Seen Often on Sathorn 10, Suspect Thought to Use Fake Turkish Passport

[Lite Beer]

Seen Often on Sathorn 10, Suspect Thought to Use Fake Turkish Passport
By Khaosod Eng.

Several motorcycle taxi operators located here on Soi Sathorn 10 said they gave numerous rides to a man between December and February who matched a passport photo shown to them by investigators hunting for the Bangkok bomber.

BANGKOK — Motorcycle taxi operators in an upscale, residential neighborhood have identified a man seen numerous times there between December and February as matching a passport photo shown to them by investigators hunting the suspected Bangkok bomber, who might have been using a fake Turkish passport.

Withaya Chaisiriwongsawang, a motorcycle taxi driver who has worked several years on Soi Sathorn 10, told a Khaosod English reporter today that he and his colleagues had on numerous occasions in those months given rides to a man they were confident matched passport and immigration photos shown to them this week by investigators.

“I have seen this man long ago,” Withaya said, indicating the first time was in December. He said the photo shown to him Wednesday by officers from the Bureau of Immigration was much clearer than the sketch released Tuesday, and looked more like the man he remembers.

He said the man spoke English, but could not attest to what ability. Withaya said it was many months ago, but he clearly remembers giving two rides to a man he was relatively confident was that seen in the passport. He verified a media report that his colleague, Nikhom Tantula, was “100 percent sure” it was the same man Nikhom gave upward of 10 rides to during that period. Nikhom was away on a lunch break at the time of the interview, he said.

Outgoing police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang yesterday denied having yet linked a name to their lead suspect in the bombing, but added they would not share that information, even if they did.

The day after Monday’s attack killed at least 20 people – mostly foreign tourists – and injured more than 150 at Bangkok’s Erawan shrine, their investigation has seemed focused on one man seen in CCTV footage leaving a backpack at the scene minutes before the blast.

Withaya said the man he remembers appeared somewhat similar to that shown in grainy CCTV photos, but much more so in the passport photo he was shown.

Read More: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1440239847

-- Khaosod English 2015-08-22

[seajae]

looks like they are getting their finger out and actually getting closer to knowing who it may be. Would definitely be good if they can catch this bastard and put him away for a long time or simply give him the death sentence

[Songhua]

Somyot denied having yet linked a name to their lead suspect .... and yet SkyNews, The Herald Sun and The Australian all say the name was provided by the police themselves.

The Herald Sun has also reported that the Australian Federal Police were seeking the passenger information of a particular Thailand-Australia flight in the days following the bombing.

[than]

Why say a fake turkish passport ?

Turkish is a well know terrorist state murder of opponents in foreign country....... This state play a dual game with IS since years

When Thailand decide to deport Uyghur to China, Turkish governement was very unhappy with Thai decision

Thai consulat in Turkish has been stormed by protester with benevolence of the Turkish state.

I think we can put Turkey on the list of suspects

Edited August 22, 2015 by than

[Happy Grumpy]

They really have amazing memories.

What's the total reward up to now? Just short of half a million dollars, right?

[Maybole]

How does anybody know that the Turkish passport is fake?

[impulse]

I think we can put Turkey on the list of suspects

I always thought the objective was to narrow down the list of suspects, not add 75 million people to it...

[tukkytuktuk]

Why say a fake turkish passport ?

Turkish is a well know terrorist state murder of opponents in foreign country....... This state play a dual game with IS since years

When Thailand decide to deport Uyghur to China, Turkish governement was very unhappy with Thai decision

Thai consulat in Turkish has been stormed by protester with benevolence of the Turkish state.

I think we can put Turkey on the list of suspects

Agree, the motivation is there.

[impulse]

How does anybody know that the Turkish passport is fake?

Call Turkey, give them the name, and ask if they have issued a passport under that name? And if they have, ask for the photo.

It's not rocket science, and I suspect the investigation is like a duck swimming. We only see a duck gliding along. We don't see the amazing amount of activity under the surface.

Edited August 22, 2015 by impulse

[Srikcir]

"the man he remembers appeared somewhat similar to that shown in grainy CCTV photos, but much more so in the passport photo"

I would imagine most people look a lot like their picture in their passport photo. It would be negligent of any Immigration for anything less. But it is more important that the subject of so many motorbike rides look like the person IDENTIFIED AT THE SCENE OF THE BOMBING. In this case there is only a similarity, not a match.

[pmugghc]

How does anybody know that the Turkish passport is fake?

Call Turkey, give them the name, and ask if they have issued a passport under that name? And if they have, ask for the photo.

It's not rocket science, and I suspect the investigation is like a duck swimming. We only see a duck gliding along. We don't see the amazing amount of activity under the surface.

Not only the name, but the nr, date of birth, date of issue, the whole works.

[Rancid]

Why say a fake turkish passport ?

Turkish is a well know terrorist state murder of opponents in foreign country....... This state play a dual game with IS since years

When Thailand decide to deport Uyghur to China, Turkish governement was very unhappy with Thai decision

Thai consulat in Turkish has been stormed by protester with benevolence of the Turkish state.

I think we can put Turkey on the list of suspects

I thought Turkey was a loyal NATO ally, buying oil from and supplying ISIS fearlessly helping to crush the Kurds ISIS.

[zaphod reborn]

Why say a fake turkish passport ?

Turkish is a well know terrorist state murder of opponents in foreign country....... This state play a dual game with IS since years

When Thailand decide to deport Uyghur to China, Turkish governement was very unhappy with Thai decision

Thai consulat in Turkish has been stormed by protester with benevolence of the Turkish state.

I think we can put Turkey on the list of suspects

I thought Turkey was a loyal NATO ally, buying oil from and supplying ISIS fearlessly helping to crush the Kurds ISIS.

Nothing to do with the Turkish government or the Kurds. Uyghurs are split between China, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. On 9 July, Uyghurs attacked the Thai embassy in Istanbul.

The bombing investigation is in major save face mode. If the bombing was retaliation by the Uyghurs, it is an embarrassment for Prayuth's government. Therefore, they are doing everything they can to deflect away from the inevitable conclusion, that the attack was Uyghur terrorism in response to the deportation of Uyghurs to China instead of sending them to Turkey.

[Fat Haggis]

How does anybody know that the Turkish passport is fake?

because it has "made in China" stamped on the back?

[geriatrickid]

Sorry, but I am not ready to jump aboard this particular band wagon of blame. Too many inconsistencies. The forced deportations, rapes, extortion and murders of refugees from Laos, Cambodia and Burma have gone on for decades and no one set off a bomb over it. Now a small number of Uyghurs are sent back to China and all of a sudden there's a bombing with a Turkish link? Yes, Turkey has been a transit point for ISIS terrorists. Yes, Turkey was a close ally of the despotic Syrian regime. Yes, Turkey has caused trouble in its region and yes, Turkey is now intent of killing the Kurdish people. However, none of that links to the Bangkok bombing.

[noitom]

Thai taxi is "100%" sure. The Thais gave upwards of 10 rides. Surely they can "be sure" where they took him? And presumably picked him up at same spot?

[zaphod reborn]

Sorry, but I am not ready to jump aboard this particular band wagon of blame. Too many inconsistencies. The forced deportations, rapes, extortion and murders of refugees from Laos, Cambodia and Burma have gone on for decades and no one set off a bomb over it. Now a small number of Uyghurs are sent back to China and all of a sudden there's a bombing with a Turkish link? Yes, Turkey has been a transit point for ISIS terrorists. Yes, Turkey was a close ally of the despotic Syrian regime. Yes, Turkey has caused trouble in its region and yes, Turkey is now intent of killing the Kurdish people. However, none of that links to the Bangkok bombing.

OK. Ignore the fact that Uyghurs attacked the Thai embassy in Istanbul on 9 July.

[harada]

So this suspect was wearing his wig,false glasses, nose and armbands at the time?

[Carmine6]

Thai taxi is "100%" sure. The Thais gave upwards of 10 rides. Surely they can "be sure" where they took him? And presumably picked him up at same spot?

These drivers are motorcycle taxi drivers at the front of Sathorn Soi 10, which is why it wasn't unusual to have taken him places on several days. Mentioned elsewhere was one driver said he would go to Asoke at 5:30 in the morning. One place said Asoke Hospital. There doesn't seem to be an Asoke Hospital, but there's an Asoke Skin Hospital. Not likely he was going there early in the morning, but just to that area.

Also, as I've said elsewhere, and has been stated above, this does not mean the backpack guy and passport are the same person.

It is very likely the investigators went through local hotel records, found some guy who's passport photo looked like the backpack guy, then went to check if the people recognized him. If that is the case, it is extremely likely to find drivers or shop clerks who would recognize that guy. But until the people who saw him that night also think that's him, it doesn't mean anything.

Sathorn Soi 10 directly connects through the back to Silom Soi 9. Which is why I suspect they would have gone through local hotel records to try to find someone who looked like the guy. Every hotel I've stayed at the last several years has taken a photocopy of my passport. Those copies are probably held by the hotels, though maybe they're sent in somewhere. Hotels also have to report who stays there, but then that process would have meant look up names, then look up their passport photos. Seems very time consuming compared to looking through a stack of photocopies.

[Seastallion]

So this suspect was wearing his wig,false glasses, nose and armbands at the time?

Yeah, you have to have a few brain cells to pull off this bombing, and anyone but a fool knows that there is CCTV everywhere these days. The glasses are almost certainly a disguise and if not he certainly wouldn't be wearing them now, the armband covering a tattoo or scar or perhaps a deliberate ploy to make it look like that, the hair did have a look about it that it may be a wig....at the very least if it wasn't a wig the suspect would have shaved his head that same night.

I think they're looking for the wrong guy in the sense of what the indentikit looks like and what the suspect actually looks like now.

[impulse]

OK. Ignore the fact that Uyghurs attacked the Thai embassy in Istanbul on 9 July.

Nobody killed, nobody even seriously hurt. That's a far cry from a bomb in a popular shrine.

I'm not claiming it wasn't the Uyghurs. I don't know. But it's just as likely to be someone that wants to point the finger at them. That's a long list.

Or it could be a simple business dispute, another long list.

Edited August 23, 2015 by impulse

[Seann]

Maybe because Laos and Myanmar do not have jihadist terrorists? I mean, it doesn't take Einstein to figure out that putting bags over their heads and making a big public display out of it was a bad idea. We have seen terrorist attacks and plots all over the world, there were even those Iranians in Thailand last year. Hardly a stretch that they would take issue with that.

[tethered goat]

The Uighurs were sent back to China only a few months ago, so if this guy was seen as far back as December then the idea that some Turkish/Uighur bomb plot was being hatched then is ridiculous.You can of course string a whole lot of " if's" together, if this , if that but relying on eye witness testamy from this far back is appalingly unreliable . I personally have favoured the Uigher theory but this seems to make everything more murky not clearer.

[PM1]

He was living somewhere and the fact that no one has come forward Thai or Falang is really quite off hmmm

Does he really exist

[Fat Haggis]

The greatest trick the devil pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist

[PM1]

I have said all along this blokes Thai the well put together disguise fooled Thais not so hard..

I can see by his body structure and bow legged walk

This guy is Asian and yes its all a political thing

Now they are ghosts as Thia technology CCTV was not quite good enough

Hope you catch them but I dealt it

[Bakseeda]

Thai taxi is "100%" sure. The Thais gave upwards of 10 rides. Surely they can "be sure" where they took him? And presumably picked him up at same spot?

Yes the motorbike driver did say before that he always picked him up at the same spot and he always dropped him off at Asoke, he also added that the suspect was always in a hurry...

[waza]

Acording to another report he wore black arm bands all the time

[impulse]

Acording to another report he wore black arm bands all the time

I'd have worn a long sleeve shirt to any crime. Those armbands on the Erawan CCTV vids are going to be one of the things that give him (her?) away. A long sleeve shirt would have been less incriminating.

[catterwell]

Yes the motorbike driver did say before that he always picked him up at the same spot and he always dropped him off at Asoke, he also added that the suspect was always in a hurry...

Anyone who regularly rushes to Asoke at 5:30 am is acting strangely, unless maybe you're a boiler room operative whose shift starts at 6:00 am. What else is happening there at that time in the morning?