PHUKET: Police have intensified their hunt for the killers of Australian travel agent Michelle Smith, adding top officers and experts to the investigation.
The Deputy Commander of the national Thai Royal Police, Lieutenant General Pansiri Prapawat, assumes control of the case tomorrow and security camera footage experts in Bangkok are already extracting clues.
Details have emerged from their examination of what the two men were wearing when they knifed the mother-of-three to death in the quiet beachside destination of Kata Noi at 10.30pm on Wednesday.
Police are hoping that the experts can eventually decipher from the grainy footage the number plate of the Honda Dream motorcycle the men were riding when they tried to snatch Mrs Smith's bag but fled empty-handed.
As well as the lieutenant general, a top policeman from the southern provinces headquarters, Colonel Pisan Jundilok, has been sent to Phuket to help form three separate task forces.
One group is looking at the getaway route, seeking more security camera footage, a second group is probing current suspects among known criminals, and the third is engaged with deciphering the security camera footage.
A top-level meeting at Phuket City's Provincial Hall saw promises of large groups of volunteers engaged to restore Phuket's reputation for security and safety.
The ''thousand eyes of the pineapple'' is a Phuket idea designed to boost the small number of police on the island by organising and equipping local groups with walki-talkies.
The nine Western Australian travel agents who were on a familiarisation trip to Phuket with Mrs Smith have returned to Perth, where they were greeted by friends and relatives last night.
Officials at Vachria Phuket Hospital in Phuket City said today Mrs Smith's body, kept in the morgue there since she was killed, will be repatriated today to Perth on flights via Bangkok.
The Deputy Commander of the national Thai Royal Police, Lieutenant General Pansiri Prapawat, assumes control of the case tomorrow and security camera footage experts in Bangkok are already extracting clues.
Details have emerged from their examination of what the two men were wearing when they knifed the mother-of-three to death in the quiet beachside destination of Kata Noi at 10.30pm on Wednesday.
Police are hoping that the experts can eventually decipher from the grainy footage the number plate of the Honda Dream motorcycle the men were riding when they tried to snatch Mrs Smith's bag but fled empty-handed.
As well as the lieutenant general, a top policeman from the southern provinces headquarters, Colonel Pisan Jundilok, has been sent to Phuket to help form three separate task forces.
One group is looking at the getaway route, seeking more security camera footage, a second group is probing current suspects among known criminals, and the third is engaged with deciphering the security camera footage.
A top-level meeting at Phuket City's Provincial Hall saw promises of large groups of volunteers engaged to restore Phuket's reputation for security and safety.
The ''thousand eyes of the pineapple'' is a Phuket idea designed to boost the small number of police on the island by organising and equipping local groups with walki-talkies.
The nine Western Australian travel agents who were on a familiarisation trip to Phuket with Mrs Smith have returned to Perth, where they were greeted by friends and relatives last night.
Officials at Vachria Phuket Hospital in Phuket City said today Mrs Smith's body, kept in the morgue there since she was killed, will be repatriated today to Perth on flights via Bangkok.
Lots of Police out near Laguna area checking bikes, more than I have seen before, I wish them luck.
Posted by Ged on June 22, 2012 11:11