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THAI JUNTA SHOWS BRITAIN HOW TO RUN A REFERENDUM

July 12, 2016, 3:12 pm
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Thailand's military dictator General Prayuth Chan-Ocha who has jailed many dissenters and is now making undisguised and widespread threats to jail more - has firmly targeted journalists in a bid to push through a new constitution which will drag the country back 100 years.

The latest arrest of the Prachatai journalist is a case in question. Officials of Amnesty International have already felt his heat.

Several foreign journalists have of course left - and the foreign media seems a little bit muted about what is going on in Thailand - suggesting a little bit of self-preservation here.

Unfortunately while this is going on Thailand's justice system has shown itself not to be independent - a little bit of self-preservation there too - and the education system is getting almost Dickensian.

The secret of running a referendum Thai military style is of course no secret. Only let one voice be heard - that of the military government. Too late to advise David Cameron though.

This is of course being followed by Thailand's new immigration policy 'Good guys in, bad guys out', which translates to 'Bad guys in. Good guys Out' and which judging by the number of East European oligarch's in the UK, Chan-Ocha might have cottoned on to by merely watching English Premier League football..Leicester City excepted of course.

Here is the latest Human Right Watch statement, issued today.

'You'll be voting for our new constitution then!'


(New York, July 12, 2016) – Thai authorities arrested four activists campaigning against the military junta’s draft constitution and a journalist reporting on the campaign, Human Rights Watch said today. A referendum on the proposed constitution is scheduled for August 7, 2016.

On July 10 in Ban Pong district, Ratchaburi province, police arrested three activists from the New Democracy Movement (NDM) – Pakorn Areekul, Anucha Rungmorakot, and Anan Loked – for violating the Referendum Act after finding NDM booklets criticizing the draft constitution in their car. The police also arrested Taweesak Kerdpoka, a journalist with the Prachatai online news agency, while he was traveling with the activists. Later that day, police arrested another pro-democracy activist, Panuwat Songsawatchai, on the same charge after accusing him of helping to deliver NDM booklets in the district.

“Arresting peaceful activists is bad enough, but jailing a journalist for reporting on the ‘vote-no’ campaign is a serious blow to press freedom in Thailand and any hopes that the vote on the constitution will be a fair one,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “With each day the Thai junta is undermining the legitimacy of its own referendum.”

The authorities should immediately release and drop all charges against the activists and journalist, Human Rights Watch said.

The ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) junta, chaired by Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha, has imposed conditions for the constitutional referendum that have increasingly hindered open public discussion, Human Rights Watch said. Article 61 of the 2016 Referendum Act, which governs the referendum process, criminalizes “anyone who disseminates text, pictures or sounds that are inconsistent with the truth or in a violent, aggressive, rude, inciting or threatening manner aimed at preventing a voter from casting a ballot or vote in any direction or to not vote.” Violators face imprisonment up to 10 years, fines up to 200,000 baht (US$5,600), and loss of voting rights for 10 years.

The junta has disregarded international human rights law protections that ensure the rights to express their views on the draft constitution and to vote freely, Human Rights Watch said. Both the NCPO and the junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) have broadly and arbitrarily interpreted criticisms and dissenting opinions about the draft constitution to be “false information” and a threat to national security. As a result, the only source of information about the draft constitution for many voters comes from the junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Commission, the military, the Election Commission and other government agencies – all of which have taken the position that the proposed constitution would benefit the Thai people.

On April 19, General Prayut said that opponents of the draft constitution “have no rights to say that they disagree… I don’t allow anyone to debate or hold a press conference about the draft constitution. Yet they still disobey my orders. They will be arrested and jailed for 10 years. No one will be exempted, not even the media.”

On April 18, the authorities arrested Watana Muangsook, a prominent Pheu Thai party member and former government minister, for posting commentary on his Facebook page that he would reject the draft constitution. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon raised concerns during a telephone conversation with General Prayut on June 20 about the stepped-up repression ahead of the constitutional referendum. But on that same day, Thai authorities charged 19 leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) with violating the junta’s ban on public gatherings of more than five people for opening a referendum monitoring center in Bangkok. On June 23 in Bang Pli district, Samut Prakarn province, soldiers arrested 14 activists who were handing out leaflets urging voters to reject the draft constitution.

“Both the United Nations and Thailand’s international friends should press hard for General Prayut to immediately end the arbitrary arrest of critics and dissenters, and drop criminal charges against all those who peacefully express their political opinions,” Adams said. “The junta can’t expect the Thai people to just shut up and vote on the draft constitution without any debate.”
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HE SCREWED EXPATS IN THAILAND FOR MILLIONS - NOW HE'S WANTED FOR ARREST IN THE CARIBBEAN

July 17, 2016, 12:19 pm
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 BUT DAVID AMES FLEES BY BOAT

A warrant of arrest has been issued in St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean for Briton David Ames the boss of Harlequin Property, who, together with fellow Brit Richard Haughton, swindled hundreds of people who had invested in properties on Thailand’s eastern seaboard.



Ames, the subject of a British Serious Fraud Office investigation, subsequently took St Vincent nationality, but his time on the island ran out when the government pressed charges against him and his accountant for tax evasion and fraud.  Forewarned he fled by boat last month.


Richard Haughton at the Rotary
In St Vincent where he built the Buccament Bay Hotel Ames is widely believed to have enriched local politicians of the ruling Unity Labour Party to escape any local heat in his questionable projects. 

He is believed to have taken some £300 million from Britons after promoting his properties as sound retirement investments. Few of the properties were ever built.

While this was going on his son Matthew Ames was jailed for three years at Isleworth Court, Middlesex for defrauding people out of millions in a Ponzi scheme.

Ames, a former bankrupt double glazing salesman from Essex, also had a project in Barbados and hundreds of holiday homes in the Caribbean which were never built. He is also the subject of a High Court order for £1.3 million in an investor action in the UK.

According to the the St Vincent 'I Witness News' Ames is believed to have fled to Martinique.

In Thailand he promoted many projects of which only two or three came to the bricks and mortar stage.


Emerald Palace

Enraged investors who included Russian, German, British, Dutch and Scandinavians asked Pattaya Police and then the Consumers Affairs department at Pattaya City Hall to investigate – but nobody lifted a finger.

Some investors in Emerald Palace condominium, one of many fraudulent projects highlighted on this site, were awarded the apartments they paid for by a court order, but many living abroad did not have the cash to take the matter further.

Above - a vdo featuring Ames made four years ago with then paunchy presenter

The Emerald Palace condominium project was promoted and built by Briton Richard Haughton, boss of Thai Property and Media Exhibition Company, who can still be seen around Pattaya today property dealing. The Harlequin/TPME projects have all been exposed on this site including the many that were not built.


Colov
Handling the local promotion for the Harlequin/TPME properties was Niels Colov, a former Copenhagen gangster, who in Pattaya became Group Leader of the Foreign Police Volunteers, CEO of the Pattaya People Media Group, and who had also been a past president of the Pattaya-Jomtien Rotary Club.

In lieu of advertising fees Colov, a close friend of former Mayor Ittiphol Khunpleum took properties from TPME.

The property situation in Pattaya has not improved since the Harlequin fraud scandals. Currently there are many projects being promoted which will never be built.
==================================

Anyone seeking redress from an Ames deal can contact

Brian A Morrison
Director
Mulberry House Group Ltd
50 High Street
Highworth
Wiltshire. SN6 7AQ

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THAILAND’S TOURISM MINISTER AND ‘COITUS INTERRUPTUS’.

July 18, 2016, 1:04 pm
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SEX TOURIST CAUGHT ‘IN FLAGRANTE’ TWICE CONDEMNS ‘POLICE RAIDS’

While the Thai-Visa forum recovers from the statement by blue blooded Thai Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrankgkul, who told Reuters ‘We want the sex industry gone’, sex tourists can be re-assured that the vibrant sex industry is not yet on the way out.

Tourism in Thailand of course continues to rise by the year – even visitors from Europe - and despite a drop in Russians by about 50 to 60 per cent, says Minister Kobkarn – this year numbers expect to reach a new high of 28.8 million people.

Minister Kobkarn’s wishes are however unlikely to be fulfilled. This was of course not because of the prediction by Thai Visa posters that the country will crash without the sex industry. 

No, her government will need to give the poor people an actual opportunity to earn real money.

Most visitors to Thailand are not sex tourists – but one could be forgiven that sex tourists are all that local ThaiVisa.com readers see. 


There have been a few hiccups suggesting there is a crackdown on sex tourism.  Indeed, in Pattaya the undisputed sex tourism capital of the country tourists have even suffered coitus interruptus as a result – but it’s still full steam ahead in the hunt for the sex tourist dollar.

One such person, who has been caught with his pants down, is self-confessed sex tourist Mark, a South African businessman, who tells me that on his recent trips onto the twilight world of the city the place has been positively heaving. 

But it was not for a period last month when Thailand’s military essentially took over the resort, replacing the Mayor Ittipol Khunpleum, son of Godfather Somchai Khunpleum, according to Mark.


It was then that twice Mark was caught on job with members of staff banging on the door to his rented love-nest telling him and his new friends to put on their clothes and get out damn quickly as the police were on their way – first at the Roxy Bar in Soi 6 and secondly at the Perry Bar in the same street.

At the Roxy he says he was offered a ‘free go’ at a later date – an offer which he took up.

But at the Perry Bar he did not. He believes there may have been a raid as he was hidden in a bathroom/toilet while he heard men go up and down the stairs. But the court is out on this.


Anyway ‘a deal’s a deal’, he thought, and he went back to the Perry bar he asked for a receipt for the payments he made for the drinks, room, and girl.  

When a piece of paper was produced he got out his mobile phone and photographed it. 

This, he said, resulted in a pack attack with the mamasan and bar girls beating him all over until he rushed to a corner of the bar and said he was not leaving until the police arrived.

Mark is something of a stickler for the correct order. Readers of this site might recall that he was arrested a year ago.  This was when he took two young women back to his apartment and they reneged on the agreed financial deal by upping the price at the last minute.

He escorted them out of his condo – and as they would not accompany him back to the bar – where he wanted a refund -   he held on to their ID cards to settle the matter at the police station the next day.


Pattaya Police lock-up
This seemed a trifle optimistic – and indeed it was. As he had taken their IDs during the hours of darkness he was charged with ‘robbery by night’ and police also threw in concocted charge that he did not have a visa.  He did but his passport was at home and in the meantime he spent 14 days in jail and was of course shaken down by bent lawyers. 

(The visa charge was dropped and he did force the lawyers to give him a refund but the whole affair cost him well over 100,000 baht and, despite the creation of the so called fast track tourists courts, the case still does not come up for months).

Anyway, after being caught in flagrante at the Perry Bar and after the alleged attack, Mark duly ended up at the police station where he said he wished to place charges for the attack against him.

Police however refused to let him make a complaint. Instead the mamasan placed a charge of assault against him and demanded he settle up with 6000 Thai baht – backed by police.

(This is a sort of predictable outcome and not part of Minister Kobkarn’s new ‘Discover Thainess’ campaign. But then again the Minister will not be feeling sorry for Mark).



Above: Minister Kobkarn gives interview to Turkish journalist

Police took his passport and driving licence. The matter is still unresolved. 

Said Mark:
 “There were no media at the police station. Had they been there they could have showed in images that it was I who was attacked – not the mamasan. 
“This is a matter of principle. It’s a matter of credibility, “he said: “I treat the women with respect. I always pay the amount required, and sometimes more. 
“I asked police about these raids. They simply said they could not talk about them. 
"This is not fair. The sex trade in Thailand is openly promoted. I follow the rules. Why am I being persecuted for it?"


Mark - X-ray
Mark has since had CT scans taken of his head injuries. He has had them examined by independent neurologists. Unlike the Pattaya hospital’s findings, he says, they show he has a head fracture.

The demand for payment by police, he says, has since dropped to 5000 baht – and if he wants his passport back he will need to meet the officer this Wednesday at the police station at 4 am. 

I am not about to ask Mark how he is going to while away the hours until 4 am. He does not drink alcohol, smoke etc.

Meanwhile as Pattaya Police would not take his complaint he travelled all the way to the provincial capital Chonburi – to the headquarters of Region 2 of the Royal Thai Police where he was able to lodge it. 

He then returned to Pattaya Police station with his statement for police to investigate and where I suspect it will gather dust for years – and finally lost.

The bars in Soi 2 are of course acting illegally and have been doing so for years. They all pay their monthly dues to various police departments and are thus declared legal. That is until police get hungry and do spot raid or perhaps when the army arrives. They are illegal in that they provide rooms for sex. 

Mark had of course in effect demanded proof that this was a venue offering sexual services.


There is no suggestion that bars in Pattaya's Soi 6 offer sexual services.


Usually of course in the sex trade in Thailand the punter pays the bar fine (technically to make up for lost working hours of the girl) and what goes on afterwards is up to the couple.

This is of course nonsense – many bars in the sex trade demand that the girls are taken out a minimum of 12 times a month or more – and that constitutes sex trade exploitation, if not slavery.

However, as the woman earn many times more than minimum average Thai salary the point may be a bit moot.

As for Mark. Yes, I have suggested he go back to South Africa. I have told him he is on a hiding to nothing with his complaints.  But he is going onward and upward, or downward, whichever way you look at it.

After the Perry Bar incident, he returned to collect his belongings. They had gone, he said. They were a ‘Ferrari bag, a pair of Pro-Studio headphones, ‘Be Nice’ Body lotion, Bulgari Aqua Amara men’s fragrance, and a pair of Saucony running shoes.  

Seems he is not only fit, and a follower of fashion but smells good too and, he says, he practices 'safe sex'.

And now back to Khun Kobran’s wish to get rid of the sex industry. 

I am afraid, as she would have readily admitted had the Reuters correspondent asked, she has no powers or control whatsoever over this industry – and as the major benefactors are the police and army her wishes are unlikely to be granted.  

General Prayuth Chan-Ocha has already long since announced that he is not going to take the police to task – and for a beginning his own military staff have an interest in the Nana Plaza in Bangkok and various bars now in the control of our favourite boiler-room Brit – Brummie, Paul, er, ‘Hilton’.

One Minister of Tourism, Dr. Seri Wangpaichitr condemned the setting up of ‘Human Zoos’ in Thailand years ago after I was involved in the rescue of about 20 children and 12 adults from one in Thaton, Northern Thailand, after writing a series of stories for the ‘Times’. 




This was his reply indicating perhaps that while he condemned the trade......:only the international media could budge the powers that be.








Now how many human zoos for the Padaung are there in Thailand?
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CROWN PRINCE SENSATION - WHO HAS GOT THE DOG!

July 25, 2016, 4:01 am
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FU FU'S BEEN CREMATED BUT FI FI KNOWS THE TRUTH - AND THE CHANCES ARE HE'S BARKING.

Well, it seems the cat is out of the bag or Fi Fi, the successor to Foo Foo, the personal poodle to the Crown Prince of Thailand – and now the world appears to know there is something not quite right with the heir to the throne of Thailand.


Foo Foo or Fu Fu
Foo Foo achieved the rank of Air Chief Marshall in the entourage of Thailand’s controversial crown Prince Vajiralongkorn.

But he is much more famous as the birthday boy in a party in the Prince’s private residence in Bangkok in which the Prince and his then Princess, third wife Princess Srirasmi, sang him happy birthday.

Princess Srirasmi was only wearing a G-string at the time and she also appeared to be, according to the Daily Mail, on one occasion even eating out of Foo Foo’s bowl.

Needless to say the Mail was then blocked in Thailand.

This week Fi Fi featured in photos published on the front page of German’s mass circulation Bild Zeitung, but on this occasion the dog is playing second fiddle as the Prince appears to be dressed in jeans, a tiny tank top, and flip flops – and is covered in tattoos.

The tattoos were not there last year when he took part in his charity bike ride in Bangkok.



My former Bangkok based journalist colleague Andrew McGregor Marshall linked the story on Facebook after which his Thai wife in Bangkok was taken in for questioning by the thought police.

Some wag put this on the net 'proving' Bild doctored the pictures  Picture BILD ZEITUNG


Thankfully after this act of bullying she was later released. But the authorities do not often work on logic.

The arrest of Noppawan ‘Ploy’ of course helped the pictures of the Crown Prince go viral. In the pictures with him was Fi Fi with his latest Princess. – a Thai airways flight attendant by secondary career – at Munich airport.

No tattoos last year


The authorities immediately countered that the photos were photo-shopped. I take it they were referring to the tattoos. If they were not then he has some scrubbing to do unless of they are not real tattoos but transfers, as has been suggested.  But Bild insists the pictures have not been doctored in any way.

The Thai censors will be having their hands full blocking the sites now running these pictures. (No problem here, They have blocked this site already).

Who to believe? The Thai authorities or a German tabloid. My money is on Bild.

And the Suddeutsche Zeitung later ran a story about the Crown Prince buying a mansion called Villa Stolberg in Bayern and the agent insisted he was wearing a ‘mid-riff baring T-shirt when he visited.

But that is not the point. The fact they were published indicates that all is not well. And some people hold him in contempt. Indeed I bet the German authorities do not feel blessed having him on their soil.

Secondly, whether he has tattoos or not, his dress code, while fine within the confines of his own palaces where he can wear a tu-tu if he wishes, is contemptuous of people around him – and this is the future King of Thailand!

Bild two years earlier published a picture of the Prince going shopping at a garden centre in his (197,000 Euros) Porsche 911 turbo, describing him as the ‘swank Prince’.


The overall picture is that he is now being portrayed world-wide as something of buffoon.
Were that just the case…. Stories have been circulating about him for the last thirty plus years, and few of a generous nature, and may describing him as a predator attempting to live the life of Kings on by,.

Author and journalist Paul Handley incidentally has voiced the view on the website ‘New Mandala’ that the Prince’s tattoos are not Thai – but similar to the Japanese ‘Yakuza’ – an interesting thought!

Journalists Paul Handley and Andrew McGregor Marshall have both written books about the Thai Monarchy. Neither are flattering. Who to believe?   The authors or the Thai authorities who have banned the books and would arrest them if they set foot in the country?.

The fact is Foreign Correspondents based in Thailand do not write negatively about the Royal family. They would be immediately deported or worse.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand produced a coffee table book to honour the King. It even includes an article I wrote for the ‘Times’ – which I now think I regret.

It is possible and sensible to live in Thailand without writing about Royalty. Indeed this a sensitive matter with Thais and why upset those sensibilities when you do not need to.

It seems now has come the time when the story being the succession cannot be surpressed any more.
But to combat this the current government is carrying out just about every undemocratic and repressive act in the very name of Royalty – and in the name of a King who is undoubtedly too ill to speak himself.

Up until now King Bumphol Adulyadej has always been referred to as the ‘father of the Thai people’ and a ‘revered monarch’. That is unlikely to change any time soon in Thailand.   But on the international stage it is a different matter.

And Thailand will eventually come of age when the people do not swallow everything they are told from the age when they are able to start listening.


From Foo Foo's ridiculous Wikipedia entry:

Fufu came to wider public attention in 2007 when he appeared in a leaked video showing the Crown Prince's third wife, Princess Srirasm, feeding a birthday cake to the dog while wearing only a G-string. The video, which was thought to have been leaked by opponents of the Crown Prince, caused a sensation in Thailand and exposed a hidden struggle for the right to succeed the ailing Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej.
A few months later, US Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce attended a gala dinner in honour of the Crown Prince at which the dog appeared "dressed in formal evening attire complete with paw mitts".According to the ambassador's cable to Washington, subsequently released by WikiLeaks, "at one point during the band's second number, he jumped up onto the head table and began lapping from the guests' water glasses, including my own. The air chief marshal's antics drew the full attention of the 600-plus audience members, and remains the talk of the town to this day."
The death of Fufu in early 2015 was followed by four days of Buddhist funeral rites and the dog's cremation, images from which were widely shared on social media in Thailand. The funeral attracted commentary from Thais as an oblique and ironic reflection of worries over the king's succession, which cannot be aired openly in Thailand due to a lèse majesté law that attracts draconian penalties.[

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THAI 'CORRUPTION' UPSETS THE IRISH

July 25, 2016, 1:47 pm
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ABUSE A CHILD? MURDER A PROSTITUTE - NO PROBLEM JUST PAY HERE!

The continuing scandals of the Thai police and courts – the Thai Justice system – and the unwritten policy of 'cash for justice'  – have this week been hitting the press in Ireland – where a psychotic killer, who was released for cash in Pattaya, has been jailed for a copy-cat frenzied knife attack back home.


Denis Leahy, a former soldier and taxi driver in Dublin was released after paying out the equivalent of some €30,000 in bail after being charged with stabbing to death 24-year old Pattaya bar worker Bupha Tanchiangpin. 

He had publicly admitted his crime in interviews in 2006 but told the Irish Independent he was raising cash to get out. Leahy was accused of stabbing Bupha 22 times.

Coincidentally having arrived back in Dublin, via Cambodia, Leahy then viciously attacked his girlfriend Rose Kenny, with whom he had renewed his relationship, stabbing her 22 times as well, according to the Irish media.


Rose Kenny
Leahy, 50, was jailed last Thursday for 14 years for attempted murder.  Fortunately Rose survived.

But she told the media:


“I feel justice was done for me but there are no winners in any of this. 
“That poor girl is still dead and if the Thai authorities weren’t so corrupt me and my family wouldn’t have gone through all this. I’m so glad it’s all over.”

COMMENT: Corrupt authorities indeed. The sickening part of all of this is where is the justice for Bupha and her family. There is none. She was a bar worker from a poor Isaan family. And this is how people in the Thai justice system make their money and treat Thailand's less fortunate.  Pattaya Criminal Court judges and police are among the worst offenders.

This week I have been looking at my files of covering crime in Thailand involving foreigners for over 20 years and thus they contain numerous cases not yet on the net. Nothing has changed. I was reporting on the release of foreign criminals from Thailand’s justice system – almost since the day I arrived in Thailand.

Below is a picture taken of Eric Hollett, former chauffeur to Lord Bernstein who was arrested in Pattaya in 1994 for child sexual abuse. He was not in prison long. He did not even get to trial. He raised cash for his release (then 400,000 Thai baht) and left to open a bar in New Zealand where he boasted how much he paid off and that that his victims were 'up for it'. 


Brian Wright
More recently we have the case of Briton Sean Tinsley who was given bail while accused of the attempted murder of school teacher Adam Pickles - and of course American Brian Wright who was released despite being sentenced to 23 years for child sexual abuse.

I cannot think of a foreigner with cash who is in jail in Thailand and would be interested to hear of some.




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THAI MILITARY ‘CAN’T HANDLE’ THE TRUTH

July 28, 2016, 2:09 pm
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A FEW GOOD WOMEN


Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat
Thailand’s military is not traditionally good at handling the truth but then it does not need to be. 

The military were never punished for the Tak Bai massacre* or for the massacre at Krue Se Mosque*. The army of course is used more against the people rather than an enemy.

However, in the case of Private Wichian Puaksom, 26, the army paid out some US$200,000 compensation. Was that an admittance of serious crimes? Apparently not.

An officer and nine other soldiers were involved in the following brutal treatment of him in 2011.

They forced him:


“to strip Wichian down to his underwear and drag him over a rough concrete surface before repeatedly kicking and beating him for several hours. Soldiers then put salt in Wichian’s wounds to increase the pain. They wrapped his body with white cloth, bound his hands, read him funeral rites, and forced him to sit on ice. They then beat Wichian with bamboo rods, kicked him, and stomped on his chest and his head.”

Despite his death from his injuries four days later, on June 5 Sub-lieutenant Om and the other nine soldiers only received military disciplinary punishment of 30 or fewer days in detention, but were never charged for murder or other serious offences. 

There goes the Thai army again, falsely defending its honour.

Was Private Wichian the subject of a ‘Code Red’? This whole scenario is uncannily similar to the plot of the Hollywood film a ‘Few Good Men’ with Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore and Tom Cruise.



(above - don't expect this sort of exchange in a Thai court)

Wichian was attacked allegedly for ‘fleeing military training’. In the film ‘A Few Good Men’ Private William Santiago is the subject of an unofficial order ‘A Code Red’ to beat him into being a better US Marine.

In Thailand of course truth is of course stranger than fiction and in this case the officer in charge of the unit is not in the dock like Jack Nicholson playing the Marine Colonel. 

Instead Wichian’s courageous niece faces jail under Thailand’s Computer Crime Act, for having the balls to complain that the punishment was not sufficient.


So now we have the spectacle of seeing an Army Captain, the Commanding Officer of Wichian’s unit in the 151st Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division going into the witness box to prosecute Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat for comments she made on her Facebook page.

Correction, well we won’t be able to see anything as Thailand’s laws prevent contemporaneous court reporting and even forbid journalists to take notes. We’ll just get the judgement.

Yes, you cannot make this up!


Links:

*The Tak Bai Massacre

*Kru’ Se Mosque

The following is a statement today issued by Human Rights Watch:

Thailand: Torture Victim’s Outspoken Niece Arrested
End Reprisals Against Families Seeking Justice

(New York, July 27, 2016) – Thai authorities should drop trumped-up criminal proceedings against a woman who has sought justice for her army conscript uncle, who was tortured to death by soldiers in 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat, 25, faces up to five years in prison and a 100,000 baht (US$2,900) fine if found guilty of defamation and publicizing false information online under the Computer Crimes Act.

On the morning of July 26, 2016, police arrested Naritsarawan at her office at the Ministry of Human Security and Social Development in Bangkok. She was taken to the Muang Narathiwat police station and questioned about her Facebook page. The page details the case of her uncle, Pvt. Wichian Puaksom, 26, whom soldiers tortured to death at a military camp in Narathiwat province, and demands that those responsible be brought to justice. On July 27, the police released Naritsarawan on bail. The complaint against Naritsarawan was brought by an army captain who had been commanding officer of the unit found responsible for Wichian’s death.

“The Thai police’s efforts to intimidate and retaliate against the outspoken relative of a victim of rights abuse is no less than an endorsement of torture,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should immediately direct the police to drop the criminal cases against Naritsarawan and seek the prosecution of those responsible for her uncle’s death.”

An internal investigation by the 4th Army Region, responsible for Thailand’s southern provinces, found that soldiers severely tortured Private Wichian of the 151st Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division on June 1, 2011. The report said that Sub. Lt. Om Malaihom, who had accused Wichian of fleeing military training, ordered at least nine soldiers to strip Wichian down to his underwear and drag him over a rough concrete surface before repeatedly kicking and beating him for several hours. Soldiers then put salt in Wichian’s wounds to increase the pain. They wrapped his body with white cloth, bound his hands, read him funeral rites, and forced him to sit on ice. They then beat Wichian with bamboo rods, kicked him, and stomped on his chest and his head. Wichian died from his injuries four days later, on June 5. Sub-lieutenant Om and the other nine soldiers received military disciplinary punishment of 30 or fewer days in detention, but were never charged for murder or other serious offences.



Private Wichian’s family sued the Ministry of Defense, the army, and the Prime Minister’s Office for malfeasance and was provided 7,000,000 baht (US$200,000) compensation in February 2014. In July 2015, the Office for Public Sector Anti-Corruption found Om and nine other soldiers guilty of malfeasance under article 157 of the penal code and article 30 of the military penal code.

In May 2016, Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha promised to make torture a criminal offense under Thai law and to fulfill Thailand’s obligations under the United Nations Convention against Torture. Under the convention, the Thai government is obligated to investigate and prosecute acts of torture and other ill-treatment committed by government officials. However, the Thai government has yet to prosecute successfully any security personnel for abuses. Thai authorities have also frequently retaliated against those reporting alleged human rights violations by filing lawsuits accusing critics of making false statements with the intent of damaging the officials’ reputation.

“It has always been risky to speak up on behalf of victims of military abuses in Thailand,” Adams said. “Now the government is using the full weight of its legal system against those urging justice.”

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EXCLUSIVE - 'WE ARE THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLES' - THAI POLICE REVEAL SECRET HAND SIGNS

July 31, 2016, 7:55 pm
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Police in Thailand have demonstrated the unique sign language which has enabled them to keep a lid on crime. It was revealed in a demonstration by Lt. General Sanit Mahatavorn to vocational students in Bangkok earlier this week.

From 'Khao Sod'  'Make money - not arrests#.

The new signs are not intended to actually stop crime – just keep a lid on it – as of course the Thai Police are the unofficial mafia in Thailand.

The first sign demonstrated by Bangkok's police chief was the three fingered sign of the devil or ‘El Diablo’. 



Why all the silly gestures? Sanit said youth need to stop making a very specific gesture that usually leads to brawls. Khao Sod (Fresh News) newspaper reported.

“You know what the middle finger means,” he said. “I suggest we change from showing ‘The Finger’ to the  ‘I Love You’ gesture.”

WE COME FROM THE DEVIL

Sanit then demonstrated the sign of the horned Satan, which to some deaf and dumb Americans means ‘I love you’, but which was invented, I kid you not, by a person with Satanic interests. 



In fact in the UK and the rest of the civilised world deaf and dumb people use the following procedure to denote ‘I love you’.


However, the Satanic gesture is ideal for gang fights and if students invoke the devil while setting about each other with machetes and baseball bats all hell will be let loose and crime figures will invariable come down as there will be shortly none of them left. Never mind the figures though, it will also give police less to do.

COUGH UP

The second sign which the Lt General demonstrated was the ‘cough up’ or ‘loadsamoney’ sign and denoted that police would indeed ‘love you’ once you had paid your dues or rather bribes.

This sign is widely invoked in all regions of the Thai police whether it be on Thai paupers, in particular motorcyclists, or the rich. It involved rubbing the thumb with the forefinger and sometimes salivating at the same time.

In the case of the Thai rich it is invoked when the ‘elites’ mow down paupers in their BMWs or Mercedes and can guarantee massive mistakes in preparing prosecutions.

In the case of foreigners it can be invoked, well in almost any situation.  The demand for cash will increase the more the foreigners protest.  

Failing to pay could mean that the foreign will go missing in some jail or other. Foreign criminals who have the right amount of cash can even go into partnership with the Royal Thai Police PLC.

This is favoured by international fraudsters, and boiler room operators. International child sexual abusers also quite often take advantage of this sign but are complaining abroad about the rising costs in Thailand but its still better than Cambodia where they are faced with multiple vigilante ngos.


NOBODY CAN TOUCH THE THAI POLICE

The third sign the Lt. General demonstrated is the sign of the devil’s protection, a sort of ‘I love you’ from the ‘Prince of Darkness.’  

Sanit demonstrated as he and another officer formed an umbrella over their heads with their arms – thereby denoting that no shit would fall on them.

Examples cited of how effective this shield include instances of how Thai police can get bail after being sentenced to death for murdering youths in Kalasin, steal the Saudi Royal families Crown jewels (from the real thief) and replace them with paste replicas, and set up foreigners (Burmese and Cambodians by choice) willy-nilly for serious crimes of murder, and of course effectively controlling drugs, gambling, prostitution, the trade in illegal wildlife, oil smuggling,  and all the rackets not controlled by their rivals in the army.

In the picture below Thai police are giving an 18-year-old suspect the finger, while at the same time Lt. General Sanit is demanding ‘loads of money’. 

This does not mean that they love the 18-year-old murder suspect. It means they love what is going to happen next.

This means that, when the media have gone and police have extracted all the cash they can from the boy’s relatives, they will remove the crash helmet, and beat the living daylights out of him – after which of course he will confess, or disappear in the Gulf of Thailand with all the rest.

Below is another example of police sign language. In this instance the two Burmese boys are pointing to where they were on the night of the murder of Britons Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on the island of Koh Tao. 

The police are of course pointing in the opposite direction. This is fact means.


“It does not matter where you point boyos. We are saying you committed the murders over there where the bodies were found. And we have made up the DNA to prove it. And you are not going to get any help from Scotland Yard because not only have we entertained them royally, but they are scared of the ‘Chilling Effect’ of upsetting the Royal Thai Police. Suckers!. We’re all police you see.”

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APPEAL COURT ISSUES MORE WARRANTS AGAINST THAILAND'S FOREIGN PHONEY LAWYERS

August 8, 2016, 11:58 am
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BUT THEY LEFT THE LATCH OFF THE GATE


The Bangkok Appeal Court issued two more arrest warrants today for the two phoney lawyers, American Drew Noyes, and Scot Brian Goudie, after they failed to turn up to face criminal libel charges.

Warrants have already been issued for Drew Noyes, who was convicted of extortion but fled while on appeal (which he lost) and Brian Goudie, for fraud and embezzlement, who also fled while on appeal.

Noyes,60, now of Green Valley Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina, sentenced to two years in jail (reduced to 18 months on appeal. 


Goudie, aka Goldie
Goudie, 48, from Falkirk, had been sentenced to three years. 

Both had issued libel writs against me and oil worker Ally Cooper. The arrest warrants issued today related to counter suits we both lodged.

I counter-sued Noyes for a story which he published in his now defunct Pattaya Times website in which he claimed that my Press accreditation and card had been withdrawn by the Thai authorities. 

In fact, my accreditation and card were never withdrawn, but continued to be re-issued, and were still valid several months after I had left Thailand.

A government official at the Public Relatons Department testified on my behalf.


Ally Cooper
Ally Cooper, a supporter of this site, sued on allegations made by Noyes that he was a drugs dealer.

Noyes had developed a habit of turning up at court with a Thai military colonel who testified that he was an upright person and supporter of the military government who planned to hold a seminar on how to live in peace with the Thai government.

The lower court however initially ruled there was no case to answer against Noyes as he showed documents allegedly proving he did not own the Pattaya Times newspaper or website.

Noyes still boasts on the net about being the publisher of the Pattaya Times and he claimed to be the only American lawyer licensed to operate on Thailand’s eastern seaboard.

In fact he was nothing more than a con man who had even convinced the predominantly Thai-Indian Lions Club of Bangkok (Silom 310D) into making him their President.

Goudie also invented his own law degree, claiming to be a British barrister, to cheat people in the courts in Pattaya. In fact, he was an ex-con who’d been sentenced to 6 years in jail for theft in Australia under the name he was born with - Brian Goldie.

An arrest warrant had also been issued against him for fraud and in connection with ‘revenge porn’.

He had allegedly posted pornographic video and pictures on the internet of his Thai ex-girlfriend after she had been ‘disloyal’.

Footnote: I am of course totally opposed to Thailand’s criminal libel and Computer Crime Act libel laws but in cases where people take these actions to scare off people exposing them, it is the only course Thai law allows. All current actions taken by Noyes against those who helped expose him are now expected to be dismissed.

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Old Pretender Lands in Scotland Again

August 15, 2016, 9:12 pm
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CON MAN GOES BACK TO HIS ROOTS - OR SO HE SAYS



Brian Goudie, the pretend English Barrister, Scottish Advocate, and officer in the Royal Marines, has announced he has landed in Scotland via an Emirates flight from Dubai.


Goudie,48, born Goldie, had fled Thailand while appealing a three-year jail sentence for embezzlement and fraud, and also from two other warrants for his arrest on charges of fraud and ‘revenge porn’ and criminal libel.

In a short comment on Google Plus Goudie complained of the cold weather back home in his native Scotland after landing at Glasgow airport. However, his presence in Scotland could not immediately be confirmed.



With the warrants out for his arrest he could not leave Thailand legally without the permission of the court. The fact that he says he flew ‘Emirates’ suggests that he took a flight from Bangkok – but of course he could have made an illegal border crossing to Cambodia, or Malaysia. 

If he is indeed in the Scotland it is unlikely he will stay there long. He fled the country in the 90s after which warrants of arrest were issued for him and two other Scotsmen in connection with an alleged fraud on the Royal Bank of Scotland.


Christine Spence
All three fled to Australia where Goudie, who was then still Goldie, boasted to his new Australian girlfriend Christine Spence about his scam against the Royal Bank.  

Australian immigration authorities attempted to deport him, but he led them a merry dance by continually appealing to the Australian Immigration Appeals Tribunal, where a judge described him as ‘not a man of good character’.  

He left the country of his own volition skipping his last hearing at which a deportation order was expected.  He had meanwhile served over two years of a six-year jail sentence for stealing from his employer – a Perth mining company, confirming the Appeals Tribunal judge's comment.




He spent his time in Hakea Prison, West Australia.




By this time the warrant for his arrest for the alleged bank fraud had been cancelled. It would have been impossible to proceed because his co-defendants had also disappeared.

With the name Goldie now tarnished, Goldie (junior) the son of a machinist Brian Goldie (senior), who became a local candidate for UKIP in Falkirk and President of the local Burns Society,  changed his name to Goudie. 


After a brief period running a company which he claimed cleaned the guns of the US Navy, he headed to Thailand, now calling himself Brian Goudie and announced he was both a barrister, a Scottish advocate, and set up his own law company‘Alba Laws’ employing an economically efficient Thai lawyer to process his cases.


He trawled the local prison Nong Plalai near Pattaya for clients and successfully took on the case of former Ulster drugs trafficker Jimmy ‘Doc’ Halliday who was serving time for assault and had contracted the flesh eating disease ‘necrotising fasciitis’ while behind bars. 

Halliday could not be saved but Goudie did get him to a hospital where under guard Halliday signed his ‘Power of Attorney’ over to Alba Laws, which Goudie used to strip him of his property – a pub and guest house called the ‘Blarney Stone’, two apartments and a car. 

Halliday died of his illness in the hospital.


Jaggie Thistle
Goudie re-opened the bar as the ‘Jaggie Thistle’ but was not successful as a landlord and continued to milk his legal customers. 

He cheated a 78-year-old American woman, Barbara Fanelli Miller, out of nearly US$300,000 in legal fees for representing and to pay bail for her son who had been arrested on child sexual abuse charges, promising to get him back home to Madison, Wisconsin.

In fact, people on similar charges were being released by the court in Pattaya for as little as US$10,000, but Goudie had no intention of paying even that. He pocketed the cash and the accused Greg Miller, 43, died of heart failure while serving his sentence.


Goudie's sexual harassment victim makes a complaint to Technical Crime Suppression Division Police

It was on fraud and embezzlement charges in this case that Goudie was sentenced to three years in jail – but he was also being pursued by two Britons and a German, two other clients he had cheated, and was on trial in that case, and a warrant of arrest had been issued by his former girlfriend and managing director of the holding company of ‘The Jaggie Thistle’ for posting pornographic pictures and videos of her on the internet when their relationship soured.

The Bangko Criminal Court had also issued a warrant for his arrest for criminal libel.

Goudie’s criminal exploits in Thailand had been exposed on this site and in the Sunday Mail in Scotland and later became the subject of a television documentary. 

Goudie sued me, but not the Sunday Mail, and his case was dismissed. 

As a witness and as his representative he had appointed David Hanks, a fellow Scot from Girvan, Ayrshire, who had emigrated to Australia where he became the owner and licensee of the Masquerades Brothel, in Keysborough, Victoria, on the outskirts of Melbourne.



























Goudie and Hanks were also exposed on this site when they got together and tried to con former American millionaire Bill Monson out of £7 million in a case in which they told him they could get the US$30 million he had been conned out of by Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.  

Initially another con man Drew Walter Noyes was party to this plot.

But the two Scotsmen ditched American Noyes, who himself ewas convicted of extortion and who also fled while on bail from Pattaya court while appealing his conviction and two year jail sentence.


Hanks and Goudie with their economical Thai lawyer

Shinawatra had gone into business with Monson, and as often happens in Thailand kicked the foreigner out of the business – even having him arrested for a short while.

If Goudie is indeed in Scotland expect another name change soon.














Right: Goudie/Goldie was the subject of the syndicated crime investigation programme 'Brian Goldie - Swindler Scot - in the series 'Serial Swindlers'.
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WHY WOULD THAI POLICE BE LETTING 'BRITISH CRIMS' GO?

August 22, 2016, 10:03 pm
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GANGLAND BRIT ROBBERS WERE NOT ‘DUMB AND DUMBER’

THAI IMMIGRATION POLICE RELEASE MAN WANTED FOR MASSIVE UK FRAUD
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GANGLAND BRITAIN IN THAILAND (CONTINUED)

While Thailand’s military government claims to be on a crusade against corruption, and a lot of Thai people have swallowed this hook line and sinker, Brits in Thailand continue to suffer thanks to the country’s ambivalent attitude to so called foreign criminals.
Hallet (right)

In June British police were delighted at the arrest of Mark Hallett, from Somerset, a Briton they wanted in connection with a £3.9 million Ponzi fraud.  Hallett’s arrest made the press back home.

The Avon and Somerset Constabulary were in dialogue with Thai Immigration Police and notified them of their interest and no doubt were probably hoping he would be put on the next plane home. 

Hallett, who was first exposed on this site in a story headed ‘The Sophisticated Berks of Bangkok’ had after all been arrested on visa irregularities – and Thai Immigration police normally deal with that by locking the offenders up in the rather foul IDC (Immigration Detention Centre) until they produce the cash for a one-way trip home.

The IDC experience is usually enough to convince westerners to find the cash and get home as soon as possible.

Alas Hallett, who in Thailand promoted an escort service and also sought investment in some new ‘sure fire’ projects upsetting a few investors, quickly disappeared.  

Avon and Somerset Constabulary duly contacted the Thai authorities only to be told, they admitted yesterday, that Hallett has been released on bail on immigration the charges.

This is invariably a sign that the villain of the peace has negotiated his way out of his problems.

Heaven forbid that the Thai Immigration Police should still be taking bribes. 

Their chief, Pol Lt-Gen Sakda Choenpakdee, was warned against this by the last Thai Police Chief -  Police General Somyot Poompanmuang - who claimed that Immigration officers were making at least 1.8 million baht a day at Bangkok’s airports.  Police General Somyot of course left office himself having become a very rich man with declared assets of US$11.5 million.


Somyot greeting tourists in Bangkok's Nana Plaza sex entertainment area (under British contol)




Some of the Poompanmoung family fortune

However, people who are allowed to fight immigration cases are either those of great influence or a lot of cash.

So those in Britian who have allegedly been swindled by Hallett will not be getting much satisfaction.

British Police of course famously came to the defence of their Thai police colleagues when they backed what we now know was a shambolic Thai police investigation into the murders of Britons Hannah Witheridge.  




Lawyers for the Metropolitan Police fought hard and won an action brought against them to release details of their report into the murders in the High Court in London.

The lawyers defending two young Burmese convicted on some very dodgy DNA evidence did not expect the report to be in favour of their client. On the contrary they expected it to be negative because Scotland Yard made no investigations and relied totally on what they were told, through an interpreter, by the Thai police. 

The value to the defence of the British police report was in the alleged ‘set up’ of their clients.

Scotland Yard raised the ‘chilling effects’ defence. To release the report could not only jeopardise ‘national security’ it would also betray British police relations with Thai police.

Justice Green allowed the chilling effects defence but he expressed concern stating. 
"I feel considerable unease. I sit a long way from the seat of the trial and do not have a true hands-on feeling for the way evidence has been tendered by the prosecution or the main lines of defence.”


That scenario of Thai police taking umbrage is of course unlikely. Police memory in Thailand tends to extent only as far as the next cheque.

And Scotland Yard's role could come under further questioning if the issue of DNA profiling is taken to the Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards an almost inevitable action if the two Burmese Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo are not acquitted on appeal.





When the Economist ran a story in 2008 stating: "In Thailand's most sensational crimes, the prime suspects are often the police,” – it was by no means wide of the mark.

If the release of Mark Hallet was not enough, some Britons and other nationalities are worried about the activities on Thailand’s eastern seaboard of a father and son team from Essex, who have entered into the property and car rental business, apparently to the detriment of some of their clients.

They are John Leslie Milbourn, 58, and his son Alexander Milbourn who have been hawking property on Pattaya’s ‘dark side’ – the area west of the Sukhumvit Road, who have been accused on ‘consumer complaint’ websites of dodgy dealing. 


Billy and Eddie Blundell

The father John Leslie Milbourn is reportedly connected to British gangster ‘Eddie Blundell’. Blundell has a biography out called ‘Top Drawer Villain’ though if by that the author means that Eddie was in any way ‘upper crust’ - rest assured he was not.   

Eddie, also known as ‘King Cone’ was the head of ‘Piccadilly Whip’ in London which entered into an ice cream war with all comers. Rivals took a beating if they did not clear out of the west end.

Here’s a video of one of his alleged henchmen taken from ‘The London Programme’.




But enough. I do not wish to be accused of pinning guilt by association on the Milbourns.  It’s not a crime to have known Eddie Blundell. 

But take a look at this.


(PattayaDailyNews)

Alexander Milbourn was the subject of a high profile arrest in 2012 when he and Shaun Edward Tracy, 34, were caught on video attempting to drive away with a number of ATM bank machines in the Chonburi area. 

They had used a heavy commercial nylon sling and Milbourn senior’s truck to dry and drag the ATMs from their mountings.  Not surprisingly the actions were caught on CCTV.



This story of British crooks was widely covered in Thailand, after the Thai police gave a press conference.  So it is of concern to many that Alexander is out on bail now to create more problems.
John Lesley Milbourn, senior, I should point out was out of the country at the time of the attempted heists.

Here is one of the ‘gaffs’ they are selling or renting. It’s called Brentwood Mansion.  



Its variously out on the net for 'rent' or sale at Bt15 million. Some due diligence is in order here as in all property buying or letting in Thailand.

So why are Thai police letting British criminals go? The official answer of course that every accused person in Thailand is entitled to bail before trial. However, Thailand does not assume innocence – hence all those press conferences with criminals with arresting officers lined up behind them.

It’s an economic thing. Foreign police still need to be very sweet to get their men.

More of this to come.

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FLEEING THE COOP IN THAILAND

September 2, 2016, 4:46 am
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BURMESE WHO CLAIMED 'HORRIFIC' SLAVE LABOUR CONDITIONS IN THAI CHICKEN FARM SUE FOOD GIANT.

Fourteen migrant workers are suing Thailand’s food and feed producer Betagro for US$1.33 million for their mistreatment at a chicken farm in Lopburi Province.

Migrant poultry workers from ther Lopburi chicken farm


The workers claims, among things, that they were abused by management, locked up and allowed out only two hours a week, and even forced to sleep with the hatchlings.

I have been following this case from a distance. It’s one taken up by Andy Hall of the Migrant Worker’s Rights Network and has made the international press to a limited extent, ie, such as Britain’s Guardian newspaper and ABC, Australia.

An interesting aspect of the case is how the Thai authorities conspired with the farm owner. Police arrested and charged an employee for stealing his time card to show to human rights workers!

Andy Hall
This is just one other case to add to a long list which includes, the trafficking and injudicial killying of Rohingya minority of Burma, slavery in the fishing industry and slavery in the pineapple industry, the latter which Andy Hall is being sued over by Natural Fruit.

A lot of people are wondering how Thailand managed to convince the US State Department that it had improved its human rights situation.

Indeed how could such things happen in a country famed for its 'welcome smiles and hospitality'?

Here follows the text in English and Thai of today’s statement:

Thai Poultry Export Giant Betagro Prosecuted by Migrant Workers Alleging Forced Labour for 46 Million Baht (US$1.33m)

Petition of 45, 285 International Activists Presented to Thai Poultry Association
 14 Myanmar migrant farm workers alleging forced labour in a chicken farm previously contracted to supply poultry to Thai export giant Betagro today filed litigation against Betagro, a poultry farm owner and Thai government officials. The litigation claims 46 million baht (US$1.33m) in compensation and civil damages for abuses suffered by the workers for years at the poultry farm in Thailand’s Lopburi province. 45,285 signatures from international activists, gathered by a Walk Free campaign, were also simultaneously submitted to the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association at 11am on the 22nd floor of 313 CP Tower, Silom Road, Bangrak in Bangkok. Representatives of the 14 workers supported by STOP THE TRAFFIK, the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN), Finnwatch, the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC) and the Migrant Working Group (MWG) delivered the campaign signatures. The petition called on the poultry association to encourage their member company, Betagro, to ensure owed compensation is provided to these 14 workers. The petition also called on Betagro to investigate working conditions throughout its supply chain ensuring effective grievance mechanisms and ensuring there is no more modern day slavery. The worker’s litigation, filed today in Saraburi Province at Region 1 Labour Court, follows a 1st August 2016 official compensation order by Lopburi Department of Labour Protection and Welfare awarding the workers 1.7 million baht (US$50, 000) in past wages. The workers consider the order insufficient in not awarding them full compensation for up to 5 years of abusive work conditions. Workers allege grueling working days stretching to 20 hours and forced overtime including sleeping in chicken rearing areas overnight. Further, the 14 workers allege unlawful deduction of salaries, threats of further deductions, confiscation of personal identity documents and limited freedom of movement. Workers allege they left the farm only for 2 hours a week for an accompanied market visit. Betagro has failed to respond positively to both requests to ensure emergency accommodation and living support for the workers after they resigned from the farm in late June 2016 and also to requests that adequate compensation is provided to the workers following acknowledgement it purchased from the allegedly abusive farm. Betagro pledges adherence to the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, requiring companies to use their leverage to ensure rights abuses in their supply chain are appropriately remedied. Two of the 14 workers have also been charged with multiple counts of theft from an employer, carrying up to 7 years imprisonment if found guilty, following a complaint to police by the farm owner. The complaint alleges worker time cards were removed from the employer’s possession and handed over to Lopburi Department of Labour Protection and Welfare officials as evidence of rights violations. In late June, local police arrested and detained one worker in the case who was eventually released after questioning and charge following Betagro’s provision of 75, 000 baht (US$2,200) bail. A second worker was questioned and then also charged as being involved in the theft incident in August but released without needing to provide a bail surety. Last month, MWRN petitioned the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand to review this theft charges case. The Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association has responded positively to pressure resulting from media coverage on this case and overseas poultry buyer’s deepening concerns on labour conditions in the sector by launching with the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare and Department of Livestock Development a Good Labour Practices (GLP) initiative for the Thai poultry industry on 19th August 2016. Meanwhile the Director General of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare has denied the severity of abuses alleged by the workers in this case insisting it was just a labour dispute between workers and their employer and not a case of forced labour, human trafficking, overwork or unlawful document retention. The high profile abuse case is now drawing attention from senior Government officials and the international business and diplomatic community. This comes at a time when Thailand’s migrant worker management and protection policies as well as human trafficking record are under increased global scrutiny. Thailand’s poultry export industry has come under scrutiny for its poor labour conditions in 2015 research reports published by corporate social responsibility watchdog groups Finnwatch and Swedwatch. International and domestic rights groups continue to be concerned at the Thai Government and Thai Poultry Industry’s lack of attention to serious labour and human rights abuses in the industry. Betagro is one of the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association leading members alongside CP, GFPT, Cargill, BRF, Laemthong Poultry, Panus Poultry, Centago and Bangkok Ranch. Thailand is the world’s 4th largest poultry exporter providing chicken, often for use in processed or ready-made meals, mostly to European Union and Japanese markets.
  ------------------------------ เผยแพร่ วัน ศุกร์ที่ 2 กันยายน 2559แรงงานข้ามชาติยื่นฟ้องบริษัทเบทาโกร ยักษ์ใหญ่อุตสาหกรรมไก่ส่งออกไทย อ้างมีการใช้แรงงานบังคับ เรียกค่าเสียหาย 46 ล้านบาท -  นักกิจกรรมทั่วโลก 45, 285 ราย ร่วมลงชื่อในจดหมายร้องเรียนถึงสมาคมสัตว์ปีกไทย วันนี่ เวลา 11.00 น. แรงงานข้ามชาติชาวพม่า 14 คน ที่ได้เข้าสู่กระบวนยื่นคำร้องต่อสำนักสวัสดิการและคุ้มครองแรงงาน ว่ามีการใช้แรงงานบังคับ และการละเมิดสิทธิแรงงงาน ในฟาร์มไก่ ซึ่งเป็นห่วงโซ่อุปทานของบริษัทเบทาโกร ได้ยื่นฟ้อง บริษัทเบทาโกร เจ้าของฟาร์มไก่จังหวัดลพบุรี และเจ้าหน้าที่รัฐ ให้จ่ายค่าชดเชยความเสียหาย รวม 46 ล้านบาท  ที่ศาลแรงงานภาค 1 จังหวัดสระบุรี ในวันเวลาเดียวกัน 11.00 น. โครงการรณรงค์  Walk Free ได้รวบรวมรายชื่อ นักกิจกรรมนานาชาติ 45,285 คน ที่ร่วมลงชื่อในหนังสือที่ยื่นต่อสมาคมผู้พลิตไก่เพื่อส่งออกไทย ซึ่ง ตั้งอยู่ที่ ชั้น 22 ของ อาคารซีพี ทาวเวอร์ ถนนสีลม กรุงเทพฯ โดยมีตัวแทนของแรงงานข้ามชาติ 14 คน ที่ได้รับการสนับสนุนจากโครงการ STOP THE TRAFFIK เครือข่ายเพื่อสิทธิแรงงานข้ามชาติ ฟินน์วอทช์ คณะกรรมการสมานฉันท์แรงงานไทยและ เครือข่ายประชากรข้ามชาติ ยื่นหนังสือพร้อมรายชื่อผู้สนับสนุน เรียกร้องให้ สมาคมผู้พลิตไก่เพื่อส่งออกไทยใช้ความพยามในการช่วยเรียกร้องให้บริษัท เบทาโกร ซึ่งเป็นสมาชิกของสมาคมฯ ประกันว่าแรงงานข้ามชาติทั้ง 14 คน จะได้รับค่าชดเชยที่คงค้างจ่าย ดำเนินการตรวจสอบสภาพการทำงานตลอดห่วงโซ่อุปทาน และ มีกลไกการรับเรื่องและตรวจสอบเรื่องร้องเรียนที่มีประสิทธิภาพ เพื่อป้องกันมิให้มีการใช้แรงงานทาสสมัยใหม่ การฟ้องคดีของแรงงานต่อศาลแรงงานภาค 1 สืบเนื่องจากสำนักงานสวัสดิการและคุ้มครองแรงงานจังหวัดลพบุรี ออกคำสั่งให้นายจ้างจ่ายชดเชยค่าจ้างรวม 1.7 ล้านบาท สำหรับค่าจ้างที่ค้างจ่ายในอดีต  แต่แรงงานเห็นว่าค่าชดเชยนี้ไม่เพียงพอเนื่องจากไม่ได้เป็นการชดเชยการทำงานในสภาพที่มีการละเมิดสิทธิเป็นระยะเวลาถึง 5 ปี แรงงานอ้างว่าต้องทำงานอย่างหนักเป็นเวลานานถึง 20 ชั่วโมงต่อวัน เเละถูกบังคับให้ทำงานล่วงเวลา ต้องนอนในเล้าไก่ข้ามคืน เเละแรงงานทั้ง 14 คน  อ้างด้วยว่าถูกหักเงินค่าจ้างโดยมิชอบด้วยกฎหมาย ถูกขู่ว่าจะหักค่าจ้าง มีการยึดเอกสารประจำตัว และสามารถเดินทางได้จำกัดเพียงสองชั่วโมงต่อสัปดาห์ เพื่อไปตลาดโดยมีผู้ควบคุมไปด้วย ที่ผ่านมา เบทาโกรไม่สามารถตอบสนองในเชิงบวกต่อการร้องขอ ให้ประกันว่ามีการจัด ที่พักฉุกเฉินและค่ายังชีพให้แรงงานหลังจากลาออกจากฟาร์มไก่ เมื่อปลายเดือนมิถุนายน 2559 และมีการชดเชยความเสียหายอย่างเพียงพอให้แรงงานเมื่อเบทาโกรทราบว่ามีการซื้อสินค้าจากจากฟาร์มที่อ้างว่ามีการละเมิดสิทธิ  แต่เบทาโกรอ้างว่าได้ปฏิบัติตามหลักการชี้แนะขององค์การสหประชาชาติเรื่องธุรกิจและสิทธิมนุษยชน ที่เรียกร้องให้บริษัทใช้อำนาจที่มีอยู่เพื่อประกันว่าจะมีการชดเชยเยียวยาเมื่อมีการละเมิดสิทธิของแรงงานในห่วงโซ่อุปทานของบริษัท อย่างเหมาะสม นอกจากแรงงานทั้ง 14 คน  ที่อ้างว่าไม่ได้สิทธิตามกฎหมายแล้ว ยังมีแรงงานถูกตั้งข้อกล่าวหาว่าลักทรัพย์นายจ้าง ซึ่งอาจจะทำให้ถูกลงโทษจำคุกสูงสุด 7 ปี หากพบว่ามีความผิดจริง เนื่องจากนายจ้างได้เข้าแจ้งความกับเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจ ว่า บัตรลงเวลาปฏิบัติงาน ได้ถูกเอาไปจากการครอบครองของนายจ้าง ซึ่งบัตรลงเวลาปฏิบัติงานนั้นได้ถูกส่งมอบให้เจ้าหน้าที่สำนักงานสวัสดิการและคุ้มครองแรงงานลพบุรีเป็นหลักฐานว่ามีการละเมิดสิทธิของคนงาน หลังจากที่นายจ้างแจ้งความลูกจ้างแล้ว เจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจจึงได้ทำการจับกุม และควบคุมตัวแรงงานคนหนึ่งในช่วงปลายเดือนมิถุนายน หลังจากที่แรงงานได้รับทราบข้อกล่าวหาและให้การต่อพนักงานสอบสวนแล้ว บริษัทเบทาโกรได้จ่ายเงิน 75, 000 บาท เพื่อเป็นหลักทรัพย์ในใช้การประกันตัวแรงงานที่ถูกตั้งข้อกล่าวหา ต่อมาในเดือนสิงหาคม เจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจได้ตั้งข้อหาแรงงานเพิ่มอีกหนึ่งรายว่า สมรู้ร่วมคิดในการลักทรัพย์ของนายจ้าง หลังจากที่แรงงานคนที่สองถูกตำรวจกล่าวหาแล้วก็ได้รับการปล่อยตัวโดยไม่ต้องใช้หลักประกัน ในเดือนสิงหาคม เครือข่ายเพื่อสิทธิแรงงานข้ามชาติ (MWRN) พร้อมกับตัวแทนของแรงงาน 14 คน ยื่นหนังสือ ร้องเรียนต่อคณะกรรมการสิทธิมนุษยชนแห่งชาติ เพื่อเรียกร้องให้มีการตรวจสอบกรณีนายจ้างกล่าวหาลูกจ้างว่าหาลักทรัพย์ของนายจ้าง สมาคมผู้พลิตไก่เพื่อส่งออกไทยมีการตอบสนองในทางบวกต่อแรงกดดันที่เกิดจากการรายงานข่าวจากสื่อมวลชนในกรณีนี้ และผู้ซื้อสัตว์ปีกในต่างประเทศมีความกังวลลึก ๆ เรื่องสภาพแรงงานในภาคอุตสาหกรรมนี้ สมาคมผู้ผลิตไก่เพื่อส่งออกไทยจึงได้มีการเปิดตัววิธีปฎิบัติที่ดีด้านแรงงาน (Good Labour Practice: GLP) ร่วมกับกรมสวัสดิการและคุ้มครองแรงงานและกรมปศุสัตว์ เมื่อวันที่ 19 สิงหาคม  2559
อธิบดีกรมสวัสดิการและคุ้มครองแรงงานได้เคยให้สัมภาษณ์ต่อสื่อมวลชน ต่อปัญหาของแรงงานชาวพม่าทั้ง 14 คนว่า มิได้มีการละเมิดสิทธิมนุษยชนขั้นรุนแรง แต่เป็นกรณีของข้อพิพาททางแรงงานระหว่างคนงานกับนายจ้าง มิใช่เป็นกรณีของการใช้แรงงานบังคับ การค้ามนุษย์ การทำงานเกินช่วงเวลาทำงานหรือลูกจ้างถูกยึดเอกสารไปโดยมิชอบด้วยกฎหมาย กรณีการละเมิดสิทธิของแรงงานข้ามชาติ 14 รายนี้ ได้รับความสนใจเป็นอย่างมากทั้งจากเจ้าหน้าที่รัฐระดับสูง ธุรกิจระหว่างประเทศ วงการการทูตและประชาคมนานาชาติ  เนื่องจากการละเมิดสิทธิของคนงานกลุ่มนี้เกิดขึ้นในช่วงเวลาประชาคมโลกตรวจสอบการจัดการแรงงานข้ามชาติในประเทศไทย นโยบายการคุ้มครองแรงงาน เช่นเดียวกับประวัติการค้ามนุษย์ของไทย อุตสาหกรรมส่งออกสัตว์ปีกไทยได้อยู่ภายใต้การตรวจสอบด้านเงื่อนไขการจ้างงานที่ไม่ดีนัก ตั้งแต่ พ.ศ. 2558  รายงานการวิจัยที่ตีพิมพ์โดยกลุ่มตรวจสอบความรับผิดชอบต่อสังคม คือ ฟินน์วอทช์และ สเวดวอทช์  กลุ่มสิทธิมนุษยชนระหว่างประเทศและภายในประเทศยังคงมีความกังวลที่รัฐบาลไทยและอุตสาหกรรมสัตว์ปีกไทยขาดความสนใจเรื่องการละเมิดสิทธิแรงงานและสิทธิมนุษยชนอย่างร้ายแรงในอุตสาหกรรม เบทาโกรเป็นหนึ่งในสมาชิกสมาคมผู้ส่งออกไก่เนื้อแปรรูปไทย เช่นเดียวกับสมาชิกชั้นนำ เช่น  CP, GFPT, Cargill, BRF แหลมทองสัตว์ปีก  พนัสสัตว์ปีก เซนทราโก และบางกอกแร้นช์ชั้นนำ ประเทศไทยเป็นประเทศผู้ส่งออกสัตว์ปีกใหญ่รายใหญ่ที่สุดลำดับ 4  ของโลก ที่ใช้ในอาหารแปรรูปหรืออาหารสำเร็จรูป ส่วนใหญ่ส่งออกไปสหภาพยุโรปและตลาดญี่ปุ่น

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YOUNG TOURST PLUNGES FROM CLIFF TO AVOID THAI SEX ATTACK

September 6, 2016, 11:27 pm
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IN THE THAI PROVINCE WHICH INSPIRED THE SONG 'EVIL MAN OF KRABI A YOUNG TOURIST RECOVERS FROM ANOTHER 'SEX ATTACK'.

The wealthy father of a 23-year-old American woman who fell off a cliff face in Krabi Province while allegedly fleeing a sexual attack from her Thai guide is understood to by flying to Thailand to her aid.



Hannah Michele Gavios is currently in hospital in Phuket after being transferred from Krabi. It is understood she is paralysed from the waist down.


Photo - Manager Magazine


An unofficial guide 28-year-old Apai Raingworn from Trang Province has been interviewed by police and according to media reports. He himself is reported to have injuries to his arm and face.

Park officer Boonnam Chuyradom said: ”Apai Raingworn, admitted that he had made sexual advances toward a tourist while taking her from Railay to Tonsai.”



Ms Gavios was at the time understood to be on leave from a teaching job in Vietnam and had taken a holiday in Thailand. Apai had offered to escort her from Railay to Tonsai Beach, near Ao Nang in Krabi Province yesterday.




To travel from one beach to the other normally requires a boat trip, but there is a path over the small mountain separating the beaches. The cliffs above Tonsai beach are a rock climber’s Mecca.

After most of a day and a night Ms. Gavios, a graduate in art and fashion,  was found 45 metres down a 60 metre cliff. She was able to tell rescuers she fell while fleeing a Thai man who was sexually harassing her.

Hannah’s father is Aaron Gavios, founder of the New York Gavios Realty Group and Square Foot Realty.

No charges have been placed against Apai at this stage.



Evil Man of Krabi




The province of Krabi and local police received considerable negative publicity in 2012 when a young Dutch model was raped by a local Thai guide. 

In the wake of police inaction against the perpetrator, whom it turned out had been jailed for murder as a juvenile, the model’s father a musician wrote a song, produced a video and put in on the internet where it went viral.  He later withdrew the video 'Evil Man from Krabi' when the culprit was finally arrested and jailed for 20 years.

But it was widely copied and circulated.
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FORMER BRIT SOLDIER LANCE WHITMORE LOSES PLEA FOR MERCY IN THAILAND'S JUSTICE SYSTEM

September 7, 2016, 11:29 pm
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NO HUMANITY FOR PATSIES


The confirmation by the Thai Appeal Court of a 50-year-jail sentence on former British soldier Lance Whitmore for selling ecstasy tablets in the Thai resort of Pattaya will probably not stir an iota of sympathy in many.


But to me it is only a sad confirmation not only of the lack of humanity but a confirmation of the dark side of a country which is celebrated world-wide for its 'hospitable and gentle people'.. if confirmation were needed that is.

Whitmore, 27, was guilty. No doubt about it. But guilty of what? 

His lawyers state that mysteriously from the initial arrest report the weight of the Ecstasy tablets he sold to an under-cover Thai police officer tripled from 8.79 grams to 27.9 grams.

Whitmore was unbelievably stupid too selling drugs to any Thai. 

He may well have also been very stupid following his father who had opened up a bar in Pattaya, once referred to by the Observer as a modern day ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’.

His family claim that he was just carrying the drugs for a friend who was the actual dealer. True, perhaps, but that defence would probably not carry much weight in a British court either. 

And he had been in Thailand long enough to know all this. He had acquired a job working offshore for Thailand Petroleum Services, and would not have needed to deal in drugs.

But a not guilty plea was not a realistic option in a Thai court. Defendants have to fall on Thai mercy.


After doing so his mother Debbie Caswell was reported today to be in a ‘dark place’. 

That is how she described her son’s condition a few months ago. 
I initially thought she was referring to Pattaya, but it was the jail.

“If dogs were kept in those conditions there would be an outrage (in UK)”, she said.

After his arrest Whitmore was kept in a ‘safe house’ for three days, presumably to extract more information. 

He told his mother he was tortured.

I have no personal knowledge of this case but of course complaints of police adding on to the weight of a drugs haul and beating up suspects are very common and have been true in many other cases.

If Whitmore survives Thailand’s grim jails he may come out an old man, its reported. But lets hope he gets a transfer back home.

So why do I have empathy for a drugs dealer and so much sorrow for his mother?

Well that’s because Thailand lets the career foreign criminals go ‘for cash’.


Giannini at scene of accident
Take the case of Canadian boiler room fraudster Frank Giannini. He crashed his car in Pattaya killing two Thais in the process.  At the time the media reported he had drugs paraphernalia in his car.

What happened to him – well he just disappeared from the legal system completely. No charges. No case. Nothing.



One of Giannini's victims. 




But he resurfaced years later when he was arrested in his home in Lat Krabang where police found a stash of heroin. This was a joint operation with the United States DEA.

He was charged and remanded into prison. Then two weeks after the DEA agent-in-charge left the country he was released!

Did I mention that he had US$100,000 in his safe at the time of his arrest?


The only saving grace is that the officer in charge of the case, Colonel Akkharawut, who was beholden to Bangkok’s boiler rooms, took a dive from a high building six months later when the CSD and CIB were being investigated for corruption.

But the CSD/CIB were only being investigated for corruption because Thailand’s Crown Prince had fallen out and disowned his wife, who had put many of her family members into running these units.


Then of course is the case of Brian Wright, 59, from Rhode Island, who repeatedly raped a 12-year-old girl who was jailed for 36 years at Pattaya Court.  Where is he now?  God knows.  The court took about £10,000 and gave him bail to appeal.  Why would he come back to hear he had lost his appeal?  He did not.



Neither did Brian Goudie, 48, from Falkirk, a serial conman, who was found guilty of cheating a frail old lady out of nearly US$300,000.  He paid his £10,000 and disappeared from jail too.


And then of course there is the other serial conman Drew Noyes, from Wilmington, North Carolina, who was jailed for extortion and then paid bail, plus an additional fee to leave the country, and of course has not been seen since.

The above cases of course are one’s I have been involved in - but nothing beats the case of the three policemen who were found guilty of stringing up and hanging three 17-year-olds in the police station in Kalasin in North East Thailand getting bail after being found guilty!

Thai Police and the Army used to control the drugs trade. That is an historical fact. 

They even fought each other over it and ran their own mule convoys down from the Golden Triangle.


Khun Sa
In fact, it was not so long ago that I filmed the army building a road to the camp of heroin warlord Khun Sa just over the Burma border – and they were not doing that to catch who was then the DEA’s ‘most wanted man’.

The army and police acorns today have not fallen far from the tree.

I was involved in the prosecution of a murder in Thailand where the murderer beat a woman viciously then finished off the job with a wok of boiling oil. The victims death was unbearably painful, as it was intended.

The defendant got 'humanity' - a mere 3 year jail sentence.

No I am afraid Lance Whitmore was a ‘patsy’. There’s no humanity for patsies.

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SCAMMER ALERT - JOBS IN THAILAND

September 12, 2016, 11:50 am
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WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN?

The notorious Canadian low-life scammer Harris Black is at it again in Thailand. Now he’s offering jobs to foreigners – at a price.



He has been flooding Craigslist (Thailand) with  job opportunities for foreigners among whom there is no shortage of people seeking to extend their stay by working.

He’s been advertising jobs for foreigners as front of office and reception staff at the Dusit Hotel Group, greeters for San Miguel Beer, and as kindergarten teachers.

Those seeking an interview are asked to make a donation of Bt250. Its hardly anything but if he gets 50 replies a day from multiple free ads – well then he does not have to work does he – and let’s face it he never has.
Harris Black with Rose Chaiyachon Nangpreeda - Drew Noyes' paid for Thai coirt interpteter

Needless to say Dusit do not advertised on Craigslist – and they have their own training scheme. 

This is a variation of an old theme. Years ago in the nineties  a Brit, Michael Clarke, announced the production of the film ‘Invasion Thailand 2000’  and put out ads for extras and co-stars,

Everyone was offered a job – then came the crunch. They each had to pay £20 for filming personal insurance.
He made thousands. 


I caught him in Thailand posing as a tourist policeman working old drugs and ‘angry husband’ scams. He would raid apartments where tourists or expats had taken their bought girls for the night.  

The victims either had to pay for ‘drugs’ which would be found, or pay off the angry Thai husband who accompanied him.

Variations of these scams have been going on for years. They always find victims.

Clarke got sentenced in the Philippines to over sixteen years in jail for promoting sex tours. (See video below).


But actually Harris Black is worse in my book than Clarke.  Check out this warning site.






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THAILAND’S INTERNATIONAL FRAUDSTERS PROTECTED UNDER MILITARY REGIME

September 15, 2016, 12:21 am
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DETAILS FROM PANAMA PAPERS NOW ON THE NET

Thailand’s international status as an international fraud hub, set in stone over the last 25 years, is unlikely to suffer in the much publicised war on corruption by the current military government. 

Police in the UK have passed on information on a prominent British citizen, named Paul, who controls the master lease on Nana Plaza in Bangkok with the Indian Thai FICO group, to a special ‘Panama Papers’ Squad set up after the revelations last year. But I’m guessing the enquiry is going nowhere.


Thailand's first Police Chief under the military government greeting foreign punters at Bangkok's sex entertainment area 'Nana Plaza' - He left office a millionaire.


For while British police and Scotland Yard have a pretty good international reputation, old hands know that there is a lot of spin and as often as not they do not get their man. It’s a matter of hand wringing not least among the police themselves.

Fraud is one area where they consistently fall down despite an upbeat reputation held by the City Fraud Squad, or rather Economic Crimes Unit.  


Sadly also, officers on this unit have been known to retire early to join major banks – such as HSBC – the very people they should be watching – because at the end of the day the proceeds of all major frauds, and money lending goes through them.


Indeed the Fraud Squad's link man who investigated Paul in Hong Kong some years ago has indeed retired to join the security staff of HSBC.

And while many names have surfaced in the papers of well known ‘boiler room’ (share fraudsters) in Bangkok, our British pal Paul, has, as has been shown, kept a low profile. This supports his own statement to me several years ago in which he said: ‘I do not have a bank account – not even a credit card’. 

This is difficult to believe as he gave an ‘exclusive’ statement to Crawley Town Football Club in the UK, to which he had contributed some £5 million, stating he was a high profile figure.


"My name is Paul (redacted). I was born in Northampton. I have three wonderful children and have been married for 15 years. 
"I currently co-own and manage the largest [night] life group in south east Asia with branches in Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore. 
"In addition to this we manage and co-own, as landlords, the largest adult entertainment complex in the world, although we don't manage any of the businesses inside the complex. 
"Our group currently has more than 3,000 employees in bars, restaurants and nightclubs. 
"My group was formed in 1998 and started with just two Irish bars.”  

His partner was Mickey D.


He added: “"Mickey and I saw Crawley Town as an escape from high-profile lives in Asia, where we can't buy a loaf of bread without being recognised as the 'big club guys'".

They were men of the people, he said.


"We weren't interested in the boardroom. I prefer a burger and a pint to a prawn sandwich," he said. 

Only reular clubbers might recognise Paul as the ‘big club guy’.


PAUL and MICKEY(right) at Crawley Town Football Club

No. Crawley Town FC was not so much an escape from Asia but much more likely a way in which to launder funds for which he could not have a reasonable explanation. Though in this case, having been outed, they ended up pretty much as a gift as the club has now been sold to a Turk.

In reality, whether he like's it or not he is much better known as the 'bald-headed Brummie boiler room &*%£@@!' and 'Mickey' is known as his gofer.

Two months ago Thailand's Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul announced:

"We want Thailand to be about quality tourism. We want the sex industry gone," she said.

This of course led to the London SUN running copious pictures of Thailand's sex trade.

Followers of the Thai military government’s moral crusade have to understand that this is all as meaningless as as government statements, such as those on Avian flu and now the Zika virus. 

And while there have been raids on sex establishments carried out on government instructions its business as usual and of course these have not involved those which come under Paul’s umbrella.  But rival clubs have been raided.

Of course Paul's clubs could not be committing any offences because the security officers employed at them are pretty much all off-duty cops. Watch the office on the first floor of Nana Plaza.



Of course if Paul has top generals on his payroll, as the Confederation of Defrauded Victims (see below) maintain, then nothing is going to happen to him under the current government, and while the Thais appear to have voted against democracy, his victims are in for the long haul.

Foreign police forces (the boiler rooms concentrated on European and Australian punters for years) know there are links between the boiler rooms and the Thai 'establishment'.


Bullard
When the US DEA asked the Crime Suppression Division to raid the Chiang Mai home of boiler room king Glen Bullard a heavy cocaine user in 2014 they were somewhat dismayed when the CSD found absolutely nothing.

And when days later DEA help co-ordinate a raid on Canadian boiler room boss Frank
Giannini
Giannini in Lat Krabang, Bangkok, they were also 'dismayed'.  Although Giannini and another were caught with heroin - both were quietly released from jail and and Giannini was given his computers back

International investigations into 'boiler rooms' in Thailand were scuppered between 2000 and 2005 after the much publicised raids on the Brinton Group, FCI and other boiler rooms in Bangkok.


FBI officer (in jacket in foreground) at the raid on the Brinton Group in Bangkok City Tower


The raids prompted by the Australian Federal Police and also attended by the FBI resulted in no charges being brought against the bosses - except for running financial companies without the proper licences.  The bosses were fined about 300,000 baht each - a mere bagatelle to them.  After that they stared diverting their cash into Thailand's sex industry.

But its not as if the Aussie Feds came out totally clean. They knew that much of the defrauded victims cash was sitting in banks in Hong Kong and did sweet F.A. about it.

As for Britain. Despite Scotland Yard's seeming support of the Thai police enquiry into the murders on the Thai island of Koh Tao of Britons Hannah Witheridge and David Miller and its refusal to hand over material citing 'the chilling effects' on international police relationships and 'public security' the National Crime Agency staff in Bangkok are fully aware of the close relationships between boiler room bosses and high ranking police and army officials.  Under the current government only the names have changed.

Anyway there is now a breakdown on the net of Bangkok’s boiler room boys and their mention in the Panama Papers. You’ll find mates and relatives of Paul and quite a few Thai names – but not Paul himself.

It's the latest contribution courtesy of my friends over at the Confederation of Defrauded Victims, a group of international victims of boiler room frauds, which they say were carried out by ' the big club guy' and others.

You can read it here. It's also worth reading the other stories on their site. 
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KOH TAO MURDER APPEAL - NO RAPE, NO LUST, NO MOTIVE, NO PROPER DNA, NO CASE

May 24, 2016, 6:12 am
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BUT DEFENCE SHY OVER BRINGING THAILAND'S POLICE LABORATORY INTO DISREPUTE





A summary of the appeal by the 'Koh Tao Two' against conviction and the death sentence for the murders of British tourists Hannah Witheridge and David Miller appears to totally demolish a sloppy prosecution case in the controversial trial in Thailand.


The appeal highlights blatant lies, the cover-up of contradictory evidence, the incompetence of the police laboratory and failure to meet ISO17025 standards amongst other complaints.




As I earlier reported no substantiated evidence of rape was presented at all. 

According to the author of the appeal summary Nadthasiri Bergman,  British post mortems were carried out in 'stark contrast' to the Thai one,and presented the entire procedure with step-by-step photos and point-by-point analysis by the forensic pathologist in charge."


'The incision discovered inside the victim’s vagina was determined by British autopsy to have been caused during the Thai autopsy, not a result of sexual assault."  

This somewhat demolishes the prosecution motive for the attack, that Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 21 at the time, who had been drinking and playing a guitar nearby, were driven by lust.

In fact the savagery of the attack on the two Britons is much more indicative that THE attack may be have been driven by 'loss of face'.

Despite a strong appeal the defence have not made a formal complaint about the accreditation of the police laboratory in Thailand.

If that were happen the laboratory could be 'struck off' so to speak by the international regulatory body.  If that happened not only would it be a massive loss of face for Thailand and the police force but could endanger all of the country's scientific testing,

Foreign forensic scientists and lawyers say that must happen if not only in the interests of future defendants who face going to jail or even their deaths as a result of manipulation of DNA tests.

But the defence for the time being at least perhaps, fearful of a zenophobic backlash against foreign commentators have so far baulked on this issue.

Andy Hall of the Migrant Workers Rights Networks which is assisting the accused stated simply: "One step at a time".

A major problem for the international regulator APLAC - the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation is of course the Thai court files.

There is no  verbatim record of the trial which may sound strange in the 20th century - but no full record is taken of Thai trials, only the audio version of it, which is a precis of questions and answers which the judge speaks into a voice recorder and are what he deems relevant to the case.

Further journalists of course were forbidden to take shorthand notes of the case.

Below is the summary of the major points of the appeal by lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman LL.M.




A 198 page appeal on behalf of the accused Burmese defendants in the Koh Tao murder trial has been filed with the Region 8 Court of Appeals on Koh Samui, Thailand. I regret that the pro bono defense team does not have the $5,500 budget necessary to pay for a proper translation into English. 

This groundbreaking case is the first in the history of the Thai justice system where police forensic evidence was challenged by the defense and forced to be independently retested. As we feel it is vitally important the content of this public document be made known to the world at large, I have summarized and translated several of the strongest points of the defense’s arguments into English, and mention a few points of concern not addressed in the appeal as well.

Police claimed DNA collected from the scene was sent to Singapore for testing and determined the suspects were Asian. Thai police experts later stated this race determination was only revealed by testing at Prince of Songkla University hospital lab twenty days after the suspects were arrested. It was later revealed DNA samples were never sent to Singapore. Regardless, this set the stage for racial profiling of potential suspects.

The defendants were arrested on unrelated charges, questioned about the murder before having an attorney present and their statements were entered as part of the prosecution’s evidence. This is a violation of Thai law and grounds for dismissal of the case.

DNA samples from both of the accused were collected without consent and before the were informed of the murder charges.

During interrogation, police appointed a hostile interpreter who could not read Thai. The defendants were never properly advised of the murder charges nor their rights under Thai law.

Both accused testified they were stripped naked by police during interrogation and physically assaulted including punching, kicking, plastic bags over their heads, genital attack etc. Wound and bruise evidence of torture was confirmed by three doctors and one detainee witness.

Chain of custody of mobile phone was never provided, no photo of where it was found etc.

Fingerprints of the accused on the mobile phone identified as belonging to one of the victims were never produced as evidence, raising the question of whose fingerprints may have been found on the phone. In fact, there was absolutely no forensic evidence presented by the prosecution connecting the mobile phone to the accused.

Prosecution claims the accused motive for murder was arousal as a result of encountering the victims having sexual intercourse on the beach. The small abrasion found in the victim’s vagina during autopsy could easily have been a result of sexual intercourse between the victims.

Thai autopsy was not able to determine if intercourse had taken place before or after death. Therefore, prosecution was not able to prove rape had taken place.

Thai autopsy results for both victims was only a four page typed summary by the doctor. The legally required autopsy file documenting the procedure with step-by-step photos and point-by-point analysis was never presented.

In stark contrast, the British autopsy report fully documented and presented the entire procedure with step-by-step photos and point-by-point analysis by the forensic pathologist in charge.

The incision discovered inside the victim’s vagina was determined by British autopsy to have been caused during the Thai autopsy, not a result of sexual assault.

DNA files presented had the accused names on them rather than a proper sample reference number. This is not possible without pre-knowledge of who’s DNA the sample being tested belonged to.

Retesting of the handle of murder weapon found DNA matching the male victim, but DNA matching neither of the accused was discovered. Originally police claimed there was no DNA evidence found on the handle of the murder weapon.

After results of DNA found on the handle of the murder weapon was disclosed in court to be from the male victim, prosecution admitted they had also found DNA matching the male victim on the handle of the murder weapon, but no DNA matching the accused. This case damaging evidence had not been introduced by the prosecution and raises the question of what other potentially case damaging evidence may have been withheld such as clothes of the victims allegedly not tested for DNA and why blood in the sand at the murder scene allegedly produced no DNA results, etc.

Multiple procedures are required in order to meet ISO 17025 international standards in DNA testing. The chain of custody, method of testing, graph generated and case notes resulting in the analysis report produced are all required in order to allow an independent expert to verify the results. Only the results of the test without any required supportive documents was provided by the prosecution witness.

Police claimed a 100% DNA match with the accused from samples allegedly taken from the victim’s body. This is scientifically impossible in any forensics testing laboratory anywhere in the world. For example, swabs taken from the victim would contain a minimum of three different DNAs producing what is known as a “mixed sample”. Mixed samples can be the most difficult to interpret, and from which a 100% match is never possible.

Thai forensic scientist Dr. Porntip’s DNA testing listed the statistical probability of a match on the results report. None of the prosecution’s DNA results presented indicated a statistical probability on the results reports. The “100% match” was only delivered verbally in court by a prosecution witness.

Above are the main points argued by the defense team as to why the two accused should be found not guilty. There were other important points about the case which were not included as part of the defense’s appeal such as;

CCTV footage of the only pier with boats leaving the island in the hours immediately after the murders was allegedly not examined by police. The accused already admitted they were in the vicinity at the time of the murders, therefore this important point had nothing to do with evidence presented in court related to the accused so it was not included in the appeal;

Blond hairs found in Hannah’s hand were confirmed in court to not belong to either of the victims or the accused. Since the hair was not evidence linking the accused to the crime, it was not included as part of the appeal. While it is direct evidence linking someone else to the crime, the question of who the hair belonged to remains a mystery and an important point, but not one the defense could use in the appeal.

It is the opinion of the defense team that the prosecution’s requirement of proving guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt has clearly not been met. The defense believes this case should be dismissed and the defendants immediately released from custody.

Sincerely,

Nadthasiri Bergman LL.M. Esq.
ทนายความณัฐาศิริ เบิร์กแมน
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FULL MOON PARTY HOSTS FED UP WITH CORRUPTION

September 17, 2016, 12:28 am
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OFFICIAL CAUGHT WITH HIS HANDS IN THE TILL – BUT WILL THESE COMPLAINTS DISAPPEAR?

On the day Thailand’s military leader said that the country was on the way to becoming a first world country a foreign business owner on the Full Moon Party island made an official claim of corruption against government officials.


Historical picture (Philip Blenkinsop) Mornng after a Full Moon Party


The last straw he claimed was the arrival of five officials when the Deputy District chief Wisarut Dechun physically took cash (over Bt 21,000) from his till.  It was the third recent raid on his premises for cash, he claimed.

For British business owner,who had been on the island for 26 years, the latest collection was one too many.



And after taking considerable advice the Briton, who incidentally went to prep school with former P.M. Abhisit Vejjajiva, decided enough was enough. Local greed, he said, appeared to have no limits.

This followed a more than 400 per cent across the board increase in payments to officialdom for running various full Moon parties on the island in the Samui archipelago.

Formerly it was mainly police who took the cash including immigration officials who charged to allow foreign DJs to come and spin on the island.

But, since the military take-over, officials at the local amphur (district) have been cashing in directing that all payments are made to them. 

According to local sources they have even tried to run their own full moon party, which turned out to be a flop.

The complaints appear to confirm that local officials are indeed the mafia in the Samui archipelago, with local police income down and restricted to what they can squeeze out of foreigners caught with drugs at full moon parties – estimated a few years ago at a mere million baht a month.


Caught smoking week - foreigners wait to pay in a lock-up on Koh Phangan. Western Union from parents back home
will do nicely


At the time of the murders of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on Koh Tao, two years ago today, police denied the existence of an island mafia. And police cleared the influential  Toovichien family on the island of being involved.  

But of course this all comes down to the interpretation of the word ‘mafia’ in the Thai context.  They may just be regarded locally as ‘khamoy suay’ - beautiful thieves. Most crimes against foreigners are supressed but some crimes are impossible to.

Yesterday’s complaints were filmed on Channel 7 and also carried by the Thai Rath yesterday.

The book is open on what will happen to these complaints. A lot depends on what support the district chief has, and whether these payments meet the approval of those in power.

Promoting Thailand as being on the road to the First World General Prayuth Chan-Ocha said: 

“"The government and the NCPO (National Council for Peace and Order) have already had some things done and are getting other things done for the time being. The country now remains in a transitional period during which it would have the opportunity to become a First World developed country. 
"I myself, members of cabinet and particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have worked hard in the international arena to rebuild the country's confidence and identity. We have positively responded, compromised and complied with the expectations and obligations to which we were earlier committed. 
"We have adhered to universal principles under which we have solved varied problems such as the Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing issue, substandard commercial aviation issue and human and ivory trafficking issues.”
COMMENT: I’m not so sure that the fishing industry problems have gone away, nor human trafficking, be it Rohingyas or women in the sex trade. But a ruling today by the Thai National Human Rights Commission that Burmese workers at a chicken farm in Lopburi were not subject forced labour, but did have to work overtime for no payment, suggest all is not right in the kingdom. 

The meaning of First and Third World has changed over the years, but the "First World’ implies a relatively wealthy, stable and functional non-theocratic democracy with a reasonably well educated population, or just any developed country.

And the Third World, well that’s the underdeveloped nations of the world, especially those with widespread poverty. Or the group of developing nations, especially of Asia and Africa, that do not align themselves with the policies of either the U.S. or the former Soviet Union.

The Second World, was defined as those nations allied to China and Russia.  But realistically the world has changed since these definitions were first used.

Thailand has not been a poor nation for quite some time and it is not on the UN’s list of poor or undeveloped nations.
It would however be considered a fully developed if it introduced a working educational system, dealt with corruption and a dysfunctional legal system, and reduced the gap between the rich and the poor. 

Is the military government doing this? Education, democracy, the legal system and human rights have regressed. And it would appear the only people getting richer are those in power.

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RIDICULOUS ‘THAI SPITE’ CASE AGAINST BRIT TO BE DECIDED TOMORROW

September 20, 2016, 1:31 am
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COMMENT
Cases of criminal libel and libel under the Computer Crime Act brought against a British researcher who helped expose mistreatment of Burmese migrant workers will be decided at the Criminal Court in Bangkok tomorrow.

Andy Hall faces up to seven years in prison as a result of the action by the Natural Fruit Company aided by the Thai authorities, including police.

Whatever the result it will be a victory for nobody. Whatever the result the case will still be an indictment of Thailand’s abysmal treatment of foreign labour.

If the judges convict Andy Hall, of the Migrant Workers Rights Network, he is expected to appeal, thus prolonging an already ridiculous prosecution. And if he is convicted it will be another blow to Thailand’s credibility and its claimed record of having cleaned up its act in the area of human rights abuses of foreign labour.


If Andy Hall is acquitted, he will have to start other cases just to recover his costs  - and by no means is there a guarantee that the defence will be awarded them.

But in the meantime Natural Fruit will appeal - and in what fails to pass as a  justice system this will just go on and on and on.

Of course it will be a moral victory, but in the court of world opinion, Andy Hall had won the day Natural Fruit began its intimidating tactics against workers in the aftermath of the Finnwatch Report ‘Cheap Has a High Price’, which he helped compile.

He has already been sued in a case in which Natural Fruit complained he libelled them In an interview given to al Jazeera television outside Thailand. He won that case, but the case should never have been accepted.

In the trial to be decided tomorrow there were complaints that one of the migrant witnesses was intimidated in the toilets in the court house by Natural Fruit’s boss Wirat Piyaipornpaiboon.

I am surprised the defence team managed to find migrant workers who had the balls to stick by and give evidence. But it did – and I take my hat off to the migrant workers.

These trials smell of nothing more than privileged Thai society protecting an honourable reputation which quite frankly it does not have. That’s why I call it a ‘Thai spite’ case.

Of course Wirat would not dare take Natural Fruit libel cases out against Finnwatch the actual author of the report in any other country would he?   

And they are suing Andy Hall for US$10 million if they win, or not it seems.

If a Thai court were to award that – well that would be about 173 times the amount of money offered to a British man, who was crippled, whose eldest daughter was crippled and whose youngest daughter was gored to death during one of Thailand’s elephant shows for tourists.

“I just don’t have the power to award more,” the judge told gobsmacked western journalists at the time.

He could have added: 'To foreigners or plebs.'

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THAI COURT FINDS ANDY HALL GUILTY

September 20, 2016, 9:13 am
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'WE ARE SHOCKED' - SAYS FINNWATCH DIRECTOR.



'HE IS A SCAPEGOAT'






Natural Fruit boss Wirat Piyapornpaiboon: 

"No foreigner should think they have power about Thai sovereignty."

British workers’ rights activist Andy Hall was given a four year suspended jail sentence in Thailand today for speaking out against the ill-treatment of Burmese workers at a pineapple factory.

Andy Hall, from Spalding, Lincs., said he would be appealing the verdict handed down at Bangkok South Criminal Court where he had been charged with criminal libel, and libel under Thailand’s Computer Crime Act.  

He was also ordered to pay a fine of 150,000 Thai baht (£3,300).
The case had been brought against him by the Thai company Natural Fruit. Andy Hall had been a researcher on report on conditions for migrant labourers commissioned by the Finnish consumer watchdog ‘Finnwatch’.

The 2013 report ‘Cheap Has a High Price’ cited a number of serious breaches of human rights at Natural Fruit’s plant in the Thai province of Prachuap Khiri Kan. Hall had earlier been acquitted of libelling the company in an interview given in Burma to al Jazeera TV.


Sonja Vartiala
Sonja Vartiala, Executive Director of Finnwatch said after the hearing: “”We are shocked by today's verdict. The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it. Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights.
” This is a sad day for freedom of expression in Thailand. We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling,” added Vartiala.

” Thailand’s laws that allow for criminal punishment and even imprisonment for defamation are in clear breach of Thailand's international human rights obligations. Instead of allowing companies to take human rights defenders to criminal courts for alleged defamation, Thailand needs to thoroughly follow through on allegations of violations of migrant workers' rights.”

In addition to the two criminal cases, Natural Fruit has also filed two civil claims for damages against Andy Hall totalling 400 million baht (£8.8million). These cases have been put on hold until the corresponding criminal cases have been concluded.

Currently Thailand’s military government is struggling to show the world that it has improved its human rights record in the wake of reports of human rights abuses in the fishing industry, and the human trafficking and injudicial killings of Burma’s Rohingya minority.

“Today’s verdict is an appalling end to a trial that never should have started. Thailand needs to take seriously its obligation to protect human rights activists rather than allowing its legal system to be hijacked by companies seeking to silence those exposing abusive practices." - Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s Senior Research Adviser for South East Asia and the Pacific.

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RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE?

September 21, 2016, 2:07 am
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PATTAYA LINK TO BRIT DRUGS SYNDICATE, er, SHOCK?

It’s in the court record. Briton Mark Rumble was or maybe still be one of the major drugs dealers in the south of England.

According to the records of Oxford Crown Court Rumble, from Wallingford on Thames, took over the syndicate from a guy called Neil Wadley.
Wadley
Earlier this year jailing a father of two called Aaron Wright to four years and eight month months Judge Ross said:


 “I sentence you with a great degree of sadness. It is clear you have been a decent, family man, a hard-working man.”
Referring to the evidence the judge said: 


“Rumble showed him a package and asked him to look after it for a few days. Mr Wright refused and Mr Rumble left, but had not given up. 
“He returned and persisted in his request, persuading Mr Wright to make what can only be described as the worst decision he has ever made and is ever likely to make in his whole life.”
‘Judge Peter Ross said he could not understand how Wright had been pressured into storing the drugs by Wadley’s right-hand man Mark Rumble.’ – Oxford Times
Wright admitted conspiring to sell cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines and MDMA.

Police had found four kilos of amphetamines, a kilo of party drug MDMA, two kilos of cannabis and 860g of cocaine when they raided Aaron Wright’s Didcot.

Such is life.

Wadley and some of his gang were jailed for a total of over 90 years. Wadley had been extradited from Spain. Their drugs syndicate covered Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. In that court hearing the prosecution alleged that drugs were obtained from other deals, from abroad and also moved abroad.

But Rumble disappeared.  There does not seem to be an Interpol Red Notice out on him so perhaps the National Crime Agency are happy with the convictions they got in Operation Samba. 

Crime boss Neil Wadley got 17 years. In court he was described as a man of ‘violence’.

Currently a journalist in the UK is attempting to link this crime syndicate with a triple murder in Didcot. He believes Rumble may be in Thailand.

Me too.  A quick search showed he has joined the Facebook group ‘Pattaya Bar Girls’ and a ladies group called ‘Didcot dress, lend, sell’ but I guess his Didcot other half was following that site. He’s not been on Facebook for a while though.



I hope police in Pattaya are not imposing curfews. Mark doesn’t like them. I see when he was 21 (He is now 27 or 28) he was up before the beak for refusing to comply with one in Didcot.

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