Eighth Region Police Command commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Panya Mamen identified the first suspect as Mon
KOH TAO – The police on Koh Tao Island have announced they have arrested a suspect in the murder of two British tourists in Koh Tao and are still hunting for a second suspect who has escaped into Bangkok.
A photo taken by a Scottish tourist of two men suspected by police of involvement in the killing of two British tourists on Koh Tao.
Eighth Region Police Command commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Panya Mamen identified the first suspect as Mon.
Investigators Tuesday interrogated Montriwat Toovichien, a 45-year-old bartender at AC Bar on Koh Tao who identified as the man seen in closed-circuit video footage in the hours before the Sept 15 bludgeoning deaths of Britons David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23.
Mr Montriwat, a brother of Koh Tao subdistrict village chief Voraphan Toovichien, was interrogated for almost three hours. He submitted to a DNA test before he was allowed to leave at 1.50pm.
Mr Voraphan, who also owns AC Bar, arrived at police headquarters shortly after his brother began to talk to police. He too submitted a DNA sample for testing.
Pol Lt Gen Panya said a second suspect, who fled the resort island to Bangkok, will likely be taken into custody soon.
He said both suspects were captured by CCTV cameras and the police have gathered enough evidence to implicate them in the murders.
He said the southern police were coordinating with the metropolitan police to hunt him down, and expected to apprehend him today.
The southern police chief also assured the public that there was no arrest of scapegoats in this murder case as it now is a focal attention of the world.
He also dismissed any suggestion of local mafias or influential people that could twist the investigation with promise that local influence would pose no obstacle to the police investigation.
Instead the police will eliminate all these mafias, he said.
Meanwhile a police source said the police are also looking into the cooperation of those who helped to arrange the suspect to escape. They also will be arrested.
Montriwat Toovichien, a man seen the CCTV footage in the hours before the double murder, arrives to meet with police Tuesday. THITI WANNAMONTHA
A photo taken by a Scottish tourist of two men suspected by police of involvement in the killing of two British tourists on Koh Tao. Police said the image of the man on the left matches that of a suspect captured by a security camera at the time of the killings, right.