Shocker ! ! ! Andrew Drummond Leaving Thailand

[cooked]

Please next time explain who is who

If you don't know, it doesn't matter. If you can't be bothered to use Google, it matters even less.

Crass comment.

If it is supposed to be 'news' on Thaivisa', either the person should actually be well known or the article should explain who this person is.

Well he is pretty well known amongst expats that are curious about things and take an interest in things. I just realised that people that don't know who he is will come up with noisy websites (34 in all I believe) that tell untruths and half-truths. We can't tell you all about it because.

Because we would be banned.

[loonodingle]

Leaving or left???.

Can't believe he would announce before he done it. That's giving get his enemies a last gasp to get hold off him. As he claims he has had death threats that are credible.

I would be on the plane before I announced anything.

[bkkjames]

Investigative journalism is hard in Thailand.

Too bad that a critical voice goes.

yea, especially liked when he posted photos in the Mail of a couple of UK big wigs having a beer in Nana Plaza lol

[loonodingle]

The world is a much better place with the likes of Andrew Drummond, who is as brave as any soldier. He knows the best (his Thai wife and kids, the food, most of the people, etc..) and the worst of Thailand, an utter dichotomy that would be beyond comprehension for many, but for journalists like Andrew, and Phuketwan Editor Alan Morison, who also fits the category of brave warrior, although these folks would deny it, such is their modest mentality..

But when the lowest common denominator of foreign scum pays off corrupt Thai police, and other assorted thugs, for any number of nefarious activities, where morals and ethics are found at the end of a gun barrel, or at the tip of a machete...whether we are reading about no good Goudie on Andrew Drummond.com, or the marginalized Rohingya on Phuketwan.com.

According to the thugs, Mr. Drummond's best-buy date was up years ago, yet he remains relatively fresh, quite undaunted, however cognizant that he has a family that has to come first. He's smart enough to know that he'd be little use to his cherished family, if the thugs (farang and Thai) got their way.

Whether Islam extremists, corrupt Thai police, or expat criminals languishing in Pattaya, all those with the conscience of a plastic flower, with the morals and ethics of a cornered rat, need to be put under the spotlight, or else the rats will continue their depravities, their scams, their murders unabated...in murky shadows, where they prefer to be of course.

Virtually every one of them are cowards, when isolated. Consequently, folks of this ilk stick together, like sh-- on a blanket.

Journalists like Andrew and Alan are in the same category as Charlie Hebdo, they are modest, albeit imperfect people, light years ahead of their adversaries, in terms of a moral compass. Now it's up to readers of conscience, to help them, to emulate them in some small way, like sharing information that could save lives. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Is that you Andrew? ????

its obviously some sort of journalists. Nice paragraphs. Precise use of the Englit langwich. . Lol..

[choorot]

Good....not because he has to leave....maybe now he will just cut loose on everything he knows....from a distant locale...sit back and hopefully watch the implosion...

Sure something to watch for...

[gvan]

Not going to miss him! Just a sleaze 'journalist any how. Maybe if you investigate before you publish, you get sued less? '

[StealthEnergiser]

Not going to miss him! Just a sleaze 'journalist any how. Maybe if you investigate before you publish, you get sued less? '

What are you referring to ?

[dragonfly94]

One less Farang in Thailand. Take some more with you buddy.

How about you next? Iam pretty sure AD contributed far more to Thailand than you ever will.

But is he banned from here, and why if he is such a good contributer?

[Konini]

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.

[dbrenn]

I'd also never heard of him, but looking at some of his articles, I'd say that he's a very brave man.

[Robroona]

This must be the first time that a thread on Andrew Drummond or his activities has been allowed to run so long on Thai Visa. Any mention of his activities were quickly snuffed out by the moderators, which made one wonder if the TV hierarchy were also part of the cover ups of the cr iminal fraternity.

No I think it was mainly due to the fact that he was trying to get people over to his web site and run off the back of TV.v

TV don't like this kind of thing and I don't blame them.

I think you are being silly here. Thai Visa and the AD site are completely different animals. His articles were being run by other, smaller sites

[EyesWideOpen]

I will miss him, as I have read many of his articles. Wonder if he got the polite " leave or

else" routine. In any event once he leaves here, I suspect he will then be free to let loose

with both barrels. He may become like the CSI LA guy on Facebook who points out

things that are wrong with Thailand from the safety of America..... :-)

[sambum]

Investigative journalism is hard in Thailand.

Too bad that a critical voice goes.

yea, especially liked when he posted photos in the Mail of a couple of UK big wigs having a beer in Nana Plaza lol

So?

[cooked]

Not going to miss him! Just a sleaze 'journalist any how. Maybe if you investigate before you publish, you get sued less? '

What are you referring to ?

Being sued by convicted criminals doesn't mean you are a sleaze bag, does it?

[EyesWideOpen]

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...

[Robroona]

Good riddance,,,I just googled him,,,, he is a bad apple no loss.

And you, Sir, are an idiot

[4u2mad]

I met the gentleman in question and spent a few days chatting off and on. I can only say that I would never put myself in his position, as a long term expat. What he was involved in took a great deal of courage to expose. All I can do is wish him and his family all the best back in the UK

[GuestHouse]

Regardless of whether you like Andrew Drummond's style of journalism or not, his departure is a very negative step for the expat community in Thailand.

Andrew has single handedly exposed the criminality of a number of expats who's income was derived from defrauding other expats.

The people he has exposed have painted themselves as respectable businessmen and have used Thailand's draconian libel laws to silence any exposure of their crimes.

These people haver brought libel charges against Andrew, each one of which, no matter how trivial, places him at risk of being imprisoned while he asks for and finds bail.

Consider then, a father of young children being continually dragged to court on trumpeted up cases, not knowing if he will be able to return home to his children.

I don't simply admire Andrew for his journalism, I have immense respect for his commitment and bravery - I and every law abiding foreigner in Thailand owe him a debt of gratitude for exposing foreign crooks and the dangers they pose to expats.

As we see from the posts above, he has the respect of so many TVF members - a respect he has earned the hard way.

I wish him all the best for his future.

He deserves better than the treatment he has received here.

[wilcopops]

A true professional, he was one of the few people living in Thailand who was not affraid to give an accurate picture of what is happening.

That dreadful word "harmony" comes to mind...something that in the eyes of the rich and powerful he disrupted far too often.

If you want to get an idea of how all pervading this attitude is, just read Mr Biggs' article on Zigzags in last Sunday's unmentionable.

Let's hope that once free of the restrictions of those men in grey, he will feel free to write what he actually sees as the real situation.

Those who think his work is ill-researched should realise that as an "only voice" most of his evidence and sources are in fact suppressed in Thailand. However many can be checked on places like wikileaks...

Edited January 18, 2015 by wilcopops

[kevin2852]

Congratulations redandyellow, You have said it like it is. Andrew is one of the few who has always spoken out and he will be sorely missed here

[daveAustin]

Not surprising to see some people slagging him off. Aside from a lack of brain power and perception, what would be the reason for doing so, I wonder, other than perhaps you have shady goings-on here brought to light by him?

[WitawatWatawit]

Well put guesthouse (#114). Couldn't have said it better. The fact that he's a gibberer when drunk (well, he is a Scot) doesn't detract from his courage in facing some very dodgy characters.

I think a lot of people fail to understand that the day of the investigative journalist is pretty much over. Few newspapers or media outlets have the resources these days, even the famed Wall Street Journal. So for Drummond to hoist his flag in uncertain waters was very commendable and courageous.

[BlackJack]

When they start going after your family and your kids then you do what every good Dad would do.

LEAVE and go to a safe place, then soldier on.

[Chicagoan]

Who is A. Drummond. cliff-notes please.

Here's the link: www.google.com

[beautifulthailand99]

First Marshall now Drumond tis truly an exodus of Andrew named truthseekers.

[HooHaa]

Maybe checkout the real reason: http://casewatchasia.blogspot.sg/2015/01/convicted-journalist-andrew-drummond_17.html

Oh dear this does not look good, never realized he had been convicted. Now he has skipped bail I don't suppose he will be able to come back to Thailand. Lovely kids and probably the right thing to do taking them to the UK anyway, every cloud has a silver lining.

Nothing exemplifies that better than the piece of work who masqueraded as John Gant. Basically a disturbed individual living in Nakhon Nowhere who took it upon himself to try to ruin people like Stickman simply because they didnt indulge his deluded sense of his own importance, but the scary part is that he had a legion of followers who lapped it up. The 'Convicted journalist' piece amply illustrates how easy it is to defame someone, apparently from a blog based in Singapore, without any threat of retribution (nor any apparent HTML coding skills). I wish Drummond every success in his new life.

given the fact that the individual you refer to called himself "John Galt", it would seem that you fact checking is on a par with drummond's.

[MrWorldwide]

Not surprising to see some people slagging him off. Aside from a lack of brain power and perception, what would be the reason for doing so, I wonder, other than perhaps you have shady goings-on here brought to light by him?

Sadly, there are enough grumpy old buggers on this forum to account for a lot of it - I expect that Stickman's departure will be greeted in the same fashion. The difference, as I see it, is that Stick became very hesitant to name people or even bars when the real world implications of doing so became apparent to him - Drummond doesnt appear to have backed off at all.

[philw]

Regardless of whether you like Andrew Drummond's style of journalism or not, his departure is a very negative step for the expat community in Thailand.

Andrew has single handedly exposed the criminality of a number of expats who's income was derived from defrauding other expats.

The people he has exposed have painted themselves as respectable businessmen and have used Thailand's draconian libel laws to silence any exposure of their crimes.

These people haver brought libel charges against Andrew, each one of which, no matter how trivial, places him at risk of being imprisoned while he asks for and finds bail.

Consider then, a father of young children being continually dragged to court on trumpeted up cases, not knowing if he will be able to return home to his children.

I don't simply admire Andrew for his journalism, I have immense respect for his commitment and bravery - I and every law abiding foreigner in Thailand owe him a debt of gratitude for exposing foreign crooks and the dangers they pose to expats.

As we see from the posts above, he has the respect of so many TVF members - a respect he has earned the hard way.

I wish him all the best for his future.

He deserves better than the treatment he has received here.

Very well put and an accurate summation.

Drummond has balls and his absence will be missed.

He exposed crooks and charlatans and I wish him well for the future.

[liddelljohn]

ffax you are completely wron,,, drummond is a very good investigative journalist,, he has to couch many of his blogs and other articles in obscure ways to avoid Thailands outrageous and draconian libel laws used by mafia and crimos to bury the truth.

i sorry to see him go as he is a brave man ,, i have also sent information and evidence to him over the years and also gone up against the dark forces here with some success and some near misses s,including threats from criminals and Thai officials to desist ..But my situation is different to Andrews i am not a proffessional like him and can get under the radar, and have other ways of making a living

,, he also has young kids , and some of my thai family is connected in HISO/ military and also very anti corruption circles so maybe i have some protection???

[blowin]

Sorry to see this as he is a brave man and a champion of freedom of free speech . Not like some of the rags in Pattaya!! Good luck Andrew if you read this and bad Karma to the scum he tried to expose which I am sure are reading this .