Thailand's security authorities yesterday hunted a police officer who was the lone suspect in the killing of two British tourists, police said.
Officers said they had found bloodstains and a bullet in the suspect's car similar to those used in the killings early Thursday morning of Vanessa Arscott, 24, and her boyfriend Adam Lloyd, 25, near the site made famous by the film The Bridge on the River Kwai.
The couple were both shot and killed while returning to their lodgings from a restaurant at Kanchanaburi, near the border with Myanmar, after reports of a heated row involving Lloyd.
An off-duty sergeant fought with Lloyd and shot him several times outside a restaurant he part-owned and where the couple had been drinking, said Colonel Ves Sombbon, commander of the Kanchanaburi provincial police.
"We are searching for only one suspect, Sergeant Somchai Visetsing, 39, and expect to arrest him in a few days since senior police officers instructed us to work swiftly on this case," he said.
He said the motive for the killing was unknown but Thai reports said the British couple had fought and the off-duty officer got involved.
After Lloyd was shot, the killer allegedly chased Arscott in his car, mowed her down and shot her two times, according to reports. The couple died on their way to hospitals.
Police went to the officer's home with a search warrant but Somchai was not there. The search team found blood stains on his car wheels as well as a bullet in his car.
"It's a .38 bullet, the same type used to shoot the victims," Ves said.
The pair had been due to return to Britain this weekend after spending more than two months in Thailand, according to UK press reports.
Kanchanaburi has been a growing destination for foreign tourists, lured by the fame of the notorious bridge near the border with Myanmar, war cemeteries in the town and beautiful waterfalls.
An estimated 16,000 allied prisoners of war and 100,000 Asian laborers died during the construction of the railway during World War II. It was designed as a crucial link between Japan's new territories of Singapore and Myanmar.
This week's killings came after Thailand embarked on a major promotion of its tourist industry. It is seeking to double the number of arrivals to 20 million by 2008.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS