Now that the international press is also paying attention to 'Death Island' Koh Tao, Surat Thani police have held a press conference in which they emphasize that they have conducted a thorough investigation into the many mysterious cases in which foreign tourists have died. The investigative and forensic work complied with US FBI guidelines, police say. Six tourists have died on the island in recent years and a woman is still missing.
After the death of the Belgian Elise Dallemange, who was considered a suicide by the police, her mother sought publicity. This earned the popular diving and snorkeling island the nickname 'Island of the Dead'.
The police opened up more and showed the press the tree where the young Belgian woman would have hanged herself. Given the location, this only raises more questions. However, the police continue to insist that the autopsy shows that it is about asphyxia. Police commander Apichart reiterated that there are no indications that she was murdered.
The Commander of the Office of Police Forensic Science said Elise's neck had bruises indicating a loop around her neck.
Also on the other cases of deceased tourists, the police emphasizes that all investigations into the deaths complied with the FBI's 12-step process.
Regarding reports that a mafia family is in charge on Koh Tao, Assistant Commissioner Thanet, also head of Police Region 8, said at the press conference: “I am working with the governor, the army and the police to maintain order. There is no mafia on Koh Tao”.
The mayor of Koh Tao, Chaiyan Thurasakul, wants the 'Samui Times' website to be tackled. According to him, Koh Tao's reputation has been damaged by the website calling Koh Tao 'Death Island'.
The local district chief, Krikkrai Songtanee, said that reports like this had caused panic among tourists and many bookings have since been cancelled.
On Koh Tao, as of 2013, four foreign tourists have died under mysterious circumstances. Two British tourists were also murdered (two Burmese were arrested for this), a young Russian woman is still missing. This brings the number to seven.
Sources: Bangkok Post and The Nation
The authorities apparently do not notice that if you rub a stain, the stain will get bigger and bigger.
The “crime scene” handling is done at the level of 12-step FBI process!!!????. I have serious doubts about this. Every time I see events related to crime scene handling on Thai TV, I see a lot of people getting mixed up at the crime scene. This is one of the conditions which of course should not happen. There should be as few people as possible there, only experts in the field and those are not the bosses, I can already say. The clothing is also not shielded, which encourages trace mixing. (The clean white suits) And I could go on and on. As long as bosses still think they should be at the forefront of everything and show this out of curiosity and importance, people won't take it seriously. It is also the case that the average basic training for an agent in Thailand takes less time than the crime scene handling module in the Netherlands, which says something. Explains, of course, why things go wrong that can no longer be corrected. It is also not clear to me what the plays of the “viewing” bring to the table. It's a fun activity that sometimes gets out of hand. No, there is still a lot to learn in this area, but one must be open to it and that is one of the major shortcomings in Thailand.
According to statistics, about 80 tourists die in Thailand every year. That is almost 7 per month. There is no specification per cause of death. So there are murders, accidents and suicides in it.
Seen in this way, it is of course also logical that these victims mainly occur in tourist areas. And so they also fall in Koh Tao. With 2-3 victims per year, Koh Tao is not very out of place for the time being.
It can be established, however, that many victims fall as a result of drinking (and then overconfident/irresponsible behaviour) and in traffic due to the use of "mopeds" which are actually motorcycles here. And so a driver's license should be required.
One last observation regarding drinks: balustrades on balconies are often (much) lower here than in the Netherlands/Europe.
More than 30 million tourists come to Thailand every year, who stay an average of almost 10 days.
So, at any given time, there are on average nearly a million tourists in Thailand.
In the Netherlands, the suicide rate is about 11 per 100.000, so if the average tourist in Thailand is just as suicidal as the average Dutchman, that would already result in 110 dead tourists per year.
The number of road deaths in Thailand is about 40 per 100.000, if the average tourist is 2x as careful that there are 20 per 100.000, so 200 per million per year.
That puts me at 310 dead tourists a year, without even one having had a heart attack.
Those statistics you mention could use some polishing.
Those more than 30 million tourists to the Netherlands stay on average for just under 3 days. That's because all those millions of day trippers from surrounding countries are also counted. This is stated in this factsheet from the Dutch embassy:
Thailand mostly attracts short haul visitors from neighboring countries, for whom the country is a popular weekend break destination. Therefore, the average length of stay in Thailand is relatively low with only 2.8 nights
https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/documents/publications/2017/06/05/tourism-in-thailand
That means that there are an average of 300.000 tourists in Thailand and not 1 million. That group is not a normal reflection of the general population and all comparisons with it are therefore not valid.
If you do, there must be a total of approximately 2.000 deaths per year among tourists, of which approximately 30 are suicides.
It is impossible to say and compare the number of (suicide) murders and deaths in Thailand among tourists.
Always interesting, numbers.
Tourism generates USD 71 billion, of which 2/3 comes from foreign tourists. So 40 billion euros. They spend 5100 Baht per day, say 125 euros.
40 billion divided by 30 million is 1333 euros per person.
That will take you 10,6 days.
According to this site, the average is 9,19 days
.
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/WorldStats/UNCTAD-average-length-stay-visitors.html
.
And according to this 9,5 days.
.
http://www.thaiwebsites.com/tourism-income-Thailand.asp
.
The 'fact-sheet' of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs / the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok therefore contains, in my opinion, contradictory figures.
Isn't our tax money better spent than analyzing tourism in Thailand?
Another nice one: In Thailand, 100.000 are killed per 3.2 visitors.
See
http://lifehacker.com/the-countries-actually-most-dangerous-for-tourists-1794002926
.
30 million is 30 x 100.000, so 30 x 3.2 is 96 tourists killed per year.
Well, then 7 possible murders on a busy island in four years are not really news.
Part of this expenditure does not end up in Thailand at all. Someone who buys a fully arranged trip in the Netherlands from a Dutch tour operator for say 3 weeks in Thailand and flies with Eva Air, staying in Western hotels may be much less interesting than the backpacker who flies with Thai Airways or Thai low-cost carriers and stays in guesthouses.
No, not internally contradictory figures, but a difference in definition. What is a tourist and what is a holiday? In one case, every foreigner who crosses the border (including day visitors from Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Laos) is counted as a tourist while they return home the same day or night.
In official statistics in Europe, a minimum of 4 days away from home (NOT with family or acquaintances) is used as the definition of holiday. Tourist is anyone who spends at least 1 night abroad (not with family and acquaintances). In statistics from many Asian countries, staying with family and acquaintances is counted as a holiday (as we did about 40-50 years ago in the Netherlands).
I don't know if I'm allowed to link this site but gives a reasonable picture of what's happening everywhere.
https://www.farang-deaths.com/statistics/
But these datas are also incomplete because they only concern deaths from the news.
So someone who dies later due to an accident is not counted.
Unfortunately, that figure is far too low. I recently read that something like 374 British people had died last year alone. More than 200 Germans. In total, there will be many more deaths from other countries
Sorry Teun but your statistics are not correct. Official statistics speak of about 256 tourists dying, even listed by nationality. However, the largest number of victims was forgotten, namely the Australians who, for reasons unknown to me, lose their lives with more people than all other nationalities combined. This together would mean that more than 500 tourists lose their lives in TH every year, and in my humble opinion this number is closer to reality.
Australians are not even the largest group. The site on which the deceased Britons in Thailand are reported has been blocked by the Thai government. But a while ago it was stated that the number of British tourists in Thailand has fallen by 50%. But there were more deaths. Namely more than 1 per day! I thought 374 in 2016.
The certainty with which the police claim that there is no mafia on Koh Tao does not make the story any more credible.
It is not about statistics, but about the laconic way in which the police dismiss things.
Things like scooter accidents, or a fall from a balcony are irrelevant on Koh Tao.
We're talking about young people who are just on vacation and then die under suspicious circumstances.
Then you don't accept it as a parent that it is considered suicide. There are just too many for an island like Koh Tao. Three people already this year!
Then it makes sense for the international media to pick it up, in my opinion.