Foreigners with passing resemblance to Bangkok bomber under spotlight

[Brer Fox]

The guy left Bangkok since long time....

Of course he did. And before doing so he burnt/destroyed the yellow shirt, removed his wig/ trimmed his hair and shaved his whiskers and mo so he more resembled the photo in his passport. Now enjoying life and spending his contract hit fee.

[mancub]

Interpol are the only realistic hope. Assuming they get full co-operation from the Thai authorities including Immigration Police, and there's not a shambolic face-saving internal squabble as witnessed with the "gun in hand luggage" episode.

[rijit]

Not good news - this basically confirms they have no idea who is responsible...

I was gonna 'like' this because seems its right and more so they aint ever gonna find out who did it. And why should they, and to work that one

out u need to put your ' thai head' on

rijit

Edited August 22, 2015 by rijit

[davehowden]

Ban all backpacks, bags and handbags from public places.

[allan michaud]

This is yet another example of utter stupidity by the Thai's. It is almost certain the glasses were just a disguise and quite probably the hair too, so pulling people up because they have such similarities is a joke. Keystone Cops.

Surely the one lead they do have is the red shirt that posted the warning on Facebook. Why have we heard nothing more about that?

[Greenhill]

The worst thing is Britain offered help, with all their knowledge of bombings, IRA etc. and the General turned them down

how dumb is that? djjamie is very quiet maybe he's finally waking up and smelling the coffee

The problem is, there is very little to investigate - they washed all the evidence away the next morning!!

[Colabamumbai]

They do not have a suspect so everyone is suspect.

Chan Ocha told police commanders to watch an American Cop show on T.V. to learn how to look for clues as to who did it.

Need I say more.

[dcpo]

I look quite a lot like the police sketch (though not much like the CCTV footage at all). I wouldn't mind answering some questions to eliminate myself from the inquiries. I can account for my whereabouts at the relevant time, with witnesses and CCTV evidence. What I would object to is a meaningless search of my apartment, or similar invasion of privacy, after it has become clear that I'm not the right person.

[easybullet3]

And I was only half joking when in another thread I said all foreigners with curly hair would come under scrutiny. The worst type of policing ever imaginable.

I think whoever did it s been knocked off already...dead men tell no tales

Not good news - this basically confirms they have no idea who is responsible...

2 THINGS:

(1) Yes, it sucks. i'm getting double looks by many thai people now!! its horrible to be thinking that they are looking at me coz they think they have just seen a bomber!! its uncomfortable and makes me feel unsafe.

(2) on the other side, this is a Wonderful feeling to know what it must be like for every arabic person with a long beard in Europe or America and the suspiscious eyes he gets every day (for something completely unconnected to him).

so, in that sense, i am happy to know how bad it feels and makes me pity the arabic bearded guys in western countries.

[Colabamumbai]

Installing the fear of terror into your own people works political wonders, look at Mr. Bush and America.

[snowyy73]

nom sod!!!

Who says he is necessarily a "foreigner"? Based on everything including the police sketch he could just as easily be Thai. Oh but "Thai would never do such a thing..." blah blah blah. Now any "foreigner" with floppy/bushy hair is a suspect. Hell, farang all look the same anyway, just detain/interrogate all of them.

[wwest5829]

Remember the Tica Policeman, apologizing for stopping me and asking for my Passport due to the La Penca , San Juan River bombing in 1984. Was not an issue for me but my wife at the time was royally upset at even remotely being considered looking like the female accomplice.

[Thakkar]

Consider how paranoid the govt. are when it comes to everyone, and all the invasive facets of the police state: the photos at the border, the 90 day reporting, the phone registrations etc...and the massive amounts of CCTV on every corner and most of the sois etc...imagine the millions of baht spent on all this.

Now I'm sure the justification is that all this security is to "keep us safe". Well, the Erawan Shrine has to be one of the most CCTV'd places in Bangkok, and they have no idea who the perp of this atrocity is. In that case we might conclude that the police state cannot and clearly does not keep anyone safe. At best it might allow some sort of revenge if the bomber is caught, and even this seems more unlikely as time ticks by. What useful function does all this serve again? I seem to have forgotten...

All the cameras, the reporting, photographing, SIM registration is intended to keep the police state safe, not its citizens.

T

[nuananddon]

What puzzles me is if this guy was a Islamic jihadist why didn't he blow himself up and be a mardor,get a harem of virgins and be Allah's right hand man. Just maybe it was the money that was paid out that kept him out of harms way. If caught he should be QUICKLY tried, sentenced, and executed, and the same goes for ANY accomplices involved at any level.IMHO.

[JHolmesJr]

Has anyone considered that the rtp has deliberately muddied the waters with irrational statements, contradicting actions and confounding behaviour just to confuse the suspect? Maybe they are doing it to lull him into a false sense of security while they inch closer.

Edited August 22, 2015 by JHolmesJr

[Briggsy]

Has anyone considered that the rtp has deliberately muddied the waters with irrational statements, contradicting actions and confounding behaviour just to confuse the suspect? Maybe they are doing it to lull him into a false sense of security while they inch closer.

I did consider that but the Thai police have a very long track record of immediately speculating but stating as fact. They are just doing as they always do.

[bangon04]

What I want is for this scumbag to be brought to justice based on evidence.

What I want is the hunt for him not to be based on unsubstantiated assumptions about his nationality and/or faith.

so you seem to be asking for professional, competent, consistent, unbiased, well-resourced and intensive policing by the RTP and other responsible agencies.

[bheard]

And how about the possibility that this is not the guy at all?

[bdenner]

There is some very good face recoginition software out there now and we all know paranoid the Thai Immigration Officers are that we look into the camera properly when doing business with them - Airports, offices etc. I hope it works!

Actually, even the very best facial-recognition software is very much a crapshoot, and is easy to fool/subject to large percentages of false positives and missed matches.

Don't confuse what you see in movies and TV drama for reality.

I just see how Google Picasa facial recognition works on my 1000's of "Happy Snaps". Able to pick faces with a 55 year time gap eg. Me in my parents 35mm slides, digitized, as a child and now. AND that's a freeby package!

[DrTuner]

They're just discovering Thainess, no worries.

[Puwa]

There is some very good face recoginition software out there now and we all know paranoid the Thai Immigration Officers are that we look into the camera properly when doing business with them - Airports, offices etc. I hope it works!

Actually, even the very best facial-recognition software is very much a crapshoot, and is easy to fool/subject to large percentages of false positives and missed matches.

Don't confuse what you see in movies and TV drama for reality.

I just see how Google Picasa facial recognition works on my 1000's of "Happy Snaps". Able to pick faces with a 55 year time gap eg. Me in my parents 35mm slides, digitized, as a child and now. AND that's a freeby package!

That's because Picasa already knows who you are, and is assigning a name based on the similar photos on your computer. Not quite the same as identifying one completely unknown face against billions of possibilities.

[HerbalEd]

Of course it's good that the Police investigates all foreigners in Thailand but i don't like the fact they publish all full names.

Publishing names has no function at all and might even damage the persons career/private life, now and in the future.

If i was a tourist planning to go to Thailand for holiday and looked similar to the bomber then i sure wouldn't come.

Respect our privacy please dear General!

Looks like the man in question freely talked with a news reporter, and so I assume he didn't ask to have his name withheld from the story about him.

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts and replies have been removed.

[Linky]

When they detain some West Asian or Middle-Eastern Muslims, they'll be on the right track. All farang look the same to Thai, so RTP doesn't have a clue who to interrogate.

What does a middle eastern muslim look like compared to a middle eastern non muslim?

[Crazy chef 1]

One thing I am missing from TVF finest is the obvious question what has been the reason for it...if this question is solved we might get closer to the culprit(s)...

[joshstiles]

thais always blame the foreigner...too bad they havent figured out that it is sone thai muslim from the south....always gotta blame whitey

ignorance run amuck

[BlindMagician]

Is it 100% factually correct that Thai authorities have refused all offers of help? If you reply to this, please state the source of info.

[Chao Lao Beach]

What if he was wearing a wig and doesn't wear glasses, or uses contacts?

[ourmanflint]

One thing I am missing from TVF finest is the obvious question what has been the reason for it...if this question is solved we might get closer to the culprit(s)...

This is the most important question isn't it? Nobody seems to be looking into why this happened, there are lots of stupid theories but none hold water.

[Bluespunk]

What I want is for this scumbag to be brought to justice based on evidence.

What I want is the hunt for him not to be based on unsubstantiated assumptions about his nationality and/or faith.

so you seem to be asking for professional, competent, consistent, unbiased, well-resourced and intensive policing by the RTP and other responsible agencies.

"Hold fast to dreams,

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird,

That cannot fly."

Langston Hughes