Murder case protest in Myanmar ends

BANGKOK, January 8 (TNA) - Demonstrations to protest against a death sentence by a Thai court on two Myanmar men in a murder case on Koh Tao, or Tao Island, in Surat Thani Province in the Thai South at the Thai Embassy in Yangon and other areas in Myanmar have already ended. Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sek Wannamethee told journalists of the update on January 7, saying that the protest came to an end after Thai Ambassador to Myanmar Pisanu Suvanajata had explained the matter to Myanmar Foreign Minister Maung Lwin. The spokesman stated that the Thai Embassy to Myanmar now opens as usual, but its consular section remains suspending its visa services during January 5-8, 2016. According to the spokesman, the Thai Embassy in Yangon has, however, kept monitoring developments to report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok for assessing the updates for further appropriate actions. On December 24, 2015, the Samui provincial court sentenced the two Myanmar migrant workers, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun, both aged 22, to death for murdering two British tourists, David Miller and Hannah Witheridge, both 24 years old, on Sai Ree Beach of Koh Tao in Surat Thani's Koh Pha-ngan District on September 15, 2014. Win Zaw Tun was also found guilty of illegal immigration. (TNA)