The battered bodies of backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found on a beach on the island of Koh Tao in September 2014.
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In its ruling, the court on nearby Samui island, said that prosecutors had presented evidence from the crime scene and provided witness testimony that proved “without any doubt to the court” that the two men had killed Miller and raped Witheridge before murdering her “to cover up their wrongdoings”.
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Burmese migrants Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, also known as Win Zaw Htun, initially confessed to the murders but later retracted their statements, claiming they had been tortured.
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The mother of one of the defendants broke down in tears as the judge passed sentence in the court on Samui island, close to Koh Tao.
Lawyer Aung Myo Thant from the special team said: “We are going to appeal within seven days”.
Police insisted that no force was used during their interrogation.
Andy Hall, global affairs adviser for Migrant Worker Rights Network, which represented the men, said: “We strongly disagree with the decision of the court”.
Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s director for south-east Asia, said the torture claims required an independent investigation.
David Miller’s brother, Michael, read a family statement outside the court, saying: “He should not have died that night”.
“David always stood up for justice and justice is what has been delivered today”, he added, endorsing the work of the Thai police and the reliability of the forensic evidence.
“The support team reported back from Samui Prison that Zaw Lin/Wai Phyo in good health and seemed to be taking the verdict in their stride”.
Around a dozen people had also protested outside of the Thai embassy in Yangon hours after Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced.
Britain’s Foreign Office said early in the case that there was “real concern in the United Kingdom about how the investigation has been handled by the Thai authorities”.
The defence said the two men would appeal.
“Our lives have been changed forever”, Michael Miller said.
“We believe that after a hard start the Royal Thai police conducted a methodical and thorough investigation”.
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“They repeated that the truth will come out in the appeal and that they are confident they’ll be released”.
Police confirmed at the time that Witheridge, 23, was found bludgeoned to after being raped, while Miller, 24, had suffered blows to his head before being drowned in the sea.
At one stage police said they were treating Mr Miller’s friend XXX as a possible suspect, before eliminating through DNA evidence.
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Thailand has not carried out executions since 2009, and while the authorities have committed to moving towards abolition of capital punishment during 2015 the number of offences punishable by the death penalty has actually increased recently.
