Thailand beach murders: Police parade Burmese suspects in reconstruction of killings - video

The two men, Win and Saw, have already confessed to the crimes, police said

Police in Thailand have paraded the two Burmese workers who confessed to killing two British tourists in front of cameras to reconstruct the murders.

The two men, whose names have only been given as Saw and Win, wore hard hats against possible missiles from the crowd at a briefing on Friday.

General Somyot Poompanmoung, chief of the Royal Thai Police, said they face charges of murder, rape and theft.

As well as the reported confession, he said a DNA match had been made between the suspects and samples taken from the victims' bodies.

Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, were found dead on a beach on the island of Koh Tao on 15 September.

In a reconstruction of the killings, the handcuffed suspects were taken to the island's Sairee beach, where they were watched by hundreds of locals and tourists.

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General Somyot claimed the crime was motivated by sexual jealousy.

“The suspects saw them kissing and were aroused, so they attacked and got rid of the man and proceeded to rape the female victim,” he said.

Human rights groups have voiced concern over the lack of legal representation for the men.

But General Somyot claimed they had not asked for lawyers.

“If they had asked for lawyers we would have provided lawyers for them as this is their basic right,” he added.

Migrant workers, particularly from neighbouring Burma, face prejudice in Thailand and have been used as scapegoats for previous crimes.

General Somyot said DNA results, CCTV footage and other evidence had supported the men's confessions that they raped and killed Ms Witheridge and murdered Mr Miller.

A third Burmese worker arrested in connection with the murders denies involvement.

Officers had collected 200 DNA samples from men on the island to test against two different semen samples found on her body.

Speaking to the Bangkok Post, Lieutenant General Panya Mamen, commissioner of the region’s police, defended the investigation, which has come under close scrutiny after changing direction on a number of occasions as police appeared to be struggling to identify those responsible.

Last week a reward of 700,000 baht - roughly £13,300 - was offered for information leading to the arrests of the killers, while around 150 officers were posted to the island.

Post-mortem examinations revealed that Ms Witheridge, from Great Yarmouth, died from head wounds, while Mr Miller, from Jersey, was killed by severe blows to the head and drowning.

Additional reporting by agencies