Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has called the brutal murder of Russian siblings Nazimov a "terrible shame" for the country, reports infohub.kz.
The head of government noted that expats, rather than tourists, are more often victims of serious crimes against foreigners. After two Thai nationals were detained on suspicion of the brutal murder of 17-year-old Roman and 22-year-old Diana Nazimov, the official visited Pattaya on Saturday in connection with the investigation.
"The murder of young Russians was also committed by Thais, so besides being a terrible tragedy, it is also a terrible shame for Thailand. We are aware of this. The investigation and the court in both cases will carefully examine the causes that led to these crimes to rule out the possibility of such tragedies recurring in the future," the prime minister said.
He stressed that serious crimes against foreigners are extremely rare in Thailand, and their analysis shows that in most cases the victims are expats who have lived in the country for years, not tourists.
"The reason, apparently, is that expats more often go beyond the areas arranged for tourists for living, dining, and entertainment, where the safety of foreign citizens and law enforcement are always at the highest level, and the pace of life corresponds to a short vacation period," Charnvirakul explained.
Recall that the Russians went missing on the morning of July 26; later their Honda ADV 150 motorcycle was found disassembled and buried near an old cemetery in Chonburi province.
Later, two suspects were detained, who confessed to the murder of 22-year-old Diana Nazimova and her 17-year-old brother Roman. According to their testimony, they wanted to steal the motorcycle, but when the young people resisted, they shot the younger brother and then beat his older sister to death.
The suspects also indicated the burial site of the bodies. Next to the Russians, three dead Thais were found: a man, a woman, and a girl.
Soon, a crowd gathered at a police station in Thailand demanded the death penalty for the suspects in the murder of the sister and brother from Russia, as well as a local family.