Gen Suwat made the announcement after conducting an inspection of the Ao Yon Waterfall, where the body of Swiss tourist Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf was found on Thursday (Aug 5), at about 9am today, joined by Phuket Vice Governor Vikrom Jakthee and Jan Dirk Kaethner, Police Attache of the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangkok, and a host of other officers.
“For the investigation, which has been ongoing since Aug 5, we will work around the clock. At this stage, we have sealed off the area and drawn up a list of people who went to the waterfall, who we will call in for questioning later,” Gen Suwat said.
“What we are waiting for right now is forensic evidence and an autopsy report. From the initial examination, there is a mark of attack around her neck, but we still have to wait for the official report from forensic staff,” he said.
“We have collected samples of body fluids for laboratory tests. The forensic examination of evidence will take several days and be conducted in Bangkok,” he added.
“Questioning witnesses and other people will take a while, as we need the most thorough and accurate information as soon as possible. Regarding suspects, at this stage, we do not have any key suspect, and we have not concluded whether there is one or more than one murder suspect in this case,” Gen Suwat continued.
“We will have a meeting to share updates and plan our operations twice a day, the first time in the morning and the second time at 8pm. We will share information about the progress of the investigation with reporters in the morning meeting,” he said.
“From the meeting with the Minister of Tourism and Sports and other officers yesterday (Aug 6), we have two urgent measures for tourist safety,” Gen Suwat continued.
“We will close all places with very few visitors where there are no staff to take care of tourists. Right now, we are making a list of the places that will be affected. Any place that can remain open, we will publicize through the Tourism Authority of Thailand,” he said.
“The second measure is that we will check the criminal history of those who are entering and leaving the island at the Phuket Check Point for a week starting today. This may cause inconvenience among drivers. Those who are under arrest warrants will not be allowed to enter or exit the island; they will be arrested,” Gen Suwat said.
“This will disturb drivers’ privacy, but we need to do this during this time,” he said.
Mr Kaethner, Police Attache of the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangkok, told the press, “Just a short remark from my side, for my country this is very bad, for Thailand, it’s very bad, but we are sure, we are absolutely sure, that the Royal Thai Police will do a great job in finding the person who killed our Swiss citizen.
“The Swiss police are assisting the Royal Thai Police with the investigation. We have very good cooperation and coordination, and I’m sure we will do a good job, and we will do everything to find the perpetrator,” Mr Kaenthner said.
Additional reporting by Eakkapop Thongtub