Krungthepian

Apologies, an error in my previous entry..

He would be out by Christmas 2010, if there is no appeal and he behaves himself while in custody.

Re influence and money.. they are valid questions given such a soft sentence.

It appears the judge asked the prosecutor for advice on what was an appropriate term and it was the prosecutor who said four years.

There was also a curious incident with 100,000 baht allegedly brought to the court and paid - prior to the verdict - to a Thai woman who claimed she was Poretsky's girlfriend and that they had been building a house together.

This woman reportedly wore a dental nurse's outfit but she was not the lady he had arranged to meet at the restaurant who witnessed the slaying (and told the court what happened).

Gary was here for dental treatment but this woman's unsworn evidence apparently contradicted earlier reports by police or investigators .. that he was here for the first time in 15 years and had only been in Thailand a week - which makes you wonder why prosecutors or the court thought her claim to be his girlfriend was credible.

Douglas was allegedly grinning like a Cheshire cat when he walked out.

And now the victim's mother is very upset, according to journalist John Le Fevre. Some details on his website.

If this verdict goes unchallenged - and that appears hard to believe - Douglas could be out to celebrate Christmas 2008.

That seems very unjust considering he put two bullets into another man's chest and a third into his head.

The Thai justice system is generally pretty good in its appeal courts. We just have to hope this matter is the subject of an appeal .. on behalf of the victim's family, or the US embassy. I would think they urgently need to review this case.

Story from the Times in London:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle4364087.ece.

Families blame lax safety for budget airline crash

Britons are joining a £125m lawsuit over the Phuket disaster

From The Sunday Times

July 20, 2008

Michael Sheridan in Bangkok

LAWYERS for the British and American families of victims of an air crash in Thailand are seeking £125m compensation in the US courts in a case that may shed a harsh light on cost-cutting and safety standards at some budget airlines.

The lawsuits follow the disaster on the holiday island of Phuket when an MD82 airliner operated by One-Two-Go, a Thai low-cost carrier, crashed on landing in heavy rain and wind on September 16 last year.

Eight Britons were among the 89 people who died. There were 41 survivors, some of them badly burnt after the plane slewed off the runway, hit an embankment and caught fire.

The captain, Arief Mulyadi, 56, from Indonesia, and his Thai co-pilot were killed on impact. Thai press reports say government investigators have reached an initial finding that pilot error was to blame.

Since the accident the airline has denied allegations by some of its former pilots that crews worked excessive hours and that maintenance standards were lax.

“We believe the air crash was completely avoidable and those responsible should be held to account,” said a statement from the parents of Alex Collins and Bethan Jones, a British couple who died.

“While we accept that nothing can bring Alex and Bethan and the other people who lost their lives back, we are keen to make sure we prevent this from happening again.”

Some British relatives of the victims have lent their names to an internet campaign by Bonnie Rind, an American whose brother died in the crash, calling for prosecutions in Thailand. Rind is also asking for an inquiry by the US National Transportation Safety Board.

She has obtained numerous documents, including what she says is a transcript of material from the flight recorders. Rind said she was confident that the chilling details of the transcript, which appear to show confusion on the flight deck, were accurate.

Flight OG269 from Bangkok was buffeted by heavy weather as it came in for landing. After a warning from the control tower of wind shear - a sudden, violent gust - the Thai co-pilot, who was flying the aircraft, opted to “go around” for a second approach.

However, according to the transcript provided by Rind, neither he nor Arief engaged the correct controls after retracting the wheels. As the MD82 continued to sink towards the runway, the co-pilot’s last words were, “You have control.” There was no response from Arief.

For 15 seconds the engines could be heard idling as the MD82 descended, then for four seconds they roared to full power as an attempt was apparently made to save the aircraft.

Two seconds before the crash a wind shear alarm went off. Then there was silence.

“It was clearly pilot error,” said Rind, a software engineer with a background in aviation. “There was no evidence of anything wrong with the plane.” She believes the captain was incompetent and was probably suffering from fatigue.

Arief had a history of freezing at the controls during crises and had been working excessive hours, according to a documentary by Australia’s Channel Nine television.

Crew rosters showed that at the time of the crash Arief had worked longer than the 110 hours a month allowed by Thai regulators. These rosters were handed to the authorities by the makers of the documentary.

The programme interviewed François Wurst, a former pilot for One-Two-Go, who said he was flying with Arief on a charter for the United Nations in 2006 into Kabul to pick up Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, when the Indonesian “mentally froze” during rough weather on the approach.

Other former pilots gave hair-raising stories of shoddy maintenance and pressure to work excessive hours as the airline cut costs when tourism collapsed after the 2004 tsunami. They claimed there were constant faults with electronics, hydraulics and engines on the fleet of MD82s and Boeing 757s.

Udom Tantiprasongchai, the founder of One-Two-Go, has firmly denied the allegations.

James Healy-Pratt of Stew-arts Law, a London firm acting for six Britons, said: “The families and victims are taking action in the US courts to force One-Two-Go to prove that they are not a low-cost, low-safety airline.”

The American courts are involved because the Thai airline has business connections in the United States and the plane was made by McDonnell Doug-las, later bought by Boeing. The MD82 that crashed was first delivered to American Airlines in December 1983.

US lawyers intend to name Boeing in the lawsuits, along with One-Two-Go, its parent company Orient Thai Airlines and Grandmax Group, a company connected to them which leased the doomed aircraft.

The action will be closely watched in the London aviation insurance market because One-Two-Go and Orient Thai are insured by syndicates at Lloyd’s, plus other insurers.

Udom said the company had paid medical expenses and other costs for survivors and had settled claims in 26 cases.

“We, with our insurers, are trying to resolve the remaining claims as quickly and fairly as possible,” he added.

Yesterday Thai media reports said One-Two-Go is to cease flying “temporarily” due to cost pressures caused by oil prices and market conditions.

Additional reporting by Holly Groom

=========

I believe Ms Rind thinks Orient Thai should also close because it shares the same management and mode of operation.

Hi Mary Jane,

I think journalists on the Daily xpress would write about this.

If you send comments and a photo of Dale and/or Nee it would help.

I hope this is not against house rules. The email for them is simply

expatpage at gmail.com

Hope you can be conveyed to her. In cases like this which are offensive to many people this sort of information needs to be put in the public arena.

We can keep this case headed in the right direction with a bit of input from all Dale's friends and others who care about what happened to him.

This doesn't have to go off the rails.

Hi,

spoke to a British fellow today who claims he talked to a high-ranking UK official, based in LoS, who told him a British man was killed in Pattaya last night (April 18), allegedly stabbed during a confrontation with by two local ladies. Don't know anything other than that - this is obviously yet to hit the press. The only details were - fatal stabbing Pattaya. So was just curious if anyone has heard about this.

The other comment - from my colleague's chat with the local UK rep - was about one Brit dies in Thailand every day; most obviously heart attacks and accidents. In fact, the number of Germans dying here is apparently higher.

Anyway, just interested to know if people have heard about this incident.

The alleged rapist reportedly pleaded guilty in court to theft (of the victim's mobile phone, and other items, I suspect). But he allegedly denied rape. The case was heard at Samui district court last Friday 28 March, I think. Victim was able to testify, and return to Oz. Police reportedly found a number of stolen goods at his home, incl motorbikes; was a serious kamoy, I'm told. Not sure if he's got bail.

I can understand the anger at the Tourist Police chief's remarks, but I thought the story about the Kirsty Jones case was an even greater load of rot. Indeed, read between the lines in the Jones story, and it suggests very strongly that the former guesthouse boss Andy Gill was responsible for the rape and murder, but there wasn't enough evidence and so he got away overseas. Now, that may be fine if it was close to the truth, but journalists here who have covered this case - and no-one knows it better than Andrew Drummond, who helped do a documentary on the case - say the prime suspect for that scandal is a tourist policeman. That is also the very strong opinion of the Welsh/British police who have come here to look into the case. Probably a good load of moderators of this website would know that.

Frankly, the Bangkok Post has hardly covered itself in glory the way they allowed that cop to twist the facts - in its stories yesterday. The surge in murders of tourists in recent months is a worthy story and deserves front page attention. But the coverage of these is still haphazard.. we got a lot on the Pai shootings, as we should, but little on the Phetchabun case (Brit stabbed by local crazy, to be a bit crude), and nothing yet on the Indian stabbed at the Full Moon Party. The attitude is still, hope we can get away with as much as possible - ignore as many embarrassing crimes as possible, but when a really bad slaying occurs, such as the tragedy involving Ms Backlund, the police and tourist chiefs go overboard and come out with statements that only make themselves look stupid and focused primarily on the dollars it will cost them. Not the sad deaths of young foreigners on holiday.

If you want to look for reasons .. start with why good strong honest cops are sacked by dodgy governments (elected by the majority not withstanding) more interested in looking after their boss and bank accounts .. and replaced with patsies and yes-men.

Sacked: police chief Seri. Sacked: head of DSI plus 31 other top investigators.

Returned to active police work: Thaksin's brother in-law, among others.

And if you want a scandal, look at the cesspit that is Pattaya. Accused British pedophile Praill, otherwise known as 'The Ghost' was bailed after his fourth (or sixth?) arrest for alleged sexual misconduct with children.. a week ago. This is despite warnings from a local NGO (FACE) which claims to have a diary this long-term "sexpat" wrote revealing what he is really like.. and public warnings that if he was released on bail yet again he would reoffend. Still, he got bail.

The Andrew Drummond website has this story, and I would recommend people read it. I find the colorful style of this reporter's writing amusing, but underneath is probably one of the scandals of the year. There is very strong suggestion the Pattaya police are seriously on the take; no staggering surprise on that. But I'm just waiting for the middle class Thais to notice this case and demand stronger action.

Praill has denied wrongdoing but the repeated arrests make his denials look mighty hollow.

But for Thailand, when they bail people like this, you know the system is rotten to the core. Little wonder farang feel contempt for authorities here. I find it hard to believe a police chief such as Seri would have allowed this, despite all the other things they have to oversee.

I hope Chalerm can rise to this challenge, but I suspect when governments have their own devious agendas they fail to manage as well as people who are straight (for me, the Surayud government, as "boring" as they supposedly were).

http://www.dailyxpress.net/2008/03/24/expat/expat_943.php

Expat page in Xpress has yarn on this today; pics, but not much new info.

CHIANG MAI

American shot dead

Australian, 60, held for murder of Hawaiian in restaurant

Published on March 24, 2008

An Australian man faces a murder charge over the fatal shooting of an American in northern Thailand early on Saturday.

William Thomas Douglas, aged 60, is reported to have admitted shooting Gary Booth Poretsky in a restaurant in Chiang Mai town.

The reason for the shooting is unknown, but Douglas was said to have been drinking and showing off a handgun he was allegedly carrying. The two got into an argument, which ended with the American shot dead.

Poretsky, 46, was shot once in the head and twice in the body at about 8am.

A Chiang Mai police spokes-woman was quoted saying that Douglas had lived in Thailand for 28 years and spoke Thai well. A local woman had witnessed the shooting, she said.

"A woman saw the man showing off a gun to the dead man. They had a dispute. The Thai lady watched. The Australian guy was trying to say he was a big guy in Chiang Mai," she was quoted as saying.

Douglas is alleged to have run out of the Khoei Chiang Mai (In-law from Chiang Mai) restaurant on Sriphum Road straight after the incident but surrendered to police shortly after.

He was being held in Chiang Mai police headquarters from Saturday, but is due to be transferred to the local prison today.

Douglas is said to have been living in Sansai and working as an English teacher.

There have been unconfirmed reports he was a veteran from the Vietnam War and may have been an informant for the Thai police.

However, some people who have had dealings with him have questioned his sanity. He allegedly told police he was doing work for the Thai Narcotics Suppression Bureau and that he had links with senior police generals.

A spokesman for the Australian embassy in Bangkok said they were aware of the case.

"An Australian consular official has visited the man [Douglas] at Chiang Mai police station. Police are continuing their investigations into the matter," the spokesman said.

Douglas, who is from the town of Northam in Western Australia, could also face charges for firearms offences. Police said the weapon used in the shooting was registered, but they were checking to see who the legal owner of the gun was.

The policewoman said Douglas would appear before a court at a date yet to be fixed.

By Jim Pollard

Daily Xpress

There have been reports of an American shot dead in a restaurant in Chiang mai this morning. Victim's name has been given as Gary Booth Poretsky, 46, from Hawaii. Shooter was allegedly an Australian William Thomas Douglas, described as former or active narcotics policeman, aged 60. 8am at a restaurant in town. Channel 7 has allegedly had reports on this; they suggested a narcotics deal gone wrong, although news is fresh, details scant. Restaurant was Koi, near canal. Shooter allegedly fled, then surrendered to police.

Hi,

a friend of mine has just rented a place on the Ping river - on Faham road - north of the Super Highway bridge - was shocked to discover municipal workers cutting down old growth trees at the bottom of his block along the river yesterday. The workers told his wife they were doing this to build a public walkway. And they had allegedly been ordered to do this by the Mayor.

He is very upset about losing some beautiful old trees and possible destabilisation of the river bank. Indeed he fears it has ruined his reasons for moving to the property.

Does anybody know what is going on? Is this story told by the workers true? Have their been reports in the media that this was going to happen?

Feedback very welcome.

In terms of refugees and migrants, I don't think it has ever been any different in Thailand.

A foreign refugee advocate noted the other day the notorious event in mid 1979 when Cambodian refugees (thousands, I think) were forced back over the cliff - and close to minefields? And treatment of Burmese has been very very ordinary, if not similarly appalling on occasion. I think the scandalous Cambodian event was highlighted in William Shawcross' book "The Quality of Mercy".

My comment about entering a period of darkness was made while also thinking about the return of Thaksin and rush of dreadful transfers of top officials, such as the police chief Seri. Best comment of the week was Sulak, who was quoted as describing Thaksin as a man "totally without sincerity .. but a very good actor.." I've yet to meet a farang here who likes the man (Thaks).

## Meanwhile, it looks as though the Huay Nam Khao situation is a false alarm. Latest note from MSF is everything quiet.

In regard to the Hmong, the Lao govt was very quick to try to show off the last returnees.. pics of them were posted on a site late Wednesday or early Thursday, I believe.

But while local coverage was very limited.. it was news in France and the US, where it was quickly picked up by Hmong communities and support groups. The Fact Finding Commission did a long report about the incident.. lobbyist Philip Smith in Washington DC put out an inflammatory note on it too (Press Zoom, I think).. noting the refugees injured by soldiers' dogs..

Latest news.. 9.30pm.. head of MSF says three trucks have arrived at Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Phetchabun.. 100 to 200 troops have arrived.. speculation now that the first batch of Hmong are about to be trucked back.

Latest story from Nation website:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/02/29...al_30066899.php

MSF and UN question if Hmong going back to Laos voluntarily

There were bizarre scenes at the Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Phetchabun Friday after the Army's initial move to return a group of Hmong back to Laos.

Refugees rushed to hide five young children split from their mother, who was part of a dozen "volunteers" taken from the camp on Wednesday.

Some 11 Hmong were sent back to Laos late on Wednesday but both UN officials and MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres), which funds the camp, say they have serious doubts about whether the returnees went back voluntarily.

One of the returnees trucked out of Huay Nam Khao on Wednesday was a young mother separated from her five children, including a 2-year-old baby. Yesterday, Thai officials sent the woman back from Nong Khai, after apparently realising she really had been split from her baby and kids.

But instead of returning the woman to the camp, she was held in an adjacent facility and made to use a loud speaker to "call her children to come to Laos with her", MSF national director Gilles Isard said.

However, refugees in the camp, apparently believing the woman was reluctant to go to Laos, hid her children in the camp, which houses nearly 8,000 people.

"Some Hmong are trying to hide the children, and we are trying to talk to the woman, but the Thai authorities won't talk to our staff at present," he said.

At the time of going to press, his staff believed troops were about to enter the camp to search for the children.

"Relatives at the camp have said not all the people being returned were volunteers. Some were loaded by force," he said.

"This mother was not willing to go but they took her [on Wednesday]. And all her children were left crying at home.

"The mood in the camp is very bad. Everyone is very anxious. They feel really desperate.

"The (Thai) Army says eight families have been identified as volunteers and four went on Wednesday but some of the other four families say they don't know why they are on the list [to go back]. They are unlikely to be volunteers. It includes one person who was shot [by Lao troops] in 2001."

The MSF chief said Army officers had given it no information on the individuals being sent back and was operating "with no transparency at all".

Kitty McKinsey, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, voiced concern. She said: "We have received a number of reports that call into question whether

everyone actually volunteered to go back. Such returns should be strictly voluntary, conducted with dignity and in accordance with international standards."

The return of the Hmong at the Phetchabun has been talked about by Thai and Lao officials for months, but the matter is highly contentious because both countries refuse to allow independent monitors to screen genuine refugees from "economic migrants" hoping to be resettled abroad.

MSF officials warned late last year many hundreds of Hmong in the camp looked to have authentic claims to refugee status and that dozens could even show bullet wounds from clashes with the Lao and Vietnamese military.

The state of anxiety about forced repatriation was such they expect it will spark riots.

Some officials monitoring the situation expect Thailand will begin trucking groups of up to 200 Hmong back Laos in the near future - and they predict the situation at Huay Nam Khao will descend into bloodshed.

Hmong support groups in the US such as the Fact Finding Commission claim some of the latest families may have been paid Bt10,000 to be repatriated - possibly to "curry favour" before the official visit by new prime minister Samak Sundaravej, who travelled to Vientiane early Friday.

by Jim Pollard

The Nation

==========

This is a shameless ugly government that cares little for some of the region's most vulnerable. Thailand looks to be entering a period of darkness..

From today's Bangkok Post..

Disgraced AFL star on Samui

FUGITIVE / AUSSIE RULES PLAYER

Bangkok Post 19-2-08

Disgraced former Australian Football League (AFL) player Wayne Carey has been spotted with an unknown woman in Thailand after failing to appear in a US court on assault charges, an Australian broadcaster and news online operator reported yesterday.

The former AFL player was seen at a coffee shop with a woman at the tourist resort of Koh Samui on Saturday afternoon, reported ABC Radio's website, www.abc.net.au.

Mr Carey, 36, pleaded not guilty to assaulting two Miami police officers after allegedly smashing a wine glass in his girlfriend's face last October.

The disgraced football star has not been seen in public for about a month and last week a US judge criticised Mr Carey for not turning up to a preliminary hearing in his case, telling the court it was a mistake.

ABC journalist Keryn Bradbury said she saw Mr Carey in a coffee shop on Samui island.

''It was definitely him. He was sitting down with another person _ I think a young girl _ we are not quite sure if it was a girlfriend or who she was.

"He was just sitting there having a quiet drink with her and [my partner] Wade thought he would just go up and introduce himself,'' she said.

Mr Carey was reported to appear ''very shocked'' when he was seen and recognised and he quickly left the cafe with the unidentified woman.

Mr Carey is also under investigation for allegedly assaulting police in Port Melbourne last month and has disappeared since he was released by police on January 27.

Eric Marshall, Mr Carey's lawyer, took responsibility for his client's failure to appear in the court in Miami.

Many teams of Australian journalists have been combing Samui for Mr Carey in the past few days, with some booking into exclusive resorts where Mr Carey was thought to be staying.

Maybe a moderator can advise if this is the most appropriate forum to play this - or should it go on news clippings? I haven't posted a new topic prior to this and never put on a pic.. would be interesting if people did recognise him from the pic.

Carey spotted in Thai hideaway

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/17/2164886.htm

Posted 3 hours 31 minutes ago (2.30pm Sunday 17 Feb 2008)

Caught in Koh Samui... Carey and a female friend were seen in Thailand (File photo). (Miami police)

Disgraced former footballer Wayne Carey has been spotted in Thailand just a day after being blasted for not appearing in a US court on assault charges.

Carey was seen at a coffee shop in the tourist resort of Koh Samui yesterday afternoon.

He was reportedly shocked at being recognised and he and the woman he was with left the store soon after.

Carey's pleaded not guilty to assaulting two Miami police officers, after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend last year, and is also under investigation over the alleged assault of police at Port Melbourne last month.

Wayne Carey facing jail in US

•

Wayne Carey is taken away by the police in Melbourne at the weekend.

Photo: Seven News

When he was in the police car, he used his head as a battering ram and tried to smash a hole between the front compartment of the police car and the prisoner compartment

Carey arrested

Audio slideshow: Miami Police Lieutenant on Wayne Carey's arrest.

January 30, 2008 - 7:50AM

Embattled AFL star Wayne Carey headbutted a partition in a Miami police car after he was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend and officers in the US city last year.

Miami Police Lieutenant Bill Schwartz said today Carey attacked police officers in an aggressive outburst in the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the early hours of October 27 last year.

Carey's girlfriend Kate Neilsen told police the former football great turned commentator had smashed a wine glass in her face.

"The young woman had lacerations to her mouth and her neck, apparently she had been hit in the face with a wineglass," Lieutenant Schwartz told the Nine Network.

"She told us Mr Carey had done this.

"When officers went and spoke to him, he immediately was belligerent, starting striking out at the officers, in fact, kicked one of the officers in the face with his foot, elbowed another one in the side of the face.

"They had to wrestle him down and handcuff him.

"When he was in the police car, he used his head as a battering ram and tried to smash a hole between the front compartment of the police car and the prisoner compartment."

He is scheduled to face a Miami court on February 13.

The revelation of the Miami incident follows an alleged domestic dispute involving Carey and Ms Neilsen at his Port Melbourne home on the weekend.

Carey, who played 271 AFL games with the Kangaroos and Adelaide Crows, was arrested on the weekend and subdued with capsicum spray.

Lieutenant Schwartz said Carey was a "mess" and should have left his aggression on the football field.

"I think Mr Carey has some anger management issues, he seems to be angry at the whole world, at least on this particular morning," Lieutenant Schwartz said.

"In fact it looks as though that he used his wine glass to try to knock out his girlfriend, his foot and elbow to try to knock out some cops and his head to try to knock out a police car."

He said if Carey did not return to Miami for the scheduled appearance at Miami-Dade County Court on February 15, it was unlikely he would be extradited to the US, Lieutenant Schwartz said.

He said the police officers had sustained "very minor" injuries.

"Whether they go through the expense of extraditing him or not is not up to us, it's up to the just system," he said.

"If they don't, well clearly he will not be welcome in this country.

"If he came in this country, he will be arrested right away.

"I doubt in a case like this extradition will be forced, however, I'm sure that the cops with the sore faces and fat lips would like to see it."

Lieutenant Schwartz said the officers did not know who Carey was.

"We did not know who Carey was. For our cops this was just another day at the office. He was just another out of control thug."

Carey was taken to Dade County jail after the incident where he was charged with assaulting a public servant, resisting an officer with violence, and aggravated battery.

Lieutenant Schwartz said if found guilty of the charges, each penalty could be up to 15 years in jail.

"If he is convicted, he could face some serious time," he said.

Lieutenant Schwartz said Ms Neilsen had refused medical treatment for her injuries.

"She did not want to go to hospital; did not want to be seen by a doctor," he said.

"And unfortunately we see all too many cases where men and women get into these squabbles and get violent but the victim does not press charges.

"In this case, we probably would have made the arrest anyway because there was injury.

"If he had just co-operated with the officers, this would have probably been a lot simpler matter, but by attacking the officers, he multiplied his problems by a thousand times."

Comment was being sought from Carey.

Ian Munro and AAP

Wayne Carey a drunken thug with anger issue - Miami police

Article from:

Alison Ribbon and AAP

January 30, 2008 02:18pm

WAYNE Carey was a drunken thug, using his head as a battering ram and had "anger management issues", a Miami police officer said today.

Miami Police Lieutenant Bill Schwartz said Carey was a "mess'' and should have left his aggression on the football field. Instead he used "his famous foot" to kick an officers in the mouth.

"It looks as though that he used his wine glass to try to knock out his girlfriend, his foot and elbow to try to knock out some cops and his head to try to knock out a police car,'' Lt Schwartz said.

He said the officers did not know who Carey was then.

"To us, he was just another thug.''

Lt Schwartz said if found guilty of the charges, each penalty could be up to 15 years in jail.

"If he is convicted, he could face some serious time,'' he said.

While Carey is scheduled to appear in court in Miami next month, it is unlikely authorities will spend the money to extradite him if he fails to show.

"I doubt in a case like this extradition will be forced, however, I'm sure that the cops with the sore faces and fat lips would like to see it.''

Carey's girlfriend Kate Neilsen told police the former football great turned commentator had smashed a wine glass on her face.

"The young woman had lacerations to her mouth and her neck, apparently she had been hit in the face with a wine glass,'' Lt Schwartz told the Nine Network.

"She told us Mr Carey had done this.

"When officers went and spoke to him, he immediately was belligerent, starting striking out at the officers, in fact, kicked one of the officers in the face with his foot, elbowed another one in the side of the face.

"They had to wrestle him down and handcuff him.

"When he was in the police car, he used his head as a battering ram and tried to smash a hole between the front compartment of the police car and the prisoner compartment.

"If he had just co-operated with the officers, this would have probably been a lot simpler matter, but by attacking the officers, he multiplied his problems by a thousand times.''

Lt Schwartz told 3AW that Carey had been aggressive from the moment they responded to a call for help from his girlfriend, Kate Neilson.

With lacerations across her face, Neilson had told officers Carey had smashed a glass on her face.

"Mr Carey became belligerent when we approached him - in fact, he ended up kicking one of our officers in the mouth with his famous foot," Lt Schwartz said.

"He struck another officer in the side of the head with his elbow and he had to be subdued.

"Then once he was handcuffed and in the police car, he took his head and tried to bash a hole in the partition between the prisoner's side and the officer's.

"Clearly Mr Carey has anger management issues and he seemed to be upset with the entire world that particular morning.

"I think the main injury was to the reputation of one of Australia's finest athletes."

Miami Police detective Delrish Moss said, to stop Carey hurting himself and damaging the car, the officers put him into a hobble restraint.

"Basically what that is, is a leather strap that's tied around his leg and his hands, the end of it is then put outside of a closed car door where the restraint restricts some of his movement so he can't move back and forth or side to side,'' the US police detective said.

"That way, he doesn't hit his head and he doesn't cause himself any harm.''

Det Moss said police were called to the Brickell Bay condominium complex, known as the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, on the upmarket Brickell Key island in central Miami just after midnight on October 27.

"(Kate Neilson) did have lacerations and bruises that were consistent with some sort of struggle and having been struck,'' he said.

Though he didn't have any tests for intoxication, Det Moss said Carey was "drunk and did smell of alcohol''.

Det Moss said Carey was charged with assault on a public servant, aggravated battery and resisting arrest with violence.

The first two charges carry jail terms of up to 15 years in prison, and the third up to five years in jail, he said.

Each charge also carries a fine of up to $10,000.

Carey is due to face the Miami-Dade County Court on February 15, and faces possible extradition from Australia if he fails to appear.

Meanwhile, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said police were still investigating an incident involving Carey in Port Melbourne on Sunday night.

"That matter's still undergoing investigation and we haven't completed that yet,'' she told ABC radio.

"The police are conducting a range of investigations around that matter with Wayne Carey and will continue to do that.''

=====

Curious to know if anyone really has seen this fella.. he's very well known in Oz, as you may gather from these reports.

I realise Richard Henry has an emotionally difficult few days ahead of him. But for anyone assisting him down there, suggest perhaps, if he has the opportunity, to consider lodging a police complaint about the theft of the bike, plus any other items that he believes were solely Dales' property. The looting of his possessions - and those of del Pinto and Reisig in Pai - is a distasteful offence but police may need some prodding to act on that.

Letters to the editor in both English language papers would also yield results; sometimes these other grubby aspects are quirky angles that lift an otherwise "not so unusual" story into public attention.

If friends of Dale in Ranong can get a photo of anybody riding Dale's Harley, papers would publish that both here and in Canada - at least I believe the Nation (or it's new tabloid Daily Xpress) would.

And in regard to other comment about needing media attention now, I wholly agree. I've heard reports of serious apathy (on parts of Thai n'paper people) already.

The cartoonist Stephff said today so much is happening he's feeling stressed; with the new govt there is no shortage of news. Another fella from his paper used to joke that the local reporters sometimes seem to have the attitude of people who go to the beach - that is, the stories just come in on the waves. So much goes on up here, there's a scandal in every bloody corner. And with people like Chalerm in charge of the police - it's like letting lunatics run the asylum.

Later version of Nation yarn.. emailed by a friend.. has names of all the accused.

I think there will be more on this once Richard, younger brother of the deceased, arrives in Ranong.

Thai wife arrested after Canadian shot dead

The Nation

Three people are in custody following the slaying of a Canadian man, who was shot dead in his home in Ranong.

Oil worker Dale Henry, 48, was shot dead at close range early last week.

Police have arrested Henry’s Thai wife Maneerat, or Nee, plus Amornsak Ketkaew, 30, who was alleged to be her lover, plus Jinda sa Thae, 47, an uncle of Amornsak, who was allegedly the gunman.

The trio were presented at a press conference, where police outlined details of the murder.

They said Maneerat promised Jinda Bt60,000 to kill Henry, with some Bt30,000 paid upfront.

They reportedly found incriminating text notes from Maneerat to Amornsak. One allegedly sent on January 30 said “Do it tonight and then go to the funeral.”

On the night of the murder, Maneerat allegedly gave her husband a glass of whisky and waited for him to fall asleep, then sent a text note to her lover, who allegedly entered the house with a hired gunman through a door she had left unlocked.

Henry’s death has made headlines in Western Canada – he is the second Canadian shot and killed in Thailand this year, following the fatal shooting of Leo del Pinto by a policeman in Pai on January 6.

Members of Henry’s family are understood to be en route to Thailand for the funeral, being held in Ranong this week.

Etc Etc.

Today's report from the court.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/02/08...al_30064725.php

10/10 to Andrew Drummond.

Gunga Din, that story is from last week's court hearing. Last Wednesay in Mae Hong Son. You can see the date in the link to the Nation page.

Also, word from the North (Pang Mapha) is the gunman is still out boozing most nights while still carrying his weapon.

Does anyone know regulations here or abroad in regard to when a policeman is allowed to carry their pistols?

Is there a restriction in the criminal code or police regulations in terms of officers drinking alcohol when they are armed?

We have all seen cops drinking off-duty with guns tucked down the back of their pants, or wherever, but I find it hard to believe they don't have some policy (which they may or may not ignore) that cops involved in shootings have to turn their guns in - especially if charged with a serious offence.

This fella faces charges of murder. Despite Thailand being in the Dark Ages in terms of oversight of the police - perhaps two to three decades behind the Western world in some key aspects such as independent handling of complaints about police - I'm still surprised that lawyers for the victims (Reisig or the del Pinto family), or the DSI, or National Human Rights Commission, can't lodge some application to force this chap to leave his piece at the local station once he's clocked off.

This is a message for Richard. There are media people keen to talk to you while you are in Bangkok, both for local (Thai English newspaper) and Canadian outlets. Can you suggest a way these people can contact you while you're here (eg, email)?

The Nation has hacked its farang staff in half, for financial reasons, but will cover these cases when they are directed to its attention promptly. Jim Pollard, an Australian subeditor, will report on them if news of these events is directed to him. He is due to oversee the Expat page when it starts in the Daily Xpress (from March 5). People sending notes to the Nation letters page should cc a copy to him - he usually works Mon to Thursday and will follow up these things.

Thank you for the recommendation above. Could you confirm which newspaper Jim Pollard works for, is it The Nation? (so his email address can be sourced should people require and follow up on your suggestion?).

For Andiamo:

I understand you can't post personal emails, so just remember that one of the main contact points for letters and news tips for The Nation is [email protected]

For the fellow mentioned you can either mark it at the top for his attention, or write his surname then the rest of the email address (Nationgroup.com)

Family members who have comments or information relevant for stories should do same, if they want.

Also, you're right that both English papers should have spotted this in Thai Rath last week, on the 5th, but frankly, they often don't have their act together.. whether it's being busy, with other stories they feel are more important (the Nation particularly is obsessed with Thai politics, fairly ordinary on stuff from the provinces and almost disinterested in crime and reports from adjacent countries) .. or just plain slackness. It's probably a combination of both.

The English language papers have a duty to report on crime involving farang, but there is so much crime involving Thais that is never reported. And they may have thought - this case is solved .. they got the baddies, so it's only a brief. Think also about what was big news for crime reporters last week - the Border Patrol gang was such a huge story it marginalised everything else (and they really only have a few pages every day).

When you hear stories about how much re-writing their original copy needs, you have to realise the whole process of gathering and reporting on news here is very ordinary by Western standards and prone to mistakes .. that can come from police officers giving wrong information .. deliberately or just being careless, and reporters who aren't as careful as they should be. And it's often just language or translation difficulties. From what I have heard, even senior Thai reporters really struggle writing in English and if they're not in the office when these stories are processed by farang subeditors whole paragraphs get axed and dropped cos they can't be located or queried about their stories promptly.

Anyway, just some background. My suspicion is this year is going to be a messy one, because the new government is likely to be so self-serving there will be no end of controversies.. and reporters will be preoccupied sorting through all the confusion and lies. The whole agenda of Thai Rak Thai looks being reimposed and the simple straightness of the Surayud government (which I felt was one of the great things about the man) is now being replaced by the spin-doctoring and twisted arguments we saw during the Thaksin era. You can't blame the Thais (Thai reporters) for being a bit preoccupied, it's like sinking into the mud again. Look at the guy who has just been named Interior Minister; now they have to ponder all the old controversies he was involved in and work out waht his immediate agenda is (ie, the War on Drugs mark 3, or CEO governors, etc) and how to report on those things and his personal history - what can be written, and what are safe ways to get certain information out without being an obvious target for revenge.. there has been very little written about him to date and I suspect it's because people are intimidated by his history.

Apologies to Dale's family. This is just a bit of background as to why the death of their much loved brother may have been neglected, to date, by the local press. He sounds like a very good person. I hope reports on his killing help ensure the justice system functions as it should. The sad part is for those of us who have been in Thailand for a few years, we know just what a lottery the Thai judicial process is.

However, in this case, the Ranong police may have done their work as they should, so that could be very significant, and mean the Henri's can at least find some peace in that regard. You only have to look at what happened in Pai last month to realise how the police can be perhaps the worst problem when involved in "unnatural deaths".

Let's pray they get their act together in Ranong.

Hi,

this case is likely to be reported in the English language press this evening and tomorrow. It has got to their attention now, so people on this should perhaps remember these blogs are so much faster - newspapers are a much older technology and one that is really struggling to keep up with the Net. Indeed while they feed Thaivisa and other forums their basic news items, they simply can't compete with blogs for speed and it is killing them financially; circulations dip and dip and there's not a lot they can do about it. We can all read their stories over the Net and they get no money for it.

Just in regard to why this case has had no coverage in the English language press. It's very possible that initially news about this case was suppressed. But there were other problems, such as this thread starting in the general blog - not news clippings. Also, last week the new govt was sworn in and there was a wave of stories about that; all media attention was focused on that. And prominent farang reporters or correspondents are still trying to sort out the shooting of the two Canadians in Pai - indeed Andrew Drummond, the top UK reporter, was at the court in Mae Hong Son last Wednesday. His most recent stories from the North appeared in the Nation on Thurs and Friday, i think.

However, the biggest problem is Thai reporters probably not being interested in this case. Under reporting of crime is appalling here, as everyone knows. The Nation has hacked its farang staff in half, for financial reasons, but will cover these cases when they are directed to its attention promptly. Jim Pollard, an Australian subeditor, will report on them if news of these events is directed to him. He is due to oversee the Expat page when it starts in the Daily Xpress (from March 5). People sending notes to the Nation letters page should cc a copy to him - he usually works Mon to Thursday and will follow up these things.

Latest word re the Hmong at Huay Nam Khao is the video that the Lao government produced to try to reassure them that they would be well treated after being returned has failed .. partly because there were no Lao reps available to answer questions when it was showed to the refugees in Phetchabun, and because they didn't recognise any of the returnees in the video.

On the subject of farang crime in the news, there is a story that's on other Thailand related sites but not this one. Anyway, a very interesting story that I hope they'll pick up on thaivisa is the one about the British man who had been wrongly accused along with his Thai girlfriend of making illegal drugs at a shop in Bangkok. After six years in jail, they finally both got out and are declared innocent. Classic case of wrong place wrong time. They were originally sentenced to death. I never get how one can be sentenced to death for drug crimes, even selling relatively harmless party drugs (ecstacy), in Thailand and then some murderers get out after 20 years. It makes so sense whatsoever.

=======

In regard to the case mentioned here, I think the writer might be referring to Jody Aggett, the Brit

who was released last week.. AFP (Agence France Presse) did a yarn on him recently.. I think his case might have been one of many being reviewed now by the interim government. Good news.

Briton freed from Thai prison as court quashes drug conviction

AFP 5-9-07

BANGKOK - A British man sentenced to death on drugs charges in Thailand said Wednesday he was "ecstatic" after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction, clearing the way for his return home.

Jody Aggett, 30, was arrested in November 2001 along with his pregnant Thai girlfriend after police uncovered a drugs operation in the Bangkok apartment building where they were staying.

They denied knowing anything about the ecstasy production upstairs but were convicted and sentenced to death.

After two years on death row, their sentences were commuted to life in prison and the Supreme Court has now overturned their convictions completely.

Aggett was handed over to immigration officials on Tuesday, officials said.

"He's been released from prison but he's still held by immigration officials," British embassy spokesman Daniel Painter told AFP.

Thai immigration officials said they were working with the embassy to sort out remaining issues surrounding his visa and his release.

When asked about his release date, an immigration officer passed his cellphone to Aggett, who said he was told he could return home on Sunday.

"I'm ecstatic really," he told AFP.

"I'm going, but I think I'm being deported as well," he said before the officer took back the cellphone.

Aggett's son Ryan was born while he and his girlfriend, identified by lawyers as Christin Lo, were in prison.

Aggett's parents came to take the baby back to Britain, where they have been raising him in Aggett's home town of Swindon. Ryan is now five.

Lo has already been released and was staying with her family in Bangkok, officials said.

The Supreme Court overturned the conviction because prosecutors had failed to present any evidence against them, said Catherine Wolthuizen, chief executive of Fair Trials Abroad, a London-based group that helped with his appeal.

"There was never any grounds to find them guilty," she said.

"Jody was convicted on the unsworn evidence of an unknown police informant, who was never brought before the court and never named," she said.

"Moreover, this evidence never even implicated Jody and his girlfriend," she added.

The appeals hearing had been held up in part by Thailand's political turmoil over the past two years, which had increased the caseload before the Supreme Court and forced repeated delays of the hearing, Wolthuizen said.

Two questions:

1) Will the police who framed the 2 hill-tribe young men be punished?

2) Will he 2 young hill-tribe men be compensated for heir 2 years of wrongful imprisonment?

I think I know the answers - but I thought I would ask.

Peter

Just in regard to the above. A lawyer for the two hilltribe men - Wirachai of Chiang Mai - said yesterday (Sept 4) he will now lodge an application for compensation with the Justice Ministry's human rights division. I think that should have a pretty good chance of success. How much they might eventually get, however, is another question.

The two young men have been out of jail for three years, fortunately, but it was the original four years that they really suffered - including two years on Death Row in Bang Kwang.

They appear to have been targeted by police because the victim/survivor (MacFarlane) said one of TWO attackers was quite short. And Inthorn is very short. Sangthong, the other young man, was vulnerable perhaps because he is Chinese Haw (descendant of Kuomintang) and did not have Thai citizenship. However, they were lucky because a wealthy Thai woman who has connections to their village (Ban Luang) helped fund a good lawyer for them. And the lawyer is a competent and very decent man.

Note that the report in The Australian this morning had a small error - saying FOUR attackers. I have spoken to MacFarlane (in Melbourne) and looked into this case and I'm pretty sure it was just two attackers.

As to who they were.. that area is adjacent to the Burma border and it allegedly gets regular forays by people running drugs across the border. The sad part is Bourke and MacFarlane camped in an isolated part of the Doi Angkhang national park. Bourke had a sister-in-law from Fang, I believe, and was touring the country using that as his base. He may not have known that some bad people transit through those parts. Or at least they probably did until the so-called 'War on Drugs' in early 2003.

The interesting aspect of some of these cases is the competence and ethnics of the police. One of the most important things the Surayud government can do in its remaining time in office is try to reform the archaic police structure. In particular it needs outsiders (anyone but police) to deal with complaints, as has been happening in the bulk of the western world for the best part of 20 years.

Only then, will complaints about these types of injustices be better dealt with. Overseas you could probably mount a case against police for a case such as this for malicious prosecution, whereas here they virtually let tme have free reign. The justice system badly needs a cleaner and more efficeint police force. At present you have a vast load of these sorts of controversial matters going to the Law Society of Thailand and the National Human Rights Commission, but they could circumvent that by dealing with the problem at source. Let's hope they can manage some of those much needed changes while Surayud is still in office.

The situation at Nong Khai has deteriorated badly. The stress of being so close to Laos and living with the daily fear of deporation - and what the Lao military might do if these people are deported (despite supposed promises by Thailand not to do so, and UN "protection" in the form of registration as "people of concern") - five of the refugees have fled over the past month. Three escaped on June 12 (but two were recaptured shortly after). And another four fled on June 29.

The timing of the escapes if interesting - the relate to crises at other centres where Hmong were deported from.

The escapes have put additional pressure on the local police chief and IDC officials - to the point where observers feel they just want to get rid of the Hmong.

Thailand should let these people be resettled abroad. Get the foreign embassies and UNHCR off their backs and focus on larger concerns.

Huay Nam Khao is changing - most of the 8000 have been moved to the new camp. And there is talk of mass resettlement of these people eventually. Laos and the Thais are talking aboutreturns of 200 at a time, but the most it can apparently manage is 2000 or less a year.

Thing is, UNHCR should screen these people. About 1500 should not go back.

Vientiane needs to do its bit also. International reps should be able to visit the 163 who recently returned to verify they are well. There have been reports this grouip is in a military prison in Paksan with the men held in leg stocks, etc, and being interrogated about their "colleagues" at Nong Khai (with the Lao authorities showing photos of the Hmong leaders there, etc.

Surely, this in itself shows those at Nong Khai should not be returned.

Thailand is earning itself a very scummy reputation by its pathetic treatment of these people.

Its treatment of those on the Burmese side is often no better, but reporting of these matters is pretty pathetic also.

If Thailand wants to be part of the modern world with Western investment and business it badly needs to lift its game.

Get the UN and international bodies in to help and lift standards.