Thailand: British Man Wanted in Connection with 'Gruesome' Koh Tao Double-Murder Could be in Bangkok

A British man wanted in connection with the double-murder of two British tourists on the holiday island of Koh Tao could have fled to Bangkok.

Police put the island on lock down to prevent potential suspects sailing away after the bodies of a 24-year-old man from Jersey and a 23-year-old woman from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, were found on a beach.

The man and woman were found near a beachside bungalow in the Surat Thani province of Thailand with "gruesome" head wounds caused by a hoe, police said.

They were thought to have attended a full moon beach party on Koh Tao - an area popular with tourists and scuba-divers - and witnesses have told police they saw the pair earlier dancing at a local bar.

Police want to speak with a British man who may be a friend of the tourists but ITV reports he may have already left the island before police put checkpoints in place at Koh Tao's ferry ports.

Local police official Jakkrapan Kaewkhao told AFP: "They were murdered and found naked on the beach. The woman had three wounds on her face and the man had four wounds on his back.

"Their bodies were found 30 metres from (the) bungalow," he said, adding the pair arrived in Thailand on August 25.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the death of two British nationals on September 15 on the island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand.

"The Embassy are urgently seeking information from the local authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance as needed."