Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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buksida
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Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

Post by buksida »

Note, I've posted this separate as it is a general topic and not concerning any one specific incident. Definitley getting international coverage now though.

"Amazing Thailand" - so the slogan goes. But while Thailand shines brightly on many fronts – its exuberant capital, mesmerising beaches, bucolic countryside, lip-smacking food – it is mirrored by a dark side, a far cry from the tourism authority's vision of paradise.

During my years living in the Land of Smiles, I heard almost daily tales of horrific motorbike, car, boat and bus accidents, scams and property frauds, drownings and diving incidents, stabbings, suicides and highly-suspicious deaths. Most distressing among them were the murders of British youngsters Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, who were brutally killed on the southern island of Koh Tao in 2014. At the time of the event, I was asked by an international news agency to gather some quotes from foreigners living on the island.

Resting in the Gulf of Thailand, a two-hour ferry ride north of Koh Samui, Koh Tao is best known for its incredible marine life, which over the years has attracted a small but buoyant expat community of around 2,000 people, many of whom run dive centres, restaurants and B&Bs. But my requests to long-time residents and business owners were met with fear, as they made it quite clear they felt their lives would be in danger if they spoke on the record. Off the record, however, they told of an island held in the iron grip of a mafia family, who demanded protection money, controlled the local police force and were not above attacking or burning down the homes and businesses of people that crossed them.

Later, the investigation into Ms Witheridge and Mr Miller's murders was widely criticised, with the police accused of incompetence, mismanagement and the scapegoating of two Burmese migrant workers, who are now awaiting the death penalty. With attention focused on the island, a number of other disturbing deaths soon came to light, including that of Nick Pearson, from Derby, who police concluded had fallen from cliffs and then drowned, and French tourist Dimitri Povse, who was found hanged with his hands tied behind his back. Since then, I have refused to visit the island, have strongly advised friends and family not to go and have declined to include Koh Tao in any of my travel-related articles. The recent discovery of the body of Elise Dallemange, the seventh young backpacker to have died in suspicious circumstances in just three years, has only strengthened my belief that Koh Tao is a place to be avoided at all costs.

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

Thoughts: nothing new in there really, I wonder if the govt will try to sue the Independent.
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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staying alive comes to mind
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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Yeah, nothing new in that report. Mafia Island needs reigning in for sure, but as I mentioned on the other thread, anything short of building a naval base and stationing a large force of military and police from the mainland there plus removing the thugs/pirates that run the island, then nothing will change.

And as for "beautiful marine life" and ecosystems...maybe good diving at the Chumphon Pinnacle site, but around the island beaches it's almost devoid of life and things like the coral etc. is bleached and dead.

Just a place for those wearing the rose-tinted ones and bums imo these days.
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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Thailand in the red but North Korea green.....
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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The Nation newspaper is really rubbing it in. :twisted: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/cartoon/view/20065

8f0db6b71a401481e331f0f7b3bfc0fa.jpeg
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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I agree for a boycott of this island due to what happened, but all deaths were not crimes.
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Re: RE: Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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prcscct wrote:The Nation newspaper is really rubbing it in. :twisted: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/cartoon/view/20065

8f0db6b71a401481e331f0f7b3bfc0fa.jpeg
Will The Nation be sued for defamation and computer crime offences I wonder? Or are such things reserved for small news outlets?
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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europtimiste wrote: Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:23 pm I agree for a boycott of this island due to what happened, but all deaths were not crimes.
How do you know that for sure, the island is obviously a cesspool!!
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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This appired in a British rag
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Death Island
Death Island
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Re: RE: Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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hhinner wrote: Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:03 pm
prcscct wrote:The Nation newspaper is really rubbing it in. :twisted: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/cartoon/view/20065


8f0db6b71a401481e331f0f7b3bfc0fa.jpeg
Will The Nation be sued for defamation and computer crime offences I wonder? Or are such things reserved for small news outlets?
Go to that link and look at the history of their cartoons listed at the bottom, and other pages. They push the envelope almost everyday. The cartoonist is a foreigner I think, perhaps French if I recall correctly. He's been at it for years. Pete :cheers:
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

Post by europtimiste »

aragon wrote: Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:12 pm
europtimiste wrote: Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:23 pm I agree for a boycott of this island due to what happened, but all deaths were not crimes.
How do you know that for sure, the island is obviously a cesspool!!
Have you even been there ???
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Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

Post by hhinner »

prcscct wrote:
hhinner wrote: Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:03 pm
prcscct wrote:The Nation newspaper is really rubbing it in. :twisted: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/cartoon/view/20065


8f0db6b71a401481e331f0f7b3bfc0fa.jpeg
Will The Nation be sued for defamation and computer crime offences I wonder? Or are such things reserved for small news outlets?
Go to that link and look at the history of their cartoons listed at the bottom, and other pages. They push the envelope almost everyday. The cartoonist is a foreigner I think, perhaps French if I recall correctly. He's been at it for years. Pete :cheers:
My point was that "the island" is suing Samui Times for using "Death Island". But that's small fry.
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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Theirs obviously rivalries between islands competing for dwindling tourist baht.
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

Post by europtimiste »

Anyway Koh Tao is in hands of 2 mafia families, you can read this in previous reports dated at the double murder.
Koh Samui is also a mafia island, all businesses have to bribe local authorities. Call them official or non official.
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Re: Thailand's dark side: why you really shouldn't visit Koh Tao

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kendo wrote: Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:33 pm Theirs obviously rivalries between islands competing for dwindling tourist baht.
:lach: :agree:
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