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#1
15-01-2006, 00:27
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Quick Work
Friday, January 13, 2006
Horton killers to be sentenced Wednesday SURAT THANI: Wichai “Loh” Somkhaoyai, 24, and Bualoi Kosit, 23, the two men accused of raping and murdering 21-year-old Welsh student Katherine Horton on Koh Samui on the night of January 1, appeared in court here today. Both pleaded guilty to rape-murder charges under sections 276 and 277 of the Thai Penal Code, which stipulates either life imprisonment or the death penalty for such offenses. The court today heard 11 witnesses, including forensics experts, before adjourning until Wednesday (January 18) when the two men will be sentenced. Meanwhile, The Nation newspaper reported today that Samui police and the British Embassy are checking into whether the two fishermen who confessed to raping and murdering Welsh tourist Katherine Horton on New Year’s Day also assaulted another British woman in October. Case investigator Pol Maj Thanongsak Aksornsom said the embassy staff contacted him Thursday and asked about obtaining the results of DNA tests on both suspects. The officials want to see whether the results were consistent with evidence collected from the unnamed woman, who said she was sexually violated by two men, also on Samui. Thanongsak said he was told the victim, now back in England, filed a report with British police after learning of the arrest of the two men on Monday, saying that one of them resembled one of the men who attacked her. Ruengnam Jaikwang, head of the Koh Samui Tourism Association, has called for a ban on fishing trawlers dropping anchor anywhere they please around the tourist island. A docking zone should be designated for the trawlers for safety and scenic reasons, he said
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#2
15-01-2006, 00:28
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This would have taken 2 years in the UK
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#3
15-01-2006, 01:26
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and maybe it would have taken this long in thailand also,if it wasnt for the fact it had harmed the tourist industry
not the fact there as been one of imho the worst crimes was commited if this was not peak season what would have happened? if this was a crime commited against a thai woman what would have been done? what would have been done if it didnt receive the massive media coverage it got? what about the british guy who was killed around xmas day on koh chang this did not not get the same amount of coverage was this due to it beeing a middle aged man and not a young female? this post is by no means a pop at you stevern and i am pleased these appauling excuses for human beings are going to be treated harsh very harsh imho it was the fact the media was in the country reporting on the aftermath of the tsunami that bought the attention we all remember how the media reported all the negative stuff post tsunami where could you go down bangla without a film crew filming i was even filmed and questioned in an internet cafe becouse i was emailing photos to my local paper in england who raised baht 750,000 for the local orphanages all the film crew wanted to know is where i got the pics from and did i find it appaling that people was making a profit from the sale of the photos on this ocassion i thought the 200 baht was nothing as it was for a charity needless to say this would have beeen deleted only for a much more negative story to be aired wow sorry for going of topic there but the power of the media is far stronger than most people think chok dee jam
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#4
15-01-2006, 02:00
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I'm not sure what your point is here?
If they have got the right people then getting them on trial this soon is a good thing surely?
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#5
15-01-2006, 02:40
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Maybe too quick
I dont know but this all seems to be a little too quick.
First of all, its a jetski accident, then she was attacked, then she was raped. Local Police seem to be getting no where fast.Prime Minister stands up and says something must be done to catch these people quickly. Two days later two guys are arrested and "confess"!No statement from them as such.These guys "swim" ashore using oil cans as support because they had been watching porno on their fishing boat.Fishermen who need support to swim 100yards??.It is reported that they were 100yards offshore and their porno film could be heard from the shore????. Oh yes,one of them had raped someone before!!! it turns out Would you confess straight out to a crime that carries the death penalty?? The police have not had to prove anything at all. Now I may have got my facts totally wrong as I have only got UK papers to go on(I live in the same town as the victim, so press coverage was quite extensive) but the whole thing seems to be very neatly tied up. If these are the right guys, I have nothing but praise for the Thai police but everything just feels wrong.
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#6
15-01-2006, 03:43
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I agree that this has all happened very quickly. Too quickly perhaps? The knee jerk confession from the suspects made me suspicious. The thai PM made it very clear that he wanted this wrapped up ASAP to protect Thailands reputation. The thai government has every reason to get this solved quickly. In the UK, this case would be months away from even starting a trial. The tabloids here are reporting that these chaps could be executed in the next few days. Still, I think that the damage has already been done. This is far from the first murder of a Britton in Thailand in recent years. I doubt that many (any) BM's on here will let it affect their future plans, but I'm sure that there are many families / female travellers that are maybe reconsidering? I hope that they have found the scum who are genuinely responsible for this terrible crime. If so, they will face a punishment that they thoroughly deserve. In comparison, in the Uk they would be out in 15 years. But a small part of me can't help but be suspicious that these guys may be sacrificial lambs for the overall good of Thailands tourism industry. I trust and hope that I am wrong....
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#7
15-01-2006, 05:01
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The point I was making was the timescale, it would be 12 or 18 months before we got as far as a trial over here. This going to be done and dusted inside a month or so, I just found it surprising.
I assume the facts will speak for themselves, DNA can't lie can it?, but I would agree that it has been remarkably quick work. On one of the other points raised, I did not see it reported as a jetski accident or anything else. That strikes me as a fairly ridiculous thing to report, she was on the phone to her mum and it was midnight, jetski accident?
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#8
15-01-2006, 05:12
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Never heard anything about jetski either , but did read a report that said the guys boasted about what they had done when they went back on boat. This would explain why they were caught so quickly , and with DNA evidence it would be pretty hard to deny things. Agree it has all gone very quickly because of publicity and "pressure from above" but perhaps if we weren't so Politically Correct about the "rights" of criminals then we would be able to bring murderers to trail a lot quicker.
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#9
15-01-2006, 05:14
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Now there's a thought!
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#10
15-01-2006, 05:30
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[quote=steve@thaib]
I assume the facts will speak for themselves, DNA can't lie can it?, but I would agree that it has been remarkably quick work.QUOTE] The DNA evidence that has been found would suggest that these men are guilty behind any shadow of a doubt! But will this DNA be available to any independant, impartial party to verify? We can only rely on the thai police's word that they have conclusive DNA evidence. I can only speak from what I have read on the net, but can anyone honestly say that they trust the thai police force 100%? That said, 'The Sun' newspaper photographed and personally spoke to these men in prison recently (Thursdays paper I think) and quoted them as showing no remorse for their crime. So hopefully the thai police have done a fantastic job in bringing these men to justice as quickly as possible.
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#11
15-01-2006, 05:39
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I find it hard to believe that the Thai police, or anyone else, could persuade two young men to confess to something that they are very likely (given that the PM has said 'maximum penalty') to get shot for if they have not done it.
We all have our stories about 'tea money' but, jeez, they have DNA and confessions and very likely other evidence that we don't know anything about yet. Are we expecting them to have no defence lawyer? Surely they can't put dodgy evidence out there in a murder trial?
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Last edited by steve@thaib : 15-01-2006 at 05:41.
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#12
15-01-2006, 05:40
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And speaking of police forces, I would not trust ours as far as I can throw up.
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#13
15-01-2006, 20:08
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steve
i think my point was meant to be that the speedy arrests and trail was made not for the crime but becouuse it hurt the tourist industry it harmed the baht would mr t have got involved otherwise
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#14
15-01-2006, 21:54
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Well if they pleaded guilty its a good thing that it was a fast trial, however if these guys are just some random guys the government used as a cover up for the whole incident then i feel so bad for them. 24-23 years old, same age as me.
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#15
15-01-2006, 21:56
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Fair comment, but if farang who are having crimes comitted against them are getting special treatment then, from a selfish perspective, I would say good. I do agree with the points made, it's a very high profile case and they have made a big effort to show the outside world that they are taking it seriously.
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#16
15-01-2006, 21:57
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As I said before, these guys are very likely to get shot for this. If they did not do it, why on earth would they say they had?
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#18
16-01-2006, 04:12
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Are you never surprised about the Thai Police get confessions in a very speedy way. Read the Gazette: Police arrest 2 villains -they confessed within 2 hrs. I must believe the Thai Police have some very "convincing interrogators" The same way CIA fly suspects around the world to "special" countries for interrogations.
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#19
16-01-2006, 16:48
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quick confession
1 of the arrested men was from ubon ratchathani, not many in issan learn to swim. maybe explains the cans to float with.
noise as we know travels very easily over water especially at night. from what i follow of thai cases, the crim is better to confess to his misdeeds, to try to obtain leniency especially in "capital" crimes. thailand has the death penalty for murder or generally it is commuted to life in prison. DNA well the odds of that being wrong are minimal. it would not suprise me if thai businessmen on koh samui put the word around of a "unofficial reward" to find the killers. because of the harm the incident does to their business interests. yes it was solved very quickly and it is very much to do with the tourist industry.
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#20
17-01-2006, 04:38
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no lethal injection is worse ! apparently your muscles spasm so much that your bones fracture .  dont ask me how i know this i think i read it somwhere. but it sound about right for these 2 guys if they are guilty.
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#21
17-01-2006, 05:22
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this might appeal to some as revenge but the process is actually rather different. it involves the injection of a series of substances, 1st to anaesthetise the person( usually pentothal, i believe in concentration which of itself would prove fatal). This is followed by a muscle relaxant that stops the breathing by paralysing the diaphram and lungs. Finally, in most cases a further drug is introduced to induce cardiac arrest. Still not a stroll in the park but possibly as humane as any system of state execution can be. In case anyone wonders i am not pro-capital punishment - miscarriages of justice do occur and can't be undone after a death sentence has been carried out. Odysseus
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#22
17-01-2006, 14:59
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You've got it right odysseus , the final drug given is Potassium which basically stops the heart. I use these drugs on a daily basis at work and can guarantee that they will not make "bones fracture" or "muscles spasm" , it is probably the most humane method used.
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#23
17-01-2006, 16:20
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Confessions get clemency
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In many cases in Thailand if the wrongdoer confesses he gets a lesser (sometimes 50% reduction) sentence.Even hardened killers who are caught after shooting someone just own up straight away as it goes better for them in court.These two have confessed and will probably avoid the death sentence but will get life. You don't need lawyers if you have made a full confession.I wish this would catch on in the west and then some of the stupid ambulance chasing cases would never come up.  It is interesting to note that the victim's mother has said she does not want them killed but to serve life imprisonment. 
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#24
17-01-2006, 18:45
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