THE CURSE OF THE TURTLE: The True Story of Thailand’s “Backpacker Murders” by Suzanne Buchanan.

Some of my random thoughts about this important new book by the founder and former editor/owner of the SAMUI TIMES.

A new 3 part documentary series is also coming soon on SKY CRIME. DEATH ON THE BEACH is due to start screening from 6 March 2022.

Koh Tao diving instructors die.

Yoshie “Sharlyn” Sazawa died in suspicious circumstances in June 2004.

Her former de facto spouse, Michael Spjuth died of head injuries received in a motorbike accident on Koh Tao in late December 2021.

The Quick and the Dead of Koh Tao

Risky Business on Death Island

Ian Yarwood wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:39 pm

THE CURSE OF THE TURTLE: The True Story of Thailand’s “Backpacker Murders” by Suzanne Buchanan.

Some of my random thoughts about this important new book by the founder and former editor/owner of the SAMUI TIMES.

A new 3 part documentary series is also coming soon on SKY CRIME. DEATH ON THE BEACH is due to start screening from 6 March 2022.

For those in Australia, Death on the Beach is now on Stan

https://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asia- ... o-150.html

Screenshots of some posts on the online forum TEAKDOOR.COM

I’m watching the series and while Suzanne is obviously very knowledgeable my opinion of her conclusions was negatively impacted when she said that one death was suspicious because the person’s wallet and watch were missing. We all know that objects go missing after a death and does not mean they were taken by a person causing the death. Passerby/police do it.
She may well be right that the person involved was murdered, but basing it on those ‘facts’ that the belongings were missing doesn’t cut it for me.

Hi Violet.

There was more to the story than the producers of the SKY CRIME series called DEATH ON THE BEACH included in the final cut. Many of the families of victims were dismayed and angry that a huge amount of important details about the circumstances surrounding their loved ones’ deaths was cut from the final production.

In part 3 of the series it seemed rather clear that the producers were attempting to portray the families and Suzanne Buchanan in a bad light.

They included statements from a Khaosod English journalist in which he completely contradicted what he had said in previous years about murders on the island. The producers at Blast! Films conveniently failed to mention that the Toowuchien family had sued the publication under Thailand’s notorious defamation laws. There are criminal defamation laws that attract prison sentences of 5 years (Computer Crimes Act) and 2 years (Thailand’s criminal code).

In the case of Ben Harrington, the Thai autopsy was completely different to the British autopsy, which does not provide any confidence in the accuracy of the Thai investigation.

The Thais were also pushing to have Ben’s body cremated ASAP.

Ben’s brother had also previously stated that the road in question had too many potholes for anyone to ride on quickly enough to sustain the type of injuries that Ben suffered.

In addition, there had been previous reported incidents on Koh Tao of tourists being forced to crash by Thais trying to rob them.

The evidence that Ben was murdered is not overwhelming but, in all the circumstances, it is open for reasonable people to conclude that his death is suspicious.

The producers of the DEATH ON THE BEACH series failed to create a product that did justice to those who generously gave up their time to participate in it. Nor did they make the best use of the information and resources that had been entrusted to them.

I was watching a vlogger I follow on his recent trip to Koh Tao, it was noticeable that he passed several lone western females walking poorly lit areas late at night. While I'm not suggesting people should be paranoid about personal safety, it's not something I'd recommend in a place with such a sketchy recent history as Koh Tao.

Death on the Beach is poorly made. Definitely

Here is the original trailer made by Blakeway Productions for a documentary miniseries about the many murders on Koh Tao. It is under 4 minutes long and seems very promising. Unfortunately, Blast! Films got the gig to make a 3 part series for SKY CRIME. Although there was some good information in the first two episodes, the third episode was a train wreck marred by poor research and poor writing. The creators also left some of the best material on the proverbial cutting room floor and replaced it with rubbish which just left many viewers confused rather than enlightened.