหลัง
ban: to officially say that someone is not allowed to do something - ห้ามอย่างเป็นทางการ
battered: badly damaged - ที่ถูกทำลายยับเยิน
bloodstained: having a mark or spot of blood on something - ซึ่งเป็นรอยเลือด
brutal: extremely violent and unpleasant - โหดร้าย
combined: joint; done together; belonging to or shared between two or more people - ที่ร่วมกัน, ร่วมมือกัน
commander: a police offer of high rank - ผู้บังคับบัญชา
commit: to do something wrong or illegal - ทำความผิด
condom: a thin rubber covering that a man wears over his penis during sex to stop a woman from becoming pregnant or to protect against disease - ถุงยาง
disfigure: to spoil the appearance of a person, thing or place - ทำให้เสียโฉม, ทำให้ผิดรูปผิดร่าง
employee: someone who is paid regularly to work for a person or an organisation - ลูกจ้าง
female: being a woman or a girl - สตรี, ผู้หญิง, เพศหญิ
fertiliser: a natural or chemical substance which is spread on the land or given to plants, to make plants grow well - ปุ๋ย
forensic: relating to the use of scientific methods to solve crimes or to find out why something happened - เกี่ยวกับนิติวิทยาศาสตร์
fracture: a break or crack in something hard, especially a bone - การแตก (โดยเฉพาะกระดูก)
hoe: a garden tool with a long handle and a blade, used for breaking up soil and removing weeds - จอบ
hunt: an act of looking for somebody/something that is difficult to find - การค้นหา, การติดตาม
identified: named, said to be - ระบุ, ระบุชื่อ
indicate: to show that something is true, exists or will happen - แสดง, ให้สัญญาณ
inflict: to cause something bad to happen to someone or something - ทำให้เสียหาย
interview: to ask someone questions in a meeting - สัมภาษณ์
investigator: someone whose job is to officially find out the facts about something - ผู้สอบสวน, ผู้สำรวจ, ผู้ตรวจสอบ
jetty: a wall or platform built out into the sea, a river, etc, where boats can be tied and where people can get on and off boats - ท่าเทียบเรือ
local: in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about - ท้องถิ่น
male: being a man or a boy - ผู้ชาย
manhunt: an organised search for a person, especially a criminal - การล่าหัว การตามล่าจับกุม
media: radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group - สื่อ
murder: the crime of intentionally killing a person - ฆาตกรรม
naked: not wearing any clothes - เปลือยกาย
national: a citizen of a particular country - ประชาชน
prevent: to stop somebody from doing something; to stop something from happening - ขัดขวาง, กัน, กีดขวาง
rescue worker: a person who save someone from a dangerous or unpleasant situation - ผู้ช่วยชีวิต
sack: a large strong bag for storing and carrying things - กระสอบ, ถุงขนาดใหญ่
scene: site; a place where something happens or happened - สถานที่เกิดเหตุ
seal off: to prevent people from entering or leaving an area or building - ปิด ห้ามไม่ให้เข้า
shockwave: a movement of very high air pressure that is caused by an explosion, earthquake, etc. - คลื่นกระแทก
skull : the bones of the head - กระโหลกศีรษะ
struggle: fighting somebody or trying to get away from them - การต่อสู้
surveillance: the process of carefully watching a person or place - การเฝ้าตรวจตราอย่างเข้มงวด
thongs: a pair of sandals, each held on the foot by a strip that fits between the first and second toes and is connected to a strap usually passing over the top or around the sides of the foot - รองเท้าแตะแบบหนีบ
trace: a mark, an object or a sign that shows that somebody/something existed or was present - ร่องรอย
trousers: pants; a piece of clothing covering the body from the waist to the feet, divided into separate parts for each leg and worn by both men and women - กางเกง
underpants: a piece of underwear worn by men or women under trousers/pants, a skirt, etc. - กางเกงใน, กางเกงชั้นใน
underway: happening - กำลังเกิดขึ้น
vessel: a boat or ship - เรือ
victim: someone who has been harmed, injured or killed as the result of a crime - เหยื่อผู้เคราะห์ร้าย
