Missing British Thailand Traveller Tom Armstrong Found Safe And Well

[Tanlic]

I don't want to judge the kid as I can't talk about anyone. My mum sent me for loaf of bread when I was 16 year old and I met a couple of my pals at the Bus stop. They were going to Hawick for New Year and started telling me how there were 7girls to ever boy so I jumped on the bus. Got a job there stayed for 4 months only communication I had was a 2 minute conversation with my brother who asked where I was and I said not telling you and then went home without telling them I was coming back.....walked in Mum clouted me and said "Where's my loaf" Then she gave me a hug

[renrut salohcin]

I wonder how much money this cost daddy (police etc). Maybe the next missing person's family will not have the resourses, so yes it is everyones business.

No it's not, it's nobody's business but his, and maybe his family's. If I went missing here, for instance, it would have sod-all to do with you.

[zaZa9]

Selfish little turd needs a good slap up the side of his head from his Dad, whilst IN Thailand .

For once at least , Thai police ambivalence would do some good.

Back in the UK and his father would be probably charged by the State with assault...

[Pimay1]

If this was my son I would see to it he inlisted in the military. After a short time he would find out what respect and responsibility meant. Obviously he is lacking in both.

You couldn't, he's an adult beyond his parents control if that's what he wants.

And having a father with an attitude like yours might explain his actions.

Thank you dr. May I put my son in contact with you for parenting instructions? My attitude as a father is teaching children to have responsibility for their own actions and respecting their parents. It worked for me.

[zaZa9]

I wonder how much money this cost daddy (police etc). Maybe the next missing person's family will not have the resourses, so yes it is everyones business.

No it's not, it's nobody's business but his, and maybe his family's. If I went missing here, for instance, it would have sod-all to do with you.

Thats not correct.

Anyone who was required or requested to help in the search have been charged with making it their business.

[renrut salohcin]

I'm a bit pissed off by not getting any info, to be honest. Not even the Facebook page mentions what actually happened. A lot of people tried to help the family and now Tom was found and that's it?

Pity about you, you're not owed any explanation regardless of how important you are.

[kiniyow]

Sorry if this sounds cold but at 22 yrs old he knows better..I would have alerted the police but spent money to fly here and look for him? No way....

[renrut salohcin]

As far as I am concerned this article is taking the piss. Perhaps the next article will be "Marrie Celleste" arrives safely in Liverpool.

Absolutely the worst peice of reporting i have seen.

I'm sure the publishing world is concerned by your opinion.

[EyesWideOpen]

Obviously the dad and his son have some issues to work out.....

But the real damage that occurred is that the next time this happens, perhaps to someone

really in trouble, is that everyone will just yawn and do nothing.

[HalfSquat]

Maybe he had a mental breakdown and wasn't of sound mind enough to phone home.

Maybe his parents don't want that published all over the net so haven't mentioned it.

Basically, when he next applies for a job and the prospective employer Google's his name, this thread and all the insinuations in it will probably be on page one!

"So, tell me about your trip to Thailand. I read online that you were balls deep in something?"

[SteeleJoe]

I wouldn't mind betting he has been balls deep in the new found love of his life! The smell of that ole pussy can do funny things to a guys perspective

Not sure about the smell I never go that far down.

You realise his parents and family are probably reading this offensive content?

1) Why would they be? He's been found, presumably they've got other things to do than search the Internet for comments about him.

2) Too bad. People have a right to express unfavorable opinions about his conduct especially as they made it an international story themselves. They also have the right to make crude jokes if it amuses them. Are we supposed to start self - censoring ourselves for fear of who might happen to read what we read? With the exception of someone's death or or a situation that could be worsened by what was said...I don't see why - and if we do, where do we draw the line?

This is the Internet - anyone on it should realize that there will be content that they might find offensive.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

Edited February 19, 2013 by SteeleJoe

[Pimay1]

I wouldn't mind betting he has been balls deep in the new found love of his life! The smell of that ole pussy can do funny things to a guys perspective

Not sure about the smell I never go that far down.

You realise his parents and family are probably reading this offensive content?

1) Why would they be? He's been found, presumably they've got other things to do than search the Internet for comments about him.

2) Too bad. People have a right to express unfavorable opinions about his conduct especially as they made it an international story themselves. They also have the right to make crude jokes if it amuses them. Are we supposed to start self - censoring ourselves for fear of who might happen to read what we read? With the exception of someone's death or or a situation that could be worsened by what was said...I don't see why - and if we do, where do we draw the line?

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap

Right on the money. Sounds like a libtard from the USA. Proclaiming freedom of speech, err that is until you disagree with their opinion.

[renrut salohcin]

If this was my son I would see to it he inlisted in the military. After a short time he would find out what respect and responsibility meant. Obviously he is lacking in both.

You couldn't, he's an adult beyond his parents control if that's what he wants.

And having a father with an attitude like yours might explain his actions.

Thank you dr. May I put my son in contact with you for parenting instructions? My attitude as a father is teaching children to have responsibility for their own actions and respecting their parents. It worked for me.

Yes, you may.

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts and replies have been removed as well as some posts containing inappropriate language.

[Jayman]

And.......?

Don't we get any explanation as to where/why he went missing?

Sent from my GT-I9100T

You do know that he's not obliged to explain his actions to you or anyone?

Quite right.. and no one is obliged to give 2 shits when he goes missing and put any effort into locating him..

[ragamuffin]

People tried to help and are not even told whether he really had problems or was just being a prick. Not nice, just saying.

[Sydneycraig]

Perhaps an overdose on a mushroom shake that left him not knowing who, what or where he was for 2 months ... That's my bet.

[fullcave]

And.......?

Don't we get any explanation as to where/why he went missing?

Sent from my GT-I9100T

You do know that he's not obliged to explain his actions to you or anyone?

No need, I'd kick his jackass just the same if it were my son.

[NCFC]

So he wasn't lost in Thailand he just had failed to phone home and inform his parents of his change of plans?

Pretty inconsiderate but hardly news worthy for the BBC me thinks.

But they have only just found out it was not news worthy! Meanwhile everyone was conducting a manhunt.

There seems to be an undercurrent of controling attitude about the father.

He has a 21 year old adult son, who doesn't do what he is told and goes into

an international panic and flies to Thailand in search of his prodigal.

I get the sense the kid purposely, ignored the home front to get a long over due break from them.

Never imagining daddy dearest would go multi-national panic button.

When he's lost control of little boy blue, daddy blows his horn long and loud.

Thinking to publicly shame the lad back under his thumb.

I think son found his first taste of real freedom in his whole life,

and just couldn't face getting back home, and return to the unwanted gaunlet of daddy's plans for his life.

That explains the obviously intentional lack of contacts to home and the rather fast panic button hit.

Just my 2 cents, but it fits the facts as presented IMHO.

I think that's a completely unfair assessment of the situation, and does not fit in with the facts does it. The guy emailed his parents on Jan 6 saying he was flying home on Jan 9. So there you are as the father, go to pick your son up from the airport.....no show...<deleted>! What do you mean he never boarded the aircraft...he said he was flying back on this flight. Wait several nerve racking days and nothing, you call the embassy, call the Thai police...nothing. Is it really an over controlling Father that then hits the panic button, or someone who cares for the welfare of their now missing son? I am sometimes amazed as to how peoples perceptions of a situation can be so far apart when it's the same information available.

I think it's a perfect assessment of the situation, coming from a dysfunctional family myself. We HAD to email our dad EVERYTHING we were doing. When you grow up under this amount of control, it's difficult to wrest back control of your own life and make decisions for yourself. What PROBABLY happened here is that Tom did what he was PROBABLY 'programmed' to do by his father by sending that last email, and then realised "Wait... THIS is my chance... it's now or never... who gives a shit if I am disowned? I can easily make a living here... all by myself. Freedom at last!" So he decides to bolt. Of course the dad is concerned -- any control freak will be. My dad would have done the same, rest his soul. There's something that needs to be understood about the nature of parents that are absolute control freaks. Most people don't understand this... these parents are NOT f*ing normal. They have it in their sick minds that they OWN you. Don't matter that you're already old enough to look after yourself. These parents believe that they've invested enough time and money in their offspring that ultimately make them mere objects to control. Sadly this condition cannot be treated -- you cannot tell such a parent that it is WRONG to treat their kids like that. They simply DO NOT understand and they will just be offended all the more like: "<deleted> do YOU know about my kids... _I_ am his dad... not you, go f-- off!".

That is, if I'm right about this guy's relationship with his dad. If I'm wrong, I'll take off my tinfoil hat and would gladly apologise to his folks (and kick the shit out of Tom for being such a jerk).

"The Ajarn", at what university do you teach?

[bigbamboo]

He should get together with that other twit who went missing in the Australian outback.

Just so long as they both have a nanny to take care of them.

[pomchop]

Tom Armstrong's family, from Kelsale near Saxmundham, said he had been in regular email contact with them since he arrived in Thailand in April 2012.

Helen Armstrong-Bland, Tom's mother, said in December she received an email from him to say that he had "ran into trouble in Bangkok", but he did not elaborate any further.

So what parent wouldn't be worried to death if the son had been in regular contact for 8 MONTHS ..then in dec says he ran into trouble in bangkok and then a few weeks later says he is boarding a flight home but no shows..then a couple of weeks later money comes out of his account in bangkok?

One would THINK that if he could figure out how to send an email in early jan saying he'd be on a flight that he MIGHT be able to take the five minutes or less it would take to send a second email that gee i can't make it now? Meantime mom sets up a fund and people contribute money plus interpol and thai police and brit police WASTE their time to try and find the missing son?

So what now? Will mom/dad repay the people who donated money to the search fund? Will they get an invoice from the police for wasting their time?

None of us knows the full facts on why this kid would suddenly be unable to send a simple email...if he were my kid he better have a dam_n good excuse....frankly i can't imagine what would be a "GOOD" excuse short of being in a hospital in a coma, in jail with no internet access, or tied to a bed in lower sukhumvit and held captive by a gang of wild ladyboys??

[mopar71]

I wonder what happens to the money the family took in from the fund they set up last month? The people who donated money to help find their son have every right to know what the hell happened. There might even be a fraud case here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-21274441

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/eQbp6

Edited February 19, 2013 by mopar71

[robertson468]

If this was my son I would see to it he inlisted in the military. After a short time he would find out what respect and responsibility meant. Obviously he is lacking in both.

No, no don't do that. We have kicked out enough of the "temperamentally unsuitable" (or suffering from bcd = brain cell deficiency) in my time to inflict anymore space cadets on the system .

[epicstuff]

What a half arsed story.. why? How? did he just go on a bender, hooked up with some whores and lost himself in a den of vice drugs and rock and roll?

or did he end up in police cell deprived of a phone call for stealing a camera?

or was found with concusion after the bouncers at Ministery of sound gave him a trashing for no reason? each one of those reasons would have been a 'happens everyday story' I suppose......

[OxfordWill]

What a bunch of amateur psychologist nonsense!

[tominbkk]

For all we know the father could be an abusive controlling prik and the guy was trying to escape him.

[BradinAsia]

Several posters have suggested that the young lad (21 yrs old) may have become so

enamored by life in the LOS that he simply could not bring himself to depart.

In April 1962, as a young (21) military member, I was on my way to a new assignment

and passed thru Bangkok, spending only one night. Suffice it to say, when morning came

and I had to go to the airport to continue my journey, I was filled with great consternation.

God, how I wanted to stay at least a few weeks. I felt as if I had gone to heaven without

dying. About that time a popular song on the radio was One Night in Bangkok. The lyrics

haunted me for years until I finally came back.

I'll never forget that first visit. Maybe this young Brit had a similar feeling about leaving.

[Loptr]

I'm a bit pissed off by not getting any info, to be honest. Not even the Facebook page mentions what actually happened. A lot of people tried to help the family and now Tom was found and that's it?

Could be any reason, from being banged up in a Thai jail for stealing a camera to having fallen in lurve with a katoey and was shacked up in Klong Toey. Does seem a bit odd that after a lengthy and very public manhunt, you would think they would at least share why this person decided to go off the radar.

[Beetlejuice]

Did not have a mobile phone, really?

Appears he did not want his family to know his whereabouts or to be able to contact him.

We don`t have the full facts regarding this case or what was involved.

At least the guy is safe and well and that`s the main thing.

[TommoPhysicist]

Every foreigner is required by law to report their address in Thailand.

When he 'disappeared' I assume the police visited his last reported address.

As he wasn't there, I assume immigration are now deporting him for breaking the conditions of his stay in Thailand.

Or am I wrong?