The Malasian Airlines flight with 239 passengers on board has been missing for three days as search parties involving several countries yield no results.
The plane is reported to have disappeared between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
Authorities are investigating two mystery passengers who had one way tickets to Europe travelling on Austrian and Italian passports stolen in Thailand two years ago.
Malaysia’s civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman earlier said the pair were “not Asian-looking men”.
He added: “Do you know a footballer by the name of (Mario) Balotelli? (This is) what he looks like. I don’t want to dwell on this but the men are not Asian-looking.”
According to Thai Police Lt Col Ratchthapong Tia-sood, a travel agency in the beach resort of Pattaya, Grand Horizon, sold the tickets for the two men to an Iranian man known only as Mr Ali.
“We have to look further into this Mr Ali’s identity because it’s almost a tradition to use an alias when doing business around here,” he said.
Security services are investigating whether Boeing 777 – 200 was hijacked or destroyed in a terror attack.
Relatives of passengers who were travelling on the missing plane are currently staying in a Beijing hotel as they wait for news of their loved ones.
At least 34 aircraft and 40 ships from 10 countries are involved in the search which has widened to a 100-nautical mile (115-mile, 185-km) radius.
Most of the passengers on the flight were Chinese and if the loss of the plane is confirmed, it would be the country’s second-worst air disaster.
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