Tourists murdered on Koh Tao

[Dannie Boy]

Thai King commutes death sentence to life imprisonment for two Burmese men - more here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-53771925

[True North]

I've been following this thread since it started 6 years ago and it was good to see that the moderators have cleaned up the posts about "murder island etc." in the past. This latest post dated 2 days ago prompted me to become a member so I could answer the above drivel. The post states....

"Or, 'When you think of Koh Tao'.....murder, death, lies, collusion and corruption are the things that immediately spring to my mind.....still, that wouldn't make good headlines for 'Murder Island'

Then there is a graphic of an island with a scull below the waterline.

This is both offensive not only to my family and myself but to all the other honest people who live, work, own businesses and raise their families there.
I would like to point out that I have both close and extended (Thai) family in Ko Tao and they are kind, loving and hard working business people. Things are already bad for Ko Tao with the lack of international tourists in Thailand at the moment without domestic visitors thinking it's unsafe to go there.
This is a high profile case which was both picked up and ran by the international media in Britain for a period of time.
People don't hear much about rape and or murder of foreign tourists in Ko Pha Ngan, Ko Samui, Phuket. Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Bangkok and other places in Thailand because the international media don't pick up many stories and you certainly don't hear about the number of Thai people being raped/murdered unless you can speak Thai and there is plenty of that in the local media.
There is nowhere in the world that doesn't have "murder, death, lies, collusion and corruption". I feel more safe in Ko Tao than most other places.
Ko Tao has had unwarranted bad press many years ago and needs peoples support today not this sort of disparaging posts.

[PeteC]

I agree. It's gone. It started off in the wrong thread to start with and I should have dumped it then rather than moving it.

[True North]

Thanks PeteC

[HHTel]

Generally, we consider Koh Tao a safe destination to visit. Although there are instances of drugs, petty theft, corruption, and various tourist scams; crime can be found in most areas of the world. The fact is, the majority of trips to Koh Tao go as planned.

Overall, Koh Tao is safe place to travel right now. When you take into account that the island receives over 100,000 visits a year, then the odds of something bad happening to you is significantly slim. You are still 1000 times more likely to fall off a motorbike, drown, or get hit by a car than to ever encounter any trouble on the island. Mafia or no mafia, your safety depends on your common sense and ability to stay out of trouble.

A full read of the article shows why the media have picked up the negatives. Being a small island it's an easy target. Bad news is more profitable than good news.

https://www.journeyingtheglobe.com/is-koh-tao-safe/

[True North]

Good solid advise for travel everywhere. Thanks HHTel