Two held in Full-moon Party slay

By Chatsuriya Anupan

A SUSPECT in the killing of Indian tourist Chetan Dadhwal at the Full-moon Party in the early morning of March 22 on Koh Phangan turned himself in to the police six days after the incident.

Thanee Rakkapao, 24, of 95 Moo 6, Yanyao subdistrict, Kiriratnikom district, Suratthani, told  police  he was partying in one crowded bar but later found himself in the midst of a fight allegedly between two groups of tourists.

He said one man  smashed a beer bottle and tried to stab him with it. In the melee, he said, he thrusted his knife at the guy, although he wasn’t sure if it actually hit.

Thanee went home to Kiriratnikom after the incident. After learning about the death of Dadhwal, he called  police and offered to surrender. He was charged with homicide.

One day after the killing, police had arrested a 14-year-old boy. Although he denied  involvement in Dadhwal’s death, police at the time claimed they had evidence linking him to the murder, citing testimonies from so-called eye-witnesses.

One version of the incident said that the teenager allegedly started the fight, attacking another Thai boy.

Deadhwal reportedly tried to stop them from fighting each other. The suspect then got angry and stabbed Dadhwal instead.

Thanee Rakkapao and the 14-year-old suspect reportedly belonged to the same gang.

The Koh Pangan incident came a week after the murder of Swedish tourist Hannah Charlotte Bankluns, 27, who was stabbed to death while sunbathing in Phuket on March 15.

Dadhwal suffered five stab wounds. It was also reported that Sahachart Benjakul, 15, apparently the suspect’s target of attack, was severely injured during the same incident and that his wounds required 30 stitches to close. The two victims were taken by speed boat to Samui for medical attention, but Dadhwal was pronounced dead on arrival.

Koh Phangan police Superintendent Capt. Wutthichai Hanhaboon said the fight allegedly started near the beach bar Drop In. This bar was reportedly also the scene of the fatal stabbing of an Israeli tourist in April last year allegedly by local teenagers.

Before Dadhwal was stabbed, more than 100 people were drinking and sitting inside and in front of the bar.

The rumble  broke out shortly after, witnesses said.

That the fight was between two groups of tourists could not be immediately verified. Captain Hanhaboon noted that fights among tourists were rare and that usually it was the locals who try to settle their disputes violently. He noted that Dadhwal was trying to protect the injured Benjakul before he was killed.

The Koh Phangan Moon parties have lately been the object of increasing complaints from residents allegedly because of the use of drugs by some partygoers.

Some island people said they could not stand seeing individuals high on drugs walking aimlessly on the street. The parties, they said, have also resulted in some deaths and injuries as a result of drug-related accidents and confrontations.