the 2 guys from burma

[aot871]

Does any one know what has happened to the 2 young guys from Burma accused of the killing of the 2 brits ?. Their story seems to have gone silent

[Mancs]

They are appealing their convictions:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/17/burmese-men-to-appeal-conviction-in-koh-tao-murders-of-british-b/

[Oliver]

Justice for the poor? for the Burmese? This is Thailand!

[Smiles]

Justice for the poor? for the Burmese? This is Thailand!
Also: Venezuela, Zimbabwe, China, Burma, India, Pakistan, Syria, Saudia Arabia, Nicaragua, Haiti, Turkey Afghanistan ... one could go on.

[Oliver]

So it's acceptable then? By the way, you left out Israel from your list.

[Smiles]

So it's acceptable then? By the way, you left out Israel from your list.
My list is not complete ... there are many other countries in this dark world which might easily qualify, lots of room for others to add to the list.
But your contribution of Israel says nothing, except that you are pulling your never-ending antisemitism card. This board ~ and others ~ know you for exactly what you are.

And no buster, you know already I don't find any of them acceptable.

[goji]

There are a lot of countries in the world with corrupt systems.

Russia would be the largest of them in terms of land area.

[latintopxxx]

Israel....really!!!! Wait until the Jews really wake up and charge the arabs back rent for squatting on their land for the last 2000 years.

[justaguy]

Don't see the relevance about other countries. Thailand has used these two Burmese migrant workers as scapegoats for everyone to see. Dispicable.

i suppose it made the resident dictator happy, he doesn't seem to care about human rights at all. Even organized a bogus referendum to maintain face...

[Oliver]

Agreed. But you will notice that those posters who display such disdain for the Burmese victims are equally hateful towards the victims of other nations under oppression and occupation. And happy to post personal abuse too.

[Smiles]

Ollie, if there was ever a member on this and other boards who rightfully deserves personal abuse, it is you. And for you, just you, I'll be quite happy to oblige.

[Gaybutton]

the Burmese victims

What makes you so sure they are innocent? The families of the murder victims were there for the entire trial - with translators - and they saw and heard all the evidence. They are convinced the two boys are guilty. I can't believe the families would accept seeing the wrong people convicted while the criminals who actually committed the crime get away with it.

[arsenal]

Gaybutton: I think you're quite wrong with your assertion that families of murder victims are only interested in the right people being convicted. My belief is that they simply want a conviction. It's the only way they can move forward. Recent British history has had a whole spate of convictions overturned and the families are rarely, if ever magnanimous towards those who have been found innocent often giving interviews to the fact they still believe the by now proved innocent person did it.

[billyhouston]

The families of the murder victims were there for the entire trial - with translators - and they saw and heard all the evidence.

I think that should read "One of the families......"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/12100567/Thai-police-respond-to-scathing-criticism-from-sister-of-Koh-Tao-murder-victim.html

At least one Grauniad reader on this board will not read the article because it appears in the Daily Telegraph!

[Gaybutton]

My belief is that they simply want a conviction.

I hope that's wrong. Maybe there's something psychological that I don't understand, but if it were me, I would want to be damned sure that the people who really committed the crime are the ones convicted and punished for it.

In any case, no matter what the reason might be that the families believe these two boys committed the crime, that doesn't mean those boys are innocent. I don't know whether they're innocent or guilty, but I'm not going to be among those convinced these boys are merely scapegoat victims of some sinister plot to at least convict somebody, regardless of whether they're really the ones who committed the crime or not.

[arsenal]

It;s worth pointing out that UK police were involved in the aftermath of the arrest. And UK police are actually pretty fucking tippy top.

[billyhouston]

I, too, have insufficient information to draw any conclusion about the guilt, or otherwise, of the two Burmese. What I do know is that Pornthip Rojanasumand was unimpressed by the Thai Police's investigation and that it's all too easy to pin the blame on migrants. After all, Thais wouldn't do that sort of thing, would they?

[Oliver]

You have to be pretty gullible not to be aware of the way minorities tend to be "the usual suspects" when crimes are investigated., particularly And frequently they are young and ignorant of their rights, particularly in the crucial first few moments of arrest.
And it's not just in Thailand. Hence Black Lives Matter. And in the case of the Hares boys.

https://haresboys.wordpress.com/the-story/

[fountainhall]

I do not understand how one can state without doubt that these two were guilty. We all know how many times the BIB have extracted confessions that were later rescinded. In this case, the DNA evidence was also shot to pieces by none other than Thailand's best-known forensic scientist! Yet the judges ruled that the DNA evidence conformed to international standards! When that evidence has been described as "worthless", how can anyone have any faith in the judgement?

[Gaybutton]

You have to be pretty gullible not to be aware of the way minorities tend to be "the usual suspects" when crimes are investigated.

Be that as it may, it has nothing to do with whether these boys killed those two tourists. While they might be oppressed minorities, it doesn't mean they didn't commit the crime. What are you trying to say? The police say they did. The court says they did. The families of the tourists say they did. But they are minorities. Therefore they didn't.

I hope in the end it turns out they were wrongly convicted and will be released. But if they didn't do it, isn't anyone as curious as I am about who did?

[Doug]

From everything I've read about this case, I've come my own conclusion that every Thai living on that island knows who the murderer is and it's not the 2 Burmese.

[Oliver]

Exactly; and it was confirmed in the recent documentary. Unsurprisingly, the allegation involves one of Thailand's "hi-so" elite who mysteriously fled the island after the murder. The police are (it is alleged) fully aware of this.
The sons and daughters of the elite are protected from facing the consequences of their actions in Thailand. For them, killing innocent pedestrians (presumably lower-class ones) in their expensive cars is no big deal. Daddy will make sure that they aren't charged .And these are the same families who financed the coup.
Whether it's racist cops in the US (Ferguson), Israeli colonists in Palestine (Hares) or hi-so brats in Thailand, the rich and the powerful need not fear retribution for their crimes.

[latintopxxx]

ollie...u forget to mention the lovely muslim elite ruling class leaders in morocco, saudi arabia, uae, jordan, syria, iran, iraq, malaysia, nigeria that oppress/murder/exploit their own people....but hey lets pick on the jews...such as easy target.

[scottish-guy]

Crap.

Even suggesting the Jews are NOT an easy target is enough to get yourself accused of anti-semitism these days.

[latintopxxx]

well, when some brain deficient moron purposefully singles out the ONLY democracy with a thriving gay scene in a toilet of a region called the middle east...its well...annoying.

[goji]

in a toilet of a region called the middle east...its well...annoying.
I think you're being slightly unfair there. The poor toilet doesn't deserve to be compared with the middle east.

[justaguy]

I do not understand how one can state without doubt that these two were guilty. We all know how many times the BIB have extracted confessions that were later rescinded. In this case, the DNA evidence was also shot to pieces by none other than Thailand's best-known forensic scientist! Yet the judges ruled that the DNA evidence conformed to international standards! When that evidence has been described as "worthless", how can anyone have any faith in the judgement?

There is simply no way based upon the evidence provided, that one can beyond a reasonable doubt claim these two victims did it. Even the dna evidence that did make it into the court room does not prove they murdered the two other victims in this case.

The alledged murder weapon does not contain any dna from the accused, but it does contain dna from other persons. That alone would be reason enough to aquit them of the murder charge. Not to mention the fact that half the island was trampling on the crime scene, so any evidence should not be admisable in the first place.

But this is Thailand, tourists are murdered and they couldn't sweep it under the carpet, so they found a few scapegoats, arrested and interogated them, did not follow any of the normal procedures and alledgely torutured them into a confession, assisted by a roti seller who didn't even speak the actual language the two scapegoats spoke.

The subsequent trial was anything but fair and I hope the appeal will see proper justice, but this is Thailand so the best they can hope for is life in prison instead of an injection...

Meanwhile the real killers are still walking the street.

[Josan]

Exactly; and it was confirmed in the recent documentary. Unsurprisingly, the allegation involves one of Thailand's "hi-so" elite who mysteriously fled the island after the murder. The police are (it is alleged) fully aware of this.

Exactly, again!

[fountainhall]

Everyone knows that the hi-so elite have a pack of "Get out of Jail Free" cards. Still no action on the Red Bull heir's heinous murder of a policeman years ago when he was drunk and had drugs in his system. Still no action on the crook who ran the TAT and received extensive kickbacks into Singapore bank accounts in her name and that of her daughter from a later jailed Hollywood couple she engaged to run the Bangkok Film Festival. And the music just goes round and round . . .