I had a great day of snorkeling on Koh Tao in 2016...
My regret was I did not spend more time there.
It took a long time by a fast boat to get there and back to Koh Samui...
The comment about US gun violence is a good one.
The anti-gun party in the USA never mention that gun violence is almost always caused by someone with an illegal gun... someone with a criminal record who could not legally possess a gun...
A good example is Chicago where every weekend there are shootings....not by law abiding folks...but, by criminals.
Koh Tao has tried to protect its image to maintain their tourist trade...It is not an easy place to get to.
It is not an uncommon thing for places to downplay criminal activity..or tragedy.
Peter Benchley wrote a very popular book called JAWS that contained this very plot line.
I certainly feel sorry for any victims.
I was just showing my wife a chart showing the major causes of death in the USA in 2019...
The regular flu has killed about 15,000 Americans since just last October..
The leading cause of death? same as barang in Cambodia...
heart attack...
Losing a friend or loved one to violence leaves a scar.
I lost my son almost 7 years ago and I am a shell of what I once was.
I got closure to a point.. more closure than these parents and you who lost friends on Koh Tao.
The empty loss never goes away and if you don't have the experience you don't quite grasp the loss.
I try to love my wife every day like it is my last day with her.
Hopefully, the people on Koh Tao can work to change this awful image caused by so many tragic events.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sun Mar 15, 2020 8:36 am its been over 2 years since the last death and only 8 since 2014
so are we to keep being reminded of it?
tens of thousands visit the island every month with no problem at all

Lets keep referring to the shootings in America where hundreds and hundreds have died, to remind people how dangerous America is

Someone is not paying attention. I listed 18 deaths from 2000 which included 2 deaths within the past 2 years. There were other accidental deaths such as the 20yo UK man, Billy Abernethy-Hope who crashed his motorcycle in late March 2018 that I left off the list.

Steve Burgess of TRUE CRIME FIX PODCAST has published this well researched 60 minute report about Koh Tao deaths on YouTube:





There are a few slips such as a reference to “Liam Miller” when referring to “Luke Miller” but for anyone interested in this topic it is a good investment of 60 minutes.

Maybe you could do some work on Phuket's deadly dangerous and corrupt slice of the pie.
But expect that there will be people who would want you to shut up about that too.


Not good for the economy, you know, to have visitors realise that some of Thailand's smiles are those of the crocodile.
Best they be blissfully ignorant of the need for caution.

and those faces to be forgotten.

New novella from English author, Luke Richardson “Koh Tao.”

Leo’s girlfriend, Mya goes missing in “paradise” but when he reports her disappearance to the island police they “solve” the problem by arresting a Burmese migrant worker and promptly incarcerating him on nearby Koh Samui. Sound familiar?

Trashy novels. Great.

That will bring justice alright.

sigmoid wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:38 pm
Thailand's Dark Side: An ex-Thailand resident warns that Koh Tao is a no-go zone


http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/asi ... 24171.html

Until the real killer(s) are found instead of those poor two Burmese, and prosecuted I certainly would not advise anyone to go there.

Thai king commutes Myanmar men's death sentence over Britons' murder
Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty of killing Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in 2014
Agence France-Presse in Bangkok
Sat 15 Aug 2020 11.15 BST
Two men on death row for the murder of a pair of British backpackers in Thailand have had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment after a mass royal pardon.

The men’s lawyer, Nadthasiri Bergman, said the pardon decree – which was published on Friday and applies to all inmates on death row – was effective immediately.

Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty of the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and of killing David Miller, 24, after their battered bodies were found on a beach on the southern resort island of Koh Tao in September 2014.

But defence lawyers have said the evidence used to convict the two men – who are both from Myanmar’s impoverished Rakhine state – was unreliable and alleged that confessions by the pair were obtained under duress.

“I can’t find words to express how thankful we are,” Ye Zaw Tun, a brother of Win Zaw Tun, told AFP on Saturday after the decree.

“We knew this case was totally unfair, and we sometimes feel bitterness, but we want to say thanks for the royal pardon.”

A commutation of their sentence had been the pair’s only remaining hope after their final appeal failed last year, with Thailand’s top court ruling the evidence against them was clear.

The case triggered a strong reaction from Myanmar, where many felt the two men had been given an unfair trial as low-paid immigrant workers – an integral part of Thailand’s workforce – are often regarded with contempt by its public.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... er-britons