David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found naked and beaten to death yesterday morning (September 15) near a beachside bungalow on the island, a diving hot-spot near Koh Pha’ngan in the Gulf of Thailand.
A bloodied hoe was discovered 35 metres from the murder scene.
“Three male Myanmar migrant workers are under police detention for investigation,” southern regional police commander Lt Gen Panya Maman said, without providing any further details.
A second officer said police were not looking for a British man who had travelled with Miller, contrary to UK media reports.
“All of the British nationals are now on their way home,” provincial police chief Maj Gen Kiattipong Khawsamangsaid, adding that they had been “cleared” as suspects.
Neither officer confirmed Thai television reports that police had seized an iPhone and blood-stained jeans after raiding rooms used by the Burmese suspects.
The bodies of the Mr Miller and Ms Witheridge, who arrived in Thailand on August 25, are being driven the 500 kilometres from southern Surat Thai province and are due in Bangkok later today for forensic tests.
Thai Army Chief and Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-O-Cha has taken an interest in the murders. “This kind of incident should not happen to anybody and it has affected our image,” he told reporters. Speaking a few hours later he said Thai authorities must tell “tourists when the safe times are to be outside. We have to help them understand.”
Police earlier said the pair had been seen partying at a local watering hole, the AC Bar, just hours before they died.
AFP noted that it is rare for tourists to be murdered in Thailand – though it is not uncommon for them to die accidentally.
Dismayed Koh Tao locals said the grisly crime was the first of its kind on the normally sleepy island. Television footage late yesterday showed many residents wearing black as a sign of mourning.