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With crystal clear water and stunning greenery, the Thai island of Koh Tao is seen as a backpacker haven.

But behind paradise lies a grubby underbelly where, according to one report, there are "enough suspicious disappearances to warrant the island its own CSI franchise".

Dubbed 'Death Island', the illusion of a safe haven has since shattered following the brutal deaths of a number of tourists.

On tiny Koh Tao, there are some 2,000 expats alongside the 2,500 registered Thais, according to Mayor Chaiyan Turasakul.

Most are running guesthouses, eateries and scuba-diving operations or working as diving instructors.

However, according to Rhys Bonney, an immigration adviser to expats in Thailand, the legality of the businesses are an “extremely grey area”.

And insecure residency tends to breed compliance. “Once you’ve been living there for a while, you’ll turn a blind eye to some pretty sketchy stuff,” says Mike Earley, 30, from New Zealand, who spent six months on the island working as a DJ.

Complaining about wrongdoing may invite official questions and demands for passports and documentation.

Expats “don’t want to lose their time in paradise,” Earley tells Time, “as it’s cheap, it’s nice living, and it’s very easy to ignore what happens".

(Image: Viral Press)

Fears over the safety of idyllic Koh Tao were heightened after the killings of Brits Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in 2014.

“I’ve never been happier than here,” David, a 24-year-old on holiday with friends, told relatives in Jersey in what was to be his last phone call home.

Hannah was also revelling in her time staying at Sairee Beach with another group of travelling companions.

But it was in this idyllic setting that their horribly bludgeoned bodies were discovered, their blood seeping into the sand and staining the water.

The brutality of the killings made headlines worldwide and cast a shadow across Thailand’s image as a safe and carefree destination for 20 million foreign visitors a year.

Then came a stumbling police investigation, speculation about a cover-up to protect a prominent local family, the alleged framing and torture of two young Burmese migrant workers, questions about the handling of key forensic evidence and the controversial observer role of Metropolitan Police officers alongside Thai investigators.

(Image: Barcroft)

Revealed on Thursday, Elise Dallemange, 30, was found dead in the jungle on the island in April, having been half-eaten by lizards, eight days after she said she was leaving to return to her native home in Belgium.

Thai police claim Elise hung herself - but her devastated mother does not believe them, and thinks somebody else was involved.

The family of some of the deceased - including three more Brits - have accused local cops of not investigating the deaths of their loved ones.

Elise's death is the latest in a string of seven fatalities in three years on the island.

Elise Dallemange

(Image: Viral Press)

It was revealed yesterday that on April 28 Elise became the latest tourist found dead on the island of Koh Tao.

The young backpacker had been living at a yoga and tantra retreat, which neighboured the party island of Koh Phangan, in between travelling round Asia, for two years.

She was part of the sect of the Sathya Sai Baba cult movement, and lived with a self-proclaimed "guru", and left the island on April 17 to return home.

Elise's heartbroken mother, Michele van Egten, has now proclaimed she does not believe police account of events.

Michelle, who says the death would have gone unnoticed if not for her public appeal for help, said: "I do not believe what the police have told us.

"We fear somebody else was involved.

"We're more and more thinking that the police information is not the right explanation."

(Image: Viral Press)

The mother told Der Farang magazine that she had been promised an autopsy report - but has still not been delivered.

Phone records show that Elise called her mother on Skype on April 17 before leaving on a Ferry April 19 - but it is not known why she alighted on Koh Tao instead of continuing on to the mainland.

Michele claims that Elise used a fake name of "Elise Dubuis" to check into the Triple B Bungalows next to Mae Head Pier on Koh Tao as she travelled via the island on a ferry bound for Chumphon province on her route back to capital Bangkok.

But an unexplained fire that evening burned down three bamboo huts - including the one Elise had been staying in.

Elise fled 2.5km to through the jungle to Tanote Bay and took a room at the Poseidon Resort where she booked another ticket for Bangkok leaving on April 24.

(Image: Viral Press)

Eight days later when locals living near the island's idyllic Tanote Bay became suspicious of a monitor lizard going back and fourth into the jungle they discovered Elise's half-eaten body on May 27 among rocks behind the Tanote Family Bay Resort.

Police told Elise's mother Michele that her daughter had committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree around three days before she was found.

But no suicide note or message were recovered and Michele is desperate for information surrounding the mysterious death.

Elise's bags mysteriously appear to have been loaded onto the ferry she was due to take, and arrived at Chumphon province where she should have caught a bus to the capital.

But Elise had disappeared. She was later identified by dental records and previous x-rays.

Hannah Witheridge and David Miller

(Image: PA)

Brits Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered as they walked back to their hotel rooms in September 2014.

Hannah, 23, from Hemsby, Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found dead on the island of Koh Tao on September 15.

Post-mortem examinations showed that the young backpackers, who had met on the island while staying at the same hotel, both suffered head wounds and that Hannah had been raped.

(Image: Tim Stewart)

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Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death for the killings. But although David's family called the verdict 'justice', the trial of the two Burmese migrant workers was plagued by accusations of human rights abuses.

The men, apprehended soon after the pair's bodies were found, initially confessed to the crime only to retract their statements amid claims they were extracted by torture.

Luke Miller

Luke Miller, a bricklayer from the Isle of Wight, was found dead in a swimming pool at the Sunset Bar at Sairee Beach on January 8 2016, with an inquest earlier this month finding "no evidence" he was murdered.

He was discovered floating in the water by a member of hotel staff, with his death coming just days after a tragic final Facebook post on New Year's Eve, in which he said: "Can honestly say this new year I am living the dream".

Thai police said a post-mortem examination showed he drowned.

But, his sister Maria and the family told the BBC they would not rely on what Thai police said as there was still speculation over the circumstances surrounding the death - and that they had received 'different versions' of what might have happened.

(Image: Reuters)

In a statement following his hearing, James Gissing, who was in Thailand with Luke, said he felt “police were covering up as it was the death of another foreigner on Koh Tao”, referring to the Witheridge and Miller murders.

David is not related to Luke.

Nicola Gissing, who was also on holiday with Luke when he died, has claimed her friend’s death was no accident.

Christina Annesley

(Image: Facebook)

British holidaymaker Christina Annesley, 23, died on the island in January 2015 after apparently mixing antibiotics she was taking for a chest infection with alcohol.

But her parents slammed Thai authorities for failing to investigate the death.

Christina, from Orpington, South East London, died shortly after arriving on Koh Tao.

Her dad Boyne said a toxicology report was not carried out.

(Image: Facebook)

He said at the time: "We don't know how or why she died. She had medication for a chest infection and was drinking, but the Thai police failed to investigate if the combination was sufficient to kill her."

He also had to track down a man seen on surveillance footage leaving his daughter's flat hours before she was discovered. He had not been questioned by police - even though officers had his name in their files.

Nick Pearson

Nick Pearson, from Derby, was found floating in the sea on New Year's Day 2014.

His parents believe he was murdered - despite police claims he fell 50ft and drowned.

The 25-year-old's mum Tracey told a documentary about the island she would warn parents not to allow their children to travel to the island.

She said: "I would tell them to do everything in their power to stop them going. It's dangerous.

"In view of what's happened to David Miller and Hannah Witheridge and various other people I've read about, it just all leads to the same thing. Their parents must be going through hell just like we are and we have been for the last almost two years. It just doesn't go away."

Valentina Novozhyonov

(Image: Facebook)

Russian tourist Valentina Novozhyonova, 23, vanished from her hostel on Koh Tao in March and has still not been found.

She had checked into the hostel on February 11 and was due to check out on February 16 – but failed to do so.

A few days later, staff checked her room to discover her mobile phone, passport and camera had all been left behind.

(Image: Facebook)

Valentina was reported to have been visiting the island to go freediving – an activity the area is famed for among backpackers.

Police chief Apichart Boonsrirote said he assigned teams to check all surveillance cameras around the hostel and on the island to find out where she was last seen, The Phuket News reported.

Dimitri Povse

Frenchman Dimitri Povse, 29, was found hanged in a bungalow on the island on New Year's Day 2015 and his death was ruled as suicide despite his hands being tied behind his back.

Associate Professor Charnkanit Krittiya Suriyamanee, a criminologist and lecturer at the faculty of social science and humanities of Mahidol University, said he doubted the suicide theory citing some irrelevant evidences, according to Chiangrai Times.

He said that the victim had been drunk to the extent that he was unable to control himself, he would not have been able to tie himself up so tightly that he died of suffocation.

(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

Had he hanged himself, the professor pointed out that the bruises should have appeared on the neck than on his wrists.

Also, he noted that the several pieces of rope which were used in the suspected suicide appeared to be different which might suggest that the death was not caused by suicide.