Prayut answers reporters’ questions during a press conference in Bangkok yesterday. He has apologised for suggesting tourists in bikinis could be more vulnerable to attack, comments which caused an international outcry following the killing of two British holidaymakers.
Reuters/DPA/Bangkok
Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha has apologised for criticising tourists who wear bikinis in Thailand, comments that sparked an international outcry following the murder of two Britons there this week.
The bodies of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge were found early on Monday on a beach on Koh Tao, a southern island known for its coral reefs and diving.
Both bodies were found naked.
“Tourists think that Thailand is beautiful, safe and that they can do anything they want here. That they can put on their bikinis and go anywhere they want. I ask, can you get away with wearing bikinis in Thailand? Unless you are not beautiful?” Prayuth said in a televised speech on Wednesday.
The two deaths bring the number of UK nationals murdered in Thailand to 13 since 2009, the British Consulate said on Wednesday.
Some 800,000 Britons visit Thailand each year, among more than 25mn foreign visitors.
In a rare public moment of contrition from the tough-talking army chief, Prayuth said he did not mean to cause distress.
“I’m sorry that it hurt people,” Prayut told reporters in Bangkok. “I didn’t intend to insult or criticise anyone. I just warned that sometimes people have to be careful ... today Thailand is safe except there are some bad guys – like anywhere in the world.”
“I am sorry with what I said and if it has caused any ill-feelings,” Prayuth added. “I just wanted to warn tourists that we have different traditions and they have to stay on their toes.”
But he stopped short of retracting the comments about tourists wearing bikinis, instead seeking understanding for words uttered while “under pressure”.
Thailand’s image as a tourist haven was battered by months of political protests that ended in May’s army coup and has been further damaged by the murder of the Britons.
The incendiary words from Prayuth, who seized power from the elected government in May, prompted the British embassy in Bangkok to ask for a “clarification” raising its “concerns” over his remarks.
John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), branded the comments “demeaning”.
Speaking before Prayuth issued an apology, Sifton said the remark “implies that women victims of violent crimes are somehow responsible for the abuse they suffered because of what they were wearing”.
“This sort of statement demeans women – and if that was not his intent, then he should issue a statement clarifying matters,” he said.
Distraught relatives of Witheridge broke down in tears and hugged each other ahead of a police briefing in Bangkok yesterday, as the hunt for the killers of the British pair continued to draw a blank.
Yesterday police continued to search for clues on the small, normally laid-back diving island of Koh Tao as post-mortem examinations of the victims’ bodies in Bangkok failed to find DNA links to 12 people they have questioned so far.
Those include two of Miller’s British friends who were asked to stay in Bangkok pending the forensic results – and several Myanmar migrant workers.
The British men were now “free to return home”, regional police commander Panya Maman told AFP.
Experts tested traces of semen and a hair found at the crime scene but could not find a match.
Police found the DNA of two people in semen taken from Witheridge’s body, the chief of Thailand’s forensic police, Pornchai Suteerakune, told Reuters yesterday.
The DNA does not match Miller’s, nor any of the samples taken from those questioned over the murders.
With no arrests and an apparent lack of new leads, it is unclear where the police investigation can turn after four days scouring sparsely-populated Koh Tao.
Thailand’s key high season for tourists is just a couple of months away and the government is desperate to reassure visitors after a year which saw takings slump because of political turmoil.
The governor of Surat Thani province – which covers Koh Tao – said that the island would no longer host spin-off parties of the “full moon” beach raves which draw backpacking hordes to neighbouring Koh Phangan.
“We don’t want any more crimes,” governor Chatpong Chatraphuti told AFP, adding hotels and resorts would have to install new security cameras and lighting.
The junta has vowed to restore Thailand’s reputation as the “Land of Smiles”, embarking on a clean-up of resorts after a series of complaints about scams, assaults and even police extortion.
The army imposed martial law in the days before the coup and then a nationwide curfew afterwards – which it quickly lifted from the kingdom’s main tourist areas.
