Whether it's a case of mistaken identity or slipshod investigation by police, being put on the wanted list and having a Bt1-million bounty put on their heads for terrorism has simply been a nightmare for the so-called "bomb suspects look-alike" duo who monopolised newspaper headlines for weeks.

Apart from spending a night in police custody for the first time in their lives, Pratya Preechavej and Yutthaphong Kittisriworraphan now see their businesses and careers suffering heavily, while other hardships have cropped up in their lives.

Pratya, a Nakhon Ratchasima native, said his total income from his many businesses had dropped by about 70 per cent after he became "the bomb suspect in the public eye". He owns a restaurant and a music studio where bands practise, and both businesses are now facing financial trouble.

His new business - claiming rights to open cargo containers - had to end because now he, as a partner, has a criminal record - a legal condition forbidding it to go on. "The Bt300,000 monthly income I should have got from it is now gone," he said.

Pratya, 32, is a freelance songwriter, an amateur music producer and a webmaster, who now runs www.fafadd.com (struck by lightning) as a channel for the public to lodge their complaints about unfair treatment by authorities or to provide tips-off about crime. The site contains a section dubbed "The Look-alikes" that carries a story about him and Yutthaphong being misidentified by police. He plans to publish a book, "True Man", which will also describe his experiences from police accusing him of being a bomber.

Appearing similar to two men in police photos who were shown planting a bomb in Seacon Square on New Year's Eve, both men were charged with terrorism.

It is still unknown whether they are in fact the two men in the police photos, which were hurriedly released by desperate investigators, or they simply look like the two bombers who actually carried out the terror attack on the shopping complex in Suan Luang district on December 31.

But after weeks of confusion, discrepancies and retractions by police, investigators decided on April 3 to drop criminal action against them. The arrest warrants for both Pratya and Yutthaphong, however, are still outstanding, since police decided not to have them revoked, even after their decision to end the whole misery for both men.

Yutthaphong, also 32, said he was in shock after learning that he was in police photos and had Bt1 million offered for his capture, and ever since his life has turned topsy-turvy. The Nakhon Phanom native said he was asked to work as a disc jockey after the affair took place, but still has to pay someone to keep the position, in the hope that the pub owner will still rehire him to do the job he loves.

Mayuree  Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation