Quote:Two Russian women killed in Pattaya

Two Russian female tourists were shot and killed in a popular tourist beach resort about 100 kilometres south-east of Bangkok early Saturday, police said.

The 30- and 25-year-old women were shot by an unidentified gunman on a beach in Jomtien which is just south of the popular tourist resort town Pattaya at around 5 a.m.

Witnesses said they heard gun shots, then saw a Thai man flee the area on a motorcycle. The two women, who were staying in a nearby resort, were found dead next to beach chairs on the beach, police said.

Police found an empty Coca-Cola can, an almost empty alcoholic beverage, female shoes and a mobile phone at the scene.

Police initially suspected that the women, who checked in at the Dragon Beach Resort Hotel last Friday and planned to check out early March, were killed because of some conflict of interest in the sex business.

But officers say a local beach chair concessionaire is a possible suspect, because witnesses saw the Russian tourists quarreling with him earlier.

The press attache of the Russian Embassy in Thailand, Alexey Bulkin, confirmed Saturday the murder of two Russian women, who arrived at the Dragon Beach Resort hotel on February 16, and said an embassy official had been sent to the resort to monitor the ongoing police investigation.

Pattaya and Jomtien to its south are popular beach towns that have seen an increased number of Russian tourists in recent years.

Bangkok Post Feb. 24, 2007

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Ljubov S. (35) and Tatjana T. (30)

Sounds a little harsh to me: murder of two tourists who don't agree with the price for renting beach chairs in high season in Pattaya. There's a lotta business out there . . .
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Quote:Reward offered for killer of Russian tourists

By Jerdsak Saengthongcharoen

Chon Buri - Police have offered a reward of 100,000 baht ($3,000) for the capture of the gunman who killed two Russian women tourists on Jomtien beach in Pattaya on Saturday.

Pol Lt-Gen Assawin Kwanmuang, chief of the Provincial Police Bureau 2, said the tourists, Livbov Svirkova, 25, and Tatiana Tsimfer, 30, were on a package tour and arrived in Pattaya on Feb 16. It was their first trip to the resort town.

They checked in at a hotel near the spot on the beach where they were found dead in their deckchairs. Each had been shot several times.

Thai News Agency reported on Monday that police investigators have produced some clues suggesting that a gang of foreigners may have been involved in the murders.

Pol Lt-Gen Assawin said he had instructed detectives to seek an early arrest of the culprit after close examination of the victims' holiday snapshots taken while visiting some tourist attractions as well as security camera images which found that a gang of foreigners, in particular "The Chopper Gang", a local group in Pattaya, may have been involved in the killings, according to the TNA report.

The police officer did not provide more details about the so-called gang, but indicated that mobile phone records of the two women are being thoroughly checked for further evidence as they used local simcards to call in and out prior to the killings.

Pol Lt-Gen Assawin said records showed the two women were self-employed overseas and had nothing to do with any illegal businesses in Pattaya. They spent their entire time as tourists and there was no evidence they were involved in any business dealings here.

The commissioner said police investigators were looking to find out if they had become involved in a conflict with anyone in Pattaya.

Security cameras recorded what appeared to be an Asian man shooting the women from a distance. The killer did not touch the women's belongings.

The pictures needed to be examined more closely as the image of the man was taken from afar and was quite fuzzy, Pol Lt-Gen Assawin said. A reward of 100,000 baht was being offered for information leading to the capture of the killer.

Tens of thousands of Russian holidaymakers visit Pattaya every year.

Bangkok Post Feb. 26, 2007
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There's been so much speculation about the case, be it from news sources or forums... A very strange case indeed.

Quote:Police search for two suspects in beachside slaying of Russian women

Police investigators and Pattaya station officers hold a meeting yesterday in a bid to solve the murders of two Russian women.
Police investigating the slaying of two Russian women who were shot dead as they waited for the sun to rise at Jomtien beach last Saturday are searching for two men, one of whom may have been a foreign national.

Video footage of the scene and a roadway show the gunman driven on a motorcycle by a tall, hefty man who appears to be a foreigner, police said.

Police believe he may have been on the same Siberian Air flight that carried the two women to Thailand on February 16, a senior police commander said yesterday.

Lt-General Assawin Khwanmueng said investigators were examining the passenger list of the charter flight, SBI 849. There were 201 passengers, including 10 children, he said.

Police have yet to determine whether the double homicide is linked to Pattaya's notorious sex trade.

Tatiana Tsimfer, 30, and Liubov Svirkova, 25, were found dead in their beach chairs at 5am on Saturday.

Video footage from surveillance cameras showed a lone gunman shooting 10 rounds at the victims before fleeing on a waiting motorcycle driven by another male.

Vladimia Viprovin, the Russian consul in Pattaya who is assisting police investigating the crime, dismissed speculation that the women were sex workers. Both had full-time jobs in Russia and were on their first visit to Thailand, Vladimia said.

Based on the images from the video footage, Police say the killer is a tall and thin, non-western male.

They say footage from cameras at U Tapao airport, where flight SBI 849 landed, will be checked for more clues.

Police are also questioning unregistered tour guides to identify the one the women had hired shortly after they arrived. The male guide has disappeared, but his image is on a video camera belonging to one of the victims.

Pattaya police have questioned a Russian male who knew both victims and visited sites with them. The unidentified man and another Russian male were seen chatting with the women on Friday afternoon.

Police said the motorcycle driver could be a foreign national due to his large build and height, which was up to 180 centimetres, according to footage from cameras on a major road heading to Chachaengsao that was used as an escape route.

Acting Police Chief Seripisut Temiyavej said he believed the murders could have been ordered or carried out by foreign gangs in Pattaya. He threatened to take action against Pattaya's police for failing to deal with the problem of foreign gangs.

Pattaya police chief Colonel Suthin Phuangsab said he believed the gunman was a Thai. He claimed that there were no foreign gangs in Pattaya.

The Nation Feb. 27, 2007

A Russia based news service - I read its article in german language - says the police were suspecting a gang of foreigners knowb as the "butcher"-gang. Did the Russians just make that up?
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