Thai police await tests in UK backpacker murder

BANGKOK (Reuters) -- Thai police have taken blood and hair samples from a number of suspects in the rape and murder of a young woman backpacker from Wales.

Police in the northern city of Chiang Mai police said they expected the first results from the lab on Sunday.

Police investigator Prasit Thamdee told Reuters: "If the blood matches, then the police will conduct a DNA test, which could take another 10 days to get the result."

DNA is a kind of genetic fingerprint unique to every individual.

The body of 23-year-old Kirsty Jones, from the town of Brecon, Wales, was found at a Chiang Mai tourist guesthouse on Thursday.

She was discovered by other western travellers and the lodging owner after she failed to emerge from her room.

Chiang Mai police chief Kasem Ratanasunthorn said police had six potential suspects but none had been charged.

He said police had kept the passports of five of the men -- the sixth is Thai -- and asked them all to remain in the town.

Police would not specify if blood and hair samples had been taken from all of the men.

Kasem said: "We are in the process of questioning witnesses and gathering material evidence. We are trying everything to get the culprit. I don't think it is beyond our means to find him."

Police said guests had heard sounds of a struggle and a scream from Jones's room during the night but had done nothing because they thought it was a lovers' quarrel.

They said one man, with dual British and Australian nationality, had been detained early on Friday.

Chiang Mai, about 645 kilometres (400 miles) north of Bangkok, is a tourist attraction for its Buddhist temples, ancient walled city and bustling night market. It is also the starting point for treks into the lush hills bordering Myanmar and Laos.

Thousands of British passport holders visited Thailand in 1999, the largest group of European tourists, according to the Thai tourism agency. About 8.65 million foreigners visited Thailand last year.

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