Thai police have charged two Myanmar men with murder and rape after the killing of two British tourists on a southern island last month, in a case that has severely dented the kingdom's image as a holiday haven.
The charges come after police said the undocumented migrant workers had confessed to murdering David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose battered bodies were found on Koh Tao on September 15.
The men have been charged with the murder of both Britons - a charge which carries the death penalty - and the rape of Witheridge, with police saying that their DNA matched samples taken from her body.
"The two Myanmar nationals are charged with murder (of both tourists), gang rape (of Witheridge) and stealing," Prachum Ruangthong, police chief of neighbouring Koh Phangan island, told AFP.
The breakthrough follows intense scrutiny of Thai authorities, which had been accused - in criticism led by the British media - of bungling the investigation in the days after the crime.
Earlier Friday police said the men - identified only as Win, 21, and Saw, 23, from Rakhine state in Myanmar - had admitted to killing the Britons and raping Witheridge.
"Two Myanmar suspects have confessed to killing the pair," Thai national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung told AFP.
The accused were among three nationals from Myanmar - formerly known as Burma - held since Thursday on suspicion of involvement in the crime.
The third Myanmar man is believed to be a witness and is currently under police protection on Koh Tao, provincial police chief Kiattipong Khaosamang told AFP.
Earlier Friday investigators took the arrested men to the island to re-enact the crime scene, a common practice in Thai murder cases.
Hundreds of onlookers watched as the handcuffed pair - wearing bullet-proof vests and white helmets - walked along the beach where the Britons were found dead, surrounded by scores of police.
"Both men raped the female victim," Kiattipong said earlier, adding the tourists were killed with a wooden stick and a garden hoe, which was found bloodied at the scene.
Thai authorities dismissed concerns that they had arrested scapegoats when questioned by reporters.
"Please be reassured that police have worked to their best ability so it's not possible that they have arrested scapegoats," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said Friday.
In the weeks since the brutal killings, police have DNA-tested hundreds of people in and around Koh Tao and questioned dozens of people - including friends of Miller.
They had come under intense pressure to solve the case after being criticised for mismanaging the probe by chasing the wrong leads and failing to lock down the island in the hours after the murders.
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