Published on January 13, 2006

Samui police and the British Embassy are checking into whether the two fishermen who confessed to raping and murdering Welsh tourist Katherine Horton on New Year’s Day also assaulted another British woman in October.

Case investigator Police Major Thanongsak Aksornsom said the embassy staff contacted him yesterday and asked about obtaining the results of DNA tests on both suspects. The officials want to see whether the results were consistent with evidence collected on the unnamed woman, who said she was sexually violated by two men also on Samui.

Thanongsak said he was told the victim, now back in England, filed a report with British police after learning of the arrest of suspects Bualoy Phothisith and Wichai Somkhaoya on Monday, saying one of the two men who attacked her resembled one of the suspects.

Both Bualoy and Wichai pleaded guilty to rape and murder charges during yesterday’s arraignment. They will be represented by two court-appointed lawyers at today’s hearing set for 9am at Surat Thani Court, with 11 state witnesses to testify.

Both suspects scarcely ate anything and appeared tense yesterday. One of them was overheard saying he wanted to kill himself. Bualoy said he would have something to tell reporters on January 30 while Wichai said he was not yet ready to speak.

Ruengnam Jaikwang, head of the island’s tourism association, called for a ban on fishing trawlers dropping anchor anywhere they please around the tourist-frequented island. A docking zone should be designated for the trawlers for safety and scenic reasons, he said.

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