Embattled Brit Lee Chestnutt Forced To Stay In Thailand

[Remix4]

Clearly you know more than I do.

As do the family and the accused in their own words and as reported by BBC and other news sources.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...hester-20589033 (includes video of family)

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ashire-20607769

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

Dont forget tomorrow you can add the links to the BBC Northwest TV interview (live with parents in studio and lee chestnutt via phone at around 6:40pm UK time) and the Granada Reports interview (approx. 6pm tonight - recorded earlier today).

Edited January 16, 2013 by Remix4

[Nisa]

“All we can do is wait to see if the Supreme Court allow the delay,” Mr Chestnutt said. “If they do, they will give him 60 days to form his appeal and then we have got to wait again to see whether the court even accepts the appeal.

“If they do we are looking at staying here for another five to 10 years.”

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

For the love of God sometimes you just need to accept your loses and move on with life ... in this case settle the matter with the freaking landlord ... unless him and his mate want this. He has been living in Asia 20-years and maybe things are going well not working and living off mom and dad. I can't think of any other reason given the information provided to keep this going unless they have a lawyer who is taking them for a ride.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Nisa

[Remix4]

“All we can do is wait to see if the Supreme Court allow the delay,” Mr Chestnutt said. “If they do, they will give him 60 days to form his appeal and then we have got to wait again to see whether the court even accepts the appeal.

“If they do we are looking at staying here for another five to 10 years.”

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

For the love of God sometimes you just need to accept your loses and move on with life ... in this case settle the matter with the freaking landlord ... unless him and his mate want this. He has been living in Asia 20-years and maybe things are going well not working and living off mom and dad.

Settle and plead guilty (after being found NOT GUILTY twice, despite what you believe) and be faced with a jail sentence.

Anyway ... as a wise man apparently once said - See no evil; see what is good Hear no evil; hear what is good - pretend evil doesnt exist and the world will be a fluffier place.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Remix4

[Nisa]

“All we can do is wait to see if the Supreme Court allow the delay,” Mr Chestnutt said. “If they do, they will give him 60 days to form his appeal and then we have got to wait again to see whether the court even accepts the appeal.

“If they do we are looking at staying here for another five to 10 years.”

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

For the love of God sometimes you just need to accept your loses and move on with life ... in this case settle the matter with the freaking landlord ... unless him and his mate want this. He has been living in Asia 20-years and maybe things are going well not working and living off mom and dad.

Settle and plead guilty (after being found NOT GUILTY twice, despite what you believe) and be faced with a jail sentence. Anyway ...

For the umteenth time it is the landlord pursuing the charges and if they satisfy the landlord there is no charges . The only way he faces possible jail time is to keep fighting this. Although there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO PLEAD GUILTY, even if he did he would not face jail time for such an offense (especially if he made restitution) being a first time offender but yes it could effect his ability to stay or return to Thailand. But the bottom line is he is the one who by continuing to not settle with the landlord is keeping this case alive.

If you know about this case then you know it is the landlord filing appeals, the landlord claiming damages and it is the landlord who brought charges. No unhappy landlord = no court case.

Edit: And again you keep saying he was found "not guilty" but even in the reports where they interview him and/or his parents it never says this but only says charges were dropped or appeals were dismissed ... big difference than being found not guilty.

Although you appear to have ignored my previous requests to back up such claims just provide one link which says he was found not guilty from a news source and I will gladly accept the appeals are trying to overturn a not guilty verdict as opposed to the case being thrown out / dismissed.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Nisa

[Remix4]

“All we can do is wait to see if the Supreme Court allow the delay,” Mr Chestnutt said. “If they do, they will give him 60 days to form his appeal and then we have got to wait again to see whether the court even accepts the appeal.

“If they do we are looking at staying here for another five to 10 years.”

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

For the love of God sometimes you just need to accept your loses and move on with life ... in this case settle the matter with the freaking landlord ... unless him and his mate want this. He has been living in Asia 20-years and maybe things are going well not working and living off mom and dad.

Settle and plead guilty (after being found NOT GUILTY twice, despite what you believe) and be faced with a jail sentence. Anyway ...

For the umteenth time it is the landlord pursuing the charges and if they satisfy the landlord there is no charges . The only way he faces possible jail time is to keep fighting this. Although there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO PLEAD GUILTY, even if he did he would not face jail time for such an offense (especially if he made restitution) being a first time offender but yes it could effect his ability to stay or return to Thailand. But the bottom line is he is the one who by continuing to not settle with the landlord is keeping this case alive.

If you know about this case then you know it is the landlord filing appeals, the landlord claiming damages and it is the landlord who brought charges. No unhappy landlord = no court case.

I guess we just have to take your word for it then.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Remix4

[Nisa]

“All we can do is wait to see if the Supreme Court allow the delay,” Mr Chestnutt said. “If they do, they will give him 60 days to form his appeal and then we have got to wait again to see whether the court even accepts the appeal.

“If they do we are looking at staying here for another five to 10 years.”

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

For the love of God sometimes you just need to accept your loses and move on with life ... in this case settle the matter with the freaking landlord ... unless him and his mate want this. He has been living in Asia 20-years and maybe things are going well not working and living off mom and dad.

Settle and plead guilty (after being found NOT GUILTY twice, despite what you believe) and be faced with a jail sentence. Anyway ...

For the umteenth time it is the landlord pursuing the charges and if they satisfy the landlord there is no charges . The only way he faces possible jail time is to keep fighting this. Although there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO PLEAD GUILTY, even if he did he would not face jail time for such an offense (especially if he made restitution) being a first time offender but yes it could effect his ability to stay or return to Thailand. But the bottom line is he is the one who by continuing to not settle with the landlord is keeping this case alive.

If you know about this case then you know it is the landlord filing appeals, the landlord claiming damages and it is the landlord who brought charges. No unhappy landlord = no court case.

I guess we just have to take your word for it then.

Not my word as I made clear ... unlike you I have not stated a bunch of claimed information about the case without supporting links ... I am basing my comments on what has been reported, statements the accused and his family have made ... and have provided links.

Edit: oh and I also included information that anyone who lives in Thailand knows in regards to two party disputes like this are almost always settled outside of court and police, prosecutors or courts don't pursue these kinds of charges unless there is a demand from the accuser and even then the police still might not and you have to file the charges yourself. This is a freaking landlord vs. tenant dispute.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Nisa

[chainarong]

There's always two sides to every story , but are we getting the real one from either side???

[Jaffm]

Nisa,

it is clear that Remix 4 is someone who knows from what he has posted and is giving facts which might have been missed in the interviews.

Must he then provide you with links to show that he is a friend of the family?

Edited January 17, 2013 by Jaffm

[Briggsy]

Nisa takes the counterview on many threads and then never lets it go. He has no facts. Perhaps he is training for a debating competition. He must have the last word. This thread is like many others he contributes to.

[mrtoad]

Nisa takes the counterview on many threads and then never lets it go. He has no facts. Perhaps he is training for a debating competition. He must have the last word. This thread is like many others he contributes to.

The block function is very useful

[Asiantravel]

Clearly you know more than I do.

As do the family and the accused in their own words and as reported by BBC and other news sources.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...hester-20589033 (includes video of family)

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ashire-20607769

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

Dont forget tomorrow you can add the links to the BBC Northwest TV interview (live with parents in studio and lee chestnutt via phone at around 6:40pm UK time) and the Granada Reports interview (approx. 6pm tonight - recorded earlier today).

Remix4 obviously a British member of Parliament has put in a lot of work and Lee Chestnutt has been quite fortunate to gain a lot of coverage, including the BBC but what I find hard to understand at this point with so much time gone by is there are still so many questions the public dont know the answers to ? They need to know the full story because Thailand has been such a popular destination for British holidaymakers and they should be aware of all the facts about regarding how it appears you can get into serious trouble here so easily?

Please don't get me wrong I'm not doubting Lee Chestnutt’s version of events at all and in fact this is just a question to you because you seem so knowledgeable about all the events.

Do you think at some point there will be some element of investigative journalism, so that all the facts can be made known and maybe even more background information on the landlord himself and exactly what he is claiming?

I mean one glaring example is you said in one of your earlier posts that the premises were unfurnished so what are the circumstances which led to the landlord claiming that furniture had been stolen?

Edited January 17, 2013 by Asiantravel

[Thai at Heart]

Clearly you know more than I do.

As do the family and the accused in their own words and as reported by BBC and other news sources.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...hester-20589033 (includes video of family)

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ashire-20607769

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

Dont forget tomorrow you can add the links to the BBC Northwest TV interview (live with parents in studio and lee chestnutt via phone at around 6:40pm UK time) and the Granada Reports interview (approx. 6pm tonight - recorded earlier today).

Remix4 obviously a British member of Parliament has put in a lot of work and Lee Chestnutt has been quite fortunate to gain a lot of coverage, including the BBC but what I find hard to understand at this point with so much time gone by is there are still so many questions the public dont know the answers to ? They need to know the full story because Thailand has been such a popular destination for British holidaymakers and they should be aware of all the facts about regarding how it appears you can get into serious trouble here so easily?

Please don't get me wrong I'm not doubting Lee Chestnutt’s version of events at all and in fact this is just a question to you because you seem so knowledgeable about all the events.

Do you think at some point there will be some element of investigative journalism, so that all the facts can be made known and maybe even more background information on the landlord himself and exactly what he is claiming?

I mean one glaring example is you said in one of your earlier posts that the premises were unfurnished so what are the circumstances which led to the landlord claiming that furniture had been stolen?

One would imagine they don't want to prejudice the system over here, by publishing too much about the story. Save that up for once he is free.

[SOTIRIOS]

...no...it is about a jealous, resentful, conniving, greedy Thai wanting to 'stick it to' a foreigner....

(...we are not aware of what came before or after....of a personal nature or not...between the 2 parties....)

[Asiantravel]

As do the family and the accused in their own words and as reported by BBC and other news sources.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...hester-20589033 (includes video of family)

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ashire-20607769

http://www.chiangrai...news/12776.html

Dont forget tomorrow you can add the links to the BBC Northwest TV interview (live with parents in studio and lee chestnutt via phone at around 6:40pm UK time) and the Granada Reports interview (approx. 6pm tonight - recorded earlier today).

Remix4 obviously a British member of Parliament has put in a lot of work and Lee Chestnutt has been quite fortunate to gain a lot of coverage, including the BBC but what I find hard to understand at this point with so much time gone by is there are still so many questions the public dont know the answers to ? They need to know the full story because Thailand has been such a popular destination for British holidaymakers and they should be aware of all the facts about regarding how it appears you can get into serious trouble here so easily?

Please don't get me wrong I'm not doubting Lee Chestnutt’s version of events at all and in fact this is just a question to you because you seem so knowledgeable about all the events.

Do you think at some point there will be some element of investigative journalism, so that all the facts can be made known and maybe even more background information on the landlord himself and exactly what he is claiming?

I mean one glaring example is you said in one of your earlier posts that the premises were unfurnished so what are the circumstances which led to the landlord claiming that furniture had been stolen?

One would imagine they don't want to prejudice the system over here, by publishing too much about the story. Save that up for once he is free.

I understand what you're saying maybe as far as the BBC is concerned, but I could hardly imagine one of the British tabloids exercising such restraint if they knew there was a potentially sensational headline they could capitalise on?

Edited January 17, 2013 by Asiantravel

[Thai at Heart]

I understand what you're saying maybe as far as the BBC is concerned, but I could hardly imagine one of the British tabloids exercising such restraint if they knew there was a potentially sensational headline they could capitalise on?

If I was in his shoes, I wouldn't want to do anything that would annoy the judges in the case. If that meant, keeping schtum until after the event, I would keep well and truly schtum.

There is very little public discussion of court cases in Thailand until after the case closes, and then normally they only mention the judgement. I definitely wouldn't want the Sunday Mail getting on its high horse about how good (or more likely bad) the Thai judicial system was, whilst I was still in court. I would presume his family have all been advised by their lawyers to say nothing about the facts of the case until after the event.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

The landlord is a high-ranking police officer. The accused, is not free of blame, as he is wanted in connection with other incidents in Thailand, but those are civil matters, not criminal. I have no sympathy for this guy.

[Jaffm]

Asian Travel:

Maybe he broke his tenancy agreement and moved out of the house before the contract ends. The landlord (who remix4 had mentioned is an ex high post government offical and an embassy official) is not happy that he did this and thus tries to extort money from him. 'Kaching: $ signs rolling in the eyes'

Thai At Heart: I think you're right about what BBC can and cannot say and I think they might just have to be careful, he is after all still in Bangkok.

From what I gather from this radio interview (see link below ), the ex-landlord has requested for an extension to appeal to the supreme court late. The courts should not have entertained his request because it was not submitted within the time limit.

1:02 hr mark news headline

1:08 hr mark interview with LC and family

2:02 hr mark news headline

2:08 hr mark interview with the MP

http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/p012wgg8

Edited January 17, 2013 by Jaffm

[jimbeam1]

Nisa takes the counterview on many threads and then never lets it go. He has no facts. Perhaps he is training for a debating competition. He must have the last word. This thread is like many others he contributes to.

As I have said to him before, There are none so blind as they who will not see?

He just loves to bait, then reel people in. It did take a little time on this thread, but he succeeded in the end.

jb1

Edited January 17, 2013 by jimbeam1

[Asiantravel]

The landlord is a high-ranking police officer. The accused, is not free of blame, as he is wanted in connection with other incidents in Thailand, but those are civil matters, not criminal. I have no sympathy for this guy.

The landlord is a high-ranking police officer.

Surely that in itself deserves more scrutiny? For example was that the reason the plaintiff was able to lodge the latest appeal even though it was out of time? Would an ordinary Thai citizen have won the right to continue even though it was outside the prescribed time limit?

[Card]

The Thai authorities let criminals like Thaksin and many more leave the country but keep a Brit here for a minor offence.

In any case, rental properties usually come with a deductible deposit for cases where damage has been done. If not, then the landlord was being stupid.

[Remix4]

The landlord is a high-ranking police officer. The accused, is not free of blame, as he is wanted in connection with other incidents in Thailand, but those are civil matters, not criminal. I have no sympathy for this guy.

The accused is NOT wanted at all in connection with any other matters criminal or civil

[Asiantravel]

The Thai authorities let criminals like Thaksin and many more leave the country but keep a Brit here for a minor offence.

In any case, rental properties usually come with a deductible deposit for cases where damage has been done. If not, then the landlord was being stupid.

The inconsistency is glaring when you compare this case with the guy who ran over and killed a police officer in his Ferrari while he was high on narcotics who was then only required to pay peanuts in compensation from his family fortune and without any jail time

Edited January 17, 2013 by Asiantravel

[BuffaloRescue]

what you do is go to one of the land borders. wait for a day when you see a sign appologising for delay as the computers are broken which is quite frequent. Then leave. LOL

[HeijoshinCool]

Face is the single most expensive commodity in Thailand.

[Considered Opinion]

kill someone with gun or car and you got free on bail for few thousand baht and disappear...... brake a chair and scratch a table and you are stuck here and they refuse to let you go ..... what kind of justice is that ? it seems there are 2 justices here one for thais and one for farang . how nice is that ?

Ahhhh .... Light hath dawned...

[monkeycountry]

Just out of general curiosity. If someone (not Mr. Lee) is forced to stay in Thailand by a court, has no money and no family or bank who can/will pay, and is not allowed to work in Thailand. Then who pays for food, shelter etc? Is Thailand, or the persons home country legally obliged to pay?

You are forced to pay. The Thai government and the UK government WILL DO NOTHING with regards to financial support

I am sure you are right with regards to the governments, but my question still stands. If you are not allowed to work, and not entitled to any form of welfare, which a foreigner in Thailand is not, then what money are you supposed to pay with?

Edited January 17, 2013 by monkeycountry

[Remix4]

Just out of general curiosity. If someone (not Mr. Lee) is forced to stay in Thailand by a court, has no money and no family or bank who can/will pay, and is not allowed to work in Thailand. Then who pays for food, shelter etc? Is Thailand, or the persons home country legally obliged to pay?

You are forced to pay. The Thai government and the UK government WILL DO NOTHING with regards to financial support

I am sure you are right with regards to the governments, but my question still stands. If you are not allowed to work, and not entitled to any form of welfare, which a foreigner in Thailand is not, then what money are you supposed to pay with?

Your own. Try one of the charities maybe - although if you arent a drug courier who's actually guilty then they arent generally interested!

You could try begging or routing through dustbins for scraps of food but then again that would constitute work I guess!

Edited January 17, 2013 by Remix4

[A Member]

Come the 2nd of Feb he could apply to the 50m baht foreigners in distress fund?

If it ever exists what's the bet no one will ever qualify but the govt will produce annual figures to show X amount was used from the fund and no one will ever actually be told who was helped except the civil servants and politicians who have helped themselves

[Para]

Your own. Try one of the charities maybe - although if you arent a drug courier who's actually guilty then they arent generally interested!

You could try begging or routing through dustbins for scraps of food but then again that would constitute work I guess!

This is what people don't understand when you are stuck in the Thai legal system no one is there to help you. The Embassy has no interest, any of the prisoner abroad charities will only help if you are actually in prison.

As Remix4 says you have to support yourself but without the correct visa paperwork any work would be illegal and leave him open to further prosecution.

[chrisrazz]

Whatever way this ends, it is further bad news for Thailand. A newzealander is murdered and the offender is bailed and leaves the country, yet a case having been dismissed is continuing for years and an innocent is not allowed to leave the country. These stories need to be given world wide exposure. Thailand is amazing, but not in the sense the ads like to portray. It is also the land of smiles. Yet behind the smile lurks avarice and greed.

If the landlord is a former high ranking police officer, I'd like to know how he amassed the wealth to become a landlord. He must have saved his hard earned salary for many years to achieve such wealth, or did he practice the same wealth creation techniques he is now using, extortion and corruption and having failed is trying to use his knowledge of the system and his contacts within it the save 'face'.

Thailand needs an independent corruption commission to investigate the wealth of every current and former government official, police or military officer and their wives and families. It must have the power to prosecute and strip offenders of their assets and jobs, with jail terms, these people are the scourge of the nation, and if the nation is concerned about 'face' it needs to get on with the job post haste as Thailand is losing 'face' on a daily basis.