Andrew Drummond

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FOREIGN SENIOR CITIZENS PLAYING 'BRIDGE' ARRESTED IN VICE RAID

Want to find a foreign criminal? Try the Rotary or Masons!

Flying Sporran’s Midweek Diary

The amusing raid yesterday by the local Department of Provincial Administration has possibly in ‘one foul’ swoop reminded the world that all is not well in the Thai provincial city of Pattaya.

In 24 hours the story has gone around the world and back.

As around them every conceivable vice in the Bible and a lot more were being indulged in, military government soldiers and DOPA officials raided essentially a foreign senior citizen’s Bridge Club. Of the 30 members there the youngest was fifty – the oldest over 80.

They thought they were raiding a gambling den. But dammit there was no money to be found anywhere.

But the district chief (Nai Amphur) was having nothing of it. The raid would go on. Ah, there are more than two packets of cards on the table. (Thai law stipulates there cannot be more than 120 cards on the table).’ Book em’ Danno!”

Queries on his arithmetic went nowhere. Even with two packs the sums did not add up. Must be a few extra jokers. It was going from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Caught in the raid was the club’s founder Barry Kenyon, 74.. He is a former British Corresponding Consul more accustomed to dealing with ‘Brits in the Sh*t’ than being one.

‘They just would not believe we would play for fun and points no matter what we said.”
DOPA and the military were not convinced. ‘What are in those cassette boxes? What’s in the computer?’

“I see. You put it all in the computer and settle up later!”

The District Chief was not convinced. ‘Take them down to the police station and charge them’, he ordered, and the motley bunch one at least with a walking stick were led into the waiting songteow.

But while this may seem incredibly funny, and it certainly was the first time I read it, what happened next was not.

The 30 foreigners were detained for 3.30 pm yesterday to 3.30 am today. No food was provided but a local 7/11 shopkeeper provided a delivery service. Every time a member went to the toiler he or she had to be escorted by police.

Herding old aged pensioners like that says more than anything else. It’s blatantly inhuman. It’s totally at odds with the Thai reputation for ‘hospitality’ and 'respect for the elderly' and and may even lead people to question that reputation or whether foreigners are included.

All were bailed in the sum of 5000 over £100 baht but the group’s new President Jeremy Watson, 74, had to pay 80,000 baht (£1600 plus).as he was the ring leader.

They reported to the police station at 10am to board a bus to the court. But the court appearance was cancelled at the last minute.

The plan was foiled after Khunying Chodchoy Sophonpanich, the Thai president of the Asia-Pacific Bridge Federation, explained Bridge rules to local authorities.

Now lets hope they get an apology in person from the District Chief - and no baying of 'If you don't like this country - Go back home!'

Had not the Khunying intervened and the case not been cancelled the foreigners could have been embroiled in a court case which could have lasted for years and cost each member tens of thousands of pounds from avaricious lawyers. Because the case was brought by the authorities no pre-trial presentation would have been necessary.

They might have had to sit through months of testimony as each officer was brought to testify before they had a chance to answer – and ,even if they won, the prosecution could appeal – and in that case they would remain on bail. bu this time the trial could be in its third year.

Had they planned to leave the country during this time, they would have to go to court to apply to leave and pay extra bail of at least another 100,000 Thai baht…and so it goes on The only way to avoid such problems would have been undercover payments.

Is this an isolated incident? Actually no. In Koh Samui a woman aged 88 was among many arrested and taken to court on a charge with working without a visa. Her crime – to take part in an owners meeting of the estate in which she had bought her home. The estate was managed by a foreign landlord who should much rather have been locked up himself.

The Department of Public Administration in Pattaya collects fees from go-go bars, massage parlours etc in Pattaya. The sex trade is technically illegal. But that illegality is dealt with by paying the fees.
With the military now in control in Thailand it seems there are more people to pay.

Of course if the Department of Public Administration and really wanted to hunt down foreign criminals, by all historical accounts they would have fared better raiding a local Rotary Club, Masonic Lodge, Expat Club, ot Property Company.

(Club Pictures PattayaOneTV)

DID THAI AUTHORITIES COMMITTED MORE CRIMES THAN THOSE THEY ARRESTED?

There are now multiple versions of what will happen to the now celebrated members of the Pattaya Bridge Club after their alleged ‘gambling den’ was raided last week. Here are the two principal ones.

The official version from the local Police chief Police Colonel Sunhat Pumpanueang is that “The case will still have to follow the legal process.”

That of course is the face saving version for public consumption. It says ‘We caught them doing something wrong – so it’s not the farce as described.”

The second version is that none of the rank and file members will face any court charges and over the next days or weeks they’ll get their bail money back of their passports. But the club president Briton Jeremy Watson may still face some minor charges.

This version also saves face for the local authorities and placates most of the club. But its all a little up in the air and its the variations here that need to be watched.

The story so far: -

Acting on instructions from the Interior Ministry, which apparently had a complaint from an influential angry local Thai, the District Chief (Nia Amphur) Chakorn Kanjawattana together with military officers raided the Pattaya Bridge Club last Wednesday believing they were breaking up a gambling vice den.

When they found no cash just 32 players aged between 50 and 84 they proceeded to have them arrested anyway and all subsequently admitted gambling, with the exception of a feisty 60-year-old Herman woman, who, I guess, would rather see them in hell first.

They were not gambling of course. The members were coerced into signing the confessions on advice from a member’s lawyer that they could contest the confessions later.

The members had been under arrest since 3.30 and were not released until 3.30 the following morning and Jeremy Watson not until 5 am. Some did not have access to prescribed medicines

By 10 o’clock they were due to board the motorised cage to take them to court but in stepped Khunying Chodchoy Sophonpanich (Sophie) the Thai president of the Asia-Pacific Bridge Federation, who rushed down from Bangkok to tell the police, in a polite Thai way that they were idiots to pursue this case.

Had she not done so the hapless Bridge Club members would now be in the dreaded court system which spares no man no matter what the eventual result.
As far as the club president is concerned – Jeremy Watson still faces a variety of charges – allowing the club to play with cards which did not have the stamp of the Customs and Excise department which actually prints all playing cards in Thailand, playing unlicensed premises, having more than 120 cards on the table. Take your pick. That is what is going to happen at a later date.
So who was the offender?

Not to put too fine a point on it – the offenders of course were the Department of Provincial Administration, the District Chief, Military and Police.

(i)They are guilty of false arrest and false imprisonment. The members were arrested for illegal gambling. They were not gambling. They were then detained without food for 12 hours, 24 hours as far as the 60-year-old lady is concerned. They were accompanied each time they went to the toilet and they were not released until they signed a false confession.

(ii)Yes. That false confession was also highly illegal though quite a common practice in Thai police stations. I have also witnessed Thai police falsifying statements.

Now despite the fact, or maybe because of the fact, that Thai Police and Military have now been publicly humiliated worldwide, there is a potential revenge element here which, when things quieten down, could kick in on poor old Jeremy Watson, from Hants, the President who has been left taking the rap for everything.(Assuming the police live up to their promises to discharge the other 31 members.) If revenge does not kick in - hunger could.

Now had this happened in say Australia, or the UK, the local authorities wouid now be facing multiple law suits and damages per person of up to £100,000 per person.

The Pattaya Bridge Club obviously does not know what will happen. They are hanging fire at the moment. But it’s expected they will publish an account on February 16th when they hope things will be clearer.

Personally if I were a Bridge Club member I would be turning up at the 84-year-old Dutch woman’s door with a bunch of flowers and a bottle of Bolls. She might want to consider suing police and the local authorities insist on pursuing Jeremy.

For those who want an account from a member of the club, go to this link. It’s by Avon Wilsmore.

“We were going to be fined 1000 baht (£20) for gambling”, said Avon
Then the lawyer one of the players, Trond Rogne, a retired Norwegian oilman, was called in. But then the price went up.

“The deal was:- Each person was to be charged with gambling, bail set at 5,000 baht (£100). Each person signs document agreeing that they had been gambling.- We are released that night after bail payment. We attend court the next morning to answer the charges

“Well, that didn't sound like a good deal to me. I have quite an aversion to signing false declarations. (But the lawyer’s) view was that this "confession" was no big deal, we could retract and contest the matter in court. Getting home was to be preferred, so that's what we did.”

As for playing with the wrong cards former British Corresponding Consul Barry Kenyon: “We find the cards here are not good quality – so whenever a member goes overseas they usually bring a couple of packs back.

“Why have these issues not been raised in 22 years? What is wrong with the licence we have issued by the Contract Bridge Association of Thailand? We all know why. Presumably all bridge clubs in Thailand are operating illegally? Anyway this is Thailand so let’s wait and see. I’m more used to help in the shit rather than be in it myself.”

As for his confession he said: “They (the confessions) were made under duress after nearly 12 hours of detention. People just explain to the court they were ordered to sign to get out of the police station at 3 am. I have seen the same thing in the past over and over again.”

As for Jeremy; he told the Guardian: “I have to go to court …which might be fun.”

It may not be fun. Thai court cases last for years. Court trials sit on only one day a month. If the prosecution has ten witnesses then that could bring the trial to nearly two years before the defence even starts.
Jeremy will remain on bail and to leave the country will have to pay at least another £2000 to the court. If he is acquitted the prosecution may and usually do appeal, and that will drag the case on for another year. If he is convicted by the appeal, he has to appeal – another three years.

Before it gets to the Supreme Court Pattaya may just be a memory for some of the older members of the club.

So count on a local deal.

(Update) And judging by the continued heat being turned up by articles and and two opinion pieces in the Bangkok Post today. Here's one. That is what is what appearts to be happening.

(In the original version of this story I reported that the person who refused to sign was 84-year-old and Dutch. I apologise for this error)

MEDIA WATCH:

The story of the raid on the Pattaya Bridge club of course made news worldwide. From New Zealand and Australia, to the UK, Europe, Canada and the United States. My phone was certainly ringing hot.

Interestingly though PattayaOne broke the story and that is the only English language paper in Pattaya which I could find used it. Nothing from Niels Colov's Pattaya People but then he is sort of in bed with the authorities and crime news often just ‘disappears’ from the Pattaya People.

The owner of PattayaOne of course, and source of most of the images, is of course Howard Miller, who took over from Barry as corresponding consul for the British Embassy. He resigned though when the Embassy started revamping the small consular office before closing it down.

I had a little chuckle knowing the ‘friendly’ rivalry between the two. After quitting his Embassy duties, Howard, a former leader of the Tourist Police Foreign Assistants and want into the property and go-go bar business. Anticipating that I might be writing about Her Majesty’s Vice Consul he was perfectly open and sent me the pictures.

Update: Pattaya Today published a story today

IN THE COURTS

Today in court in Phuket lawyers for BBC correspondent Jonathan Head will be contesting a charge of libel under the computer crime act brought by a questionable lawyer in Pattaya.

Jonathan is being sued over a segment he did for BBCTV2 programme which went out on the world service. The programme was about the massive frauds carried out on Ian Rance and Colin Vard in Phuket , fraud which required lawyers to notarise fraudulent signatures.

Also in court are Colin Vard and Ian Rance who will be making personal appearances. Vard is being sued by another bent lawyer.

SO YOU'RE CHARGING US WITH MALFEASANCE?

Human Rights Lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri will tomorrow (Tuesday) report to police who say they are now bringing charges against her for her part in representing students of the New Democracy Movement.

The 14 students were arrested last June making a peaceful protest to mark the military junta’s one year in power.

This appears to be police payback after Sirikan Charoensiri (June), who did an international degree at Essex University's School of Law and Human Rights, brought a charge against police of malfeasance in office under Article 157 of the Thai Criminal Code.

After the arrest of the students Sirikan had refused to agree to a warrntless search of her car.

The police officer in question is Police Colonel Siriya Chamnongchok.

Here follows a statement by Lawyers For Lawyers (L4L), followed by statement from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights today statement.

June will be going to Chanasongkram Police station. Phra Nakorn. Bangkok.

Lawyers for Lawyers

On 4 August 2015, L4L sent letters to the authorities of Thailand in connection to the harassment and intimidation of human rights lawyer Sirikan Charoensiri. L4L has reason to belief that these acts of harassment are connected to her legitimate activities as attorney.

On June 26, Thai police arrested 14 students after they carried out peaceful protests calling for democracy and an end to military rule. They were charged with violating an Order which bans gatherings of more than five people and sedition. Sirikan Charoensiri provided legal aid to the 14 students at Bangkok’s Phrarachawang Police Station and the Bangkok Military Court.

After representing the 14 students, the police requested to search Sirikan Charoensiri’s car. She refused to consent to a warrantless search. Hereafter, the police impounded her car. When she went to the police station to file a complaint for malfeasance, the police refused to accept the complaint and in the meantime another police team searched her car with a warrant. Five phones belonging to her clients were seized as evidence. When she tried to file a complaint again, a senior investigator told her that the police had power to search her car and suggested that if she filed a complaint, it would not finish there and that the police would consider countering with some form of legal action against her.

Furthermore, On 28 June 2015, a senior police officer told the media that they had found “important evidence” in Ms. Charoensiri’s car and are considering whether to charge her with a crime. One day after that, the police visited Ms. Charoensiri’s family home and asked her parents to identify her in photos and questioned them about her background.

L4L is concerned about the harassment of Sirikan Charoensiri and called on the Thai authorities to make sure that she can exercise her professional activities without improper interference or harassment.

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Thai Lawyers for Human Rights

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Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it had filed criminal charges against a second British financial adviser working unregistered in Thailand.

He was named as Neil Arthur Robbirt, 54, Director of Global Investments, from Kent, UK, who has been operating in Thailand for 18 years.

Robbirt, who was often quoted in the 'Nation' newspaper had a high percentage of his clients invested in the LM Managed Performance Fund which went bust leaving many clients almost penniless.

Already charged have been brought against Richard Malpass.of Credenda.

On the Global Investments website, which now has Hong Kong as the main photograph on the home page Neil Robbirt says his company is one of the most reputable in the financial services industry.

"Global Investments International Limited are proud to be one of the most reputable and well-established names in the financial services industry, providing Wealth Management services to over 3,000 clients since 1994. With a keen focus on delivering service excellence, we offer financial planning, private banking and investment management solutions to expatriates, high-net-worth individuals, trusts and family offices across the world. “Close personal attention and discretion is guaranteed in the interests of each and every Global client, and we believe we have developed a renowned reputation based on integrity, professionalism and the provision of expert advice," says Neil Robbirt, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Global Investments - "We have a very simple philosophy which we believe is the defining attribute of Global's success and longevity... We have always striven to exceed our client’s expectations."

Here follows the SEC statement:

Bangkok, February 10, 2016 – The SEC has filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Crime Suppression Division of the Royal Thai Police (ECD Police) against Global Consultant Co., Ltd. and Neil Arthur Robbirt, a British citizen, on account of jointly operating securities business without license.

The SEC has been informed by foreign investors residing in Thailand that Global Consultant – located at 235/15, Sukhumvit 31, North Klongtan Sub-district, Wattana District, Bangkok – and Mr. Robbirt solicited them to make investments based on the company’s advice and management in order to gain tax benefits and long-term returns. The foreign investors proceeded accordingly and suffered loss as a result.

Neither Global Consultant nor Mr. Robbirt was licensed to operate securities business pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Act of 1992. Their actions therefore were in violation of Section 90 and liable to penalties under Section 289, which are imprisonment for a term of 2 to 5 years and a fine from 200,000 to 500,000 baht, plus a daily fine of 10,000 baht until the period of violation ends.

In addition, Global Consultant publicly advertised that the company had a team of experienced and expert investment consultants to handle suitable portfolios for investors through different company names such as Global Investments Far East Ltd. and Global Investments International Ltd. via www.globalinvestments.net and www.Qropdirect.com.

The SEC, therefore, filed a criminal complaint against Global Consultant and Mr. Robbirt with the ECD Police for further legal proceedings. Anyone who may have been affected by their unlicensed securities business operation can give additional information to the ECD Police at 0-2237-1199.

AND CALLS ON HIS FACEBOOK FRIENDS TO DO HIS BIDDING

Harris Black, the famous Canadian con man who has been known to pose as a doctor, priest and even a nun to carry out his scams. is claiming on Facebook that he has been stiffed in Pattaya.

The alleged guilty person is the boss of a language school to which Black had applied so he could continue his rogue life in Thailand on an educational visa.

Black is of course enamoured with the women in Pattaya, posting his ‘conquests’ or rather ‘purchases’ on the net5 and has been living on various tourist and education visas in the country since 2007 – with a few foreign trips paid for out of his scams.

He says ‘I love Thailand and the Thai people’ and while he put up pictures of his women he also of course includes several posts alluding to the Thais general lack of intelligence.

One of his scams was to create websites slagging off his enemies and take cash to take them down.
He says due to Thailand’s strict defamation laws he cannot give details. But he passively invites others to do his dirty work for him…and sure enough along comes a sucker.

But you can read about Harris Black here at Harrish Black Watch (no not a Scottish regiment) if you have a lot of time on your hands. This site is dedicated to him and takes you through most of his scams, or here. and here on this website.

'NO!' SAY US IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS

The path of love for our famous American con man Drew Noyes, now in the United States having fled bail while appealing against a conviction and two year prison sentence for extortion, appears to have hit a brick wall.

Ensconced back in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was first exposed by the ‘Star’ newspaper for property fraud, share fraud, and sexual harassment, Noyes has written two letters of support to the US Immigration authorities for a visa for a nanny to look after the five children he took there.

The mothers of the children are his first illiterate Thai wife, Nittaya Chaisit, and his common law wife Wanrapa Boonsu, aka Kung, with whom he was convicted of attempting to extort the Thonglor Clinic out of 7 million Thai baht on pain of a police raid and bad publicity in his now long since defunct Pattaya Times newspaper.

The children he left behind are the eldest, by Chaisit, and one by Wanrapa and another by a former member of staff at his One Stop Service Center in Pattaya.

The only one of his mistresses who did not get pregnant was ‘Nam’ from the Buffalo bar. But she made it to become secretary of the Lions Club, Silom, 310D branch!

He failed to get a visa for Nitttaya, did not support a visa for Kung as she was convicted with him, and has recently been supporting a visa for a certain Pawadee Jittrerom to come over and be his Thai nanny.

Two applications have failed which might suggest that the US authorities might be catching on to Pattaya’s most famous sex tourist.

In the US Noyes has already been up on larceny charges. He fled Wilmington after the ‘Star’ story which also carried a report that he had demanded oral sex from one of his employees otherwise he would cut her hours.

Drew and Naam

On arrival in Thailand he set up a couple of Beer Bars and set about test driving his female bar staff. He did not come to the country as he claimed ‘by Royal proclamation’ to help the country out of the Asian financial crisis.

To find willing staff he recruited Filipinas through the social media ‘Tagged.com’.

Two had to be rescued with the aid of local foreigners and one of the claimed Noyes attacked her after locking her up in a room at one of his Keha Condo (National Housing Authority) apartments.

Most of the local authorities were taken in by Noyes including the police and immigration police.

But most gullible of all were the Pattaya Judges with whom he held a ‘legal seminar’. The seminar was childish in its conduct and content and was even carried by Thai Visa.com.

Questions about the reality of justice in the Pattaya Courts were brushed aside or fobbed off as police matters.

There is little evidence today, despite being repeatedly told, that Noyes is and always has been a total fraudster. That judges in Pattaya actually get it, though it is not beyond the realms of belief that they are universally corrupt.

Nittaya

A case Noyes has brought against for instance a Briton called Ally Cooper, a supporter of this site, was allowed to proceed even though clearly the summons was never delivered – this despite the fact that Noyes is thousands of miles away, does not intend to and cannot return, and cannot be counter sued when he loses.

From Wilmington Noyes has been demanding 500,000 baht to drop the case.

His demands have been dismissed. But the Pattaya judges have in effect stopped Cooper, an oil man, from working for over a year. And that is Pattaya justice.

Similarly another case in the Pattaya courts was allowed to proceed on totally falsified documents presented by Noyes’ lawyers.

Getting back to Noyes’ latest conquest Pawadee Jittrerom, nicknamed Tan is apparently pregnant, and as Noyes has been out of the country now for six months it is getting to the stage that she cannot travel.

Pawadee

In a recent post Noyes stated: “From the first day we met 6 years ago you have grown more beautiful everyday. ”

And in another he writes: “Lovely and motivated to succeed as a good wife and mother’.

Oh well, bang goes another career woman.

That’s an odd way to talk to a nanny so perhaps the USD authorities watch Facebook too.

But this is slightly worrying because pictures she put up on the net last year show her as a school girl.

A former US Ambassador may be regretting the day she posed for pictures with Drew Noyes on a trip to American businessmen on Thailand’s eastern seaboard.

Questions have long been asked about a child Noyes is alleged to have fathered with his Thai wife’s niece who was 14 at the time.

Brian Wright

Meanwhile the US authorities are anxious to get hold of Drew Noyes’s drinking friend Brian Wright in relation to a child abuse case in Rhode Island.

Wright and Noyes used to trawl bars together in Pattaya and one in particular, now closed, in Jomtien Plaza, which appeared to offer very young Isaan girls to customers.

The details of that Wright’s US case are particularly horrific. As the victim is an American citizen the investigation has been more thorough.

In Thailand Wright toured schools making gifts to pupils.

Through his ‘My Thai Fiancee’ company – also known as US Immigration and Law he boasted helping arrange visas for US Secret Service Agents, diplomats, military etc.

Brian Wright was jailed for 24 years in 2014 for child sexual abuse and is reported to be on bail appealing conviction and sentenced. (Currently checking status).

He is the godfather to his Noyes' eldest dauighter by Chaisit.

AND WHO WILL BE HIS NEXT CONQUEST IN THE THAI RESORT OF PATTAYA

This week a reader sent me in some notes from the private diaries of, he claims, a well-known fraudster and seemingly sexual abuser of women who has been highlighted several times on this site.

As I am unable to confirm their veracity I shall not name the person in question. They do not look like they were made up by someone else, but there is always that possibility.

If so whoever did it is very clever in their construction. Are these the musings of a psycho?

Ten years has passed since these diary entries were allegedly written. Hopefully he has got over it. But do psychpoaths get over it? These jottings are all about date rape, humiliation and rape and murder of women.

It’s easy to see the attraction for him in the beach resort of Pattaya, Thailand, where he is now prowling. He has a grudge against women.

Monday, February 6, 1995

JUST FINISHED TYPING MY ASSIGNMENT FOR RELIGION. IT WAS A 7 PAGE
REVIEW OF CHARIOTS OF FIRE, IT WASN'T TOO HARD.

IT'S 7 AM NOW AND I'VE BEEN UP FOR THE LAST 3 HOURS DOING THIS SHIT. I WON'T BE FRIENDS WITH ---- - ANYMORE.

SHE WAS PROBABLY THE SHORTEST FRIEND I'VE EVER HAD. SHE CALLED
ME YESTERDAY TO TELL ME SOME BULLSHIT ABOUT THE WHOLE SCENE BEING LIKE DATE RAPE.

FUCK THAT SHIT. SHE SAID NO, IT'S TRUE BUT I'VE ALWAYS BEEN
TAUGHT THAT SOME PERSISTENCE HELPS AND ALSO WHEN WE WERE FUCKING, SHE WAS MOVING HER HIPS IN A THRUSTING MOTION.

SHE'S KVETCHING THAT I FORCED HER BUT SHE COULD'VE ALWAYS WALKED OUT AND TOOK A CAB. IT'S JUST ANOTHER CASE OF WOMEN FEELING OPPRESSED. I FELT GUILTY FOR A LITTLE WHILE AS SHE RECOUNTED HOW IF SHE PRESSED CHARGES, THE PUBLICITY WOULD KILL ME. I KNOW

IT. EVEN IF I WON... ANYWAYS, SHE'S OUT OF MY LIFE. IT'S NOT TOO BAD BUT WE DATE RAPE ONLY KNEW EACH OTHER 1 WEEK. OH WELL. NICE ASS. WELL, THAT'S ALL,

I'M GONNA CORRECT MY PAPER AND CRASH OUT. (LATER)-> NOTHING TOO INSPIRING

TODAY. I STUDIED AT ANNA'S FOR THE DAY AND THEN WENT TO SCHOOL. I TOLD ANNA ABOUT SLEEPING WITH -----. SHE WAS COOL ABOUT IT. THEN I WORKED OUT AND THIS WAS MY DAY. I WAS A BIT LONELY TONIGHT. HAVEN'T BEEN TOO HORNY LATELY. GOODNIGHT!

GOOD MORNING! MOM AND DAD ARE LEAVING TO FLORIDA FOR 1 WEEK THIS THURSDAY AND I CAN'T WAIT. CHICO PISSED IN MY BED THIS MORNING. ANNA AND

MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1995-TIME UNKNOWN
THAT LAST ENTRY WAS INTERRUPTED BY SAM'S FRIENDS WHO KEPT POPPING INTO THE ROOM JUST AS I HAD SOMETHING TO WRITE HERE. ANYWAYS, THEY'RE GONE NOW. I WENT SKIING WITH DANIELLE TO ST. SAUVER TODAY. THERE WERE QUITE A FEW PEOPLE THERE ACTUALLY. WE WENT TO VIP AFTERWARDS. I REALLY LIKE HER.

Saint Sauveur north of Montreal

I WAS JUST SNOOZING FOR A BIT BUT WAS DISTURBED BY THOUGHTS OF
????????????? . I DON'T KNOW WHY I DREAM OF KILLING HER? I SIT HERE AND IMAGINE TORTURING HER AT LENGTH AND THEN DEPOSITING HER BODY IN A LAKE WITH HER FEET CHAINED TO A HEAVY ROCK!

THIS IS ABSURD AND TROUBLING BUT IT'S SO CLEARLY. I FELT MYSELF SLIP INTO A DAZE WHERE I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW MUCH TIME HAD SLIPPED BY WHEN I REALIZED HOW CAUGHT UP I WAS GETTING INTO IT.

I WAS THINKING THAT STRANGLING HER IN MY CAR WOULD BE TOO RISKY BECAUSE SHE COULD KICK OUT A WINDOW AND I'D POSSIBLY BE DISCOVERED.

I THINK THAT BOOK "AMERICAN PSYCHO" HAD SOME EFFECT ON ME. I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE I'VE GROWN MORE ANTAGONISTIC TOWARDS WOMEN AS I AGE. I'D LIKE TO MARRY EVENTUALLY AND I KNOW I HAVE THE CAPACITY TO BE A GOOD BOYFRIEND BUT I CAN DESPISE THE CRUELTIES THAT WOMEN CAN INFLICT.
I WAS THINKING

ABOUT FORCING ???????? INTO A CHAMBER AND RECORDING HER. I WOULD MAKE HER SHIT AND EAT IT. I WOULD RAPE AND BEAT HER.

Bernard Lang, now deceased was Mayor of Cote St Luc, Montreal

I WOULD LIKE TO BEHEAD HER AND SEND IT TO MAYOR BERNARD LANG FOR NOT PUTTING MORE COPS AT THE INTERSECTIONS OF GUELPH & PARKHAVEN EVEN AFTER I HAD EAGERLY REQUESTED
IT.WHY ?????????

WELL, I SUPPOSE THE OLDER SHE GETS, THE MORE CONFIDENT AND ARROGANT SHE BECOMES. I THINK THAT I'VE COMMITTED SO MANY MISDEMEANOURS THAT HAVE ALWAYS GONE UNNOTICED IN MY YOUTH.

NOW IT'S TIME FOR A NEW ACCOMPLISHMENT ON A HIGHER LEVEL. I FEEL THAT SOME PEOPLE CANNOT GO ON BEHAVING THIS WAY. NOT AS LONG AS I CAN WITNESS THIS BEHAVIOUR AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!COULD SHE BE KILLED NOW?

WHERE WOULD I BRING HER? EVEN IF I RENTED A PLACE, THE NOISE WOULD GIVE ME AWAY SO I WOULD HAVE TO STUN HER AND BRING HER UP TO THE COUNTRY! I WOULD LOVE TO KILL SOMEONE. I ALWAYS NEED A NEW MEMORY. BUT I'M AFRAID OF THE MENTAL CONSEQUENCES THIS COULD HAVE ON ME. IF, AFTER ALL, A BOOK HAD INFLUENCED ME TO DESPISE AND WANT TO KILL WOMEN, WHAT EFFECTS COULD THE ACTUAL KILL DO? WOULD I WANT TO BECOME A REPEAT OFFENDER? I THINK I'M BEGINNING TO LOOK CREEPY. MY HAIR IS THINNING
AND I LOOK UNHEALTHY AND SPOOKY.

Saturday, December 14, 1996 (2:23am).
HAD A NICE DAY TODAY. MARIE JOSE AND I PLAYED RACQUETBALL AT LASALLE (suburb of Montreal) FOR AWHILE. I ENJOYED IT FOR THE MOST PART BECAUSE SHE HAS SUCH A NICE ASS.

THEN WE CAME BACK HERE AND I MADE HER LUNCH. I DIDN'T SIGN ANY NEW CLIENTS TODAY AND I RECEIVED A DISTRESSING CALL FROM THE SUBURBAN. APPARENTLY, THEY HAVE BEEN RECEIVING SEVERAL COMPLAINTS FROM PEOPLE ABOUT LACK OF SERVICE AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT. IT MUST BE ALL THOSE WOMEN WHO I'VE OFFERED JOBS FOR SEX. I DENIED THE CHARGES. IF THERE'S 1 MORE
COMPLAINT, THE AD MAY BE YANKED. GULP!

BUT IT TOOK A YEAR TO RULE EVEN THE SUMMONS WAS ILLEGAL!

Another case brought by Drew Walter Noyes, the former publisher of the Pattaya Times, who was convicted of extortion before fleeing on bail to the United States, was today thrown out by the Pattaya Court.

.
The judge ruled that the summons against Alastair ‘Ally ‘ Cooper for criminal libel and libel under the Thai Computer Crime Act had not been legally delivered.

Court officials had stated that the summons was accepted on Cooper’s behalf at a hotel in Khon Kaen,North East Thailand.

In fact had Cooper not even stayed at the hotel at the time in question and could prove he was actually in Bangkok and the manager of the hotel specifically stated that she would not accept the summons as Cooper was not a resident of the hotel.

The decision marks the end of a year long ordeal for Cooper, an oil rig superintendent. which has lasted a year.

Noyes will have to return to Thailand if he wishes to file the case again.

Ally Cooper

That is not likely as a warrant has been issued for his arrest after he failed to turn up for his appeal against a 2 year jail sentence together with his common-law wife Wanrapa Boonsu for attempting to extort the Thonglor Clinic, Pattaya, out of 7 million baht, on pain of bad publicity in his newspaper and a police raid on the premises.

The case however does reflect some irregular behaviour by the court.

Drew Noyes employed the wife of the head of court security at his One Stop Service Center in Jomtien, and shortly after he fled to the US an official court interpreter went on Facebook to wish him luck.

Noyes.a fake lawyer with felonies in the U.S., also held a legal seminar with the court judges, announcing in his Pattaya Times that he would be writing a book on libel with the Chief Judge of Chonburi.

From Noyes' Pattaya Times

Court officials are responsible for delivering summonses – not the postal service.

Cooper's alleged crime was merely to ‘share’ a story on Facebook.

That story was a report by myself on this site that Drew Noyes was suing the web forum SubZeroSiam for publishing photo-shopped pictures of Noyes and Goudie in a gay parade. I was named as a defendant in the same case, but did not attend. That will also not proceed.

(Strangely although my address was with the Immigration Department, Public Relations Department, Ministry of Foreign A|ffairs - and was even published on the internet I also never received a summons for this case. The summons I learned later was a 'public summons' which means all that happens is that it is published on a court/government website and I am expected to see it.)

Noyes also sued the person he claimed was the owner of ‘SubZeroSiam’. The court accepted false documents alleging an American teacher was responsible.

That case is also due for a review early next month.

Meanwhile from the United States Drew Noyes has today announced the birth of his ninth* child Austin Drew by a Thai mother.

The woman in question is a former employee at One Stop Services and a former nanny whom he had failed to get an American visa for.

Pawadee Jittrerom appears to have taken over one of the many Facebook sites Noyes has put up and used it for personal messaging.

T

Noyes also sued the person he claimed was the owner of ‘SubZeroSiam’. The court accepted false documents alleging an American teacher was responsible.

That case is also due for a review early next month.

Meanwhile from the United States Drew Noyes has today announced the birth of his nineth* child Austin Drew by a Thai mother. He states that his first Thai wife Nittaya Chaiyasit attended at the birth.

The woman in question is a former employee at One Stop Services and a former nanny whom he had failed to get an American visa for.

Pawadee Jittrerom appears to have taken over one of the many Facebook sites Noyes has put up and used it for personal messaging.

MAN CONVICTED OF VICIOUS ASSAULT ON ENGLISH SCHOOL-TEACHER HAS JOINS PATTAYA'S CONTROVERSIAL GAME OF OPTIONS.

Pick One! Does he

(a) Do the time, pay out a 6.2 million fine, and then pay for his own deportation

(b) pay bail and go?

Sean Tinsley, the dodgy visa agent convicted of assaulting the Head of English at an International School in Pattaya, on Thailand’s eastern seaboard, has been busy packing his belongings while on bail appealing to the Supreme Court.

Tinsley was found guilty at the Appeal Court of assault, jailed for six years and ordered to pay 6.2 million baht - £114,000. He had earlier been acquitted of attempted murder.

The victim Adam Pickles, 43, head of English at the International School of the Regents, was put in a coma for years after the attack in 2012.

Today says his mother Adele, he can still only sometimes moves his fingers and toes and open his eyes and continues to receive round the clock care.

Tinsley’s dodgy visa deals were exposed on this site.

It is believed he attacked Pickles after Pickles, from Leeds, scraped his car while parking.

Originally from Wolverhampton, Tinsley has had his motor-cycle, car and home up for sale in Pattaya. This is at a time when the market is very depressed.

Can it be that he is raising cash to pay that fine? Not likely. That is not due until the Supreme Court rules – and that could be a while.

No that sounds like he does not believe he is innocent or at least he does not believe the Supreme Court will find in his favour.

Adam Pickles

So expect a runner on this one. The Pattaya Court is understood to have set bail at over 1 million baht which is a tidy sum which the court gets to keep if he runs. In the Appeal Court judgment the family gets compensation.

The court has already dad to issue warrants of arrest for Brian Goudie and Drew Noyes, who historically, are well known runners, and of course well known to readers of this site.

But then of course Pattaya is mafia central and Tinsley has a long history co-operating with the authorities especially at the Immigration Department and has avoided serious penalties in the past.

The Adam Pickles Fundraising page on Facebook seems to be keeping up to date with Tinsley’s activities.

COMMENT: I was having an argument with a Thai friend about bail in Thailand last night. Her view was of course that everyone was entitled to bail and foreigners should be no different, the suggestion being that Thailand values people's liberty, or because they are on drugs charges, while murderers can easily and often do get it. The fact is that actually this is not true, Foreigners are frequently denied bail because of a flight risk. And of course they should be given bail in all ridiculous Computer Crime libel cases, which are merely personal vendettas. Foreigners are also frequently as we have discovered here been put in jail without even seeing a judge - in Pattaya especially. But there must be obvious occasions where bail should not be given. Problem here it seems is - its all about the money.

MORE RUMBLINGS IN THE UK

The news that tourist deaths in Thailand have risen 54 per cent in a year is perhaps surprising. But more surprising is the fact that the fact that the statistics were released.

With apologies to Don Wright of the Miami News - this cartoon was originally directed at Miami and south Florida after a scathing report on violence there in Time magazine

They came from the Bureau of Prevention and Assistance in Tourist Fraud an organisation I have never ever heard of, but one I know which is certainly not recommended by the Thai police as somewhere to go when tourists are defrauded.

Pongpanu Svetarundra, Sports and Tourism Ministry secretary, told the Bangkok Post:

“In the past, we did not deal with the root causes of the tourist safety problem. From now on, we will look at the issue and address it seriously.”

I am not sure the Ministry of Tourism can do much about this as most of this issue appears to be in the sphere of the Royal Thai Police, whose time could perhaps be spent less on booking elderly foreigners for playing bridge.

According to the figures the main cause of death was road accidents (34) Swimming and boating accidents claimed nine lives, congenital disease six, suicides four, and other causes 30.

I am also not sure how these figures are compiled; possibly the same way in which the murder rate is – significantly haphazardly when they are actually put together.

These statistics showed only 83 foreign deaths while Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade reported 109 deaths of Australians alone in Thailand between July 2014 and July 2015.

Tourist buses still overtake on blind bends. Rogue speedboat 'captains' still run over swimmers. boats still sink without enough life rafts,and as for other causes we can but take a guess, but murder is certainly in there.

Actually warnings like this are nothing new in the media. Remember this in the Daily Mail. This was shortly after the Koh Tao murders.

Two other mystery deaths are still causing concern in the UK or at least the families and friends are s determined not let the issues go away.

Luke Miller and Nichola Gissing

The first of course is the drowning of Luke Miller, from Newport, Isle of Wight, in the pool of the Sunset bar in Koh Tao.

Thai police put that one down to the fact that he drowned while intoxicated and the external injuries on his body were due to the barbed wire of the DJ booth by the pool which he must have climbed up.

Police said his body was found by a cleaner in the pool in the morning. But a witness claimed it was not there an hour and a before.

(It may or may not be significant but a friend of Montriwat Tuwichian, the brother of the 'head man' at Sairee Beach where Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered was taking photographs as Luke's holiday companions Nichola and James Gissing were trying to quiz local police.)

The second case is that of Liam Whitaker who died while in custody of police in the Khaosan Road, Bangkok. Prior to his death his colleague Paul Meredrew had been led on the usual route to the ATM machine to get cash, as at least 400,000 baht was needed in relation to drugs possession. Liam had bought off a tuk tuk driver and was arrested within minutes.

Meredrew described police and their efforts to extort money as ‘gangsters’.

Thai Police said he committed suicide – but the coroner in Cornwell refused to confirm that judgment, due of course to lack of police evidence and the odd circumstances prior to his death. The fuller story is here.

In both cases the bodies of Luke Miller and Liam Whitaker were embalmed in such a way that it was impossible to carry out full and proper post mortems in the UK.

In both the Whitaker case the toxicology part of the post mortem was incomplete, and in the Miller case the forensics report has still not been completed. In the Koh Tao case of course everything including the DNA tests were done and dusted in a day.

Liam’s mother has joined the chorus of families and relatives wishing to spread the word warning people about taking holidays in Thailand. She posted the following on the Justice for Luke, Facebook page.

“This is our dear son Liam. He too went on holiday to Thailand. He & we as a family were unaware of the dangers there. Cornwall is so far removed in lifestyle!
I didn`t want him to go to Bangkok but had NO idea about the way the Thai Police treat tourists there. He fell into a trap (which some will say was his own fault) which should never exist (tuk tuk drug scam).

It is entrapment by the corrupt Thai Police Force for bribe money. The way in which his death happened is suspicious & the way which it was dealt with appalling. Life in Thailand is so cheap. Young people are sold (very cheaply by western standards) alcohol by the bucketful & drugs are so freely available to buy (although illegal, it may not seem that way).

The Thais want to take these young people`s money but do not then like it when they (the young people) become noisy & behave irresponsibly! It is all about the money whether it be alcohol, drugs, or hiring a moped or Jet Ski, whatever & you may pay with your life. The fact that these deaths are then routinely covered up & dealt with so badly is very very wrong.

We miss Liam every single minute of every single day, as I know you miss Luke, & always will. I am sorry for your loss; sorry that another family will go through this heartache.

I wish we had known what can & does happen out there & so we support wholeheartedly the campaign to raise awareness."

This will not do a lot of damage to the tourist industry that the military coup has not already done. (It certainly will not stop the tourists who have their own reasons to go to Pattaya and Phuket.)

Westerners have been replaced by the Chinese as the main tourist to the country now – and China has much more clout over Thailand than the west has had for some 30 years.

Having covered most murders of Britons in Thailand since 2000 I had always wondered that these had had no effect on the way people thought. Tourist figures went up and up. Now however, especially since the Koh Tao debacle, there is an awareness at least that Thailand is a country where you do not want to lose your wits. Unfortunately that's what a lot of people want to do on holiday.

UNFORTUNATELY HE'S KEEPING IT TO HIMSELF!

I'm confused. I have just seen an unbeatable offer on the net - and I need advice.

The New Nordic Company – ‘live next to a Thai Princess’ – is offering old aged pensioners a 10 per cent a year return on their property investments with it in Pattaya, Thailand.

All you need is 2.5 million Thai baht (US$70,000) and ‘ Kurt’s your uncle’ for that you get an apartment plus minimum of 20,000 Thai baht or US$559 a month in income.

And according to the blurb 20,000 a month is more than enough to retire on in Pattaya.

Actually I am not having a problem with that 10 per cent return figure.

Well put it this way, that’s not the figure I want to deal with right now.

Buyers should however Google the boss Norwegian Kurt Svendheim and employ a top notch lawyer outside of Pattaya.

No, I am wondering how Kurt expects people to live a 'very comfortable life' in Pattaya for 20,000 baht a month. Yes it is possible for Thais to do.

But for elderly foreigners it certainly is not.

Well for a start Embassies are advising and the Thai government is going to insist on health insurance cover - and that’s going to take a massive chunk out of the 20,000.

So if anyone can design me a budget for living in Pattaya for 20,000 baht –- then I would be grateful.

Oh, and I’ll need somewhere to live because my 20,000 baht will be coming out of rentals for my apartment at New Nordic so I'll have to find somewhere else

So to I’ll need a financial advisor, a health insurance adviser, a nutrionist, and maybe a .44 Magnum.

But I guess I still won’t be able to buy any Magnums of the bottle type to follow the champagne lifestyle of Kurt, whose properties were raided last year by Thai officials (whom I guess were hungering) as one of his lavish parties with Thai girls was under way.

(Interesting people in this video - and this could be heaven to the residents of Hell, Norway, 2 degrees C as I write, but not many pensioners in evidence. They would prefer the Stones or the Animals.

Nor will I be able to attend wild pool parties with Thai and Russian er, good time girls. In the video above are some interesting characters but not many pensioners.

Kurt gets a fantastic press in Pattaya especially from his new friend former Copenhagen gangster Niels Storm Marten Colov, who is the de-facto head of the Pattaya People Media Group.

Only one newspaper carried the raid (but with no mention of Kurt).

It also has favourable reviews all over the net. He has a first class computer guy on the case.

I mention this because recently I got a call asking would I be kind enough to take a story about the raid mentioning Kurt down from this site. (I do not do take downs unless the story is wrong).

The story here mentioned bankruptcies and a massive Norwegian financial scandal involving Kurt and his partner, which almost brought down a bank.

Above New Nordic Video - and a familiar voice!

Footnotes:

(a) Foreign buyers in Thailand and Pattaya should be aware that there are offices with nameboards headed 'Consumer Protection' but they will not function for you. If there is a fraud involved police will not investigate frauds between foreigners.

(b) Foreigners cannot own property in Thailand apart from condominiums but in that case at least 51 per cent of owner/residents in your condo must be Thai.

(c) The Thai property market and in Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Ko Samui especially has a reputation as being 'fraud central'. Scores of projects are being advertised which will not be built.

(d) Beware of extras - such as 'sinking funds'.

(d) Would you want to spend the rest of your life in a 'apartment' of under 30 sq metres? Many units on the market are nothing more than 'short time' rooms. Good for a single male on holiday - but you might not want to live there. Thais will not buy tiny apartments at the rates offered to foreigners.

(e) Always check that the company you pay your cheques or cash to is the actual owner of the property and not an agent or a company which could fold up at any time. Hundreds of people have been taken in this way. The directors of the other company will be different, but 'same same' as the local saying goes.

(f) Beware of different sets of books. Apartments have been sold many times over to different clients. Consider your property to be a 'virtual property' until you not only have your deed (chanote) but have thoroughly checked it out with a lawyer at the Land Office.

(g) If you are drawing your pension do you have the time or money or energy to go through the debilitating court process yourself?

FAKE LAWYER HOPES AMERICANS WILL BELIEVE HIS CONNECTIONS TO ROYALTY

On run with a warrant out for his arrest for extortion in Thailand Drew Noyes, 60, has changed his Facebook profile to show himself hobnobbing with Thai Royalty, a former US Ambassador to Thailand, and an Immigration Police Colonel.

This may by a ruse by the ‘selfie hunter’* to impress his new friends in Wilmington, North Carolina, but it will not impress the judges in Pattaya where he slipped off his Royalist yellow shirt to become a red shirt to impress local politicians.

He took the red shirt off quickly AGAIN when the Thai military came to power- and in one case taken against him brought a long a military colonel to speak out in his defence to announce that he was holding a seminar on the virtues of the military government.

Do not be surprised it he turns up in the Trump camp soon.

The Appeal Court judgement comes up on March 8th.

He is appealing against a conviction with his Thai common law wife Wanrapa Boonsu, for attempting to extort the Thonglor Clinic in Jomtien, Pattaya, on Thailand’s eastern seaboard out of 7 million Thai baht – otherwise the clinic faced, he said, a raid by police when illegal substances would certainly be found and he would receive very negative publicity in his Pattaya Times‘newspaper’

Meanwhile in Wilmington, North Carolina, it is understood he has now used the power of attorney he made his first wife Nittaya Chaiyasit Noyes sign, when he put property in her name – to sell the property on the open market.

Incidentally, Rose, the interpreter he used during the extortion case who has been sending him good luck messages while he has been on the lam has now turned up in a photo taken by the famous Canadian conman Harris Black ( check out www.harrisblackwatch.com).

Harris, (who incidentally has now been confirmed as the author of the diary entries shown on this earlier post, describes her as his ‘Thai sister’. He may need her help soon.

*Strictly speaking Noyes is not really a selfie hunter as he always brought along his own photographer. The last one was deported after he reported him to police for overstaying his Thai visa.

Drew Noyes claims – summed up by a reader of this site

Claimed a journalism degree from the prestigious Duke University, that they didn’t provide, which morphed into a law degree and a medical degree.

The he was one of the chosen few brought to Thailand by Royal Proclamation.
Claimed 14 years of service to the King of Thailand with a couple of beer bars, a fake law office, a gay magazine and more recently a man’s club.

The Queen Sirikit award that he worded so if to sound as if the Queen herself had presented it to him when it was really only an award to a group of Westerners that had paid to go on an excursion.
Again claimed he was the MC at the King’s birthday celebrations. The King did not attend but he left out that small detail.
Claimed to be a member of the FCCT. (Application rejected)
Claimed to be head of the International Optimists in Pattaya, but he was turfed out for non-payment of a small yearly membership fee.

Claimed to be a personal friend of former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun after using his press pass to gain entry to an event and put his hand on his leg.

Claimed to know Yingluck Shinwaatra after sneaking up behind her for a photo.
Claimed he was friends with influential people and corrupt officials.
Claimed to be the best friend of Pattaya Mayor Ittipol Kunplume.
Claimed not to be friends with alleged child rapist Brian Wright.
Claimed to be close knit with Kamnan Poh of Chonburi.
Claimed he was friends with every police chief in Pattaya, despite being arrested for extortion in Pattaya.
Claimed to be in business with Harald Link and family.
Claims he was responsible for the American education of Pattaya red shirt leader Chanyut Hentrakul’s children.
Claimed Prime Minister Abhisit had endorsed his One Stop fake law office.
As well as beauty queen and former wife of Thai tennis star Paradon Shirapon, Natalie Glebova.
Claimed former US president Bill Clinton was helping the fight against Drummond.
Claimed FBI clearance.
Claims to be a direct descendent of the leaders who single handedly won the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the again World War 2.
Claimed he was in discussions with close friend Donald Trump to use a tarp to plug the Mexican Gulf oil disaster.
Claims to be related to Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore because the share the same FIRST name.
Falsely claimed his mother was a famous Hollywood child actor.
Was forced to remove Thai Royal Police badges from his website
Has a website for people to snitch on others that he claims is endorsed by the Thai police CSD division.
Claimed that his friend General Pongpat Chayaphan Head of the Central Investigation Bureau had ordered this blogger to be closed down immediately, 3 years ago.

Now he is claiming General Chinsen Thongkomol and General Kasim Thongkomol are now helping fight Drummond with the backing of soon to be Prime Minister Prayuth.

'OH GOD, TAKE US AWAY FROM THIS COUNTRY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE'

A BBC journalist has blagged his way into the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok to broadcast a scathing report on Thailand which he says welcomes tourists but refuses to help anyone seeking refuge.

The report by Producer-reporter Chris Rogers was broadcast yestersay and today and will be broadcast again. tomorrow on BBC Our World.

The documentary, which may have been overshadowed in the British media by the deaths of three backpackers in Vietnam, tells the story of Pakistani Christians who have fled attacks by Muslims and arrived in Thailand.

One Pakistani woman is heard saying: “Oh God, take us away from this country as soon as possible."

And it describes how, despite applying for UN asylum seekers status and carrying UNHCR papers, they are regularly rounded up and repeatedly fined (4000 baht in court or 50,000 direct to the Immigration Department). The IDC is bulging.

Local Christian charities are supporting the Pakistani Christians but the Thai authorities appear to be fed up with the slow process of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) . They arrest and re-arrest. Many Pakistanis are shackled in jails purely for being asylum seekers.

Mothers are separated from their children, husbands from their wives. Children are kept in the jails contrary to the UN convention Thailand has signed.

The Thai government says it rounds up people who could be considered as terrorists or criminals – that includes apparently, Pakistanis, Somalis and Palestinians.

The UNHCR does admit that the conditions under which the Pakistanis are held are ‘unacceptable’. The BBC and others say it is ‘inhumane’ and Thailand is in breach of UN charters which it has signed.

Thailand has already been damaged by allegations of the human trafficking of Rohingyas, slavery of Burmese and Cambodians in its fishing industry, illegal actions against Burmese in its fruit canning industry and it’s anybody’s guess what next.

This report was understandably not undertaken by the BBCs Bangkok based journalists.

Chris Rogers in the IDC

The text of Chris Roger's story can be found at this link. But I have copied below as the programme itself will not be available on this link to BBC iplayer in Thailand.

I myself have been into the IDC many times although I have been asked not to reveal how I did it. Chris Rogers was happy to say that a charity group helped him in. The urgency of the report was more important than the repercussions which may follow.

***************************************

The names of most interviewees have been changed, for their safety

Chris Rogers reports for Our World: Thailand's Asylum Crackdown on the BBC News Channel on 27 and 28 February at 21:30 GMT and BBC World News starting on 26 February (click here for transmission times)

"This isn't supposed to happen. All registered asylum seekers are issued with a UN document, which certifies them as an "internationally recognised UN person of concern". This means they should not be arrested or detained for seeking asylum while the UN investigates their case.
Earlier I met one man called Sabir, who fled Pakistan two years ago with his wife, Laila, their two daughters, Laila's parents, and her siblings and grandparents. They shared a small, sparse room with no kitchen or toilet, all 10 of them - until Laila was arrested two months ago.
Sabir hasn't seen her since and sobs that he is lost without her. He doesn't regret leaving Pakistan though, where he says a gang threatened to kill his family if they didn't convert to Islam. "Over here, the only fear we have is of the immigration police, nothing else," he says.
But the UN won't investigate his asylum case until 2018. He says he's been told there is a backlog.
In a statement to the BBC, the UNHCR admits it is struggling. "Amid the context of today's acute global humanitarian funding crunch, it is correct that at present we are facing long delays in the processing of asylum claims with funding for Thailand at only a third of the level needed." But it adds that it has managed to prevent the arrest of more than 400 "people of concern to UNHCR" in the last six months, by insisting on their status as registered asylum seekers.
Meanwhile the Thai government complains the UN's inactivity is "creating far-reaching impacts on its security" - a reference to Thai fears that immigrants from Pakistan could be involved in terrorism - "leading to a number of arrests of illegal immigrants in the past year".
Anyone arrested - Sabir's wife, for example - is taken to Bangkok's filthy and overcrowded immigration detention centre.
Thailand's immigration detention centre
Journalists and cameras are not allowed inside but volunteers delivering much-needed fresh water and food for inmates are, and that is how I enter, with other members of the BBC crew. Wearing search-proof hidden cameras we nervously pass through security checks and hand over our water and food to be checked by the guards.
We are led to a large, stiflingly hot room, crammed with hundreds of asylum seekers pressing their faces against a wire-mesh internal barrier. They are nearly all Pakistani Christians. For one hour a day, some of the 200 asylum seekers held here are let out of their cells to see visitors.
The men are semi-naked. Unaware we are BBC journalists, they tell us it's the only way to keep cool in the overcrowded cells they're kept in. The women cradle their children and babies. Many complain their children are suffering from diarrhea and vomiting because of poor sanitation and dirty drinking water. The room gets noisy as the inmates cry out to the visiting charity workers for their help to get released, but food and clean drinking water are all they can offer. One mother tells me she has been here for three months with her children. "The youngest is three and the eldest is 10. They are finding it very difficult being here, they are getting so ill," she says.
The Thai government says parents "often choose to have their children with them while in detention".
Yet the country has signed up to a number of UN international laws governing the humane treatment of prisoners and outlawing the imprisonment of children - particularly in centres holding adults.
None of the detainees I speak to have received legal assistance from the UNHCR since their arrest.
"We have no faith in the United Nations," 19-year-old Nazeem tells me, as she holds on to her baby cousin. "We only have faith in God. He will bring us freedom."
Their only way out of detention is for local charities to request bail from the Thai authorities. It costs about £900 ($1,250) to release one person, so they do this only for those deemed most vulnerable.
There are no official figures for the numbers arrested, but campaigners say it amounts to hundreds every month. It's alleged that 132 Pakistani Christians were arrested on one day alone in March last year. Altogether there are an estimated 11,500 Pakistani asylum seekers in Thailand, more than from any other country except Myanmar.
Suddenly I come across a young woman I was hoping to meet. There on the other side of the security cordon is Laila, Sabir's wife. It's an emotional meeting - she is obviously desperate to see her family. "I miss them, bring my daughters here so I can see their faces," she pleads. But the only way she is likely to see children for the foreseeable future, is if they are arrested too.
In its statement to the BBC, the UNHCR says it is working with the Thai government to find a solution. "Better and more humane management of the situation must be found in accordance with international legal norms," it says.
The Thai government insists that it strives "to provide the best possible care… based on international humanitarian principles."
Yet it inflicts an even worse fate upon some Pakistani Christians and their children. Those who are unable to pay the 4,000 Baht fine after they are arrested are thrown into one of Thailand's notorious jails.
Asylum seekers in shackles
This happened last year to a group of 20 Pakistani men, women and children. Separated from the women, the men's heads were shaved, and their ankles and hands placed in shackles.
"We had a lot of problem sleeping, sitting, standing up and walking," says one. "The chains weighed about 4kg or 4.5kg, and we used to have injuries on our ankles. We were in a lot of pain. It was very difficult for us."
One of his cellmates, Daniel, bursts into tears when he describes how the men were searched. "All we had to wear for clothing was a small piece of cloth," he adds.
The people charged with assuring the protection of these UN-registered asylum seekers were nowhere to be seen.
It was a local missionary who eventually bought their freedom.
But remarkably, Daniel is still able to invoke his faith's humility and forgiveness.
"Jesus said to us, 'If someone troubles you, don't ask for curses for him, instead, you should ask for blessings for him.' So, we ask for blessings for the UNHCR."

AN 'INSULT TO MY DIGNITY' SAID DREW NOYES - AS THAI COURT SIDES WITH MAN WITH A 25 YEAR HISTORY OF DISHONESTY

One of the 'libelous pictures - Noyes left. Goudie right

The criminal court in Pattaya today jailed an American schoolteacher for a year for libeling Drew Walter Noyes, an American who set up business in the city as a fake lawyer and who is currently on the run after being found guilty of extortion.

The teacher and his defence team are shocked at the decision but said they could not convey their feelings due to Thailand’s contempt of court laws. Criticism of a judge can carry the penalty of seven years in jail.

The teacher was accused of publishing on his website photo-shopped pictures of Drew Noyes, 60, and his colleague Brian Goudie, 49, dressed in revealing leather outfits as if they were taking parry in a gay parade.

Drew Noyes, who boasted he owned Spice magazine, ‘the biggest Gay magazine in Thailand’, said that to accuse him of being gay was a gross libel. He was a family man with many children and strictly heterosexual.

Noyes did not attend the hearing. He has fled to the United States and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

The teacher denied he was the owner of the website in question – SubSeroSiam. He was granted leave to appeal with an additional payment of 50,000 baht bail.

The controversial case was brought under Thailand’s Computer Crime Act libel law.

It is against the law in Thailand to publish any photograph which is photo-shopped to the detriment of the subject – even if the image is satirical.

For instance former Prime Ministers Abhisit Vejjajiva and Thaksin Shinawatra have frequently appeared in the Thai media as Adolf Hitler and no action has been taken.

Drew Noyes made a point of befriending the Pattaya Court.

He organized a legal seminar with judges at Pattaya City Hall, dined out with the judges, and even announced that he was writing a book on libel with the Chief Judge of Chonburi.

The court has allowed him to take numerous computer crime cases against his perceived enemies but nearly two years ago jailed him for extortion.

Drew Noyes and Wanrapa Boonsu celebrate Wan Rapee - National Law Day - with judges and staff at Pattaya Court. In the back row,
bald and wearing glasses is American Phillip
Venne, former gofer at Noyes One Stop Services in Pattaya. He has now morphed into a journalist for the ChiangRaiTimes

He had demanded seven million baht from the Thonglor Beauty Clinic in Pattaya; otherwise the owners and clinic would face a police raid and bad publicity in his Pattaya Times newspaper.

Drew Noyes and Wanrapa Boonsu after their arrest for
extortion - from the Thai Rath newspaper

The raid by CSD officers did actually take place but local police monitored it and nothing untoward was found.

The case was brought by police and Noyes was jailed for two years together with his common-law wife Wanrapa Boonsu.

He has at least nine half Thai children, four his first Thai wife Nittaya Chaiyasit Noyes (named as Chaisit on some documents in the US) three by Wanrapa Boonsu, and two by former members of staff at his One Stop Service Center, aka PattayaLawyers, aka One Stop Legal Service Center in Pattaya.

In the United States he was exposed in a major article in the Wilmington Morning Star in which he was accused of property fraud, share fraud, and the sexual harassment of a junior employee, telling her she would not get the extra work hours she needed unless she provided him with an oral sex service.

Rose and Harris Black

Drew Noyes court appointed and registered interpreter Rose Chayachon Yangpreeda has been revealed to be Facebook friend of Drew Noyes, Brian Goudie and Harris Black.

Brian Goudie (selfie)

Goudie, who falsely claimed to be a British barrister and officer in the Royal Marines, is appealing a jail sentence for three years for cheating a 78-year-old woman out of nearly US$300,000 (including pocketing bail for her son who died in prison). A warrant for his arrest has also been issued on charges of revenge porn and fraud and he is currently on the run.

Brian Goudie, aka Goudie
In Australia under the name Goldie which he was born with, Goudie was jailed for six years for stealing from a West Australian mining company. He currently operates a website called CasewatchAsia, to attack is enemies and those of Noyes.

Goudie is the subject of the documentary 'Brian Goldie - Scottish swindler - by Makeworld Media.

Harris Black, a Canadian, has a warrant for his arrest out for him in California, and his frauds have repeatedly been exposed in television programmes in Canada.

He has currently posted a video on YouTube of his ‘ex-Thai wife’ featuring naked pictures of her and announcing he wants to get revenge.

She was a former bar girl who scammed him he writes. He had spent 200,000 baht on her house, etc. etc.

IF THIS IS TRUE WHY ARE THESE CASES EVEN BEING BROUGHT?

The judgment in this case and even the decision to accept the case is puzzling. Below is a section from what Thailand's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva replied in answers to the prosecution against migrant workers activist Andy Hall.

Footnote: The teacher has not been named in this report as a matter of principal. I have reserved comment for later.

The Thai Government has now admitted what we have known all along. It is going to strictly control the foreign media in Thailand and those journalists guilty of ‘inaccurate reporting’ will have their visas revoked and possibly much more.

Inside Khun Sa's camp with a typewriter

The military led government has introduced new visa laws which in reality allow a ban all freelance journalists operating Thailand. Freelance journalists are the work horses of most foreign publications.

Only a smattering of ‘staff’ journalists are based in Bangkok and their brief is not to cover Thailand but south East Asia.

Thailand is in a relative backwater on the world stage – known in the main for cheap sex, food and drink, hospitality, the Thai smile, corruption, property and share fraud, and the occasional dismemberment, murder, or rape of a tourist.

Freelance journalists are often staff journalists who have left for two reasons. They want to control the news they do and provide it to whom they want, and for many the money was better.

In fact the BBC journalists are now on yearly contracts – and to a great extent their money can also depend on how much they actually produce. Many if not most of the great names in journalism are in fact freelance and many command their own high fees.

Bangkok has of course been a special case. There will be many who have settled in Thailand because they like the climate and life-style (Many journalists and diplomats have retired in Thailand.)

There are also journalists accredited to some pretty obscure publications.

If you see a South East Asian story say published in a British newspaper under the byline of a London ‘staffer’ - the chances are there is a freelance involved there somehow - if not a wire service.

But wire services as a general rule will not do any ‘private digging’ for individual publications or broadcasters.

The scandal of the Rohingyas is a classic case in question. The prime agents of this story were Alan Morison, a former CCN editor, and Chutima Sidasathian, who working from Phuket were the first to expose the Rohingya trafficking story. They provided the material and contacts to Reuters – who claimed the Pulitzer.

What did Alan and Chutima get? They were effectively hounded out of Thailand by a Computer Crime libel action. They won their case – but as in all case the action was debilitating.

In fact a large proportion of the exposé type stories have been if not totally written by freelances, have been initiated by them for the best publications in the world.

So it’s not surprising that after weeks of denials the government has now revealed the truth in the Khao Sod.

“Many foreign correspondents who live in Thailand are not proper reporters. They don’t have agencies,” Don Pramudwinai told reporters at Government House on Tuesday. “Sometimes, they report inaccurate information that causes damage to Thailand.”

He added: ““I believe that these restrictions won’t make foreigners think we restrict foreign media rights.”

It sounds like Don has had a long lunch. Foreigners already know that the Thai government is restricting the press.

Had I still been in Thailand I would have reached the top of the military’s banned list a long time ago.

www.andrew-drummond.com has been banned in Thailand but the government refuses to say why.

It is banned in fact because a convicted extortionist asked for the ban in the light of a Computer Crime Act case in which I was found guilty of allowing a poster on the site describe David John Hanks as a pimp.

The court, in Pattaya of course, was shown the ASIC documents showing he was the owner of a brothel in Melbourne, at which point he even admitted it – saying but the prostitutes were very well looked after!

In fact I left Thailand because some of the villains I was exposing were in league with both police and army,l and it was no longer safe for me to stay there with my children.

Had I remained, and those threats not kickied in, I am sure I would have been exhausted by now with Computer Crime Act cases brought against me by convicted foreign criminals.

I am being sued by criminals in both the Pattaya and Samui courts – criminals who have been allowed to remain free while appealing additional convictions in Thailand for fraud, embezzlement and extortion.

All this despite the statement (above) which I published yesterday quoting the judge in the Andy Hall case by Thailand’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva that defamation cases should not be brought under the Computer Crime Act.

And proceedings have since been served against Jonathan Head, BBC South East Asia Correspondent, and Chairman of the FCCT Professional and Ethics Committee.

Though long since gone I still get many requests for help from foreign publications because I worked the country and south East Asia for over 25 years.

The fact is that the Thai government is running scared. It’s not merely the resident media who are affected. Quite a few documentary makers have recently been refused access to film. This is not because their projects are controversial. In fact they seemed very positive.

But everybody is scared to give permission.

It is almost impossible to make a film in Thailand without realizing that it is not quite the country of tourist brochures.

When I first arrived I began filming with Mong Tai Army of drug warlord Khun Sa in the Shan States of Burma. Thailand and the United States had declared him the world’s most wanted man.

It did not appear to be so. We filmed the Thai military building a road to his camp. Not to arrest him…but to do business!

The latest decree will not of course stop ‘bad’ stories getting out, whether it be about politics or the demise of tourists in one way or another. The Thai government will have to close down social media on which messages to the world go out instantly. They have tried. It won’t work.

Footnote: The author is a former Fleet Street staffer and co-founder of the Observer Film Company in London.

He worked as a freelance journalist in Thailand for 25 years accredited to The Times and London Evening Standard.

BUT IF YOU'VE LOST YOUR LIFE SAVINGS THIS MAY NOT CONSOLE YOU.

Wood

The personal financial guru of the Bangkok Post has been indicted by the Thai Securities Exchange Commission along with eight other ‘financial advisors’ for operating securities businesses without licences.

Andrew Wood, who was afforded a regular financial column in the Bangkok Post’s Spectrum section had an unenviable reputation for losing clients’ money.

He was repeatedly exposed on andrew-drummond.com.

But when new clients cottoned on they were faced with massive financial penalties for withdrawing their accounts.

These of course represented the commissions which were paid to the financial advisers up front.

KIRKHAM

Wood, who began his career as a management trainee for Lambeth Borough Council at Chiswick Poly, is named with his company PFS International (Platinum Financial Services) and five other , colleagues, namely director Mark Edward Kirkham, Mr. Harpreet Sajjan, Roger Sefton, Ms. Sakun Chaiyakun and Mr. Timothy Lock.

Wood was involved in several financial scandals. First as financial advisor for Barclay Spencer he put clients’ money into the now infamous ‘Football Fund’ which crashed disastrously and was exposed in a documentary on Britain’s Channel 4 TV.

SUN story on the Football Fund

The second time was when he put clients’ money into Axiom Legal Funding, which turned out to be nothing more than a PONZI.

The third was when he put clients’ cash into Centaur Litigation which went bust with US$10 million of clients’ assets.

And the fourth time was when he put client assets into the Australian based LM Managed Performance Fund run by New Zealander Peter Drake, which also spectacularly crashed with an estimated US$600 million of client assets.

The PFS slogan was 'Helping expats with the business of life'.

Also indicted are members of the Gilt Edge International Group (2/3 Moo 14, Bangna Tower A, 2nd Floor, Room No. 207, Bangna-Trad Road, KM 6.5) and its members named as Mrs. Karen Elizabeth Entwistle, Mr. Steven Entwistle and Mr. Neil Callard.

Callard

The Entwistles have a very low internet profile – but Neil Callard was the principal speaker at a Bangkok seminar on Forex trading, claiming to have been a ‘trader’ for 25 years, employed by many well know banks.

In both cases the files have been sent to the Economic Crime Division Police to prosecute.

Footnote: These prosecutions will come as little consolation to those expats who have lost their life savings. The penalties, as the SEC points out “include imprisonment for a term of 2 to 5 years and a fine from 200,000 to 500,000 baht, plus a daily fine of 10,000 baht until the violation ends.”

boiler room traders in Bangkok

When Bangkok’s boiler room fraud operations were raided in 2001 the bosses were merely fined and they went back to work again. A maximum fine of 500,000 baht in these cases meant little to them.

FREAK TWIN AND SLAVERY CONNECTIONS

Flying Sporran’s Weekend Diary

In response to a reader's request for good news I offer the following.

The North Carolina town of Mount Airy has linked hands with Samut Songkhram on the Gulf of Thailand to become ‘sister’ cities – and officials in Thailand ‘are very excited about it’ according to a local newspaper in the US state.

In turn the City Board of Commissioners in Mount Airy also seems pretty excited.

‘I just think it’s a fantastic opportunity that might lead to increased tourism and economic development,’ Commissioner Steve Yokeley told the Mount Airy News

‘What’s not to like?’ said Commissioner Jon Cawley.

Thai tourists to Mount Airy can visit the Andy Griffith’s Museum and Mount Airy tourists to Thailand can visit temples, salt flats, and even a floating market.

For most readers I’m guessing even if you Google Andy Griffiths, you still will not know him, and you’ll be wondering why they named a museum after him.

Auntie Bea's famous Diner in Mount Airy

It seems the towns were destined to be linked. Samut Songkhram is the birth place of the Siamese twins – two brothers Chang and Eng. They died and are buried in Mount Airy.

They were born joined together at the sternum and discovered by an expat Scottish businessman Robert Hunter, who signed them up for a lucrative world tour. It seems some expats have not changed much.

However the two brothers later went into show business themselves and finally settled in North Carolina where they bought a plantation and also slaves to work it.

An unofficial link between Mount Airy and Samut Songkhram is slavery. Wilmington, North Carolina was one of the major US slave ports and at one time the black population outnumbered the white 2:1.

The Thai fishing harbours of Samut Songkhram have of course been linked to the slavery of Burmese fishermen who have been reported to have been merely thrown over the side when their use came to an end.

Wire report - checking fishing boats in Samut Songkhram

(As a British citizen I do not think I can pontificate on this point. Although Britain ended the slave trade in 1832 – a few years after the Siamese twins were born – it did create a major part of it and sold black slaves to the US. Before slavery itself was abolished altogether the trafficking in slaves was made illegal. But some Captains still found the trade lucrative. If they were approached by a British man of war they would throw the slaves overboard.)

Anyway Chang and Eng married two sisters and had a bed made for four. But after a while – here’s food for thought – the two sisters did not get along together at all.

The sister separated into different houses and the twins 3 days in each. Maybe they had the Sabbath to themselves.

Nevertheless the two brothers fathered 21 sons and daughters. Some of the offspring fought on the losing Confederate site during the Civil War defending the right among other things to have slaves.

Footnote: No connection in this story to Wilmington’s famous son Drew Walter Noyes

KOH TAO MURDERS REVISTED - WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EVIDENCE THEY LEFT OUT?

Just when it seems that no more buses can be driven though the prosecution case against the two young Burmese Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin for the Koh Tao murders Australian lawyer Ian Yarwood who has been following the affair very closely has come forward with yet another question?

What happened to the footprints in the sand?

Prior to the prosecution of the Burmese 21-year-olds Thai police were actually looking for someone 170 cm's tall considerably taller than the diminutive defendants.

The footprints must have had some significance because it caused them to round up the usual Burmese suspects to take their impressions in the sand
And of course if there were footprints there they must too have the footprints of Montri Tuvichian who was the ‘first Thai’ to see the bodies of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.

But all that seems to have been forgotten at the trial. The prosecution proffered nothing. The defence did not appear to ask.

The pictures here show Burmese feet being checked. No pictures have been offered of Thai feet being checked. Ian Yearwood’s submissions follow this:

COMMENT: A lot of criticism has been levelled at the defence team in this trial since the guilty verdict was announced and Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin were sentenced to death.

On this I can only make my own personal observation. In all the trials I have attended in Thailand I have never come out of any of them believing any lawyer has put in a good effort. It appears to be that Thais think, and I am fearful of generalising on this point, in a totally different way – and certainly not laterally. There are always, it seems, dozens of crucial questions I would have asked, which are not.

And as for Thai laws and the application of it I do know Thai lawyers who have totally given up the profession or at least given up practicing criminal law because of the way justice is stacked up against defendants.

And if law students really believed in justice I am surprised they do not quit law school after the first term.

“PIGS CAN FLY” AS CAN KOH TAO SCAPEGOATS
(Ian Yarwood 4/3/16)

Ian Yarwood

Reporter Terry Fredrickson has a story that appears in the online edition of the Bangkok Post dated 30 September 2014.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/434177/koh-tao-murders-frustration-grows

In the story Fredrickson wrote:

“Police are searching for Thais or migrant workers who are about 170cm tall and wear size 40 shoes, matching footprints near the crime scene.”

Indeed at and around the immediate crime scene the sandy surface appears to be conducive to recording clear footprints.

Pictures of the crime scene are available on the internet in which footprints are visible. The Thai police were also photographed recording footprints of some of the island’s inhabitants further suggesting that Thai police had crime scene footprints to compare them with.

Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin (above) are both much shorter than 170cm.

According to British Human Rights Activist, Andy Hall they are 145cm and 150cm in height respectively (see recent documentary “MURDER IN PARADISE”

- http://www.channelnewsasia.com/tv/tvshows/undercoverasia-s3/murder-in-paradise/2564832.html ).

If Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin are the killers then they would have each left dozens of footprints at the crime scene and in the immediate vicinity. The victims were killed before dawn while it was still very dark. I submit that it would not have been feasible for the defendants to cover ALL their small tracks while leaving larger footprints at the scene.

It is true that the AC Bar Manager, Montriwat Toovichien aka “Mon” had been walking through the crime scene at about dawn but it is hard to imagine that he could have destroyed ALL the defendants’ footprints if their diminutive footprints had actually been present.

Montrivat (left) on the beach after the discovery of the bodies

“There wasn’t any evidence at trial regarding footprints.” - according to a highly reliable source. In the circumstances, I submit that there is no evidence that puts the defendants at the immediate crime scene where the bodies were found.

But for Mon walking through the crime scene, I would have been prepared to go a step further and say that it was impossible for the defendants to have been at the crime scene if their footprints were not present - unless the defendants can fly.

One might argue that DNA allegedly found on Hannah’s body places the defendants at the crime scene (by which I mean the immediate vicinity of the two bodies).

Firstly, I do not accept that the defendants’ DNA was recovered from Hannah’s body. This is THE crucial issue for the appeal, which I won’t discuss here.

Secondly, even if the defendants’ DNA was found on Hannah’s body there is no real explanation as to how the defendants got to the crime scene without leaving their footprints (unless people like Mon destroyed ALL the small footprints and left only large footprints).

If Hannah had intercourse with the defendants (which seems highly unlikely) then, subject to my comments about Mon, the only explanation would be that intercourse occurred elsewhere and that Hannah went to or was taken to the beach crime scene later.

Dr Pornthip’s evidence about the hoe was interesting and helpful but in my opinion the lack of footprints is more compelling.

I understand that there were numerous issues that neither the prosecution nor defence raised including those relating to footprints, clothes, cigarette butts, hair and a wine bottle. This was unfortunate to say the least as the trial failed to get to the bottom of things to the defendants’ great cost.

On looking back through some of my past emails to Andy Hall I noticed two where I discuss the importance of things that are missing (without referring directly to footprints). On 5 August 2015 I emailed Andy the following advice:

“You might recall that some time ago I mentioned to you that when trying to solve a puzzle such as this it is important to not just consider what you find. It is almost as important to consider what you do not find.

“It is not quite the same but I have dealt with a number of tricky cases involving fraud. Sometimes it is fraud against deceased estates and sometimes it is fraud against investors. Often the rogue seems quite plausible but one often finds that when one important assertion from the rogue turns out to be false then one quickly discovers that other assertions are also false.”

On 29 August 2015 I emailed the following advice to Andy and forwarded a copy directly to senior lawyer Khun Nakhon:

“The biggest issue is the DNA which I imagine your team is working to get under control.… However, GETTING BACK TO MY EARLIER COMMENT THAT MISSING THINGS ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THINGS WE FIND..”

The Thai trial process is “inquisitorial” rather than “adversarial” so it was also open for any of the three trial judges to ask simple questions of witnesses and the trial lawyers regarding footprints.

Taupin

The Melbourne DNA expert Jane Taupin makes it clear that DNA evidence recovered from a crime scene should form only part of what investigators and prosecutors rely upon. In contrast, the Thai prosecutor relied almost exclusively upon its highly dubious DNA “evidence”.

Without the dubious DNA “evidence” the prosecution case “falls away” (to quote Perth barrister, Mark Trowell QC). I also note the defendants’ small stature and their apparent history as non-violent, decent young men.

In light of these issues and the many deaths on Koh Tao discussed in “Murder in Paradise”, I find it almost impossible to believe that tiny Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin are the real killers. I would sooner believe that pigs can fly.

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ROUND UP ALL THE USUAL OLD-AGED PENSIONERS

The Great 2016 Pattaya Bridge Club Raid Reviewed

POLICE GET BACK AT HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER

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THAI SECURITIES EXCHANGE COMMISSION GOES AFTER SECOND BRITISH 'FINANCIAL ADVISER'

HARRIS BLACK GETS STIFFED IN PATTAYA

'I NEED A NANNY' SAYS 'MOST CREDIBLE AMERICAN'.

CON MAN OR PSYCHO – WHO WROTE THESE DARK MESSAGES?

COURT THROWS OUT ANOTHER DREW NOYES LIBEL CASE

ON BAIL AND SELLING UP IN PATTAYA - BRIT SEAN TINSLEY

TOURIST DEATHS IN THAILAND -WHAT NEXT?

HOW TO LIVE 'COMFORTABLY IN THAILAND ON US$560 (20,000 BAHT) A MONTH - THE VIKING SECRET

ON THE RUN BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT - DREW NOYES' NEW FACEBOOK PROFILE

THAILAND SLAMMED OVER INHUMANE TREATMENT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS

AMERICAN TEACHER SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR LIBELING PATTAYA CONVICTED EXTORTIONIST

NO DOUBTS - THE THAI GOVERNMENT IS ATTACKING THE FOREIGN MEDIA - THE TRUTH

BANGKOK POST FINANCIAL GURU INDICTED BY THAI SECURITIES EXCHANGE COMMISSION

NORTH CAROLINA LINKS HANDS WITH SAMUT SONGHRAM

SO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE MURDERERS?