The southern province of Surat Thani is preparing to impose a curfew on migrant workers on its three main tourist islands, prohibiting them from leaving their homes after 10pm.
Relatives of two Myanmar migrant workers, accused of murdering two British tourists on Koh Tao in Surat Thani on Sept 15, submit a petition on the suspects' behalf seeking justice from the Office of the Attorney-General yesterday. Thiti Wannamontha
Governor Chatpong Chatphuti said yesterday the provincial administration planned to exercise powers under martial law to declare the curfew to "ensure tourists' safety".
The islands are Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao.
Koh Tao was the site of the Sept 15 murder of two British tourists, Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24.
Police arrested two Myanmar workers after a widely criticised investigation and charged them with the crime.
Both suspects, Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, have denied the charges.
Speaking after a meeting with local security officials and health authorities, the governor said the province was encountering problems associated with the presence of migrant workers on the islands.
Mr Chatpong said some migrant workers speak English better than local Thais and tell tourists they are Thai.
When migrants are involved in a crime, they are mistakenly identified by witnesses as Thais.
"That has shattered the good reputation of Thailand," Mr Chatpong said, adding that now is the time to impose stringent controls on migrant workers to force them to abide by the law.
He did not cite any specific cases of the type of crime he described.
Mr Chatpong was behind a ban on parties on the islands' beaches — all except the well-known Full Moon party organised monthly on Rin beach on Phangan island.
"Most tourists visit the islands because they want to enjoy the natural beauty of them, not those parties," he said, calling rave-goers "only a fraction" of the visitors.
The governor allowed the Full Moon party to continue under more stringent regulations.
Wannee Thaiphanich, president of the tourism promotion association on Koh Phangan, welcomed the curfew idea, saying migrant workers shouldn't be allowed "to hang out drinking alcohol" near the Full Moon party unless proper controls were imposed.
Meanwhile, the parents of the two Myanmar suspects yesterday lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand and the Office of the Attorney-General on behalf of their children.
They repeated assertions that their sons are innocent and that they had originally confessed to the crime because they were tortured. The pair have since retracted their confessions.
Accusations persist on social media that Warot Tuwichian, the son of Koh Tao's Moo 1 village headman, was responsible for the murders.
After a meeting with police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang in Bangkok, the headman, Woraphan Tuwichian, said he would have his son DNA-tested to dispel the rumours.