Gang Warily

On the subject of drugs if I search Google 'Luke Cook sentenced to death' I find quite an offence post here from Webfact with the  a story headed 'Amazing fall from grace for Pattaya Big Shot Luke',  This was followed by the usual comments from punters of the 'serves him right' variety.   It is clear that this story was cobbled together from reports in the trained media. But putting the knife in Webfact added such things as: 'Thaivisa sources close to Cook said that his wife Kanyarat Wechapitak, 40, was a "controlling and unpleasant person".

He further stated: 

"An insider source who knew Cook well and asked not to be named told Thaivisa that Kanyarat was an unpleasant and controlling wife who kept her hands on business matters. 

She was described to Thaivisa as an attention seeker who would hog the karaoke microphone at the couple's bar and who aspired to a hi-so life."

In view of the fact that Luke Cook was acquitted at the Supreme Court and no other charges were pursued  against him the comments from an 'insider source' are highly libellous. In fact they were libellous at the time but of course the three defendants were in jail having been sentenced to death so Webfact might have felt very safe.  You can guess what my advice might be now..

On the subject of drugs if I search Google 'Luke Cook sentenced to death' I find quite an offence post here from Webfact with the  a story headed 'Amazing fall from grace for Pattaya Big Shot Luke',  This was followed by the usual comments from punters of the 'serves him right' variety.   It is clear that this story was cobbled together from reports in the trained media. But putting the knife in Webfact added such things as: 'Thaivisa sources close to Cook said that his wife Kanyarat Wechapitak, 40, was a "controlling and unpleasant person".

He further stated: 

"An insider source who knew Cook well and asked not to be named told Thaivisa that Kanyarat was an unpleasant and controlling wife who kept her hands on business matters. 

She was described to Thaivisa as an attention seeker who would hog the karaoke microphone at the couple's bar and who aspired to a hi-so life."

In view of the fact that Luke Cook was acquitted at the Supreme Court and no other charges were pursued  against him the comments from an 'insider source' are highly libellous. In fact they were libellous at the time but of course the three defendants were in jail having been sentenced to death so Webfact might have felt very safe.  You can guess what my advice might be now..

Seems the court ruled against AD

Blimey!

Andrew, are you now a fugitive from Thai criminal law?

Am I? I do not know. Hardly think so. Nobody has come to my house. Just back from the pool.

I see from Andrews site that an arrest warrant has been issued against him by a fellow countryman in a Thai court.

This should be interesting.

It is :-)

Seems the court ruled against AD

There arw fuller reports elsewhere. This is merely a formality of course

^^^ you're assuming Drummond hasn't been home in a long time, doesn't have work to return to and has no money.

The guy has had a 20 year successful career in Thailand, he's not stupid.

He could have just skipped the border to any nearby country but he chose UK.

Actually I did skip the border to a nearby country, then going to another nearby country and then to the UK. I could easily stay in a nearby country but that would not be good for the kids. Thought a quick tour with the kids would be nice before I hit the blizzards. There are of course people who knock the UK of course and times change. But certain essentials do not.

Indeed - spot on. Several people would now be in jail for whistle blowing on MPs expenses if that story was written today

But having said that the fact about British authorities acting on foreign libel complaints' is baloney.

Indeed - spot on. Several people would now be in jail for whistle blowing on MPs expenses if that story was written today

Is it really your business to investigate what journalists do after work?

No more so than it was his to investigate, 'expose' and ruin the careers of others for doing no more than he was doing himself.

Whose career did you have in mind. A fake lawyer, a financial scammer, a drug clinic owner dealing drugs, a paedophile running a children's charity? Oh b*gger!

Sorry I should have done them for drinking after hours :-). I missed the story. Actually a few stories developed out of the Love Scene, very interesting people used to go there. But have not been there for years now certainly not since first son was born.

Never read the whole thread but basically the guy was asking for it. He did an said things that got him noticed as a reporter but now is paying the consequences. If he never thought about the consequences then he is an idiot. Successful journalists there know their limits. When I worked for the Thailand Times, we all knew very well what we could and could not do.

Pity nobody read the Thailand Times - Cannot follow your logic here. Had the Thailand Times employed a suitable amount of professional journalists rather then English speaking expats it may have succeeded. However if they were all of the opinion 'keep your heads down' its not surprising it took a dive.

Gosh, you're up early Andrew. Presumably, the children are keeping you honest!

Coldest night of the year coming up I see in Caledonia but if you have any sense you should be somewhat south of the Watford Gap. The weather here is perfect with Thailand's own version of the "cold" still prevailing.

Cigarette prices are a shocker, ain't they?

Yes. Weather here good. Cigarettes cheap, But am giving them up - and will be south of Watford let alone the Gap

Drummond can't write to save himself - that was clearly evident from his early blog efforts. His newspaper reputation was saved by his desk editors and sub editors, poor bustards, who pulled his raw, rough and rambling copy together and turned it into readable prose. On his blog, he did not have that luxury until recent times. To parody Drummond's style of writing, you could say that if you gave him a gun, the safest place to be around him would be right in front. He sprays words every which way and with no sense of direction or coherence. His saving grace was his doggedness and fearless approach. That reputation was such that people felt compelled to go to him with information - which he then assessed and followed up. Considering where that information often lead him, he was indeed a brave man. I wonder just how many people have been saved from the scammers - the sorry-assed fake lawyers, developers, boiler room filth - because of his efforts? How many more will not have such luck now that he is gone?

"His newspaper reputation was saved by his desk editors and sub editors, poor bustards, who pulled his raw, rough and rambling copy together and turned it into readable prose. " Since you know this, you then must know the names of the editors, etc. the publications involved, etc. So please supply them ere we think you're spewing rubbish.

You can't be serious! Apart from the fact that you failed to detect my little humourous dig at Andrew, who IS a sub editor's nightmare (you can trust me on that), and that you have chosen to ignore my otherwise praiseworthy words, do you really think there are that many sub editors who are known to the public? The publications are already noted on his website. Lighten up, my selective friend.

All reporters were sub editors' nightmares Watawitawat. But that's what they are paid for. Reporters blame sub editors for changing the accuracy of the stories.Its not so much that I cannot spell. I can. Sometimes I cannot see the errors. Comes from the old days of writing at speed and throwing the copy page by page up a shute. The subs wanted the copy quick rather than perfect.

(When I first wrote this i wrote shoot but i would have been detected instantly) Most stuff gets corrected. To the person who wrote I never correct errors the answer is I always correct errors on request if that is what they are.

He mightn't be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I would dearly love to know how Tim Ward has maintained a current visa for so many years while others have been shown the door. As for opinions, he's never short in that department - I could only shake my head when one of my Thai associates told me her brother thinks he's 'cool' after his tirade at the Pattaya cop shop.

Off-topic, but what happened with the Tim Ward case? I thought I'd seen a headline about it being settled, but I didn't look at the time and now can't find anything.

I'm just being nosey, no invested reasons.

Think he got a phone call that straightened him out, as he suddenly became very contrite

and said it was all a big mistake...

I did?

Slowly but surely we are moving towards the general acceptance of the guilt of the two Burmese as a certainty.

So over 90% of our expatriate community will have to decide a public apology or be silent forever.

I await the moment with relish.

But finally, I'll bet they will not do neither the one nor the other...

Yes I guess you will have to wait Hisseho Especially while the Burmese are debriefed, while a witness or third party is in affect in custody - and while the 'third man remains undetected!m and while despite the press conference today the world is not convinced. How could that be?

Very well expressed, NCFC..........excellent post.

Sorry I dont agree on with one word ,,,,,, Most I think is concocted bull.....The only way,,, And I mean the Key is Sean Sean do this for your consceince Get of your ass and come clean, It will only get worse for you.

So If you want a boot in the backside I for one think you did it,and I am sure a lot of other people do as well. So now prove me ( us ) wrong.

I agree with NCFC and I don't agree with green job about Sean. If he was guilty of something serious, he wouldn't have voluntarily put himself in the middle of the whirlwind. He would have laid as low as possible. He may not be the kind of guy you'd want babysitting your daughters, but that's beside the point. It's not a popularity contest. It's about arresting, trying, convicting and punishing the rapists/killers. I do hope he gives testimony, even if it's in absentia.

If Thai officials were serious about apprehending the culprits (which doesn't appear clear they are, at this time) then they would send some officials to do a video-taped interview with Sean. If he's spooked by any Thais searching for him, it's completely understandable. Perhaps they could set up an interview at the British embassy somewhere. At the least, he should send a sworn affidavit to officials. In the US, they call something like that; "friend of the court." If so, he should also send a copy to the press corps, because Thai officials might act like they never received it - because it won't likely be pleasing for island VIPs.

Sean McAnna has already spoken to Embassy officials. If the Thais want to proceed against him (They could have stopped him leaving btw) then British police would have to do the interview - not Thai police. The British police should also, if they have not done so, request the DNA results on the suspected killers. It appears the independent forensic analysts are not being told the names of the people they are DNA testing. That puts the power into the hands of the local police.

One thing concerns me about this case.

How come the Scottish guy Sean and the other friends of the deceased, who have already left the island, either not come out and made public announcements about what happened with the alleged confrontations in the bar. Why have none of the investigative journalists who were originally involved on the island, not sought these people out to get their side of the story?

Its as though they have been warned off by the British Embassy not to stick the fly in the ointment11

Surely somebody who was with the deceased before their untimely deaths, would have valuable info?

Why no newspaper interviews? Why has it all gone quiet from these journalists who were there and for sure know what the majority of people on this board suspect to be true.

Yet day after day more ridiculous and sublime statements are coming from the Police which are completely unchallenged.

The Scottish guy has made a statement. The British Embassy as a matter of course tells all relatives of victims etc not to talk to the press. Friends of Hannah and David have made statements which have been passed on to police in Thailand. I understand it has not been 'valuable info'. The British Embassy has not warned off journalists. That would require them actually talking to journalists.

Newsdesks have considered sending journalists to visit McAnna in Milan. They probably see it as bad investment. If he has anything to do with the murder, which is unlikely he can be found soon enough. 'Untimely deaths' is a bit weak. Hannah was hacked to death with a garden hoe. I have rarely seen such crazed brutality or what the killer(s) did to her body afterwards. There is no conspiracy of silence among journalists ( which in any case would be a contradiction in terms). There is of course the usual: 'Its more than my life's worth' cry among the foreigners on the island. Plus ca change.

After reading various news articles and comments I have come to reconize that many of the foreigners here on TV that make comments are doing so without seeing another side of the news reports and comments that are written in Thai. I'm not really sure why that is but the Thai folks seem to know about things days before the foreigner. Example: I have read many times about the CCTV picture that captured the Thai running and only wearing shorts. One story I read said that this Thai man was wearing David's (the victim's) shorts. And that this Thai person must have mistakenly put on the victim's shorts and left his shorts there on the beach. Then written in Thai, the news said that this Thai guy's name in Mon, and the reason that he is running is because since the murders occurred around his area he was made aware of it by the police. He apparently quickly hurried to put only his shorts on and ran to the crime scene to see what happened.

Another example: Sean, the guy that quickly attempted to get off the island and fly back to his country because he felt threatened.

His story seemed very solid, even taking photos. Most foreigners that read about Sean believed him and then began focusing on the two Thai guys (Mon and the other guy which is a policeman).

Written and reported in Thai provided so much more and different information about Sean. The story about the two Thai men were much different than what Sean had portrayed. The Thai news suggests that they have witnesses that not only saw Sean with Blood all over him the night of the murder but they actually helps him clean-up himself. When questioned by locals that helped Sean, he said that he had been in a motorbike accident. Another story suggested that he told someone that he was in a fight with someone.

There has been a lot of focus on Sean. Based on what has been reported in Thai, there are many suggesting that Sean was involved in this gruesome murder.

There is much more that was written in Thai. My only point is that if many of the TV members were aware of many of the stories that have been written in Thai, I think that many of the comments, opinions and anger would be directly somewhat differently.

The only thing that I can suggest is that most should try to refrain from making comments where they are so sure of what took place. There has been so much about the headsman and these Thai guys. So many have gone way out there on a limb stating that they are so corrupt and that they are the guilty ones.

I think very soon within the next couple days or so, more information that was written in Thai will start to be filtered in a way that will be better written and understood by the TV community.

For those that believe that the two or three Thai guys working at AC's bar/club carried out the murder, and are totally guilty, and that it will all be covered up by the authorities, will have a hard pill to swallow when later they catch-up on the news that most all Thai's know about days in advance. Just understand that when you hear what evidence they have, know that it was already reported in Thai before you becomes aware of it.

Also don't be surprised if the focus of attention turns to Sean. There is still much to be said because many fingers point to him.

Having monitored the Thai newspapers I can confirm they are 99 per cent garbage on this. You really should know better.

Chiang Mai is 'THE' place to live or vacation. Good nightlife, few crimes, cheap housing, many tourist attractions, good hospitals (Bangkok General and RAM to name 2 of them), Labor extremely cheap (2 hours at my house to fix a water leak - $3), cooler weather, mountains but no ocean, large lake, etc.

And only the occasional rape and murder of backpacker which cannot be solved - not forgetting mysterious hotel deaths - but yes its cheaper

With these increasing rewards it will be worth for a wittness to wait a while ...

Not long it seems. Arrest reported this morning of son of well connected island family - after friend of Miller resident foreigner reported on FB his life was in danger and named who he said was killer. Not confirmed by police.

Where was this arrest reported? I haven't seen anything about this except for that FB post stating he ( a foreigner) was in danger.

Running on Channel 3 but only 'helping with enquiries' reported to be local on ya ba - not well connected

With these increasing rewards it will be worth for a wittness to wait a while ...

Not long it seems. Arrest reported this morning of son of well connected island family - after friend of Miller resident foreigner reported on FB his life was in danger and named who he said was killer. Not confirmed by police.