I've never been to Thailand and wouldn't dare to post on some of the sites that people have cited, but I've never been judged for expressing my opinion here

eace: ! Having read the posts on the Koh Tao FB page, Thai Visa and local news sites, I agree it looks like SM is freaking out (even if he didn't know David, it's a pretty horrific thing to be caught up in, regardless of how "psychologically stable" you may be). - by his own admission, he got drunk; sounds like he then mouthed off about his feelings/theories - possibly throwing out a few wild accusations - which has riled the local expat community (assuming they're not 'in' with the mafia). And now he's terrified of retribution. He's not responsible for what happened to Hannah - he may have witnessed something or just become extremely paranoid, but even if he's lying about this, his DNA has cleared him.
Given the backlash from people on the island, I thought he might just be a media hungry fantasist, but when I read into it, it sounds like he was genuinely scared (he called his mother, girlfriend, Thai police and the British Embassy - although who has their number on speed dial??).
Someone posted earlier that it's interesting that a number of Western news outlets have picked this up but not Thai (this may have changed) - I agree, but it could also be Western journalists clutching at anything they have because the Thai police are not being very forthcoming...
Sorry if this has been posted previously, but is there a link indicating that SM was a friend of DM at uni?