Found Deceased THAILAND - British national James Sangwine, 33, from Essex, travelled to Bangkok on 18 Jan 2025, not heard from since 20th

[MsMiniSleuth]

A British tourist has been reported missing after he failed to return home from a holiday to Bangkok.

Father-of-one James Sangwine, 33, travelled to the Thai city for a holiday on January 18.

His partner Katie, 38, said James, who is unemployed from Epping, Essex, told her he was going to spend time with a British friend, who now lives in Thailand.

But she hasn't heard from him since he was heading to a bar to meet friends on January 20.

Unusually, he didn't call to wish his seven-year-old son 'happy birthday' the next day - or board his flight home on January 24.

[...]

Katie says she has reported James as a missing person to the Royal Thai Police (RTP) - but hasn't had an update, and is worried it isn't being investigated.

[...]

She says he was last seen while out with friends, at the Abandoned Mansion Bar & Restaurant, Bangkok, according to a local couple he met there, who texted her.

[...]

Fears for British father who has vanished during holiday to Bangkok

Father-of-one James Sangwine, 33, travelled to Bangkok on January 18, but his partner Katie says she hasn't heard from him in days.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Brit missing on holiday after sending girlfriend last photo with mystery message

Father-of-one James Sangwine, 33, vanished on January 20 after he went to meet some friends at a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, with

www.mirror.co.uk

Dad missing in Thailand after going to visit his friend

Partner Katie says she fears he could be dead

www.walesonline.co.uk

Essex dad reported 'missing' in Bangkok - after failing to return home from trip

A British tourist has been reported missing after he failed to return home from a holiday to Bangkok

www.echo-news.co.uk

 

[Melt71]

Thai Police are good at notifying an Embassy if one of their citizens is hospitalised or arrested. An Embassy will only tell the person's family back home if the traveller gives their express permission (there are exceptions if they aren't capable, for example unconcious or gravely ill). Personally I've never heard of families being able to lodge a missing persons report with Thai police from overseas.

It is entirely possible Mr Sangwine could be in difficulty but has chosen not to have his family notified by officials.

Going to the worst-case-scenario, if a foreigner's body is found and their identity isn't known, this normally triggers a lot of local language and Thai media reporting (complete with gory photos). We haven't seen that AFAIK (my partner watches and reads multiple forms of Thai news daily).

There are so many possibilities here.

 

[Melt71]

Link to the FCDO (UK's version of State Dept) guidance on UK nationals missing overseas:
www.gov.uk/guidance/if-someone-goes-missing-abroad

 

[TonnnnUK]

Unemployed and goes away to meet a mate a few days before his young sons birthday. Seems odd.

 

[starlightstarbright]

I get nervous when people go missing abroad but have ambiguous work histories or are described as unemployed. I know when I’ve been out of work - except when I was 20 and receiving parental support - I never could have afforded a holiday to Thailand. It worries me he could have gone there on the promise of earning an income, whether through dodgy property deals or drug smuggling or something else. Weird also to have taken a sudden holiday to Thailand that involved missing your child’s birthday. JMO

Also very strange about this couple who contacted the girlfriend because they met him out. How did they get her contact details? Through a missing poster?

 

[Kittypoo]

Unemployed and goes away to meet a mate a few days before his young sons birthday. Seems odd.

Yes very odd as planned Thai holiday from 18 to 24 January who would do that? You’d spend 2 days of it travelling is really suspicious.
<modsnip - sleuthing non-POI>
JMO

 

[OceanElix]

This story sounds familiar, 'unemployed', goes on 'holiday' without partner and children, right before a birthday/festive holiday and goes missing... <modsnip - not victim friendly>
It's heartbreaking for the poor children.

 

[starlightstarbright]

This statement from the girlfriend is confusing.

“He told me about it, saying it was a nice little place - and that was the last time we spoke. While he was at the bar, early in the evening his time, he tried to call me. But I was asleep - it was 11pm for me. He hasn’t rung since - it’s not going through, like it's off.”

Bangkok is 7 hours ahead of the UK. 11pm UK time would not have been early evening for him. It would have been 6am.

Brit missing on holiday after sending girlfriend last photo with mystery message

Father-of-one James Sangwine, 33, vanished on January 20 after he went to a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, with the aim of meeting friends

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

In what seems like a story ripped straight from a mystery novel, a British father has vanished into the bustling streets of Bangkok, Thailand, leaving family and friends back in Epping, Essex, in a state of heartbreak and confusion. James Sangwine, a 33-year-old British national, embarked on a journey to Bangkok on January 18 with hopes of catching up with a friend. However, since venturing out for a night of fun on January 20, he has inexplicably disappeared without a trace.

[...]

James had planned to return on January 24. But when booking agents checked the passenger logs, it became eerily obvious – his seat was never occupied. Distressed, Katie took it upon herself to alert the Royal Thai Police, but the family feels helpless as they await any piece of information. “We haven’t been told anything. We just need to know what’s happened—whether he’s alive or not,” she expressed in sheer desperation.

[...]

In a curious twist that perhaps adds a layer of hope, a similar incident saw a young Brit named Simon Robinson vanish only to resurface after taking a detour to Finland. While James’ family clings to various possibilities, they hold out hope that he’ll be found safe and sound, maybe even with a tale to tell about unexpected adventures in a faraway land.

[...]

Mystery of James Sangwine: British Father Missing in Bangkok Sparks Global Search in 2025 – THAI.NEWS – Thailand Breaking News

thai.news

 

[Melt71]

Brit missing on holiday after sending girlfriend last photo with mystery message

Father-of-one James Sangwine, 33, vanished on January 20 after he went to a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, with the aim of meeting friends

www.mirror.co.uk

The bar mentioned "Abandoned Mansion Bar & Restaurant" is centrally located in an area heaving with expat residents and tourists. It's a jazz bar and restaurant (with a private cigar bar) and not the kind of cheap place an unemployed backpacker would frequent. Their website says they open 6pm - 2am Thai time (7pm UK time). It's very close to one of the biggest road intersections in the inner city, near both a BTS (skytrain) and MRT (underground line) both of run from around 5am and finish around midnight. There are many hotels of all star-ratings and Airbnbs in the area as well as rental condos. There are people around the area day and night.

If he was at the bar in early evening as his gf suggests, then it's possible he called her at 11am UK time. Could 11pm have been a misquote by reporters? <modsnip - sleuthing non-POI>

 

[TonnnnUK]

Oh wow, seeing this map, I stayed at a hotel at the top of that road Soi Sukhumvit 16 back in April 2023 with my partner. It's literally a few mins to the location of that bar. This area is very busy, that junction is hugely busy all through the night with traffic and the sky train runs along the road running diagonal. There's many bar areas around there including the infamous "Soi Cowboy" which is a street of bars and strip clubs.
Even though I was there with my GF we went to a few bars along there that had live music.
I don't think this is a place where he simply wandered off and got lost, it's all a busy built up urban area bustling with people.

 

[Melt71]

Yep @TonnnnUK it's a great area! Our child went to school in the top left of that map (we lived just out of the map zone) and I exercised in the park at the bottom. I know this area well.

 

[Kittypoo]

In what seems like a story ripped straight from a mystery novel, a British father has vanished into the bustling streets of Bangkok, Thailand, leaving family and friends back in Epping, Essex, in a state of heartbreak and confusion. James Sangwine, a 33-year-old British national, embarked on a journey to Bangkok on January 18 with hopes of catching up with a friend. However, since venturing out for a night of fun on January 20, he has inexplicably disappeared without a trace.

[...]

James had planned to return on January 24. But when booking agents checked the passenger logs, it became eerily obvious – his seat was never occupied. Distressed, Katie took it upon herself to alert the Royal Thai Police, but the family feels helpless as they await any piece of information. “We haven’t been told anything. We just need to know what’s happened—whether he’s alive or not,” she expressed in sheer desperation.

[...]

In a curious twist that perhaps adds a layer of hope, a similar incident saw a young Brit named Simon Robinson vanish only to resurface after taking a detour to Finland. While James’ family clings to various possibilities, they hold out hope that he’ll be found safe and sound, maybe even with a tale to tell about unexpected adventures in a faraway land.

[...]

Mystery of James Sangwine: British Father Missing in Bangkok Sparks Global Search in 2025 – THAI.NEWS – Thailand Breaking News

thai.news

Yes I thought of that case SR couldn’t think of his name though. Sounds very similar I agree and sure he was taking regular ‘short breaks’ to Bangkok!

 

[dalsglen]

Hope This link works as fb won't open the copy link part. See comments.

Essex Live

James Sangwine, 33, travelled to the Thai city for a holiday but has not been seen or heard from for 11 days

www.google.com

 

[Sall2021]

Anyone seen any updates on this? The thing to me that’s really worrying is he didn’t call to wish his son a Happy Birthday.

 

[Melt71]

Anyone seen any updates on this? The thing to me that’s really worrying is he didn’t call to wish his son a Happy Birthday.

My partner didn't see any updates in the Thai-language media today either.

 

[Tealgrove]

Well, we’ve followed similar cases in the past and they haven’t ended well. I fear this one is going to follow the same path.

How does someone who is unemployed afford a trip to Thailand, visiting bars and clubs?Heck, I work and can barely afford to go on vacation. That immediately raises some red flags for me.

I’m thinking that James has found himself in trouble either with drugs somehow or ran into a bad situation with some unscrupulous ladies.

Did I read that he had gone to Thailand several times?

MOO

 

[iamshadow21]

Whatever his reasons for being there, I can't help thinking of all the methanol poisoning of tourists that has been happening in south east Asia lately. He was last known to be at a bar. I wonder if he's ill or deceased somewhere and it has nothing to do with whatever reasons he had for being in Bangkok, it was just that he was served the wrong drink.

MOO

 

[Melt71]

Whatever his reasons for being there, I can't help thinking of all the methanol poisoning of tourists that has been happening in south east Asia lately. He was last known to be at a bar. I wonder if he's ill or deceased somewhere and it has nothing to do with whatever reasons he had for being in Bangkok, it was just that he was served the wrong drink.

MOO

Unlikely for a body to go undiscovered in a Thai hotel or guesthouse. They are either found by housekeeping or by hotel security if a person misses their checkout date. (I worked in Bangkok and have direct experience of bodies being found in such situations.)

Foreigners die everyday in Thailand but IMO very few are found without their identity known. If a foreigner's body is found unidentified, it makes the Thai news very quickly. The Royal Thai Police have a state of the art forensic facility in Bangkok.

The UK has released their 2023 consular data but not yet 2024. Pick any month and see how many deaths they have in Thailand, It's probably a much bigger number than most would guess. www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-commonwealth-development-office-consular-data-2023

<modsnip - if you can't link it, don't hint at it - don't bring it up at all>