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

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Something to consider, the girlfriend said that she has seen something that confirms he flew to Finland. Don’t think that Thai officials are going to act like American or UK officials. It is entirely possible that an immigration officer did, in fact, provide this information.
 
Herat said:
That article posted on The Sun has nothing new, sadly. It is simply repeating other reported info.

The phone "pinging" is not a phone location identified as in Helsinki.

It is the phone pinging at a time when the flight from Bangkok to Helsinki would have landed or be landing. It gives no location. The phone could be anywhere, including still in Bangkok.

My suspicions is that the entire bit about Helsinki and the Finnair flight is bogus.
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What police, of what country, would ever make a post on a private person's FB? Maximum they can do is post on own website! Or on own FB. With information, especially about a foreigner that disappeared in a touristy destination, they'd get in touch with UK police, or with the Interpol. I bet this so-called "police" that posted, if it calls, would use Viber, and in general, the post was meant to delay the investigation.
 
Charlot123 said:
What police, of what country, would ever make a post on a private person's FB? Maximum they can do is post on own website! Or on own FB. With information, especially about a foreigner that disappeared in a touristy destination, they'd get in touch with UK police, or with the Interpol. I bet this so-called "police" that posted, if it calls, would use Viber, and in general, the post was meant to delay the investigation.
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IMO this person that posted was a fake and not to be believed. IF that is all that the family are going by, I think Simon could very well still be in Bangkok. Either way, this matter needs to be investigated and an official statement be given and dealt with more openly and seriously!
 
Apparently, the airlines themselves have now confirmed that Simon was aboard the flight to Helsinki, but that he didnt take the connecting flight to the UK. If this is true, that would place him in Finland. IMO he would be in a safer country there, and especially at the airport, so where on earth could he have disappeared to! Finland is very low in crime, at least compared to many other countries, so now I dont know what to think.
 
Melt71 said:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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

- 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.
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Respectfully snipped for brevity.

I remember many years ago, when a friend was "lost" in Thailand for a day, I called a friend, a British expat living here, and he said that in general, Bangkok was a very safe city. This being said, there are unsafe areas, but they are well-known and one has to really try hard to get in trouble, he added. Since that time, we've been to Thailand ourselves, and while I enjoyed the city, the museums, the temples, and the hospitable, polite and handsome people, one thing definitely stood out in a negative way. Taxis in Asia are usually exceptionally safe and straightforward. In Thailand, it is a racketeering business. First, no one switches on the meters when you get in and second, the prices are nothing short of extortion. There are two ways to deal with it, both before the taxicab moves: a) ask them to switch on the meter and if they refuse, get out immediately, or b) negotiate the cost, firmly, before the trip; better ask in advance at the hotel what's the average taxicab fare to your destination. One has to be very polite, but firm. And yes, Thailand is the only place where we'd occasionally use public transportation not because of curiosity, but because of the taxicab drivers' behavior. I can't say "that's why we never returned to Thailand", because IRL we didn't return due to COVID-imposed hiatus. However, as I have mentioned, Thai people are inherently polite, and it was easier to negotiate being a woman. But if a young man, in a foul mood, decided to argue about the cost in the middle of the trip, I don't think it was a good idea.

So, I can't rule out the trip in a taxi as the place where something happened, but at the same time, if he decided to leave early, it points to a different problem.

One question, though. If a tourist is jailed in Thailand, how soon would the relatives be notified?
 
Andreee said:
Apparently, the airlines themselves have now confirmed that Simon was aboard the flight to Helsinki, but that he didnt take the connecting flight to the UK. If this is true, that would place him in Finland. IMO he would be in a safer country there, and especially at the airport, so where on earth could he have disappeared to! Finland is very low in crime, at least compared to many other countries, so now I dont know what to think.
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There are cameras in every airport. Did they indeed confirm that it was he who boarded the flight, or just saw that someone under the name of SR registered for a flight? Also, Helsinki airport is spacious and usually, not super busy. If he decided to spend some time there, he'd be noticed and remembered; they have a great food court in the international area, but it is all rather compact. If he walked outside, there should be videos of him. If the police knows his seat, they can probably contact people sitting next to him, perhaps he really got sick? I would be interested if he was sitting in the middle seat, and who were the people next to him?

I don't think a UK citizen needs a visa to travel to Finland, but there is border control. Not a big deal, usually.
 
Charlot123 said:
There are cameras in every airport. Did they indeed confirm that it was he who boarded the flight, or just saw that someone under the name of SR registered for a flight? Also, Helsinki airport is spacious and usually, not super busy. If he decided to spend some time there, he'd be noticed and remembered; they have a great food court in the international area, but it is all rather compact. If he walked outside, there should be videos of him. If the police knows his seat, they can probably contact people sitting next to him, perhaps he really got sick? I would be interested if he was sitting in the middle seat, and who were the people next to him?

I don't think a UK citizen needs a visa to travel to Finland, but there is border control. Not a big deal, usually.
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No, he wouldn't need visa to travel to Finland, or any other Schengen country.
Even if he has arrived to Finland, there's nothing that says that he's still there. He didn't take the connecting flight to the UK, but is it possible to buy a new ticket to some other destination at the airport, before exiting the customs? If so, then he could have gone anywhere to a country where UK citizens can travel without a visa.
 
Rikissa said:
No, he wouldn't need visa to travel to Finland, or any other Schengen country.
Even if he has arrived to Finland, there's nothing that says that he's still there. He didn't take the connecting flight to the UK, but is it possible to buy a new ticket to some other destination at the airport, before exiting the customs? If so, then he could have gone anywhere to a country where UK citizens can travel without a visa.
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Ugm, the list is not small

155 Visa Free Countries for UK Passport Holders

Discover the most recent list of countries that UK passport holders can visit without a visa in 2024
visaguide.world visaguide.world

For countries like Belise, Paraguay, Gibraltar and several others, holders of UK passport can work. But I don't think he plans to stay anywhere for too long. First, let's get a solid proof that he's left Thailand.
 
A one way ticket to Helsinki, bought last minute, costs approx 840 pounds.

Pretty big expense. There would be evidence of this purchase in his banking/credit usage.

Passport would tell if he entered Helsinki. He would have had to go through customs. He would have been seen in CCTV.

Airlines will divulge passenger list to LE. Why hasn’t that happened?

Video is everywhere at airports. Was he seen on video at Bangkok airport? Can customs confirm he was seen there?

I’m beginning to wonder if he ever left Britain at all.

MOO
 
Tealgrove said:
Passport would tell if he entered Helsinki. He would have had to go through customs. He would have been seen in CCTV.
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To go throught customs are done first when you exit the "international arrivals and departures" area. As long as you stay in that area you don't have to go through customs, and even if you have to show a passport or identification at the gate, the airlines don't stamp/scan a passport. If you only change planes at an airport, you don't go through customs.

As for CCTV, how long time is the information saved? It's now two weeks, are there any CCTV images left, in Bangkok or in Helsinki?
 
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