Heartbroken British mother accuses Thai officials of ‘lies’ in son’s alleged suicide in Thailand

[bignok]

7 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

I can't think of any circumstances where a person would suicide in a carpark unless he was in his own car or a rental. The story is his body was found in a carpark, not in a car. The only likely scenario is his body was dumped there. A very thorough investigation is required, and the mother is doing what any parent would do in this situation.

 

The RTP don't care - they want this over and done with quickly. The last thing they want is a story about a young tourist being murdered on the streets of Bangkok getting out.

Then your mind is limited. Jump off a building. Drug overdose. Nothing special about car parks.

 

Suicides happen everyday. Nothing unique here.

[spidermike007]

It is always reasonable to question the RTP. Their credibility is next to zero, the swirling interests are numerous, and their investigative skills are questionable. 

 

We have no idea what actually happened. He might have killed himself. Or not. It is far too easy to stage a suicide. Remember David Carradine? How about Epstein? Kenneth Lay? Likely all staged. 

[charleskerins]

7 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Depression's a tricky thing. A person can come off looking happy to everyone, even those very close, and be hiding a dark cloud that hovers over them. Going on vacation is one way of coping, but you can't escape from yourselves. it has to be dealt with with therapy and possible medications to help with the symptoms. I can understand the mother not thinking her son was suicidal, and wanting an answer, so it is a good idea to investigate thoroughly, especially in a place known for lies and coverups. Living in another country won't make this easy.

An intelligent and accurate post.

[bignok]

42 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

It is always reasonable to question the RTP. Their credibility is next to zero, the swirling interests are numerous, and their investigative skills are questionable. 

 

We have no idea what actually happened. He might have killed himself. Or not. It is far too easy to stage a suicide. Remember David Carradine? How about Epstein? Kenneth Lay? Likely all staged. 

He was a random 24yo tourist. Not rich and famous.

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, JensenZ said:

I can't think of any circumstances where a person would suicide in a carpark unless he was in his own car or a rental.

Try doing a bit of homework:

 

'The Thailand embassy and the police have given us information that Darnel Kimbia jumped off a building on the 7th of September 2023 while he was travelling in Thailand'.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/darnel-kimbia

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Moonlover

[bignok]

4 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Try doing a bit of homework.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/darnel-kimbia

 

Do random Thais push random farangs off buildings? I dont think so. Nobody has ever tried to kill me in a hotel. The story sounds like drugs or depression which is pretty normal for jumpers.

[Ben Zioner]

2 hours ago, Jimjim1 said:

British companies are usually helpful where ever they can be but obviously Jewish companies are ,,   well,,, Jewish 

And before you start I am not anti Jew of racist in any way.

Absolutely, you got me convinced that you totally devoid of discriminatory feeling. Even though you felt necessary to refer to my my religion. Maybe something coming from some distant ancestry.

[Kerryd]

My BS radar is going on full alert right now.

Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I've seen the ONLY notice about his death is the story from his mother. (I haven't found any news about it anywhere else. The ITV story has been reposted on a couple other sites and that's it.)

And, naturally, no actual details.

Just "generalities".
"jumped from a building" (somewhere on Sukhumvit Soi 50)
Received "phone calls and emails" - but the ITV page only shows a blurry phone screen that could be about anything.
"holding a suicide note" (saying what ?).

And naturally - already had a GoFundMe set up BEFORE doing the interview.
(Says he died on 7 Sept. GoFundMe set up on 11 Sept. ITV article dated 21 Sept.)

Too much about this just doesn't ring true. The lack of details is usually the dead give-away. Never give specific details that can be checked.

If a foreigner dies in Thailand it's pretty much automatic that the body is sent for an autopsy and the Embassy is notified.
It's the Embassy that contacts the next of kin and you can bet they wouldn't be doing it in Thai. Or sending emails in Thai. It wouldn't be some flunky in a hospital or police station contact the NoK in England.

The ITV report that Thaiger copy/pasted named him as Darnel Kimbia and his mother as Charmain Baptiste. However the GoFundMe - set up on 11 Sept by "christopher kiambi" names him as Darnel Kiambi. (So maybe a spelling error by ITV ?)

There's a post dated 8 Sept on Charmain's FB of her standing with a young man. No message but a few of the more recent posts were condolences.

And the photo seems to be the exact same one from a post dated May of 2016 in which she wishes Darnell good luck on his job interview. (His LinkedIn shows he started a job as a Supervisor in Oct 2016.)

And according to LinkedIn, Darnel graduated from Essex College in June 2022 and has been working as a Trainee Insolvency Administrator from Oct 2022 until (present).
(He's had 7 jobs in 7 years, none of which lasted longer than 1yr-10mnths.)
Coincidentally, Nov 2016 is the last time Darnel Kiambi posted on his FB page. 

She also posted a message on the same date in 2016 about her other son (Chris Knowles).
When you go to his FB page, he hadn't posted since Sept 2022 - until he posted the GoFundMe link on 11 Sept.

I've seen a couple other GoFundMe stories very similar to this in the past year. Not enough details to actually prove - or disprove - the story.

A couple years ago I saw a story in a Canadian paper about how a Canadian had been "kidnapped by people dressed like police officers who took him to a basement and demanded a ransom" days after his arrival in Thailand.

Naturally, they had already set-up the GoFundMe. And again, no specifics in the story. 

Sounded really hokey so I did some checking. Turns out the guy (who was "of African descent") had arrived in Thailand and something like 3-4 days later was busted in Bangkok for trying to sell drugs to an undercover cop in an area notorious for "African" drug dealers. Seriously - within 4 days of arriving in Thailand and he was in an area known for drug dealing, selling drugs to undercover cops !

He'd been arrested and taken to a police station and told how much his BAIL was going to be. Seems he called home trying to get the money and his friends cooked up the ransom story to cover up what he'd really been doing, set up the GoFundMe scam and then contacted an "easy to con" newspaper reporter.

I got ahold of the reporter to correct some errors in her story.
She didn't want to believe me at first - until she contacted Foreign Affairs and they confirmed that "a Canadian had been arrested at that time and was receiving Embassy assistance".
We found out he spent 3 months in jail and was then deported.
When she tried to contact his "friends" suddenly they weren't available.

In another case, a "model" set up a GoFundMe because her "friend" had a motorcycle accident in Phuket and she needed to fly there to help bring her friend home. The GoFundMe showed a generic photo of a white girl in a hospital bed - with no one else in the photo and nothing that could be identified. 
I checked and even contacted some news outlets. No story about an attractive young woman being in an accident and hopitalized. No police report of an accident.
The "model" posted some photos on her Facebook of her travels to Thailand, a "hotel" (no name or identifying features) and pics on the beach.
Not one photo of her friend or the hospital or "helping her get home". 
Not one.

And remember that dodgy older couple that claimed they'd come to Thailand for their anniversary and were "robbed and beaten at gunpoint" on their first night in Phuket ?
They'd set up a GoFundMe as well. But the police did some checking and found CCTV footage (from a different hotel than those two were checked in to) which showed the man walking down the hallways checking for unlocked doors and when spooked by a hotel staff member, he jumped off a (first floor) balcony and landed in some bushes, injuring his leg.
They skipped out on their hospital bill and flew out of Phuket (to Dubai apparently) before the cops got to the hospital to question them.

Thailand is often used as the location for a lot of GoFundMe scams as people (in the UK and elsewhere) don't expect anyone will be able to check their stories and call them out for being scams.

They all have the same basic format though. It happen "at a restaurant". It was "in the summer". They were "near the beach". 

Because if you list specific details, people might check them. And then the jig is up. 

Like this story. Not enough specifics to be able to say it's true - or false.

Though it looks really, really dodgy.

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Absolutely, you got me convinced that you totally devoid of discriminatory feeling. Even though you felt necessary to refer to my my religion. Maybe something coming from some distant ancestry.

When your handle is ‘Zion’ it invites comments in the same manner as ‘Mustafa Muslim’… Harri Hindi’…. ‘Catholic Carl’ or ‘Buddhist Bill’….

 

If you wanted to avoid religion you’d just call yourself ‘Bob’…

So, don’t play the victim card on back of your deliberate trigger. 

[kennypowers]

With all due respect to the family, I would say that an episode of psychosis is a possibility, something he likely had a predisposition for. This is something an above average number of young men experience in Thailand – usually when here for an extended period of time rather than a 2-week holiday. I've followed many cases over the years, including a friend of mine. If I had the budget for a documentary I'd make one on this subject. I'm surprised no one has.

 

These cases are usually brought on by drugs and alcohol, and often extended use of unprescribed sleeping pills to deal with the time zone difference and lack of sleep due to partying, etc. Many members here will recall numerous reports of foreigners going on naked rampages and doing all manor of weird things. Many of these cases are exactly as I described above.

 

Someone experiencing an episode is usually hearing voices, sometimes for many days, starting intermittently and becoming stronger. If not treated, these voices take over, telling the person to do crazy things. Sadly, one of those things can be to kill themselves in a particular way. I may be way off. However, a thorough investigation needs to take place to give the family the respect and closure they deserve. Rest in peace young man.

Edited September 22, 2023 by kennypowers

[djayz]

3 people laughing at this story. Shame on you! 

 

[VinnieK]

2 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

???? He didn't write the letters , they were letters from the RTP informing her of her Sons death 

I was referring to the RTP too.

Letters in Thai?

????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️

[Arthur Mullard]

5 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Breaking news Bangkok has car parks. 

Other than an overdose though? The other listed methods leave an airtight explanation. Wouldn't they appear in the news report surely and why not if not? 

[Nick Carter icp]

1 minute ago, VinnieK said:

I was referring to the RTP too.

Letters in Thai?

????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️????‍♂️

Its the language  in Thailand, that's how Thai people write , in Thai

[IrishInThailand]

Sad story for sure. RIP

 

Though I would query this

 

"Ms Baptiste received phone calls and emails, from Bangkok, written to her in Thai, which had incorrect dates." 

 

I mean a mistake on an email regarding the date  cant really point to anything or open a can of worms or "can"  it? (pun)

 

Bloody sad either way.

 

 

[Arthur Mullard]

5 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

How do you know that he was "having the time of his life" ?

Moving from town to town and staying alone in hotels can be a sad lonely experience 

But wouldn't you go home... he's got a caring family after all...

[Ben Zioner]

33 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

So, don’t play the victim card on back of your deliberate trigger. 

Why would Zion be a trigger? Is it one for you? Tell me. But nope, we have stopped to be victims 75 years ago.

Edited September 22, 2023 by Ben Zioner

[bignok]

37 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

My BS radar is going on full alert right now.

Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I've seen the ONLY notice about his death is the story from his mother. (I haven't found any news about it anywhere else. The ITV story has been reposted on a couple other sites and that's it.)

And, naturally, no actual details.

Just "generalities".
"jumped from a building" (somewhere on Sukhumvit Soi 50)
Received "phone calls and emails" - but the ITV page only shows a blurry phone screen that could be about anything.
"holding a suicide note" (saying what ?).

And naturally - already had a GoFundMe set up BEFORE doing the interview.
(Says he died on 7 Sept. GoFundMe set up on 11 Sept. ITV article dated 21 Sept.)

Too much about this just doesn't ring true. The lack of details is usually the dead give-away. Never give specific details that can be checked.

If a foreigner dies in Thailand it's pretty much automatic that the body is sent for an autopsy and the Embassy is notified.
It's the Embassy that contacts the next of kin and you can bet they wouldn't be doing it in Thai. Or sending emails in Thai. It wouldn't be some flunky in a hospital or police station contact the NoK in England.

The ITV report that Thaiger copy/pasted named him as Darnel Kimbia and his mother as Charmain Baptiste. However the GoFundMe - set up on 11 Sept by "christopher kiambi" names him as Darnel Kiambi. (So maybe a spelling error by ITV ?)

There's a post dated 8 Sept on Charmain's FB of her standing with a young man. No message but a few of the more recent posts were condolences.

And the photo seems to be the exact same one from a post dated May of 2016 in which she wishes Darnell good luck on his job interview. (His LinkedIn shows he started a job as a Supervisor in Oct 2016.)

And according to LinkedIn, Darnel graduated from Essex College in June 2022 and has been working as a Trainee Insolvency Administrator from Oct 2022 until (present).
(He's had 7 jobs in 7 years, none of which lasted longer than 1yr-10mnths.)
Coincidentally, Nov 2016 is the last time Darnel Kiambi posted on his FB page. 

She also posted a message on the same date in 2016 about her other son (Chris Knowles).
When you go to his FB page, he hadn't posted since Sept 2022 - until he posted the GoFundMe link on 11 Sept.

I've seen a couple other GoFundMe stories very similar to this in the past year. Not enough details to actually prove - or disprove - the story.

A couple years ago I saw a story in a Canadian paper about how a Canadian had been "kidnapped by people dressed like police officers who took him to a basement and demanded a ransom" days after his arrival in Thailand.

Naturally, they had already set-up the GoFundMe. And again, no specifics in the story. 

Sounded really hokey so I did some checking. Turns out the guy (who was "of African descent") had arrived in Thailand and something like 3-4 days later was busted in Bangkok for trying to sell drugs to an undercover cop in an area notorious for "African" drug dealers. Seriously - within 4 days of arriving in Thailand and he was in an area known for drug dealing, selling drugs to undercover cops !

He'd been arrested and taken to a police station and told how much his BAIL was going to be. Seems he called home trying to get the money and his friends cooked up the ransom story to cover up what he'd really been doing, set up the GoFundMe scam and then contacted an "easy to con" newspaper reporter.

I got ahold of the reporter to correct some errors in her story.
She didn't want to believe me at first - until she contacted Foreign Affairs and they confirmed that "a Canadian had been arrested at that time and was receiving Embassy assistance".
We found out he spent 3 months in jail and was then deported.
When she tried to contact his "friends" suddenly they weren't available.

In another case, a "model" set up a GoFundMe because her "friend" had a motorcycle accident in Phuket and she needed to fly there to help bring her friend home. The GoFundMe showed a generic photo of a white girl in a hospital bed - with no one else in the photo and nothing that could be identified. 
I checked and even contacted some news outlets. No story about an attractive young woman being in an accident and hopitalized. No police report of an accident.
The "model" posted some photos on her Facebook of her travels to Thailand, a "hotel" (no name or identifying features) and pics on the beach.
Not one photo of her friend or the hospital or "helping her get home". 
Not one.

And remember that dodgy older couple that claimed they'd come to Thailand for their anniversary and were "robbed and beaten at gunpoint" on their first night in Phuket ?
They'd set up a GoFundMe as well. But the police did some checking and found CCTV footage (from a different hotel than those two were checked in to) which showed the man walking down the hallways checking for unlocked doors and when spooked by a hotel staff member, he jumped off a (first floor) balcony and landed in some bushes, injuring his leg.
They skipped out on their hospital bill and flew out of Phuket (to Dubai apparently) before the cops got to the hospital to question them.

Thailand is often used as the location for a lot of GoFundMe scams as people (in the UK and elsewhere) don't expect anyone will be able to check their stories and call them out for being scams.

They all have the same basic format though. It happen "at a restaurant". It was "in the summer". They were "near the beach". 

Because if you list specific details, people might check them. And then the jig is up. 

Like this story. Not enough specifics to be able to say it's true - or false.

Though it looks really, really dodgy.

Yes could be fake. Gofundme has lots of fakes.

[Arthur Mullard]

17 minutes ago, kennypowers said:

With all due respect to the family, I would say that an episode of psychosis is a possibility, something he likely had a predisposition for. This is something an above average number of young men experience in Thailand – usually when here for an extended period of time rather than a 2-week holiday. I've followed many cases over the years, including a friend of mine. If I had the budget for a documentary I'd make one on this subject. I'm surprised no one has.

 

These cases are usually brought on by drugs and alcohol, and often extended use of unprescribed sleeping pills to deal with the time zone difference and lack of sleep due to partying, etc. Many members here will recall numerous reports of foreigners going on naked rampages and doing all manor of weird things. Many of these cases are exactly as I described above.

 

Someone experiencing an episode is usually hearing voices, sometimes for many days, starting intermittently and becoming stronger. If not treated, these voices take over, telling the person to do crazy things. Sadly, one of those things can be to kill themselves in a particular way. I may be way off. However, a thorough investigation needs to take place to give the family the respect and closure they deserve. Rest in peace young man.

Yes but how (to kill themselves) in this instance? An overdose. Otherwise they'd be a bloody mess involving a gun.. a razor... a hose pipe connected to the exhaust (!!!!)...

[Spock]

4 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Which assumes that the person in question is behaving rationally.

Suicide is not generally performed in panic.

[Spock]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

Try doing a bit of homework:

 

'The Thailand embassy and the police have given us information that Darnel Kimbia jumped off a building on the 7th of September 2023 while he was travelling in Thailand'.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/darnel-kimbia

 

 

Why should we do homework? I would have expected to find this information in the article.

[Nick Carter icp]

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

My BS radar is going on full alert right now.

Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I've seen the ONLY notice about his death is the story from his mother. (I haven't found any news about it anywhere else. The ITV story has been reposted on a couple other sites and that's it.)

And, naturally, no actual details.

Just "generalities".
"jumped from a building" (somewhere on Sukhumvit Soi 50)
Received "phone calls and emails" - but the ITV page only shows a blurry phone screen that could be about anything.
"holding a suicide note" (saying what ?).

And naturally - already had a GoFundMe set up BEFORE doing the interview.
(Says he died on 7 Sept. GoFundMe set up on 11 Sept. ITV article dated 21 Sept.)

Too much about this just doesn't ring true. The lack of details is usually the dead give-away. Never give specific details that can be checked.

If a foreigner dies in Thailand it's pretty much automatic that the body is sent for an autopsy and the Embassy is notified.
It's the Embassy that contacts the next of kin and you can bet they wouldn't be doing it in Thai. Or sending emails in Thai. It wouldn't be some flunky in a hospital or police station contact the NoK in England.

The ITV report that Thaiger copy/pasted named him as Darnel Kimbia and his mother as Charmain Baptiste. However the GoFundMe - set up on 11 Sept by "christopher kiambi" names him as Darnel Kiambi. (So maybe a spelling error by ITV ?)

There's a post dated 8 Sept on Charmain's FB of her standing with a young man. No message but a few of the more recent posts were condolences.

And the photo seems to be the exact same one from a post dated May of 2016 in which she wishes Darnell good luck on his job interview. (His LinkedIn shows he started a job as a Supervisor in Oct 2016.)

And according to LinkedIn, Darnel graduated from Essex College in June 2022 and has been working as a Trainee Insolvency Administrator from Oct 2022 until (present).
(He's had 7 jobs in 7 years, none of which lasted longer than 1yr-10mnths.)
Coincidentally, Nov 2016 is the last time Darnel Kiambi posted on his FB page. 

She also posted a message on the same date in 2016 about her other son (Chris Knowles).
When you go to his FB page, he hadn't posted since Sept 2022 - until he posted the GoFundMe link on 11 Sept.

I've seen a couple other GoFundMe stories very similar to this in the past year. Not enough details to actually prove - or disprove - the story.

A couple years ago I saw a story in a Canadian paper about how a Canadian had been "kidnapped by people dressed like police officers who took him to a basement and demanded a ransom" days after his arrival in Thailand.

Naturally, they had already set-up the GoFundMe. And again, no specifics in the story. 

Sounded really hokey so I did some checking. Turns out the guy (who was "of African descent") had arrived in Thailand and something like 3-4 days later was busted in Bangkok for trying to sell drugs to an undercover cop in an area notorious for "African" drug dealers. Seriously - within 4 days of arriving in Thailand and he was in an area known for drug dealing, selling drugs to undercover cops !

He'd been arrested and taken to a police station and told how much his BAIL was going to be. Seems he called home trying to get the money and his friends cooked up the ransom story to cover up what he'd really been doing, set up the GoFundMe scam and then contacted an "easy to con" newspaper reporter.

I got ahold of the reporter to correct some errors in her story.
She didn't want to believe me at first - until she contacted Foreign Affairs and they confirmed that "a Canadian had been arrested at that time and was receiving Embassy assistance".
We found out he spent 3 months in jail and was then deported.
When she tried to contact his "friends" suddenly they weren't available.

In another case, a "model" set up a GoFundMe because her "friend" had a motorcycle accident in Phuket and she needed to fly there to help bring her friend home. The GoFundMe showed a generic photo of a white girl in a hospital bed - with no one else in the photo and nothing that could be identified. 
I checked and even contacted some news outlets. No story about an attractive young woman being in an accident and hopitalized. No police report of an accident.
The "model" posted some photos on her Facebook of her travels to Thailand, a "hotel" (no name or identifying features) and pics on the beach.
Not one photo of her friend or the hospital or "helping her get home". 
Not one.

And remember that dodgy older couple that claimed they'd come to Thailand for their anniversary and were "robbed and beaten at gunpoint" on their first night in Phuket ?
They'd set up a GoFundMe as well. But the police did some checking and found CCTV footage (from a different hotel than those two were checked in to) which showed the man walking down the hallways checking for unlocked doors and when spooked by a hotel staff member, he jumped off a (first floor) balcony and landed in some bushes, injuring his leg.
They skipped out on their hospital bill and flew out of Phuket (to Dubai apparently) before the cops got to the hospital to question them.

Thailand is often used as the location for a lot of GoFundMe scams as people (in the UK and elsewhere) don't expect anyone will be able to check their stories and call them out for being scams.

They all have the same basic format though. It happen "at a restaurant". It was "in the summer". They were "near the beach". 

Because if you list specific details, people might check them. And then the jig is up. 

Like this story. Not enough specifics to be able to say it's true - or false.

Though it looks really, really dodgy.

You should become a reporter/journalist   

[bignok]

23 minutes ago, Spock said:

Suicide is not generally performed in panic.

What? People calmly kill themselves? 555

[VinnieK]

52 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

Its the language  in Thailand, that's how Thai people write , in Thai

Duh

This e-mail (or whatever format) was addressed to a foreigner (mother of the deceased)

Basic courtesy dictates that it should be in English.

 

[bignok]

20 minutes ago, Spock said:

Why should we do homework? I would have expected to find this information in the article.

Jumping is common. The people arent calm and cool about it.

[Nick Carter icp]

8 minutes ago, VinnieK said:

Duh

This e-mail (or whatever format) was addressed to a foreigner (mother of the deceased)

Basic courtesy dictates that it should be in English.

 

He had a French surname , so why write it in English ?

[Kalasin Jo]

9 hours ago, VinnieK said:

She received letters in Thai?????‍♂️????‍♂️

Good grief.

Surely the British Embassy should have been informed by the RTP and taken on the responsibility of informing the family back in UK.

[roo860]

3 hours ago, bignok said:

Do random Thais push random farangs off buildings? I dont think so. Nobody has ever tried to kill me in a hotel. The story sounds like drugs or depression which is pretty normal for jumpers.

That's because you're in Australia, not Thailand. 

[kennypowers]

2 hours ago, Arthur Mullard said:

Yes but how (to kill themselves) in this instance? An overdose. Otherwise they'd be a bloody mess involving a gun.. a razor... a hose pipe connected to the exhaust (!!!!)...

Indeed. More specific details are needed.

[Moonlover]

8 hours ago, Spock said:

Try doing a bit of homework:

 

'The Thailand embassy and the police have given us information that Darnel Kimbia jumped off a building on the 7th of September 2023 while he was travelling in Thailand'.

 

8 hours ago, Spock said:

Why should we do homework? I would have expected to find this information in the article.

Of course you're not going to read that kind of detail in the news report, it would diminish the effect of the mother's tirade against the the Thai police, accusing them of lying, for it to be know that: 'actually he did commit suicide by jumping off the roof'. 

 

This the British press we're talking about here who 'never let the truth get in the way of a good story'.

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Moonlover