Thailand’s paradisiacal tropical islands welcome thousands of British holidaymakers every year, seeking a temporary escape from reality on sandy beaches by clear seas.
Koh Tao, an unassuming islet nestled in the Chumphon Archipelago, looks like any other tourist haven off the coast, but locals know it carries a dark history.
The sunny island, surviving off a dedicated tourist economy, has earned the grim moniker ‘Death Island’ following a spate of unusual fatalities in recent years.
Many of those who have lost their lives on the island have been travellers or backpackers, visiting only in the hope of making memories before coming home.
Local authorities have explained the deaths of more than a dozen Western tourists since 2014 as unfortunate accidents or suicides, though many cases appear suspicious to family members, or are left insufficiently investigated.
It has long had a reputation as a haven for organised crime and corruption, where a ‘corrupt’ police force prioritises protecting local interests.
Koh Tao quickly became a nightmarish hub of murder and rape after two Brit backpackers were bludgeoned to death almost a decade ago.
Only this month, a young Irish diver was found dead in his hostel bedroom, the family saying initial findings showed he died from acute pulmonary cardiac failure.
Foreigner-facing outlet Thai Examiner noted that, ‘significantly’, the death was not being reported in the mainstream Thai press. Many deaths, they say, are only uncovered by later reports from their home country or formal death notices.
Officers said Robby Kinlan was staying at a resort fewer than two miles from the Sairee Beach where Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were bludgeoned to death in September 2014 – the incident which gave rise to the grim moniker ‘Death Island’
Robby was found dead last Thursday on Koh Tao, which some refer to as ‘death island’ due to the number of unexplained or suspicious tourist deaths there
Robby Kinlan – January 2025
Robby Kinlan, from Quilty in Co. Clare, was found dead in his resort bedroom on Koh Tao on Thursday, January 9.
His family said that the 21-year-old was found with his phone in his hand and his earphones still in, lying on his bed.
Robby was unresponsive when his friend knocked on the door at around 11am.
The door was locked and staff had to climb in, finding the Robby tragically already dead.
‘The room had not been broken into or searched, and there were no signs of any assault. He died alone in the room,’ Lt Colonel Theeraphat Sanjai said.
‘His friend confirmed that he didn’t know if he had any pre-existing medical conditions,’ he added, noting there were no alcoholic drinks in the room when police entered.
They said that said that initial postmortem results found he had died as a result of acute pulmonary cardiac failure.
Robby had just completed an advanced diving course on the island and was ‘living his dream’, friends said.
Officers said Robby was staying at a resort fewer than two miles from the Sairee Beach where Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were bludgeoned to death in September 2014 – the incident which gave rise to the grim moniker ‘Death Island’.
Hannah Witheridge and David Miller – September 2014
In what is considered the most high-profile murder case on Koh Tao, two young Britons were brutally murdered while backpacking on the small island in 2014.
The semi-naked bodies of David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were discovered in the early hours of the morning on Sairee Beach on September 15.
Miller was a Jersey based civil engineer and structural engineering graduate, while Witheridge was a student from the University of Essex.
Victims: Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were brutally killed on the island of Koh Tao in September 2014
Witheridge and Miller were found bludgeoned to death with a garden hoe
Soon after, rumours circulated the island about the cause of deaths. It was ultimately revealed they had been blugeoned to death with a wooden hoe as they walked back to their hotel room late at night.
The initial Thai autopsy found that there was no sign of injuries or violence to Witheridge’s body, and no foul play was assumed.
But, tragically, it was eventually uncovered that the young victim had been raped during the brutal attack, and killed by blows to the head.
Miller had also suffered deep cuts to his skull before drowning in the sea.
Evidence suggested the brave 24-year-old put up a fight before his death and that he was drowned as a consequence for his heroic actions.
Burmese workers Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo would admit to the rape and murder of Witheridge, and the murder of Miller, according to Miller’s family.
The family said that it had brought closure to a ‘lengthy and disturbing period’ as activists tried to interfere with the justice process.
But a lawyer for the workers insisted that the two still maintained their innocence as they were handed the death penalty.
Critics said the men had been forced to give their confessions under duress.
A Thai royal decree eventually changed their sentences to life in prison.
A British male, thought to have known the victims, had earlier named as a person of interest and hunted by island police after allegedly fleeing the island on an early ferry for Bangkok on the day of the attacks.
Later, police released CCTV footage which they claimed showed the students walking hand-in-hand down a street – but it was soon revealed the couple in the images were not Witheridge and Miller.
Images of a migrant worker spotted later on the same CCTV tape were then circulated, with police describing the man as a new person of interest.
Zaw Lin (R) and Wai Phyo (L) are escorted by a Thai police officer in 2015 after they were sentenced to death at the Samui Provincial Court, on Koh Samui Island
Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both now 29, were originally sentenced to death for the murder of Miller and the murder and rape of Witheridge but a Thai royal decree changed their sentences to life in prison
The following day DNA samples taken from the scene did not match those of any of a reported 12 suspects.
Officers claimed they had ‘strong evidence’ to link six Burmese workers to the gruesome murders, though no forensic links could be made.
Samples were then taken from nine migrant workers and three foreigners including two brothers from Jersey who were friends of Miller.
Christopher and James Ware were stopped at Suvarnabhumi International airport on their way back to Britain for questioning – the brothers were never arrested.
Thai police admitted they had ‘no idea’ who killed Miller and Witheridge after failing to link any of their 12 suspects to the crime.
They said it was ‘difficult to say’ whether the pair’s killer or killers was still on the island, and then claimed investigations had pointed them to a group seen on the beach playing the guitar and singing ‘western songs’.
The Thai Prime Minister made a controversial comment, saying girls wearing bikinis on the holiday island of Koh Tao were not safe unless they were ugly.
‘Can they be safe in bikinis… unless they are not beautiful?’ said General Prayuth Chan-O-Cha in a televised speech.
He later apologised for his remarks.
The Koh Samui District Prison where Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun are being held
Hans Peter Suter – November 2014
Just weeks after the deaths of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, the body of Swiss tourist Hans Peter Suter, 44, washed ashore at Talay Ngam beach in Chumphon province.
Ten days had passed since Suter had last been seen, going off alone to snorkel.
Authorities said at the time they believed he had been dead for around ten days when they found him.
Police said the tourist ‘had just completed a divemaster scuba course’ before he died, but three days before he went missing he was told not to swim because it could lead to blindness, according to a report by the Chiangrai Times.
But his family and friends were left unconvinced at the police’s conclusion that he drowned, as Suter was known for being a strong swimmer and regular snorkeler.
Thai police then reported Suter was ‘under stress’ and ‘did not have any money’, leading his loved ones to develop more questions around his mystery death as the divemaster scuba course costs around £750.
Swiss tourist Hans Peter Suter’s body washed up on a beach 10 days after he disappeared on Koh Tao island
Nick Pearson – December 2014
A month after the unusual death of Hans Peter Suter, 25-year-old Nick Pearson, from Derby, was found floating dead in the sea off Koh Tao after visiting the island on a family holiday.
His parents believe he may have been followed back to his holiday bungalow and killed – and were convinced that police in Thailand covered up the murder to protect tourism.
The island, with a population of little more than a thousand, welcomes around half a million tourists each year, and has built its local economy around welcoming foreign visitors.
Nick Pearson, 25, from Derby was found dead in the sea in 2014. His family are convinced he was killed, despite police claiming he fell 50ft and drowned
Police claimed Pearson fell 50ft and drowned.
But despite claims of a fall, he had no broken bones. While police ruled out foul play, Nick’s family said officers did not investigate a single witness.
Pearson’s mother Tracy Pearson, told Derby and South Derbyshire Coroner’s Court she had ‘a gut feeling there was foul play’, especially in light of what had happened earlier in the year.
Pathologist Dr Michael Biggs told the hearing that there were many injuries on Pearson’s body, including to the head, limbs and face.
But, he said that most of these would have been present prior to his death – although he could not completely rule out the possibility that he had been attacked.
The coroner Ms Pinder concluded there was not enough evidence to say where or how he met his death.
Christina Annesley – January 2015
A month after the death of Nick Pearson, Christina Annesley, 23, from Orpington, died suddenly on the island from a suspected accidental overdose, an autopsy revealed.
Just days before her sudden death, the prolific tweeter told her 3,500 followers followers about requiring antibiotics for a lung infection.
She tweeted: ‘Great, just as I finally make friends I have to shell out £60 for antibiotics and now can’t afford to go out with them. F*** everything.’
Annesley died of a suspected accidental overdose after mixing her antibiotics with alcohol – but her father Boyne said at the time that a toxicology report was not carried out.
Christina Annesley died while backpacking through Koh Tao in January 2015
Annesley, of Orpington, south London, was holidaying in the South East Asian country as part of a four-month tour of the region
He said: ‘We don’t know how or why she died. She had medication for a chest infection and was drinking, but the Thai police failed to investigate if the combination was sufficient to kill her’.
Delays by the Thai authorities in finding Christina’s body and glaring gaps in the investigation into her death left her parents with no choice but to take matters into their own hands.
In an attempt to get answers surrounding his young daughter’s death, Christina’s father was forced personally track down a man seen on surveillance footage leaving his daughter’s flat just hours before she was discovered.
He had not been questioned by police – even though officers had his name in their files.
Annesley died of a suspected accidental overdose after mixing antibiotics with alcohol
Annesley’s father, Boyne, said said at the time of his daughters death a toxicology report was not carried out
The devastated father added: ‘Why they couldn’t contact him to eliminate him, to me, beggars belief.
‘We found him on Facebook and were able to get a phone number, so I rang and spoke to him. Obviously speaking to the last man to see our daughter alive was a bit emotional.
‘We would have liked to have been the last people to see her alive. But on talking to him, he seemed quite straightforward.’
A 2022 Sky Crime documentary – Death on the Beach – explored Christina’s death.
Her father revealed that following the autopsy in Thailand, once her body was returned to the UK, the coroner was unable to determine a cause of death and wouldn’t accept the Thai results.
He said her body was ‘not in a good state because of incompetence or deliberate mishandling’ and her family still suspected her death was suspicious.
Dmitri Povse – January 2015
The same month, a French tourist was found hanging from a ceiling on the balcony of his room on the island.
Dmitri Povse, 29, was staying at the Ta Chin Bungalow in January 2015 before he was found with his hands loosely tied behind his back.
Despite the unusual circumstances of his death, police ruled it as suicide.
They said that there were no signs of a fight or struggle, and cited an apparent note found on his bed that allegedly read: ‘Iris, I love you. Suicide seems easy but it is actually difficult’.
Dimitri Povse, a 29-year-old Frenchman, was found hanged at this property. His death was recorded as suicide – but officers were unable to explain why his hands were tied behind his back
Povse’s friends claimed they had gone out with him to a bar on the island called Next Door on New Year’s Eve until 5am before heading on to Experience Party and staying there until 11am.
His pals allegedly returned to their hotels and left him drinking alone.
Authorities carried out an autopsy and believed his cause of death asphyxiation – and therefore ruled the case a suicide.
But they were unable to give a clear answer as to how Povse’s hands ended up tied behind his back.
Valentina Novozhyonova – February 2015
Russian tourist Valentina Novozhyonova, 23, checked into her hostel on Koh Tao on February 11 2015 but failed to check out five days later.
Police led a large search of the region after learning that she was a free-diving enthusiast and possibly suffering from mental health issues.
They said that they had not turned up her goggles, fins or a towel in her room, and said that her phone showed she had tried to contact a psychiatrist before her disapperance.
Russian tourist, Valentina Novozhyonova, 23, vanished from her hotel but staff found many of her belongings had been left behind
A few days later, staff checked her room to discover her mobile phone, passport and camera had all been left behind as she mysteriously disappeared.
The last known video footage showed the Russian woman walking to Chaloke Hin Kao Bay and never returning.
Police concluded she wanted to break a deep-diving record at more than 24meters with Novozhyonova remaining missing till today.
Luke Miller – January 2016
British tourist Luke Miller, from the Isle of Wight, was found dead in a swimming pool on Koh Tao in January 2016.
Thai police said a post-mortem examination showed he drowned but Coroner Caroline Sumeray acknowledged claims of suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
‘It has been suggested this was a cover-up by the Thai authorities but there has been a very thorough police report,’ she insisted.
His body was found at the bottom of a pool at the Sunset Bar at Sairee Beach on January 8.
British tourist Luke Miller, from the Isle of Wight, was found dead in a swimming pool in January 2016. Miller’s friend said he felt ‘police were covering up as it was the death of another foreigner on Koh Tao’
After Miller’s death, the bricklayer’s friend and his sister were told by local police he was seen to be assaulted at another bar the night before he was found dead, and they were treating the case as murder.
But Sumeray said the police contact could not be relied upon as there was no confirmation a man they spoke to was a Thai police officer.
She said the man later told the friends via WhatsApp messages that police no longer believed Miller had been ‘fighting’ or was murdered.
In a statement read to the court, Miller’s friend said he felt ‘police were covering up as it was the death of another foreigner on Koh Tao’.
The hearing was also told that a witness had described a man banging heads with another swimmer, but Sumeray concluded that there was no evidence to prove that this was Miller.
A post-mortem examination carried out in Thailand showed the tourist had a number of small bruises on his face and legs and concluded he died as a result of head injuries and drowning.
Toxicology tests showed he was one-and-three-quarters above the UK alcohol drink-drive level and also had traces of the drug Ritalin in his system.
Elise Dallemagne, April 2017
Belgian backpacker Elise Dallemagne, 30, was found hanging from a tree in a jungle and half-eaten by lizards on ‘Death Island’ on April 27, 2017.
Due to the condition her body was left in following the animals feeding on it – she had to be identified using dental records and previous X-rays.
Dallemagne had been travelling around Asia for two years and lived on a yoga retreat before her death.
The traveller was also a part of the Sathya Sai Baba cult and lived with a self-proclaimed ‘guru’.
Following the discovery of her body, Thai police ruled her death a ‘suicide’, until the case was reopened two months later following claims from her family that she may have been murdered.
Belgian backpacker Elise Dallemagne, 30, was found hanging from a tree on the island in April 2017
The tourist was discovered half-eaten by lizards and police ruled her death a suicide
The mystery into Dallemagne’s death deepened after it was revealed she had appeared to try to hide her true identity when checking into a hotel in the days before her death.
According to reports in Thailand, she crossed out the name Dallemagne and wrote in Dupuis instead.
An unnamed worker is said to have told police that the backpacker checked into the Triple B Hotel at Mae Hat bay on April 19, and asked for the cheapest room.
She would not write in her passport number – unlike other guests, insisting she would supply it later, the worker said. Dallemagne then scribbled out her surname and wrote in the fake one.
Posts on social media said Dallemagne had booked a ticket to Chumphon province, on the mainland, and that her luggage arrived after her death, implying that she had not intended to end her life.
Dallemagne reportedly tried to hide her identity in the days before her death by checking in under a fake name. Instead of Elise Dallemagne, she wrote Elise Dupuis
‘Police continue to look for new evidence, because it was an unnatural death, but we have not found any,’ Police Colonel Preecha Kladsawad, deputy of Surat Thani police, said at the time.
Elise’s mother Michele van Egten said she does not believe the Thai police’s version of events amid fears authorities are working to suppress a series of grisly tourist murders.
She told magazine Der Farang that she had been promised an autopsy report by investigators that had failed to materialise.
Michele said: ‘I do not believe what the police have told us. We fear somebody else was involved.
‘We’re more and more thinking that the police information is not the right explanation.’
Bernd Grotsch, July 2018
German Bernd Grotsch, 47, was found dead at his home deep in the jungle in the Mae Haad part of Koh Tao.
He had recently returned to the island after building up a motorbike rental business over over the past two decades.
The father-of-one’s family in Ingolstadt, Germany, said at the time they did not believe the authorities’ claims that he died of ‘heart failure’ or had been ‘bitten by a snake.’
They had not received any autopsy reports and said his body was sent against their wishes to the very same Bangkok hospital that carried out botched reports on the bodies of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.
German Bernd Grotsch, 47, was found dead in his jungle home in Koh Tao. Police said he died of ‘heart failure’ or had been ‘bitten by a snake’ but his family were not convinced
Grotsch’s cousin told The Sun that the family could not accept the island’s authorities explanation for how he died.
‘There is no explanation for Bernd’s death. He was fit, healthy and happy,’ she said.
‘We are furious that we have not been able to have an approved independent forensic examination.’
They were left feeling as if the circumstances surrounding his unexpected death were ‘suspicious’ – especially after police refused to cooperate with them in finding out more information.
Neil Giblin, January 2023
At the start of 2023, a British driving instructor from Birmingham was found dead on the island.
Neil Giblin, 48, was found on January 18, with the circumstances surrounding his death remaining a mystery.
His body was discovered by two female clients in a rented bungalow after he failed to show up to a scheduled driving lesson.
Described as a ‘fit and healthy’ individual, Giblin allegedly died from natural causes, and there was no sign of struggle leading up to his death.
However, Giblin was reportedly the fifth instructor to die on the island within the past few years, following a series of unexplained and suspicious deaths of tourists and backpackers.
Neil Giblin, from Birmingham, died in mysterious circumstances after he was found dead on a sofa in a rented bungalow in his underwear
His body was found by two female clients
A friend of Giblin’s revealed he was found in the small home in only his underwear, while laying on the sofa with a blanket covering him.
The friend told The Sun: ‘The medics who showed up said there was nothing suspicious. I was told the police said straight away there was nothing to investigate.
‘It happened so quickly. I don’t even think they did an autopsy’.
Giblin had allegedly spoken about the other deaths on the island before he died and claimed no one wanted to question what the police claimed had happened to the individuals.
‘He told me what everyone tells me when I mention it, that you shouldn’t be talking about that stuff around here,’ his friend said.
Florentina Retka, February 2023
German backpacker, Florentina Retka, 24, was raped on the Thai island a month later.
She had taken a solo trip to the Southeast Asian country where she booked a tour around the tropical island of Koh Chang with local guide Kasama Apichaisompon, 55.
But she began to feel uncomfortable when the cruise ship worker took her to an isolated beach where there were no other tourists around.
Retka said she was swimming in the sea when the Thai native grabbed her from behind before pulling aside her swimsuit and penetrating her in the water.
She revealed, when speaking out on her ordeal, that she was frozen with fear and too afraid to scream or fight back ‘in case he killed me’.
‘Just take care if you’re booking a tour or day trip, if you have to go alone with the guy, just don’t go alone,’ Florentina (pictured) warned fellow travellers
After the attack on February 15, the rapist dropped Florentina back at her hotel resort.
She said she broke down in tears and confided in her family before she filed a police report at the local station on February 17.
Kasama turned himself in at the Koh Chang Police Station on the same day and on November 30 was finally sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.
Florentina said: ‘I was isolated on a beach with nobody around. He forced himself on me and raped me. How could I have fought back? He could have killed me. He took something from me that day, my dignity, my respect.
‘I feel safe now that he’s finally behind bars.’
Local guide Kasama Apichaisompon, 55, was jailed for two years and eight months following the rape
Speaking on the attack, after bravely waiving her right to anonymity, she said: ‘We went to a waterfall and swam there, but I noticed he had part of his penis exposed and he was touching himself. I looked away and pretended I didn’t see anything.
‘I picked up all of my clothes, then he said we would go to the “Long Beach”. And I was thinking “Okay, Long Beach, it’s like a Long Beach and beautiful”.
‘He took me there and there was no signal on my phone. There were no people, there were no restaurants, no hotels, nothing.
‘And I went swimming and he came from the back and took me like this and he didn’t let me down, and I looked at him like ‘what are you doing?
‘I said “I don’t want this”. I said that one thousand times: “What are you doing? I don’t want this”. And he didn’t care about it, he just took my pants off and pushed me.
‘What can I do as a tourist? What? I’m alone, It was my first time in Thailand. I didn’t know the place where he took me. No people that I could scream to, no telephone because we were on the beach. What can I do? Slap him? Maybe he will kill me.
She passed on some crucial advice to those planning on braving ‘Death Island’, cautioning that ‘it’s better to trust no one’.
‘Just take care if you’re booking a tour or day trip, if you have to go alone with the guy, just don’t go alone. Book it for another day, don’t go with them because you can’t trust one person. It’s better to trust no one,’ she said.
‘And in Thailand, traveling as a woman, I think it’s better to go with two people so, even with your parents, with your friends, with your boyfriend or if you don’t have one, just don’t travel alone, it’s better.’
Ferry goes up in flames, April 2024
Terrified passengers were forced to jump from a ferry engulfed in flames as the vessel made its way to Ko Tao in April 2024.
The overnight Ko Jaroen 2 ferry from Surat Thani province was just off the coast of the notorious island when it went up in flames.
At the time of the incident, 108 people were on board the ferry before one ‘heard a crackling sound and smelled smoke’.
Maitree, a Surat Thani resident who often travels to Koh Tao for work, said several boats came to their rescue around 20 minutes after they called for help, but the boats could not get too close to the ferry out of fear of explosions.
This resulted in people deciding to leap off into the water in the race against time to save themselves.
