Backpacker's Tragic End in Thailand | Forensic Files

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support Case File on your preferred platform. [Music] From a young age, Kirsty Jones was sure
of one thing. She wanted to see as much of the world as possible. At 14, she decided that after finishing
high school, she'd leave her family's 300 acre farm just outside the small Welsh village of Tromean and spend a
year traveling around Australia. In 1996, 18-year-old Kirsty did just that. She met her travel companion through a
classified ad in her local newspaper, and off they went. While Kirsty's parents, Sue and Glenn
Jones, were naturally worried, they supported their daughter's wonder last. Kirsty was a vibrant, smart, and
independent young woman who craved adventure and new experiences. They knew there was no point trying to
hold her back. The gap year in Australia was transformative for Kirsty. Her parents
remarked that she left Wales as a child and came home an adult. Her it rich scratched for the time being, Kirsty
spent the next couple of years at Liverpool University completing a double degree in English and media studies.
But her next adventure was never far from her mind. While studying, Kirsty spent her spare
time working two jobs to fund her next trip. This time, she'd set her sights on something bigger.
Kirsty planned to spend 2 years backpacking solo through Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and South
America. She felt it was something she had to get out of her system. After that, she promised her parents
she'd settle down. While Sue and Glenn Jones had their reservations about Kirsty traveling
alone, they weren't as worried this time around. 23-year-old Kirsty was older, wiser, and
more experienced than when she'd left on her gap year, and they were proud of her
for following her dreams. They also knew she wouldn't be alone for long. Not only did she have plans to
meet up with her best friend and boyfriend along the way, but people were naturally drawn to the confident and
outgoing Kirsty, and it wouldn't be long before she'd connect with other backpackers.
Technology had also come a long way since Kirsty's gap year travels, and this time she'd be able to keep in touch
with her family via email and video calls. Kirsty set off for her trip in May 2000.
She ventured through Singapore and Malaysia for several weeks before reaching Thailand.
She'd been looking forward to this ever since she'd first visited the land of smiles on her way home from Australia a
few years earlier. Kirsty spent some time in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok before heading north
to Chiang Mai for a change of pace. Located 700 km north of Bangkok in the Thai Highlands, Chiang Mai is a favorite
among backpackers who were drawn by the laid-back lifestyle, Buddhist temples, thriving nightife, and affordability of
the mountain city. Following Thailand's economic collapse in 1997, Westerners could make their
money stretch a long way in Chiang Mai with as little as three British pounds affording you an authentic Thai meal and
beer at a restaurant with a view over the Ming River. Sue and Glenn Jones loved getting email
updates from Kirsty. After a week in Chiang Mai, she regailed them with stories about her 3-day trek in the
Machem Mountain region where she'd rode elephants and visited native hill tribes.
Kirsty had only been gone for 2 months, but already it was shaping up to be the adventure of a lifetime.
In August 2000, Sue and Glenn traveled to Spain with two of their friends to celebrate their 25-year wedding
anniversary. On the evening of Thursday, August 10, they were getting ready for dinner when
there was a knock at the door of their hotel room. Their friends were standing there
looking devastated. They told Sue and Glenn they'd just seen something shocking on the news.
[Music] It was around 4:30 p.m. on the afternoon of Thursday, August 10, 2000, when
police scanners around Chiang Mai buzzed with the grim announcement. A cleaner at a local hostel had just
entered the room of 23-year-old Kirsty Jones only to discover a horrific scene. The young backpacker was lying face down
on the bed, naked from the waist down. A serong was tied tightly around her neck.
[Music] Police rushed to the crime scene, a two-story building called the AR guest
house and massage school. The AR was typical of the area. Located on one of downtown Chiang Mai's many
narrow laneways, it offered backpackers and budget travelers a no frills place to stay at the affordable rate of around
£1 a night for a single room. Guests of the nine room lodging could mingle in the small shady garden and
open air bar while the owners also ran a massage school from the second floor. Kirsty had chosen the AR as her home
base during her stay in Chiang Mai. Officers made their way down the hallway and into her bedroom on the first floor.
It was a basic room containing nothing more than a rickety double bed with an old wooden dresser and a tabletop fan.
A thin mattress adorned with a bright floral pattern sat at top the bed, while cheap floral curtains hung haphazardly
from the window that overlooked the hallway. By the time police entered the room,
they were not the first ones there. Tipped off by the local police scanner, an entire television crew had already
arrived and taken footage and photos of the scene, while curious onlookers peered in.
As police began assessing the room, they didn't stop to seal off the crime scene,
and reporters and photographers continued to trickle in. Local journalist Pim Kasinki was among
them. Writing for Chiang Mai publication City Life, she later recalled that around 20 people had entered Kirsty's
room before any forensic evidence had even been collected. Some reporters rummaged through Kirsty's
clothes and toiletry bag, one of them tutting in judgment as he held up a packet of condoms.
One camera operator even turned Kirsty's head from side to side to get the shot they wanted.
None of the police officers present seemed even remotely concerned. Not only had the crime scene been
severely compromised, another problem for the police was that they couldn't find a forensic pathologist who was
available to come to the AR guest house to examine Kirsty's body. Instead, her body was eventually taken to the Chiang
Mai Hospital where an autopsy determined that she had died from asphixxiation. Severe internal bruising indicated she'd
been violently raped. Semen found in her body gave the police the confidence that
her killer would be promptly found and brought to justice. Straight off the bat, police were
convinced that Kirsty had been killed by someone she knew. Her room was located inside the guest
house and could be padlocked from both the inside and outside. There were no signs of forced entry,
which led the police to believe that Kirsty might have invited the perpetrator inside.
They were also convinced the killer had been a fang, the Thai word for a foreigner.
Kirsty had been sodomized, which they reasoned was a sexual act that Thai men didn't engage in.
The most obvious explanation for the police was that the killer had also been staying at the AR guest house.
While the cheap rates of the hostel drew in backpackers from all over the world,
it also attracted some dubious customers. Thailand has long been known as a destination for those looking to escape
their lives back home. And despite the country's strict anti-drug laws, elicit drugs were readily available in Chiang
Mai. One French backpacker told the Guardian, "You can get almost anything you want."
The year before Kirsty Jones was murdered, the AR guest house had been closed down for 6 months after one of
its guests died of a heroin overdose. Given this illreute, police were certain that they'd find Kirsty's killer among
DR's clientele. One by one, each of the guests were taken to the city's main police station
for questioning. 27-year-old Nathan Foley was an Australian backpacker who had stopped
over in Thailand on his way to visit relatives in the UK. He'd met Kirsty at the RE and the two
had got chatting. Both solo travelers, Nathan was thankful to have someone to talk to and the pair
had explored the city together. Nathan told the police that on the evening of Wednesday, August 9, the
night before Kirsty was killed, he'd gone out to dinner at a local restaurant with Kirsty and a British backpacker
named Sarah Wigot. Nathan claimed that he'd left Kirsty and Sarah at about 1000 p.m. and went back
to the RE where he' taken a couple of sleeping pills and gone straight to sleep.
Sarah Wigot wasn't staying at the RE, but at a different hostel nearby. Police tracked her down and brought her
in for questioning. Sarah was horrified to hear what had happened to Kirsty. The two had met on a 3-day trekking trip
which had ended just 2 days prior, and they'd bonded over their shared experiences as solo female travelers.
Sarah told the police that after Nathan Foley left the previous evening, she and
Kirsty visited the night markets, which were about a 25-minute walk from the RE.
They strolled around until about 11:00 p.m., by which point Sarah had had enough of shopping and was ready to go
back to her host. Kirsty stayed on, saying she had some more presents she wanted to buy.
Another long-term RE resident, Steven Trigg, told the police that at around 1:00 a.m., he'd heard a commotion coming
from Kirsty's room. It sounded like a woman was screaming, "Get out! Get out. Leave me alone.
Steven claimed he went to investigate, but the screaming stopped, so he went back to bed, assuming it had been
nothing more than a lover's tiff. Steven was a seasoned traveler who had been staying at the RE for several
months. He said it was common to overhear these types of arguments, and they didn't usually result in any
problems. The RE's tire manager, 47year-old Surin Chan Prrenette, lived upstairs and also
ran the massage school there. A known drug dealer, he had been arrested twice before for possession of heroin.
Surin told the police that he too had heard the screams coming from Kirsty's room.
Surin said he'd been in the shower at the time and had gone downstairs to Kirsty's room with Steven Trigg to
investigate. He pressed his ear to the door but heard nothing. Not wanting to invade a guest's privacy,
he went back to bed and told Steven to do the same. Kirsty's autopsy confirmed that she had
been killed around the same time the screams were heard coming from her room. With Sarah Wigot being the last person
to see her alive at 11 p.m., police deduced that Kirsty had likely returned to the guest house at around midnight
and was killed within an hour of returning. They didn't know if she had walked the
25-minute route home from the markets or caught a local taxi known as a touktouk.
A search of the RE's manager, Surin Champernet's room, revealed cannabis and amphetamines, and he was placed under
arrest for possession. Suspicion that Surin could have been involved in Kirsty's murder was raised
when a postcard was found in his room that featured a white woman tied up in bondage.
But Surin's girlfriend, Pantipa, who also lived at the AR, supported Surin's story.
She said that he'd been in their room all night except for when he heard the noise coming from Kirsty's room and went
downstairs to see what was going on. Police were also highly suspicious of 28-year-old Stuart Kryton, another
Australian man who had also been staying at the AI for several months. A known heroin user with a history of
street fighting, Stuart claimed to have no knowledge of Kirsty Jones's murder. Yet, a search of his room turned up
cannabis and heroin, prompting police to also place him under arrest for possession and hold him in custody.
Another long-term ARIE resident also proved to be a dubious figure after he claimed to be a former Mormon elder and
CIA spy who had come to Thailand to recover from a head injury. While none of the questioning resulted
in an arrest for Kirsty Jones's murder, the police remained convinced that she had known her killer.
They considered the possibility that Kirsty could have invited the perpetrator into her room where she'd
then refused his sexual advances. Feeling rejected, he could have turned violent and launched an attack.
The senior investigating officer put forward a controversial theory when he publicly suggested that Kirsty could
have engaged in consensual sex and had been strangled to death by accident. This comment not only deeply upset
Kirsty's already heartbroken family, but added further criticism to the investigation, which had been receiving
widespread media attention from the moment reporters arrived at the crime scene.
This theory led suspicion to fall on Nathan Foley, the Australian man Kirsty had dinner with the night before she
died. Not only had they spent the most time together, but after Kirsty's body was
found, it had taken police a few hours to track Nathan down, leading them to wonder if he was trying to hide.
But Nathan Foley adamantly denied having anything to do with the crime or having
any romantic interest in Kirsty. With no evidence or witnesses to suggest otherwise, he was free to leave the
station. But the prospect of facing the overly zealous press was too daunting. The phone at the police station had been
ringing nonstop. Kirsty's travel buddy, Sarah Wigot, later recalled to Murder in Paradise
that while she was waiting to be interviewed, one officer had handed her the phone and said, "It's for you. It's
the press office wanting to find out what happened." Sarah was stunned. She hadn't even given
her account to law enforcement at that point, yet they were already encouraging her to speak to the media.
Aware of the attention the case was receiving already, Nathan Foley opted to remain in police custody where he
requested protection. He along with all of the AR's other male residents were required to provide DNA
samples for testing. While investigators waited for the results, immigration authorities were
alerted to stop any of the suspects from leaving the country. One investigator told the press that
while they didn't know exactly what happened, they were certain one of the AR guests or staff members were
responsible. Kirsty knew her killer. He stated, "We are confident we will make an arrest in
7 to 10 days. There was one resident of the AR guest house who was noticeably absent.
32-year-old Andy Gil was a British man who had been living in Thailand on and off for the past 12 years.
A well-known character among Chiang Mai's expat community. Andy had once been married to a Thai woman and the two
had a child together. Two years before Kirsty's murder, Andy had taken over ownership of the RE after
its tie owner moved overseas. Curiously, when Kirsty's body was discovered, Andy was nowhere to be
found. It took the police 2 days before they finally tracked Andy Gil down at a local
bar. He claimed that on the night of Kirsty's murder, he hadn't been at the guest
house. He'd been out with a Thai friend who could vouch for his whereabouts. But a quick background check on Andy
revealed that he was actually in Thailand illegally, having overstayed his visa by 2 years. For this offense,
he was promptly placed under arrest and given a small fine. With three of the ARI residents under
arrest for offenses unrelated to Kirsty's murder, the story quickly became a media sensation both in
Thailand and overseas. Not only did the case include a cast of colorful characters whose faces were
splashed across the news, but it touched on the worst fears of every parent whose
children were off backpacking in foreign lands. Dozens of journalists from major media
outlets converged in Chiang Mai, speaking to anyone who was willing to talk. Back in Wales, Kirsty's family struggled
to come to terms with it all. Her parents, Sue and Glenn, returned from their wedding anniversary trip to Spain
immediately after hearing the news. Utterly devastated, the pair remained under sedation at their family home.
Kirsty's 21-year-old brother, Gareth, had been out driving the tractor on the family farm when he heard the news about
Kirsty's murder on the radio. He told British newspaper, The Independent, "I just cannot believe what has
happened. At the moment, I'm just pretending Kirsty is still away on holiday and will eventually come back.
I just want to keep on working to take my mind off what has happened. I don't know what my parents will do. My
mother will not be able to cope. Kirsty's murder put Chiang Mai under the global spotlight for all the wrong
reasons. Like so much of Thailand, Chiang Mai's economy relied heavily on tourism, not
just from backpackers, but from travelers of all ages and backgrounds. With the intense scrutiny of the
international press highlighting every misstep of the investigation and criticizing the offensive theories
shared by the police chief, concerns were high about the negative impact the story would have on tourism.
The pressure was on for the police to solve the case fast. A few days into the investigation, they
got the breakthrough they'd been hoping for when the cleaner, who'd discovered Kirsty's body, came forward to change
her story. The cleaner had originally claimed that she'd found Kirsty's body at around 4:30
on the afternoon of Thursday, August 10. But this had been a lie. She admitted that the discovery had
actually been made at around 10:30 a.m. and not by her, but by the AR's owner, Andy Gil.
The cleaner told the police that Andy and the guest house manager, Surin Champet, had asked her to hold off
making the report for almost 5 hours while they dealt with some other issues. When questioned about this allegation,
Andy Gil admitted it was true. He claimed it was late on Thursday morning when Surin Champernet approached
him to say that there had been some commotion coming from Kirsty's room the night before.
Andy asked if anyone had seen Kirsty yet. Surin told him no, adding that her room was padlocked from the outside.
According to Andy, his first thought was that Kirsty might have gotten in a fight
with someone and had run away. He wasn't worried that something bad might have happened to her. He was more
worried that she had run off without paying her bill. Andy had a spare key for the padlock, so
he went and unlocked Kirsty's room, only to find her lying face down on the bed inside.
He could tell straight away that she'd been raped. Andy claimed he got out of there as
quickly as he could. He went upstairs to fetch Surin and brought him back down to
see the scene for himself. Andy's first thought was to call the police, but he knew they'd discover he
had overstayed his visa, and this would put him in big trouble. Also, if word got out that someone had
died in the guest house, he knew the bad publicity would be detrimental for his business.
Instead, Andy took off trying to get hold of someone in immigration who could sort out a new visa for him before they
alerted the police. Surin Chan Prrenette supported Andy's story, but he also added something else.
Surin claimed that after showing him a Kirsty's body, Andy took the padlock from her door and washed it. When he was
sure any fingerprint evidence had been destroyed, he put it back on its hinge. The police were very interested in this
detail. It not only suggested that Andy had a level of knowledge about crime scene
investigations, but it also raised the question of why he would think to destroy this evidence.
It also didn't explain why Surin Champet hadn't alerted the authorities. if it was so he could get rid of any
elicit drugs he had. The discovery of cannabis and amphetamines in his room suggested he hadn't done a very good
job. Curiously, Surin had also been the one who told the other guests to go back to
bed after hearing the commotion coming from Kirsty's room. For the police, all of this suspicious
behavior had them wondering, "What were these two men trying to hide? Andy Gil and Surin Chan Prinette quickly
rose from persons of interest to suspects and remained in custody due to their respective visa and drug charges.
The results of the DNA tests were expected on Saturday, August 19, 9 days into the investigation. But when that
highly anticipated day came, the police announced there had been an unexpected delay.
During an unrelated press conference, a 34year-old man named Nong Pojana Tamron Pong walked into the police station
wanting to file a complaint. Nong was a member of the Karan Hill tribe, an ethnic minority in northern
Thailand. He worked full-time as a tour guide and had guided the 3-day trek through the
Maym district that Kirsty Jones had been a part of in the days before her death.
While Nong remembered Kirsty, she had been just one of his many clients, and the two hadn't spent any one-on-one time
together or had any notable interactions. According to Nong's official complaint,
he'd been walking down the road when a van suddenly pulled up next to him and a handful of men jumped out. They grabbed
Nong and threw him face first into the back of their van, blindfolding him and forcing him to take a sip of an unknown
substance. The next thing Nong remembered was waking up in what looked like a cheap
motel room. He was surrounded by men in plain clothes who he assumed to be police
officers. The men urged Nong to confess to Kirsty Jones's murder. They reasoned that he was a secondclass
citizen and should help his country by helping to close the case, which had already gone on too long.
The men said that a confession would get him a prison sentence. Refusing to confess would result in an execution.
Non claimed that over several hours the men stripped him naked, beat him, and stood on his chest and stomach while
ordering him to confess. They plucked and burned off some of his pubic hair. One of the men then ordered
Nong to masturbate to the point of ejaculation. When he refused to do so, the man
attempted to do it for him, only giving up when it was obvious he wasn't going to get the desired outcome.
The men allegedly told Nong that if his DNA didn't match the sample found at the
scene of Kirsty's murder, they would make it match. Nong was terrified. Still, he refused to confess, telling
himself that God would protect him, as he'd done nothing wrong. Eventually, Nong passed out, and when he
came to, he was in a police station in the outskirts of Chiang Mai with no idea of how he got there.
Without explanation, he was free to leave. Nong was a member of the Chiang Mai Guide Association, a group that supports
licensed tour guides in Chiang Mai. He went straight to the headquarters and told them what had happened.
Fearing that Nong could be framed and used as a scapegoat, an employee of the association encouraged him to take his
story to the media before filing a complaint with the police. Nong arranged to speak to local
journalist Pim Kasinki, who had been covering the Jones case from the outset, and Andrew Drummond, an independent
British journalist living in Thailand. Telling them about his ordeal, he pulled up his shirt, revealing a badly bruised
torso. His story was published by the international and Thai media, prompting the Chiang Mai Guide Association to
protest in the streets. The police denied having any knowledge of the attack on Nong Pojana Tamron
Pong. They claimed whoever had kidnapped him had been part of a rogue unit and said
that Nong's claims would be investigated fairly. The truth about who was behind the
kidnapping was never revealed. But as Pim Kamasinki later wrote, "Like many ethnic minorities in Thailand who have
been used as police and society's scapegoats, Narong knew he was in an extremely dangerous situation.
The fact is he is lucky to have escaped without a forced signed confession, let alone his life.
Regardless of who was behind the attack, Nong's story added yet another source of
humiliation for the Chiang Mai police as they entered day 10 of the investigation
with no arrests. When the results of the DNA tests were finally in, police were hopeful that it
would put an end to the media circus once and for all. But the results of the test were not
what anyone was expecting. The DNA found on Kirsty's body didn't match any of the AR guest house
residents or its owner. It also didn't belong to a ferang. The DNA proved without doubt that
Kirsty's killer had been a Southeast Asian male. Regardless, the police remained
convinced that a foreigner had been involved in the crime. They told the press that despite the
AR's foreign clientele being cleared by DNA, they weren't ruling out the possibility that one of them could have
been complicit or acted as an accomplice in Kirsty's murder. A fresh set of blood tests and hair
samples were taken from each of the AR residents for a second set of testing. Even though the AR's manager, Surin
Champet's DNA didn't match that found on Kirsty, he became the prime suspect. Police detained three of his tire
associates as well as one of his French friends and obtained a DNA sample from each of them. They also called for any
touktouk drivers who may have given Kirsty a ride home from the markets on the night of her murder to come forward.
The senior investigating officer continued to come under criticism after he made some bizarre comments in the
press about the extent of Kirsty's injuries, leading him to believe that her killer had been wellendowed.
He also said that Surin Champernette had an unusually large penis because he'd injected it with olive oil to increase
its size. Fed up by the lack of progress and the media backlash his controversial
statements were attracting, the senior investigating officer was removed from what the international press had
scathingly dubbed a shambolic investigation. A reward of 30,000 Thai Bart, the equivalent of roughly 500 British pounds
at the time, was offered to anyone who had information that could solve the case.
While not a significant amount by UK standards, the average monthly wage for a worker in Chiang Mai was around 8,000
BART or 130, giving any locals who had information an attractive incentive to come forward.
While the police waited for the results of the second lot of DNA tests, they maintained that the case wasn't a
difficult one to solve, and it wouldn't be long before they detained those responsible.
Meanwhile, Kirsty Jones's body was flown back to Wales where over 800 mourners gathered at a church near her family's
farm to attend her funeral. Among them were the parents of other backpackers who had died while traveling
overseas. While it was a hugely painful day for Kirsty's parents, they felt so proud of
their daughter that so many people from all walks of life had taken the time to pay their respects to her.
After the service, they had a family friend read a statement on their behalf which said,
"The circumstances of Kirsty's death make coming to terms with her loss all the more difficult and we hope and pray
for a swift conclusion to the investigation in Thailand. Kirsty was a wonderful daughter and we
miss her terribly. But she loved to travel and she made friends all over the world. Her zest for
life and her love will always live with us. [Music] Kirsty's murder raised hot debate over
the dangers of women traveling alone and called into question the overall safety
of Thailand as a tourist destination. British journalist Image and Tilden had traveled solo through Thailand at a
similar age to Kirsty and remembered the trip fondly. She wrote an article for the Guardian
arguing that Kirsty's tragic death shouldn't deter other young women from visiting the country, stating that while
it was understandable that people would feel cautious, this was an isolated tragic incident and it didn't mean that
an evil murderer was now lurking in every hostel preying on young women. Imagigen went on to explain,
"An integral part of the delight of being in Southeast Asia is that the hostels don't have alarms and infrared
security systems, nor front doors with British standard five-bolt locks. Travelers and locals alike are relaxed
and friendly, and there is nothing of the barely suppressed aggression that seems to lurk in so many British cities.
In fact, I feel more threatened on my nightly walk home from the tube in South London.
Imagin said the experience of traveling alone was one of the best things she'd ever done, as it gave her an enormous
amount of confidence and courage. I urge every woman to try it themselves and not succumb to what seems
essentially a misogynist hysteria, she wrote. If a young man had been found murdered,
there would be no comment on his traveling companions or lack of them. Back in Chiang Mai, the police were
called to the AR guest house after Surin Champernat's girlfriend, Pantipa, threatened to take her own life unless
Surin was released from custody. Pantipa had been insistent that Surin had nothing to do with Kirsty's death.
She claimed that he'd injured his back several years earlier and it impacted his ability to have sex.
With Surin in jail and the array empty of guests and massage students, Pantipa was struggling.
She already suffered from the detrimental effects of a brain injury she'd sustained years prior, and now she
had no income and no partner. She wasn't even allowed to visit Surin in jail. Her friends had also deserted her in a
bid to distance themselves from the case and the prying reporters. By the time police arrived at the RA,
Pantipa had locked herself in her room and was crying hysterically. Through the door, she said she couldn't
take it anymore. Suddenly, all the lights went off in the building. Police broke down the door and found
Pantipa hanging by the neck from a nylon rope. She was released and rushed to hospital
where she made a quick recovery. A few days later, Pantipa spoke to journalist Pim Keasinki about the
hardships she'd faced in the wake of Kirsty's death. "It would be nice if people cared for the living as much as
they do for the dead," she said. On Thursday, August 31, the results of the second set of DNA tests were in.
Again, there were no matches. For the first time since the investigation commenced 21 days earlier,
the police were forced to admit that the case might not be as easy to solve as they initially thought. One by one, each
of the AR suspects were officially ruled out and given their passports back. All
except manager Surin Champet. Even though his DNA didn't match that found on Kirsty's body, police theorized
that he could have been complicit in the crime, perhaps working in cahoots with members of a foreign mafia gang that had
reportedly been operating out of the night market. Then came another highly controversial
theory. According to the Chiang Mai police, it was possible that whoever had raped Kirsty had purchased semen from
someone else and planted it at the scene to detract attention from themsel. Apparently, this was something they'd
seen done before. As the chief of police explained on the documentary Murder in Paradise,
investigators tested this theory by going out and seeing if it was possible to buy Seaman. He confirmed, quote, "It
was available, there are people that will sell sperm, maybe a laborer or someone who needed cash fast or a
prostitute who had saved some from a previous client." Rumors quickly began circulating that on
the night of Kirsty's murder, a foreign man had paid a tuk tuk driver for his seaman.
The press quickly picked up on the story and newspapers ran wild with outrageous
claims. Journalists Pim Kinki and Andrew Drummond visited the professor of forensic medicine who had been working
on Kirsty's case and asked him if the planted semen theory was plausible. The professor immediately dismissed the
idea. He explained that the deep penetration of the offender's DNA confirmed without
a doubt that whoever had raped Kirsty had also killed her. According to the professor, the evidence
also indicated that only one person had been involved in the crime and that person had undoubtedly been an Asian
man. With suspicion still on Surin Champernet 5 weeks into the investigation, he came
forward with a confession. On the night of Kirsty's murder, Surin claimed that he'd seen a light on in her
room. Through twitching curtains, he caught a glimpse of a man's legs and face. He thought he recognized the man, but it
wasn't until Surin saw him leave the room that he knew for sure. It was the ARI guest house owner, Andy
Gil. Police weren't sure what to make of Surin's claims as he had a reputation for running his mouth,
but it gained credibility when Surin's girlfriend, Pantipa, began supporting his story.
A month into the investigation, Andy Gil was arrested and charged with conspiracy
to rape and murder Kirsty Jones. It was the first time such a charge had ever been made under Tai law. But given
that none of Andy's DNA was found on Kirsty's body, police didn't have enough evidence for an outright murder charge.
Instead, they theorized that Andy could have acted with a tie accomplice. Alternatively, they considered whether
Andy could have watched Kirsty have sex with another man and then slipped into her room and tried to make a move on her
himself. When she resisted his advances, he launched a violent attack and strangled
her to death. [Music] Andy Gil was transported to a prison in Bangkok. Under Thai law, police had just 60 days
to find his alleged co-conspirator. After that, they either had to commit him to trial or let him go.
Regardless of this looming deadline, a spokesperson for the Chiang Mai police said, "We are confident we are on the
right track. There is no mystery anymore." The stakes were high for Randy Gil. If
the charges against him proceeded to trial, a guilty verdict could result in a possible death sentence.
With the wheels of justice turning very slowly in Thailand, it could mean years in one of Bangkok's notoriously harsh
prisons before the trial even went ahead. From behind bars, Andy Gil vehemently denied having anything to do with
Kirsty's rape or murder and remained steadfast that the only reason he'd fled after finding her body was that he
panicked about his expired visa. Those who knew Andy were shocked to discover that he'd been accused of the
crime. A friend of Andy's told the press, "This is unbelievable. There is no way
Andy did this. This whole investigation has been a joke. I know Andy well, and he is just not capable of doing it.
As the 60-day deadline loomed, the police failed to uncover any physical evidence to place Andy Gil or an alleged
co-conspirator at the scene of Kirsty's murder. Then on Thursday, November 30, 12 days
before the deadline, the charges against Andy were suddenly dropped and he was released from prison.
The acting district attorney explained that the testimony provided by Surin Champernet and his girlfriend Pantipa
couldn't be relied on. But journalist Andrew Drummond had been secretly following correspondents sent
between Andy Gil and his father in the south of France. He discovered that while Andy had been
in prison, his father had sent four payments through to Andy's ex-wife in Chiang Mai totaling $14,000.
One fax from Andy's dad to Andy's ex-wife said, "Here is the transmission note for the
remainder of the money. Hope it arrives soon and Andy will be out of their clutches sometime next week.
Andrew Drummond came to the conclusion that the £14,000 had been paid off to someone in the Chiang Mai court system
to secure Andy Gill's freedom. Although according to Andrew, this wasn't a sign of guilt.
He told the documentary Murder in Paradise, "From my experience covering foreign
cases, there is a demand for payment from one direction or another. I've seen 20 British men charged with
offenses against young children in the last 5 years, but I've only seen one case get to court. They've all got out
and they've all paid money. They've paid money to get off a charge they could have been jailed for.
I don't see this in the case of Andy Gil. You can't say, "Well, that man's guilty because he's greasing palms."
He's doing it because he doesn't want to be in jail for 5 years on a charge in which he's not guilty.
Andy Gil admitted that the money had been used to get the charges against him dropped, but he claimed it had nothing
to do with him being guilty. He said he'd simply presented the prosecutor with his side of the story
and let him come to his own conclusion. Given that the courts had no evidence to
uphold the charges anyway, they'd let Andy go. Everything in Asia works through greasing the wheels, he explained.
With the charges against Andy Gil dropped and all other suspects being cleared by DNA, the investigation into
Kirsty's murder was back to square one. As the weeks turned into months, it looked less and less likely that the
case would be solved. Eventually, the one-year anniversary of the crime came and went with no
breakthroughs. In Wales, the Jones family tried to spend the day remembering Kirsty as she
was when she was still alive rather than focus on the tragic circumstances of her
death. Still, finding whoever was responsible remained paramount. In a public statement, the Jones family
said, "One day, we hope to see justice done for the safety of other backpackers, but
most importantly for Kirsty. Someone somewhere should pay the price for robbing us and Kirsty of what should
have been a wonderful happy life. With no progress in the case by its 1-year anniversary, investigators from
Wales traveled to Chiang Mai to meet with the Thai authorities only to be told that Kirsty's case had been closed.
After a quote considerable amount of negotiation, the attorney general agreed to reopen the case with assistance from
the Welsh police. The original team of Thai investigators were removed from the case and replaced
by a new group of detectives. Months later, in January 2002, the case was back in the headlines after it was
revealed that two witnesses had come forward claiming that on the night of Kirsty's murder, they saw two men
hanging around outside of the AR guest house. One of them was a high-ranking officer
within the tourist police force dressed in civilian clothing. Unsubstantiated reports began appearing
in Thai newspapers claiming that DNA supported the theory that Kirsty had been killed by a Thai policeman.
Some claimed that the initial investigation had been deliberately botched to protect the real offender as
the truth would have a detrimental effect on the reputation of the Thai police force and subsequently the
tourism industry. At a press conference in Bangkok, the Welsh detectives refused to comment on
this theory with one remarking instead. Despite the setbacks, I want to make the
point that there are some very good policemen in Thailand who want to pursue the case properly and seem very willing
to do so. A Welsh reporter for the Western Mail newspaper said that it didn't matter
whether or not the killer was a policeman because quote, "The new allegation muddies the waters of an
investigation already tar black with intrigue and tension. It also adds almost intolerable pressure
on the Royal Thai police to gain a conviction at any price. A number of exhibits taken from the
crime scene were flown to the United Kingdom to be examined using the advanced technology available at the
Forensic Science Service Laboratory. At this stage, the DNA sample simply proved that Kirsty's killer had been a
Southeast Asian male. The UK forensic experts re-examined the sarong that had been used to strangle
Kirsty and detected semen and skin cells that allowed them to provide a full DNA
profile. At the time, there was no centralized DNA database in Thailand for the authorities to test the profile against.
They compared it to the samples taken from the persons of interest in Kirsty's case, including the tourism police
officer witnessed outside the RE. There were no matches to any of them, except one.
While tour guide Narang Pojana Tamron Pong had been cleared from the investigation, the DNA profile resembled
his strongly enough to indicate that the killer could be one of his relatives, a
member of the Karan Hill tribes. Welsh police recommended that mass DNA screening be carried out within certain
parameters in Chiang Mai. With the regional police declining to do so, members of the press tried to track
down any members of Nong's family who could possibly fit the profile of Kirsty's killer.
This line of inquiry seemingly fizzled out. Then in April 2002, a year and a half
after Kirsty's murder, came another twist. Stories started circulating in the press
that two trans women had come forward claiming that Surin Champet, the ARI guest house manager, had paid them to
plant seammen at the scene of the crime. Thai investigators dismissed the claims
as wild speculation. While Welsh detectives said the information was being received with caution,
they reiterated that the fluids found on Kirsty's body could only have come from
the person who killed her. By the third anniversary of Kirsty's murder, her family's heartache was as
raw as ever. "We will never get over losing Kirsty," the Joneses said in a public statement.
We are trying to live without her and get on with our lives as best we can. Some days this is easier said than done.
A young, beautiful, vibrant life has been lost and she is very much missed by so many.
Knowing there is someone somewhere responsible for Kirsty's death is never far from our minds.
Things in Thailand tend to move incredibly slowly, so we have to be patient. We shall never give up hope of catching
her killer. This is the very least that Kirsty deserves. Welsh detectives remained actively
involved in the case and were confident that Kirsty's killer would be identified.
We have a piece of the killer and will always have that. One detective said, "We have the DNA profile of the person
believed to be the offender, and we are confident someone will match that profile and be brought to justice."
But the team was hindered by a lack of action from the Thai police. As the years continued to pass without
an arrest, it seemed like the Thai authorities only acted when pressure was placed on them by the UK police or
foreign office. Welsh police suggested several lines of inquiry that Thai investigators didn't
follow up on, including the mass DNA screening in Chiang Mai, as well as reintering key witnesses.
Given that the Thai police remained in charge of the investigation, Welsh police felt as though their hands were
tied. In 2007, Welsh politician Roger Williams took the issue to Parliament, voicing
the deep frustration that Kirsty Jones's family felt at the botched investigation
and slow progress of the Thai authorities. He stated, "The family and police do not
have unrealistic expectations of the Thai authorities. All they ask is for a methodical and professional
investigation of what is a very detectable crime." I ask the minister to use all the
facilities at the disposal of the foreign office to encourage the Thai authorities not to give up on this case
for the sake of the family and the safety of young people traveling in Thailand.
Sue Jones described her family's experience of dealing with foreign law enforcement to Wales online.
Unless you are in this situation, you don't realize what it is like, she said. You automatically think that someone
will be holding your hand, but that is not the case. You have to work it out as you go along.
It is extremely frustrating for us because we fire questions at the Thai authorities through the foreign office
and anything they don't want to answer, they will just avoid. Their way of doing things is completely
different and we have to understand that. But it is hard to be patient. [Music] The investigation seemingly went nowhere
until over a decade later in 2011 when a mysterious video popped up on video sharing website YouTube from an
Australian retiree living in Chiang Mai. Identifying himself only by the username
Mr. AJP Allen. The man claimed he knew the identity of the second man who had been seen loitering around outside the
AR guest house with the tourist police officer on the night of Kirsty Jones's murder.
According to Mr. AJP Allen, it was a tire professor who worked at Changai University and also happened to be the
younger brother of the police officer. Speaking to the camera in a deliberately clear and slow manner, Allan said, "The
Department of Special Investigations has all the details, but will not act just in case I am wrong. I won't be taking
this off the internet until the British Embassy overseas a DNA test on this lecturer from the university."
When the Jones family were made aware of this allegation, all they could do was hope that the professor in question
would be subject to a DNA test. Obviously, if it is him, that will be a good thing, Sue Jones told BBC News. If
it isn't, it eliminates him from the investigation. A detective from the Welsh police told
Wales online that while the YouTube video wasn't evidence itself, it was still a viable line of inquiry and they
felt it was important to rule it out. It is not about solving it for us. He said it is about solving it for the
Jones family and for Kirsty. She is the one who deserves to have the truth and we will leave no stone
unturned until every line of inquiry is exhausted. When no breakthroughs came by August
2012, Sue Jones flew to Thailand ahead of the 12-year anniversary of Kirsty's death to announce a £10,000 reward for
information that led to an arrest. For the first time, she also visited the ARE guest house and saw the room in
which her daughter was murdered. At an emotional press conference, Sue said, "I am convinced there is someone who has
information that could lead to the arrest of the person who took away my daughter's life. With the passing of
time, people's loyalties change and relationships end, which may remove any previous reluctance to come forward.
Something small, which may seem irrelevant at the time, could now be significant and add new pieces to the
jigsaw that the police already have. [Music] That same year, the DNA profile of Kirsty's killer was run through
Thailand's National DNA database. Established in 2004, it contained profiles from around 80,000 individuals,
including victims of the devastating Boxing Day tsunami that had killed over 5,000 people in Thailand.
There were no matches. In turn, Sue Jones made a freedom of information request to the foreign
office seeking all of the documents they had in relation to Kirsty's death. She was told they couldn't release any
material that could jeopardize or hurt their relations with Thailand. While it was their job to help any
family concerned about a death overseas, they weren't allowed to interfere with any criminal investigations that took
place outside of the UK. In the documents they did provide, many of the names had been deleted.
Convinced that the officials had consistently prioritized foreign relations over her quest for answers,
Sue told Wales Online, "I'm pretty sure somebody knows what happened. They're probably too afraid to
say anything or it's somebody in authority, but I'm 99% sure somebody knows." In 2014, Thailand's police force was
back under international scrutiny after British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found murdered on
the island of Katau. As covered in episode 220 of Case File, the investigation into Hannah and
David's death sparked major allegations of police corruption and cover-ups after
the two prime suspects, both Burmese migrants, claimed police had tortured them into making false confessions.
In the years that followed, several other cases emerged involving foreigners who died under mysterious circumstances
on the island. While most of the deaths were declared accidents or suicides by the Thai
authorities, it put the Jones family onto a growing list of grieving families who called into question the way Thai
police handled serious crimes against tourists. For Kirsty's family, each year that
passed without a breakthrough in the case wasn't just painful and frustrating. It was a race against the
clock. In Thailand, a 20-year statute of limitations exists on murder convictions.
This meant that if Kirsty's case wasn't solved within that time frame, a prosecution wouldn't be possible, even
if new evidence became available. As this deadline approached, Kirsty's family did everything they could think
of to try and keep the Thai authorities interested in Kirsty's case. Despite all the hurdles they'd faced
over the years, they'd always remained positive that something good would come out of the investigation eventually and
someone would be punished for Kirsty's murder. As Sue explained to Wales online,
you have to remain positive because if you don't, you might as well give up. But that positivity became difficult to
maintain as the 20-year statute loomed. In 2017, Welsh politician Chris Davies asked then Prime Minister Theresa May to
step in and help the Jones family. He urged, "I ask the prime minister to push the Thai authorities to use recently
improved DNA techniques to bring the killer to justice. to endeavor to provide more support for
families who have lost loved ones abroad and finally to ensure that Kirsty's personal effects at last returned back
home to her parents from Thailand. The prime minister offered her condolences to the Jones family, but
said it was not the place for the British government to interfere with police investigations that take place in
another country. [Music] Kirsty's case was due to be closed on Monday, August 10, 2020.
her loved ones, as well as those who had been following the case since the beginning, could do little but hope that
a new witness or some DNA evidence unexpectedly came to light. Welsh television presenter Jonathan Hill
had traveled to Thailand with Sue Jones back in 2012 when they announced the £10,000 reward for information.
He'd been deeply impacted by the determination the Jones family had to seek justice for their daughter.
Jonathan told ITV News, "Be in no doubt that this case is solvable. A targeted DNA screening of local man in
Chiang Mai would probably have revealed the killer's identity, but the case was always uncomfortable for the Thai
authorities. And no doubt there will be those who would rather it be consigned to history. Case closed.
What is striking about the last two decades is how Sue Jones has conducted herself with such a dignity.
She never wavered from her promise to get justice for Kirsty. And there can be no better demonstration of a mother's
love for her daughter. Crushingly, the 20-year statute of limitations came with none of the
answers Kirsty's family so desperately sought. Sue told BBC News, "Kirsty has gone from our lives, whilst
her killer remains at large. Had they been brought to justice, the sadness and emptiness would remain the same, but it
may have brought us some closure. I hope we have done her proud in trying to get justice.
[Music] While Kirsty's case may have closed without answers, she is never far from
Sue's mind. Staying in contact with Kirsty's friends via social media, it cut Sue up inside
to see them all grow up, get married, and have kids of their own. She couldn't help but wonder what
Kirsty's future would have been like if her life hadn't been so tragically cut short.
"You think, would she be married now?" Sue pondered to Wales Online. "Would she have kids? Would she be on the other
side of the world working or traveling?" Despite all the horrors her family had endured in the wake of Kirsty's murder,
there was one thing Sue was certain of. When she traveled to Thailand for the first time, she could see why Kirsty had
fallen in love with the place. "It really is paradise," she told the Daily Mirror. "The people were lovely. They
couldn't do enough for us. You can't ride off an entire country because of something bad that once happened there."
The last thing Sue wanted was for Kirsty's death to deter any other young people from traveling.
Travel made Kirsty streetwise, confident, and ready for the challenges life could throw at her. She said, "I'd
hate to think her death would stop anyone fulfilling their dreams of seeing the world.
It was a sentiment she'd felt strongly about since the very beginning. As Sue told the BBC after Kirsty's body
was found, she had every doubt in the world about her daughter traveling the world on her own.
Regardless, Sue said she never would have stopped her. It's what she wanted to do. Sue stated
she wouldn't have been happy doing anything else. Our children are like grains of sand.
The tighter we try to hold on to them, the faster they run. [Music]

23-year-old Welsh backpacker Kirsty Jones had her whole life ahead of her when she set out for a two-year trip across Asia, Australia and South America. Tragically, that trip was cut short just two months in when Kirsty was found strangled to death in her room at The Aree Guesthouse in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Thai police anticipated a quick arrest, but what followed was a media circus and bungled investigation that left the Jones family and young travellers everywhere desperate for answers.

CREDITS Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer

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RESOURCES

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Brief Summary

Kirsty Jones, a backpacker, was murdered in Thailand, leading to a controversial investigation and ongoing calls for justice from her family.

Key points

Kirsty's Transformative Gap Year. Kirsty Jones embarks on a life-changing adventure in Australia before planning a bigger trip.
The Discovery of a Crime Scene. A cleaner finds Kirsty Jones's body, leading to a police investigation.
Media Frenzy Over Kirsty's Murder. Kirsty's murder becomes a media sensation, raising concerns about tourism in Chiang Mai.
Nong's Ordeal. Nong was kidnapped and tortured by men claiming to be police, forcing him to confess to a crime he didn't commit.
Kirsty's Funeral. Over 800 mourners gathered to pay their respects, highlighting the impact of her loss.
Controversial Theories. Police theorized that the semen found at the crime scene could have been planted, raising eyebrows about the investigation's integrity.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Kirsty was a vibrant, smart, and independent young woman who craved adventure.

Description of Kirsty Jones before her travels.

1:36WatchSep 6, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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