Thailand - Simon Robinson, 27, UK National, failed to board his flight home, Bangkok, 27 July 2024

[otto]

IMO, this young man is on the run.

Then why not come forward when he's been missing since July 26, 10 days. People are worried.

 

[branmuffin]

Why would he fly to Helsinki?

If he changed his flight and was headed to the airport why choose to go to Helsinki rather than take his flight home?

It makes no sense.

MOO

Did he go to the right airport? There are two airports in Bangkok. The largest is the Suvarnabhumi Airport. It handles most of the international flights. There is also one called Don Mueang Airport which handles most of the low cost airlines, both international and domestic.

Airports in Bangkok: Suvarnabhumi (BKK) & Don Mueang (DMK)

Airports in Bangkok - Bangkok Airports Guide

www.holidify.com

 

[otto]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed for insinuations that are outside the bounds of the known facts of the case>
Is there CCTV of Simon Robinson anywhere? Is there CCTV of anyone passing themselves off as Simon?

 

[otto]

Exactly where missing Brit disappeared on way to Thailand airport mapped

Family and friends remain concerned for Simon Robinson, 27, who was due to fly back to the UK on July 26 but appears to have vanished on his way to the airport in Bangkok

www.mirror.co.uk

ETA

Bringing the location forward

 

[otto]

Like all major world airports there is a multitude of transport around/to the airport: a metro line with a station under Suvarnabhumi Airport, airport transfer buses from Bangkok and other nearby towns that are popular with tourists ie: Pattaya. Taxis, of course, which are cheap and plentiful. Private car transfers. The options are endless.

He could also have been staying in a hotel near the airport, there are many many options around that area.

There is also at least one mall very close to the airport. It's popular with passengers - has lots of food options, a great Thai massage and plenty of space to walk around. It's great for those who have to check out of their hotel in the morning but whose flight is later in the day. The yellow road I highlighted is the only entrance into the airport.

View attachment 522439


It may be useful to know WHERE the phone ping originated but of course that will only identify the tower, not the very specific location. At least that's my layman's understanding.

Finally - it's also possible the phone was not in his possession, if something untoward has occurred.

Bringing this forward as well

 

[branmuffin]

Bringing the location forward

View attachment 522778

That's the new airport. The Don Mueang airport that supports low cost airlines is about 40 km NE of the Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

[Andreee]

Is there CCTV of Simon Robinson anywhere? Is there CCTV of anyone passing themselves off as Simon?

I would think there would be CCTV footage of him at the airport at some point. There just seems to be little information on this missing person in general.

 

[slowpoke]

Interesting comment under the post of an article on Simon at LincolnshireLive.

https://www.facebook.com/LincsLive/posts/pfbid02y6miaR63s1aRQ7VRVthJGnNZoVs1uzpKRim5etnPEypNAwsDkC8g9arsijwgjvf5l

 

[Herat]

It stands out for me that he landed, and almost immediately arranged to leave early, but not so early that he didn't plan a couple of days vacation.

I'm curious whether he boarded a flight to Helsinki, or whether it is staged to look like that. It will be determined what happened, but by then too much time might have passed to locate Simon. If he changed his flight to Helsinki, then I agree - it looks like he wanted the first flight out.

I'm also curious whether something happened when he landed in Thailand. It looks like he decided quickly that there was nothing for him in Bangkok. Rescheduling his return flight from August 3 to July 26 meant cutting 9 days from a 12 days vacation. Why?

This has a sense of drug smuggling, to me.

Starts with tickets for a 10 day holiday. Abruptly and unexpectedly changes plans, twice and appears to leave very prematurely, and to an EU destination.

This could be a pattern seen in drug mules, also where they turn off their phones and rely on burner phones. However, it also does sound as if he wanted out of Thailand back to Europe, NOW and couldn't even wait until the next day.

But that would leave him in Finland for the past week without further contacting family and GF who were expecting him back by July 27.

 

[Rikissa]

If he had arrived to Helsinki by plane, then he must have showed his passport at customs, as being a non-EU citizen (EU citizens can enter Finland with a national identity card). He would also have had to show his passport if he wanted to leave Finland for Sweden by ferry, as a passport or a national identity card has to be presented at check-in.
The only way he could be hiding in Finland without authorities knowing him being there, would be staying in the international area at the airport without passing through customs, and it's not possible to do have done so for more than a week.

 

[Angleterre]

Random thoughts as someone who worked for a number of years in Thailand assisting foreigners in crisis.
- There are so so so many foreigners living and travelling in Bangkok. He wouldn't stand out unless he was exhibiting some extreme kind of behaviour.
- We saw a LOT of young men and a few young women with sudden onset mental health episodes usually linked to lifestyle factors like trying some new drug. I cannot count the number of young men who have had a complete breakdown in their mental health in Thailand and they had no hint before they travelled there. I've seen so much extreme behaviours - including booking and then missing flights - and it is so common - I would not rule it out.
- Also very common: men drawn in by an attractive 'date' then assaulted, robbed, sometimes drugged by them or their accomplices. Rarely someone might be killed. The Thai sex industry is everywhere and many, many tourists participate during their holidays. They do not tell their families or partners back home until forced to, when something goes wrong.
- Self harm - I have seen a lot of very sad outcomes.
- Gambling gangs/extortion - make friends with some friendly young foreigners who are on holidays, invite them somewhere, start with a friendly card game that gets progressively more threatening. March them to ATMs and demand money and maintain control of them until they pay.
- Drug deals gone wrong and drug intake gone wrong (overdoses).
- Taxi driver incidents: If he was enroute to the airport when his phone pinged, I hope Simon didn't get in an argument with a taxi driver. There are some pretty vicious taxi gangs out there and it's known that it's one of the few jobs that ex-prison inmates can easily get. Usually it's Thai people affected, but this was a historical, quite well known instance involving a foreigner www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/359730/aftermath-of-expat-killing
- He could be in hospital as an identified person; probably unlikely if he was enroute to the airport as he would have had ID in the car. Hospitals in Thailand will only provide limited treatment to foreigners without a guarantee of payment. I feel like this is less likely as social media is very widely used in Thailand and the case would have popped up in local media.
- Maybe he's arrested and the Thai government are just taking time to notify the British Embassy. IMHO that would be highly unusual, Bangkok police are usually pretty good at letting foreigners notify their embassies if they are detained, particularly in Bangkok.

Honestly based on the numbers I dealt with over a 4 year period, statistically I'd guess mental health issue, though it's obviously impossible to say given the limited information we have here.

Or as I was within 1 hour of arriving in Karon Beach, Phuket, drugged by my drink being spiked. I was with my husband and we asked for two beers out of a bottle but for the bar tender to take the bottle top off in front of us and yet I had two mouthfuls and fell off the bar stool.This was around 8pm in the evening and I awoke at 330pm the following day. I still have no recollection of what happened between those hours although my husband said that within 3 minutes of me falling to the floor and him helping me to get up, a Thai Police Van pulled up with 6 officers inside. They all got out and insisted rather firmly that they talk me to hospital on my OWN! Hubby refused and got 3 Brits who were with us on our flight in, to assist him to carry me back to the hotel with a couple of them keeping the police from touching me but apparently it became really scary because it ended up with the Thai Police being insistent and subsequently ended in a tug of war with my body. And I still don’t recall a single thing!

 

[spangled]

Sorry to have to quote The Sun however at least it is MSM and i think the info is important:

Simon Robinson mystery deepens as sister claims missing Brit DID board flight

MYSTERY surrounding the search for a missing Brit has deepened with his sister believing he flew out of Thailand to a destination 5,000 miles away. Simon Robinson, 27, was feared to have vanished i…

www.thesun.co.uk

"The family's new theory comes after they were contacted by a man claiming to be a Thai immigration officer.
They were told Simon was on flight AY142 - Finnair's Bangkok-Helsinki route.
Sarah said she had it "confirmed" that Simon jetted off to Finland but didn't reveal how."

I have seen the post of the person on social media claiming to be the immigration officer and 'confirming' that he boarded the flight. If this is all the info they have then I would think he is still in Thailand.

 

[Tealgrove]

Has anyone said what the purpose of the trip to Bangkok was?

Was the trip a list minute thing or was it booked far in advance?

Has Simon travelled internationally prior to this trip and if so was it customary for him to travel on his own?

Does Simon work? Student? What does he do?

And finally, if all was ok, why didn’t he contact friends when he landed in Helsinki? (I don’t believe he left Thailand).

 

[arnoldbarnacle]

Has anyone said what the purpose of the trip to Bangkok was?

Was the trip a list minute thing or was it booked far in advance?

Has Simon travelled internationally prior to this trip and if so was it customary for him to travel on his own?

Does Simon work? Student? What does he do?

And finally, if all was ok, why didn’t he contact friends when he landed in Helsinki? (I don’t believe he left Thailand).

there is very little information out there currently, looking at his personal fb page i notice there are no recent photos or updates for around 3 years (there are only 2 posts from then) and then posts are from 2019 (5 years ago), no happy birthday posts from friends, no mention of girlfriend either or anything to do with going to uni (minus the mention of manchester uni in profile information)

I am wondering if this has recently been wiped or if it didn't exist in the first place, both would be notable in context of his disappearance.

 

[Tealgrove]

there is very little information out there currently, looking at his personal fb page i notice there are no recent photos or updates for around 3 years (there are only 2 posts from then) and then posts are from 2019 (5 years ago), no happy birthday posts from friends, no mention of girlfriend either or anything to do with going to uni (minus the mention of manchester uni in profile information)

I am wondering if this has recently been wiped or if it didn't exist in the first place, both would be notable in context of his disappearance.

I noticed that too.

 

[Inthedetails]

Has anyone said what the purpose of the trip to Bangkok was?

Was the trip a list minute thing or was it booked far in advance?

Has Simon travelled internationally prior to this trip and if so was it customary for him to travel on his own?

Does Simon work? Student? What does he do?

And finally, if all was ok, why didn’t he contact friends when he landed in Helsinki? (I don’t believe he left Thailand).

Oh drat. I thought the confirmation was something firmer than that.

I wanted him on that fight as it seems like the theory with the safest outcome.

jmo

 

[JurassicParker]

Have they said where he was staying while in Thailand? Hotel? Hostel? Perhaps someone was harassing and following him? He decides to leave early to avoid potential horrible situation and they get him anyway? I hate this for him. My dream trip is to Thailand but even I would never travel there alone. Even if I was a dude I wouldn't do it.

 

[spangled]

there is very little information out there currently, looking at his personal fb page i notice there are no recent photos or updates for around 3 years (there are only 2 posts from then) and then posts are from 2019 (5 years ago), no happy birthday posts from friends, no mention of girlfriend either or anything to do with going to uni (minus the mention of manchester uni in profile information)

I am wondering if this has recently been wiped or if it didn't exist in the first place, both would be notable in context of his disappearance.

To be fair, if you were to look at mine there are no public posts for years. There is plenty of recent activity on my Facebook page but you can't see if we're not 'friends'. His could be the same so not necessarily anything suspicious there.

Also, he is in his late 20s and there are plenty of other newer social media platforms that his generation may be active on instead - maybe he uses Tik Tok or Snapchat.

 

[Inthedetails]

To be fair, if you were to look at mine there are no public posts for years. There is plenty of recent activity on my Facebook page but you can't see if we're not 'friends'. His could be the same so not necessarily anything suspicious there.

Also, he is in his late 20s and there are plenty of other newer social media platforms that his generation may be active on instead - maybe he uses Tik Tok or Snapchat.

He would've been around 22 at his last public posting. That's a busy time of life, and my kids in their 20s sort of look askance at people who are too active on SM, tbh. And FB really is not something that generation uses, in my observations.

jmo