Report Danish Man Missing in Thailand: Family Urges for Public Assistance

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Tragically, Jensen was held as an unidentified foreigner, and mere days after being arrested, he was found unresponsive in a single holding cell. Despite resuscitation attempts, he was declared dead around 9:30 p.m. His body was sent to Chulalongkorn University for identification procedures

That's embarrassing, but I'm sure plod will get over it soon.

[kingstonkid]

I think the Danish Embassy is going to have to answer some questions which they will prod the Thais for.  There was a lot missed.

 

A lot of people dropped tha ball.  It will be interesting to know how he died.

[factual monk]

Something is amiss 

[zhaffsky]

I'm curious - why fingerprints are taken upon arrival in Thailand? Foreigners should be easilty identifiable. 

[Peterphuket]

Cannabis use, ....and there are so many who insist it is really harmless.

[thesetat]

His government should be demanding an external investigation into how this man died inside a jail cell with police watching constantly. He disappeared over a month ago in March. Has he been locked up all this time without their knowledge of who he is or medical checks? 

Any death inside a jail cell should be investigated by outside sources. To maintain neutrality  about the circumstances of the death. Especially in a Thai jail cell. 

[renaissanc]

1 hour ago, khunjeff said:

Why couldn't they use his face and fingerprints to identify him through immigration's much-vaunted biometric system? 

This is a very good question.

[klauskunkel]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Jensen was held as an unidentified foreigner, and mere days after being arrested, he was found unresponsive in a single holding cell. Despite resuscitation attempts, he was declared dead around 9:30 p.m. His body was sent to Chulalongkorn University for identification procedures.

Jensen carried no ID at the time of his arrest. With his visa expired, immigration officials had already classified him as an overstayer prior to his identification.

This needs explaining by the police: "With his visa expired"

How can the police say that his visa had expired without being able to identify him? The visa is in the passport.

[it is what it is]

it's a pity the authorities, instead of putting a mentally distressed foreigner on a bus to bangkok and washing their hands of the problem, didn't contact mental health services or charities or the appropriate embassy in order to provide appropriate help and support.

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm… so a missing person is found dead in police custody, this could only happen in Thailand ?

[ikke1959]

I just think the RTP has forgot him, he was in a cell... RTP is not so smart but violent and probably they wanted to teach him a lesson and put him in a cell but forgot him.. The Danish Embassy should normally have been informed if there was an arrest

[Gottfrid]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Jensen’s story underscores the challenges faced by tourists with mental health issues abroad and brings into question the processes followed in such situations. Thai authorities are likely to review the circumstances leading to his death to prevent future tragedies.

No, it does not. If clarifies Thailands problem to find people who other are searching for, as well as it also sheds a light on the ignorance of just letting people sit in cells until they die.

[4MyEgo]

5 hours ago, khunjeff said:

Why couldn't they use his face and fingerprints to identify him through immigration's much-vaunted biometric system? 

 

If my immigration office doesn't know when I re-enter the country through the immigrations database (which apparently isn't linked up to them) and of course, I have to drive 90kms to advise them that I am back from my overseas trip, then good luck with the police using the system.

 

Have you forgotten where you are man LoL  

[saakura]

He was put in a 'single cell' at Phra Khanong police station on 26th March. And left there to die of hunger & thirst? Or what happened? It is all so confusing.

[Caldera]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

With his visa expired, immigration officials had already classified him as an overstayer prior to his identification.

 

How could they possibly know his visa status before establishing his identity? What a sad and incredible story again, hopefully his death will be investigated properly. 

 

RIP.

[Jonathan Swift]

He should have been brought to a hospital. That's what they do in the US.

[wozzlegummich]

Once again so many questions here for the local constabulary that will never be answered or accounted for.

 

A law unto their own.

[wavodavo]

This is what happens when a country that legalises pot and allows a store on every street corner. Thailand is renown for being  a free and easy,cheap ,  fun country and the casual pot smoker goes there for a holiday and gets carried away and overdoes it. This leads to them become totally out of their tree and then they get into trouble. It was a big mistake .

[georgegeorgia]

8 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

He should have been brought to a hospital. That's what they do in the US.

People need to take responsibility for their own welfare 

"Someone" should of.....

 

[Surasak]

17 hours ago, it is what it is said:

it's a pity the authorities, instead of putting a mentally distressed foreigner on a bus to bangkok and washing their hands of the problem, didn't contact mental health services or charities or the appropriate embassy in order to provide appropriate help and support.

You are suggesting joined up thinking. That can be a something of a stretch for some, even those in authority! 

[Bday Prang]

22 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

Cannabis use, ....and there are so many who insist it is really harmless.

Because it is !    

[marin]

13 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

He should have been brought to a hospital. That's what they do in the US.

Was he in the US?

[josephbloggs]

13 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

He should have been brought to a hospital. That's what they do in the US.

Yeah, and then the hospital will turf him out when they realise he has no money.

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 5/30/2025 at 8:05 AM, georgegeorgia said:

People need to take responsibility for their own welfare 

"Someone" should of.....

......taken a mental assessment before allowing him in the country. 

 

The guy was a Looney 

 

[rvdk]

On 5/30/2025 at 7:21 AM, wavodavo said:

This is what happens when a country that legalises pot and allows a store on every street corner. Thailand is renown for being  a free and easy,cheap ,  fun country and the casual pot smoker goes there for a holiday and gets carried away and overdoes it. This leads to them become totally out of their tree and then they get into trouble. It was a big mistake .

You can't overdose from weed 🙂 

Think I saw the guy on the corner from Ekkamai (this was before they were looking for him). RIP and my condolences for his family.

[Patong2021]

On 5/12/2025 at 9:39 PM, hotchilli said:

Pay up and bye bye... police should have helped more with at least a mental health check.

 

The police can only do so much.  If they intervene and detain, they are called draconian and nanny state.

If the man was coherent,  not suicidal or threatening, and capable of  understanding right from wrong, then the police cannot hold him without violating his civil rights.

The reality is that another person with mental health issues went to Thailand. The Thai immigration department does not have the tools to screen people like this, nor can they be expected to.

If the man was deemed a danger to himself, then the intervention should have come from the Danish government or  the Danish family  to request that the man be sent back to Denmark for care.

Thailand has many mentally ill westerners and social deviants because it tolerates  marginalized people far better than  western society does.

[webfact]

UPDATE:

 

Danish Man's Tragic Fate: Missing in Thailand, Found Dead in Cell

 

Picture courtesy of Bangkok Post

 

A Dane, missing in Thailand since March, was found dead after two months in police custody. Jakob Jensen, 41, was last seen behaving erratically in Bangkok traffic on March 26 and was promptly placed in a holding cell, where he later died.

 

For weeks, his unidentified body lay at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, despite international efforts to locate him.

 

Jensen's disappearance drew attention when his family issued an emotional plea on Reddit, fearing for his mental health and lack of medication. Their post painted a poignant picture of Jakob’s fragile state and the urgency of finding him.

 

Tragically, a social media update in late May confirmed his demise, prompting questions about identification delays.

 

The timeline traces back to February when Jensen visited Thailand, staying in Ranong. His mental health degraded without his prescribed medication, culminating in an incident on March 21 at a guesthouse, leading him to Bangkok by bus with tourist police assistance. Speculations arose that he had left the bus at Prachuap Khiri Khan province after reported sightings there.

 

Despite a missing person alert from Denmark in May, it wasn't until Jensen’s family employed a private investigator, with help from expat volunteers and a Thai NGO, that they learnt the tragic truth. Efforts by the family to engage embassies, police, and media in unravelling his whereabouts proved fruitless until then.

 

The mystery of Jensen’s unidentified body elicits concerns regarding the lack of communication among authorities, both local and international. His family’s bittersweet revelation comes amid criticism of the systemic process failures, highlighting gaps in interagency cooperation.

 

This heart-wrenching discovery concludes a poignant narrative of loss that ended in anguish but underscores the necessity for stronger international collaboration in missing persons cases.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2025-06-07

 

 

[ikke1959]

This case shows exactly how incompetent the RTP and all his departments are...

[Quentin Zen]

There's zero support system here for farangs.    I've never given a farang money (many ask) and I'll never ask myself.   Add alcohol, drugs, a zillion bad choices, and it will just spiral downhill.  Sprinkle in some visa issues, and it's a free fall. Compound that with mental issues, and then the only way you will be saved is if someone close to you comes to Thailand and rescues you.   

[Jim Blue]

9 minutes ago, Quentin Zen said:

There's zero support system here for farangs.    I've never given a farang money (many ask) and I'll never ask myself.   Add alcohol, drugs, a zillion bad choices, and it will just spiral downhill.  Sprinkle in some visa issues, and it's a free fall. Compound that with mental issues, and then the only way you will be saved is if someone close to you comes to Thailand and rescues you.   

Unless of course you followed advice and carried a laminate copy or photocopy of your PP page  around with you.