American detained For Shipping Baby Body Parts

[kendo]

The body parts of several babies have been found in a parcel destined for the United States, Thai police said Sunday.
A baby's head, several feet and "sheets of skin" – including one taken from an adult and bearing a large tattoo – were discovered Saturday after staff at a Bangkok parcel company scanned the package.
"They were not from one body but were in small pieces," Police Major General Chawalit Prasopsin told AFP on Sunday.
UPDATE: US 'Bumfights’ producers caught sending baby body parts, human skin as ‘toys’ from Bangkok
"They have been sent for forensic examination to confirm if they were from babies who died after delivery or in the womb," Chawalit said.
They parts were purchased and shipped by a tourist from the United States who tried shipping them in several parcels via DHL, according to CNN.
The tourist, Ryen McPherson, said he bought them as a prank to ship to his friends, according to Khaosod.
Police said Johnson purchased the baby’s body parts at a night market for about THB3,000, but said he couldn’t remember where exactly.
Authorities said they’ve contacted the US Embassy in Bangkok but said the man hasn’t been charged with anything because technically no law was broken.
“We have talked with an American who was trying to send the parcels to the USA, but we could not press any charges on him and we are not quite sure which laws we can apply to him,” CNN quoted Bang Pongpang police chief Col. Adisorn Semsawat.
Johnson was reportedly released after three hours of questioning.
The parts were found preserved in containers filled with formaldehyde solution, leading Chawalit to speculate they could be for "a collection or for educational purposes.”
Police said they are investigating but did not reveal further details of where the packaged was addressed to in the US.
Local media reported it was destined for an address in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fetuses have infamously been traded in Thailand for use as kuman tong, as the infant spirits are harnessed for various purposes.
In 2012 Thai police discovered six human fetuses which had been roasted and covered in gold leaf for black magic use as kuman tong.
The grisly discovery was made in the luggage of a British citizen of Taiwanese origin. They were due to be sent to Taiwan.
Such rituals are also observed among some Chinese communities, where preserved foetuses are believed to bring good fortune to the owner and are often kept in shrines within homes or businesses.

Coconuts Bangkok

[oakdale160]

More delightful publicity for the Land of Smirks.

[Takiap]

Yes more good publicity, and good to see that their tourism strategy is eventually paying off and luring a more upscale type of tourist rather than all those pesky back packers.

[Nereus]

Where does it say anyone was detained?
......................................................................................
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... pital-says

Bottled body parts stolen from Siriraj Museum

Bang Phongphang police questioned two foreigners believed to be linked to the parcels on Saturday night and released them afterwards without pressing charges.

Sombat Milintajinda, a MPB officer assigned to the case, said on Monday that the two foreigners left the country on Monday morning to Cambodia through Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo province. One of them was identified as Ryan Edward McPherson.

The man is a director of "Bumfight", an alternative film series, who also claims to be a member of Straight Edge, a subculture of hardcore punk, according to Wikipedia. He has a personal webpage depicting his "work", www.stabtheprincess.com.

[deepee]

One of my best Thai mates ex wife gets into this darker stuff . She wears lipstick made of the body oils collected from cremations and mixes in the ashes of unborn foetuses with it.Her daughter tells me this is supposed to give her influence over those she talks to or happens to kiss.She also tells me she has quite a collection of body bits and pieces on an alter at home. Makes me shiver at the thought of it all.

[GLCQuantum]

One of my best Thai mates ex wife gets into this darker stuff . She wears lipstick made of the body oils collected from cremations and mixes in the ashes of unborn foetuses with it.Her daughter tells me this is supposed to give her influence over those she talks to or happens to kiss.She also tells me she has quite a collection of body bits and pieces on an alter at home. Makes me shiver at the thought of it all.

People like that that haven't evolved and still possess backwards, bizarre thinking should be locked up in a padded cell.

[europtimiste]

It must be very easy to steal from a museum in Thailand and those tourists have a strange taste for souvenirs.
More surprising is that police let them go free.

[STEVE G]

It must be very easy to steal from a museum in Thailand and those tourists have a strange taste for souvenirs.
More surprising is that police let them go free.

I think at the point they were released, they were claiming to have bought them in a market but later, the museum reported them missing with some security camera footage of one of the Americans visiting the place.

[Dannie Boy]

Arrest warrants now issued after these guys left for Cambodia
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30093202

[Nereus]

Or maybe they found them growing on a tree? It is not surprising that the police are held in such contempt by many people.
...........................................................................
Police now want to arrest them as "new elements" have emerged after their departure, said the head of Bangkok's investigation bureau Sombat Milintachinda.

"Our evidence indicates that they either stole the body parts, or they bought them from other people," he was quoted by the AP news agency as saying.