Thailand agrees to British police help over murders
LONDON (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has agreed to allow British police to help with the investigation into the murder of two young Britons on the holiday island of Koh Tao, diplomatic sources said Friday.
The head of the junta dropped his objections to a visit by British detectives following a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron on the margins of the ASEM summit of European and Asian leaders in Milan.
"What the prime minister secured this morning was agreement from the Thai prime minister that we can send some British police investigators to Koh Tao to work with the Royal Thai Police on this," a British diplomatic source said.
Myanmar migrant workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were charged with the murder of David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, afte the tourists’ battered bodies were found on Koh Tao on September 15.
Thai police have said the two suspects confessed to the crime and their DNA matched samples taken from Witheridge’s body, but there have been accusations that the men were tortured -- something Thailand strongly denies.
"There are two areas we are particularly concerned about," said the diplomatic source.
"One is the verification of the DNA samples of the suspects, making sure there is further independent verification. And the second is the investigation into allegations of mistreatment of the suspects."