Two Thai fishermen pleaded guilty Friday to the rape and murder of a 21yearold Welsh tourist, as their trial began in a case that has cast a shadow over Thailand's tourism industry.
The suspects entered the court room in shackles and jail uniforms as the unusually swift judicial proceedings began just 12 days after Katherine Horton was killed on the resort island of Samui, and four days after their arrest.
The body of the 21yearold psychology student, who was in Thailand on a backpacking break with a friend, was found floating in Lamai Bay on January 2.
Prosecutors planned to bring 11 witnesses to testify Friday, Surat Thani provincial court clerk Viroj Kittipongsakorn said by telephone.
"The court hearing today is merely to follow up the suspects' guilty pleas, since they have confessed since the beginning," he said.
Police say DNA evidence links Bualoy Kothisit, 23, and Wichai Sonkhaoyai, 24, to the rape and murder of Horton, and that both men confessed that they committed the crime after a drinking binge on New Year's Day.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called for their execution if they are convicted, and pressured police and prosecutors to bring the case to a speedy close in hopes of reassuring tourists that Thailand is a safe country to visit.
Most criminal cases in Thailand take years to reach completion, but Viroj said a verdict could come within days.
Tawatchai Seangchaew, a prosecutor in Surat Thani, said the court granted special attention to this case because the gruesome crime had received so much media attention.
In contrast, police have yet to file charges against three men accused of murdering 57yearold British tourist James Edward Hall, who was found dead on Christmas Day in a bungalow on Chang island.
Panu Woramit, who heads the Tourism Authority of Thailand on Samui island, said Horton's murder would affect business on the island, but said Thailand had done its best to contain the damage by dealing with the case swiftly.
"The situation is improving. Yesterday we held a ceremony for her, and Samui hotel operators plan to invite her family on a free trip for one week. I hope this will show them of our sincerity," he said.
Some 950,000 tourists mostly Germans, British and other Europeans visited the island in 2004, generating revenue of 12 billion baht (304 million dollars), he said.
That figure was expected to rise by about five per cent last year, Panu added.
Meanwhile a coroner's inquest was opened in Britain on Thursday into Horton's death.
A brief hearing into her death was held in Horton's home city of Cardiff in Wales. It was adjourned until after criminal proceedings have been completed.
Agence FrancePresse
Trial opens over Horton's murder
Trial opens over Horton's murder
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- tuktukmike
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As Caller writes above, it is sad that Taksin wants the death penalty not because of the nature of the crime but because of the damage to the country's reputation. Another Brit died on Christmas day, apparently at the hands of a group of Thais but that case did not receive as much attention - presumably because he was just another middle aged man - and is moving far more slowly (although the perps are in custody). As for whether Catherine Horton's murderers (amazingly, it seems that they are the perpetrators) receive the death penalty, who knows what is going to happen next in this bizarre show trial?