From 'The Nation,' Jan 30, 2006:
"The brutal rape and murder of 21-year-old Welsh student Katherine Horton on Koh Samui has caused a 30 per cent drop in the number of British tourists visiting Surat Thani province this year, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
The TAT’s southern office director Pramote Sapyen said even though the crime was solved quickly and two fishermen convicted and sentenced to death, it was obvious the incident had affected tourism.
The case was heavily reported in the United Kingdom, and that had frightened tourists, with more than 30 per cent cancelling their trips to Koh Samui and Koh Pha-ngan during the high season.
“This will affect overall tourism for the year as normally 150,000 British tourists visit Thailand a year. A tourist stays on average one week and spends Bt4,000-Bt5,000 a day,â€