BootsnAll Travel Community

Chhouk Rin, a former Khmer Rouge commander who was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the 1994 murder of three backpackers, was arrested yesterday in Anlong Veng, Cambodia.

Choouk RinRin and his accomplices had abducted Australian David Wilson, Briton Mark Slater and Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet from a Cambodian train traveling between Phnom Penh and the southern city of Sihanoukville, held the trio hostage for two months, then killed them. The travelers' bodies were found in a shallow grave.

Philip Gourevitch wrote about the events in the September 1995 issue of Outside magazine, and his story is still available online.

Passengers onboard the cruise liner attacked in the Indian Ocean by alleged Somali pirates have told the BBC of their ordeal.

Edith Laird, from Seattle in the US, told the BBC News website she was only four rooms away from where a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) hit the Seabourn Spirit, about 100 miles (160km) from the Somali coast.

"My daughter saw the pirates out of our window. There were at least three RPGs that hit the ship, one in a stateroom four doors down from our cabin.

"Our captain, Sven Erik Pedersen, and the rest of his crew did a wonderful and amazing job getting us out of the area as fast as possible. We had no idea that this ship could move as fast as it did! And he did his best to run down the pirates.

Link to more pirate stuff

Transvestites Hoodwink Tourists With Kiss

(11-14) 14:15 PST BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) --

Thai transvestites are often pretty enough to fool tourists and expatriates into taking them home for the night, but the unwary foreign visitor risks losing his wallet as well as his pride, Thai police warned Monday.

Members of a transvestite gang have confessed to concealing strong sedative pills under their tongues and spitting them down the throats of their victims while kissing, causing them to pass out so they can be easily robbed, police said.

Link

The body of a young American student, Julia Armstrong Minard, was found dead Sunday in Indian Creek, Belize, a small Mayan town in the southern part of the country. Minard was in Belize on a school break; she was studying Spanish in Guatemala.

According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Minard appears to have been strangled to death. Murder charges have been brought against a 19-year old local, but detectives haven't determined motive. Link

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Ehrlich:
The body of a young American student, Julia Armstrong Minard, was found dead Sunday in Indian Creek, Belize, a small Mayan town in the southern part of the country. Minard was in Belize on a school break; she was studying Spanish in Guatemala.

Link

I guess she isn't as 'cute' as Natalee Holloway....

no suspense either since they've purportedly found the killer....CourtTV and other tabloid mongers are crying...

Photo here:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/5347618/detail.htm...d=22100484&qs=1;bp=t

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10083524/

" The murder is the second tragedy to befall the Minard family in recent years.

In 2001, Minard was with her father, Lawrence, 51, when he had a heart attack and died while climbing Mount Rainier in Washington.

Minard's father was the founding editor of Forbes Global, the international edition of Forbes magazine. "

Too bad...it was her and not: I can't blink - pure evil - Steve Forbes.

A COACH CARRYING FOREIGN TOURISTS FROM KHAOSARN BOUND FOR SURATTHANI OVERTURNED

A coach carrying foreign tourists from Khaosarn (ข้าวสาร) road has overturned while on its way to Suratthani, resulting in almost 20 injuries.

The double-decker coach overturned on Rama 2nd road in Samuprakarn province last night, after it picked up passengers from Khaosarn road in Bangkok. 11 people received minor injuries while 5 were seriously wounded and sent to Mahachai 1 hospital. Mr. SOMBAT PHUITTHISEN (สมบัติ พุฒิเสน), Mr. Pimpare Herve Philippe, Mr. Huguet Jerome, Mr. Larsson Larslols Jonh, and Mr. Parmell Birgirtta Aspridmaria were the 5 people sent for intensive care.

The coach driver had escaped in fear of criminal prosecution, and police are tracking the man.

I made the mistake of reading this article last week about the backpacker killer in Australia in the 70's. It's a pretty long article, but completely fascinating and terrifying. I had heard of this story, but am too young to really know anything about it.
If you are planning on going on a trip soon, you actually might NOT want to read it. It has slightly freaked me out. Obviously it can happen in the States too, but I'm going to Oz in three weeks and it just cut a little too close.

quote:

Originally posted by circusoflife:

I guess she isn't as 'cute' as Natalee Holloway....

she IS cute tho, IDK maybe it had something to do with her being out on her own daring to drink with the locals in a 'lawless' place? Holloway was travelling with a big, chaperoned group to a 'safe' place. Then she got twisted and went off with men she didnt know...

damn, ladies, BE CAREFUL!! I'm totally guilty of getting drunk with strange men while travelling, usually fellow travellers tho... idk if that is any more safe...

Emeraleyes,

The backpacker murders for which Ivan Milat was found guilty were a dark blot on Australian travel and though decades have gone by without anything of the same scale, yes killings of travellers does still occur as in countries all over the globe, and then just recently there has been the case of a guy from somewhere in Africa, admitted as a refugee but who apparently knew he was HIV, got through undetected and has gone about infecting a number of overseas travellers and who knows how many Australians to ruin quite a few lives.

Whilst in most countries, the killings/dangers of or to travellers may be of a small percentage to the total of a country, they are still there as is the increasing numbers of missing peoples, both travellers and nationals.

But travellers will not stop travelling and Australia is still a relatively safe country, but like anywhere anytime, it pays to stay sensible in whatever you do.

# Mina Olen, see you have explained the Natalie Holloway reference, even if having trouble understanding the "taste" of the circus comment.

A BRITISH backpacker run over while sleeping in sand dunes on a Queensland island had no idea he was on a four-wheel-drive track because of a lack of signage, he said today.

Ski instructor Scott Osbourne, 25, and a female backpacker were sleeping in dunes on Eli Creek on Fraser Island, off the coast of Hervey Bay, when they were struck by a four-wheel drive about 6.30am (AEST) yesterday.

"I got woken by a truck climbing me basically," Mr Osbourne said at Royal Brisbane Hospital.

"The first set of tyres went over, I was like, `oh what was that' and I tried to get up quickly and the second (set of tyres) then pushed me down and wiped my head."

Mr Osbourne, from Nottingham in England's Midlands, was airlifted to the hospital overnight with a injuries including a fractured shoulder blade, injured elbow and cut on the head.

"I've got a couple of fractured ribs and a slight collapsed lung," he said.

He said his companion, a German medical student, escaped with a few scratches and slept through the incident.

Link to story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4579234.stm

The family of a British backpacker found dead in water at a Thailand beach are heading to the country as a murder inquiry continues into her death.
Thai police said Katherine Horton, 21, from Cardiff, was attacked with a blunt instrument and left to drown on the resort island of Koh Samui.

The Reading University student was last seen phoning her mother on 1 January.

Her father was flying to Thailand from Wales, while her brother was travelling to the country from Australia.

This story about Kate Horton has been big news over here and is bringing up the issue of how safe Thailand is for travelling - apparantly 8 backpacking Brits have been killed over there (not including the tsunami) since 2004. I personally think it's bullshit (as in the opinion that it's unsafe - everywhere is "unsafe" to a certain extent), if you compare the 100's of 1000's of people who travel there each year and look at it percentage wise. It's an awful thing to have happened and my heart goes out to her parents and relatives but I think the media are getting a little overexcited. Having been to Thailand I know how I feel - anyone else got an opinion who's been? How about those of you having not visited but are planning on it in the future - does it put you off at all??? Just interested.....

quote:

I think the media are getting a little overexcited

I agree.

I'm going to be in Thailand in April (part of a 4.5 month Asia trip) and the Kate Horton story has definitely upset my parents. They're not exactly over the moon about me going on my own anyway, so anything like this really puts them on edge.

Personally, I'm not hugely concerned. Lots of pretty young women die unpleasant deaths in the UK (and all over the world) every year. I know that every time I step out of my house alone at night, I'm running a risk. London has its fair share of nutters -- a girl my age was killed right outside her house in London just a few months ago (can't remember her name, she was a model, I think).

I think the benefits of my trip outweigh the risks. All I can do is try to act sensibly and be aware of what can happen -- just like at home!

Blegh to all that...

How about we all become ninjas???

You'll get the media feasting in a frenzy on anything that will get readers/viewers and they only usually tell half the story about the unfortunates who sometimes have only them selves to blame.
. An american couple got left behind when their boat went back to Cairns after a diving trip - probably big news in US and a film made along those lines - how that could happen is beyond me and the captain of the vessel should have been charged with manslaughter (he mau have - there were inquiries and can't recall the outcome) and never allowed again to be in charge - procedures in the industry were overhauled.

. The couple being ran over on Fraser Island had gotten tipsy and slept where theydropped basically - probably pulled up in twilight and Eli Creek is one spot on Fraser where a lot of traffic goes to, and it is not a designated camp area - in fact there are signs telling people where they can camp and where they should not.
Ironically, some twit in the news was suggesting that there should be more signs to mark the roads when the main one past Eli is a stretch of sand.

Just on another note, I regularly see reported in the media that something like 30,000 people a year go missing in Australia, not all travellers and no figures re locals/travellers, but seems unbelievably high, maybe some re-reports/rolling yearly number etc., but if it is in fact 30,000 a year newbies then I'd reckon there must be an awful lot of undiscovered graves or mysterious people towns about and a lot of people probably like to move and start a new life - any similar figures from other countries.

The other danger that gets raised (and Eeyes, it is only a film remember)is hitchiking, but in all reality there would be more people killed in car accidents with people they know and by people they know than what there ever would in hitching.
Many more tourists killed through drowning at surf beaches, and how many lily/creamy white skinned peoples will go home carrying a melonoma time bomb in their body - who knows - protect yourself from that sun.

Not to sound like a psycho - but I have definitely considered carrying pepper spray or a knife (well I mostly want the knife for the corkscrew/bottle opener). What are your opinions on taking a defensive stance?

Please, don't even go there.

The question of bringing along weapons of any kind is, traditionally, a way of starting a long, painful thrash within the boards. (See: Usenet, Godwin's Law, etc)

Discussions of whether bringing along weapons is appropriate always degenerates into a gun thrash.

I will immediately close any topic where this happens.

Whatever you say Mang.
First taboo subject I've come across on here.

Foreigner distraught, lying in an alley in southern metro

A suspected Australian has been lying motionless in an alley near Ho Chi Minh City’s backpacker street for nearly a week, raising concerns over his health and mental condition.

About 1m7 in height, of a haggard countenance and pale complexion, the aging man has been lying in an alley on Pham Ngu Lao Street, the most frequented backpacker street in HCMC.

Link to story