Deputy national police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang on Wednesday criticised social media for derailing investigators who are still searching for the murderers of two Britons on Koh Tao.
Woraphan Tuwichian gives a press conference at the AC Bar on Koh Tao on Wednesday to call for fairness from the media. (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)
The investigators have come under fire from local and international media for failing to find the killers of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller who were found dead on the island in Surat Thani province on Sept 15.
Pol Gen Somyot pointed to groundless reports posted on social media that obstructed the investigation and confused the investigators.
The mystery surrounding the identities of the killers had grown over reports, which he denied, that a suspect had fled the island and was hiding in Bangkok. "I was surprised at the news. We haven't targeted anyone and have not concluded whether the murderers are still in the area,'' he said.
Pol Lt Gen Panya Mamen, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 8 based in Surat Thani, said on Tuesday that the suspect had left the island and went into hiding in the capital.
A person of interest in the case was reportedly a close aide of Woraphan Tuwichian, chief of Ban Moo 1 at tambon Koh Tao in Koh Phangan district.
But Mr Woraphan on Wednesday strongly denied the links and called for fairness from the media which he said portrayed him as an influential figure on the island.
He said his family members were being tainted by society, adding he was cooperating fully with police working on the case.
Mr Woraphan and his younger brother Montriwat, who owned the AC Bar where the two tourists were last seen, met investigators on Tuesday for interrogation and submitted DNA for a tests before police allowed them to leave.
Mr Woraphan said he would donate 1 million baht in cash to the Provincial Police Region 8 if his relatives or brothers are involved in the murders. His lawyer had been asked to sue the media for trying to connect the case to his family, he told a press conference at the bar.
Meanwhile, police have deployed more officers on the island with eight officers from the Crime Suppression Division and Pol Maj Gen Suwat Chaengyodsook of the Metropolitan Police Bureau dispatched to join about 150 others on the Koh Tao investigation.