Shocker ! ! ! Andrew Drummond Leaving Thailand

[Showbags]

Thailand deserves what it gets....i hope he spills the dirt on all the local riff raff from a distance...not just the foreign fools....open a can of worms to do you proud AD.....on ALL Thai subjects.

[redandyellow]

Yes, he was a brave soldier and I am sad to see him leave.

But he was just a blogger and not an investigative journalist. He got many facts wrong for most of the articles that I was interested in reading. That lost him a lot of credibility - it's a pity he did not posses professional skills. I do believe he stepped on some toes and that's good he did. Hope his work and risk taking will benefit in some way.

You've labelled him incorrectly IMHO, but you have the right, so consider backing it up, to provide some meat to your allegation, regarding his "professional skills.." et al..

..That's a pretty big diss, to a guy that has worked diligently, under threat of death in LOS, unlike myself, and I would assume you as well.. Here's a summary:

Brief Bio: Andrew Drummond has covered South East Asia as a journalist for The Observer, The Observer Film Company, London Evening Standard, The Times (10 years) and more recently the London Evening Standard again. He also regularly broadcasts from Bangkok and stories by him have also been syndicated world wide.

His television documentaries in this region include

No Man Wants to Die - Exposing a worldwide drugs syndicate

Burma's Forgotten War - with the Karen National Liberation Army

Lord of the Golden Triangle - living with drugs warlord Khun Sa

He also has featured heavily and employed in other documentaries including 'Garden City Killer' on serial killer John Martin Scripps, The Sex Slave Trade, and Who Killed Kirsty Jones?

Andrew Drummond and Andrew Chant tracked down pedophile Paul Gadd (Gary Glitter) in Vietnam following which the former rocker was arrested on child abuse charges.

...Just exposing pedophile Glitter is pretty professional to me, never mind all the rest, therefore, on that alone, RY and faxx will have to agree to disagree..

Signed,

What have you done for me lately..

[fishingforsquid]

Yes, he was a brave soldier and I am sad to see him leave.

But he was just a blogger and not an investigative journalist. He got many facts wrong for most of the articles that I was interested in reading. That lost him a lot of credibility - it's a pity he did not posses professional skills. I do believe he stepped on some toes and that's good he did. Hope his work and risk taking will benefit in some way.

His spelling and syntax was terrible, an error in just about every 'post'

[redandyellow]

Yes, he was a brave soldier and I am sad to see him leave.

But he was just a blogger and not an investigative journalist. He got many facts wrong for most of the articles that I was interested in reading. That lost him a lot of credibility - it's a pity he did not posses professional skills. I do believe he stepped on some toes and that's good he did. Hope his work and risk taking will benefit in some way.

His spelling and syntax was terrible, an error in just about every 'post'

In general, you have a decent point, as does faxx, but it doesn't take away from the good he did, at minimum, he damn sure stirred the pot, pardon the syntax..

He seems like the type of guy that will not be stopped unless murdered, a real dogmatic investigator, not the world's greatest speller, when he finally realized it, he dutifully took the high road, can anyone really blame him?

Signed,

It's not a piano

[Robroona]

Yes, he was a brave soldier and I am sad to see him leave.

But he was just a blogger and not an investigative journalist. He got many facts wrong for most of the articles that I was interested in reading. That lost him a lot of credibility - it's a pity he did not posses professional skills. I do believe he stepped on some toes and that's good he did. Hope his work and risk taking will benefit in some way.

Which one are you? Dumb or Dumber? He has been an investigative journalist for many years for UK newspapers and TV.

You just lost any credibility here

[redandyellow]

Yes, he was a brave soldier and I am sad to see him leave.

But he was just a blogger and not an investigative journalist. He got many facts wrong for most of the articles that I was interested in reading. That lost him a lot of credibility - it's a pity he did not posses professional skills. I do believe he stepped on some toes and that's good he did. Hope his work and risk taking will benefit in some way.

Which one are you? Dumb or Dumber? He has been an investigative journalist for many years for UK newspapers and TV.

You just lost any credibility here

Ya, that's the sound of common sense talking..

Signed,

What Marie Antoinette said, that pissed off a lot of folks in low places..

[StealthEnergiser]

Its shame to see him going he has helped many people and exposed others including running the story of the beauty clinic and a past chairmen of the Pattaya expats club who was charged with extortion , i think found guilty but being defended.

There are not good people like Andrew it takes a lot of guts and risk and it is very unfortunate that he is not recognised more and protected from crooks finding loopholes to attack journalists.

[Jessi]

Yes, he was a brave soldier and I am sad to see him leave.

But he was just a blogger and not an investigative journalist. He got many facts wrong for most of the articles that I was interested in reading. That lost him a lot of credibility - it's a pity he did not posses professional skills. I do believe he stepped on some toes and that's good he did. Hope his work and risk taking will benefit in some way.

Which one are you? Dumb or Dumber? He has been an investigative journalist for many years for UK newspapers and TV.

You just lost any credibility here

I agree with faxx. He was not an investigative journalist "Boot lace"

He wrote some interesting stories with a lot of mistakes. He also wrote a lot of articles that were not true or only partly true. He has been fronted on several occasions both in person and on the net but he refused to correct his mistakes as he was just looking for head lines that will sell.

To balance things up he has exposed some real bad people in Thailand and I hope he keeps up this work, most likely will expose even more now he is outside Thailand.

He has posted a picture of his Children on his site and if he fears for his family's safety that is a dumb thing to do.

In closing I wish him well in his new life.

[Robroona]

Yes, he was a brave soldier and I am sad to see him leave.

But he was just a blogger and not an investigative journalist. He got many facts wrong for most of the articles that I was interested in reading. That lost him a lot of credibility - it's a pity he did not posses professional skills. I do believe he stepped on some toes and that's good he did. Hope his work and risk taking will benefit in some way.

Which one are you? Dumb or Dumber? He has been an investigative journalist for many years for UK newspapers and TV.

You just lost any credibility here

I agree with faxx. He was not an investigative journalist "Boot lace"

He wrote some interesting stories with a lot of mistakes. He also wrote a lot of articles that were not true or only partly true. He has been fronted on several occasions both in person and on the net but he refused to correct his mistakes as he was just looking for head lines that will sell.

To balance things up he has exposed some real bad people in Thailand and I hope he keeps up this work, most likely will expose even more now he is outside Thailand.

He has posted a picture of his Children on his site and if he fears for his family's safety that is a dumb thing to do.

In closing I wish him well in his new life.

It was a blog. Which headlines did he try to sell? He was always appealing for donations to get these court cases fought, he came up against some scary people, pity he has to leave, but more the pity that there are people on here too ready to denigrate the man and the fights he fought

[simon43]

I wonder whether some of the posters here who demean his professional journalism have been/are the subject of some of his investigations.

Andrew is a professional, investigative journalist of high calibre, with many industry awards for his work. Yes, I've seen typos and syntax errors on his website, but which are quickly corrected and do not detract from the sense of the article.

[WitawatWatawit]

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

[Beetlejuice]

Thai visa can be made criminally liable for permitting certain types of news information that may not be from credible or official sources to be published on their forums, especially when accusations are made against people prior to them being found guilty in a court of law. TV has to always cover it`s own behind the same as we all do in Thailand.

As regards the exposures of iffy farangs in Thailand, this I guess is not such a difficult task considering that many farangs are into some sorts of dodgy dealings here. Up here in Chiang Mai the behind the scenes crooked business owners are easy to find and for anyone taking a keen interest would find it easy to seek them out and expose their activities that actually doesn`t involve a lot of skill in the process.

If the Thai authorities were really serious about taking foreign law breakers and criminals to task, then they could create an anonymous hotline for people to report them, as is done by the police in the UK. But the way the present situation stands, someone like Andrew Drummond is up against the odds entirely on his own, with no backup or support, in actually a thankless task and therefore a losing battle. I think he has made a wise decision getting himself and family out of Thailand.

[dragonfly94]

I think Drummond did good work, but some of it ended up as petty personal disputes along the lines of galt/stickman and that did not come over as very professional. Also he promoted himself as a sensationalist journalist, yet wanted to be looked on seriously. He recently 'exposed' this site as having links with some go go bars and tended to have a vindictive streak along with sometimes not checking his facts properly on his targets. He had many good points and was certainly courageous, but I think the fact that he got banned from about every Thai forum says something about his ability to get on with people. I would say he was basically a good bloke but with a few serious flaws.

I wish him good luck, he will need it in freezing UK!

Edited January 18, 2015 by dragonfly94

[NickJ]

I for one will miss him. I have read him for years........

[VillageIdiot]

Wish him well, he looks to have a lovely trio of kids who deserve better than growing up in a corrupt

3rd world $h!thole....

Yeah, Thailand is that and a whole lot more.

Drummond and his family are going to die of boredom and bad weather in the UK.

Thailand can be dangerous but it's never dull.

[cooked]

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

The mods should be carefully looking at that site it does not look legitimate .

This is a site that is run by one of his arch enemies and cannot be taken seriously. Drummond appealed against that decision and recently won, which is why he is now leaving I imagine.

[Beetlejuice]

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

The mods should be carefully looking at that site it does not look legitimate .

I just checked out that site, it appears to be some form of amateur template build your own site job, the contact links are disabled, no means or discovering who runs that site and seems to be dummy news articles mostly pertaining to company directors published by people who bear grudges perhaps competitors that can publish false information about anyone.

I found it rather scary and is another good reason why to always keep a low profile and never get involved in Thailand.

[StealthEnergiser]

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

The mods should be carefully looking at that site it does not look legitimate .

I just checked out that site, it appears to be some form of amateur template build your own site job, the contact links are disabled, no means or discovering who runs that site and seems to be dummy news articles mostly pertaining to company directors published by people who bear grudges perhaps competitors that can publish false information about anyone.

I found it rather scary and is another good reason why to always keep a low profile and never get involved in Thailand.

yes it looks very childish may just an irrelevant person trying to make a lot of noise

Edited January 18, 2015 by StealthEnergiser

[HidyHo]

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.

[PINKERPINKER]

As someone who has travelled extensively throughout Thailand, having been based there through work and also through frequent holidays there, I generally visited four websites quite often, each for varying reasons; Thai Visa, Trip Advisor, Stickman and Drummond. Andrew Drummond was especially good at exposing the gutter trash of the expat community and I for one thank him for his efforts and hope he can continue on with the site wherever he may be based.

[bender92]

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.

Please explain what is Google?

[asdecas]

You know the Asian saying about messing with someone else's rice bowl... AD has ruffled more than a few feathers over the years...

There seems to be an entire segment of old timers that have had it with Thailand and are moving on... Things were always better in the "old days" to these guys... I wish them well where ever they go, because the entire world has changed in the last 20 years and the "old days" are long gone in a lot of places...

You are of course correct, I have been here 37 years straight and prior to that was stationed here during the Vietnam War. I can't return home to NY or any other city. I have made my bed and here I will die. Sure the place has gone to the dogs but now they're my dogs too. At 67, a widower with two grown children where would a pensioner like me return to the bliss that is America with their whiny women and entitled princesses? No thanks I will take my chances here with my fluent Thai, massages and overpriced wine and cheese.

Good on ya!

Back in the late '80s I interviewed an eminent but sickly old French archaeologist who lived in a wooden villa on Sri Ayutthaya Road (I think) in Bangkok. He regaled me with tales of Northern Thailand in the early '50s which set my head spinning.

Even as young people, some of us feel nostalgia for a past we have never known, only read about or seen in newsreel or fictionalised in films. As we grow older, it's common to regret that the days we knew have passed. If Loptr hasn't experienced the sensation, he will.

I just hope he doesn't bang on about it when the time comes.

[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.

Please explain what is Google?

Edited January 18, 2015 by cooked

[harrycallahan]

There's a good way to play this. Those with the dirt can have it published via an off-shore Drummond. What are they going to do when he's not even in the country? I'd reckon even now a lot of his info comes from remote sources.

[joeyg]

Just read a bunch of stuff on Andrew's blog. Even if it is only half true it was pretty eye opening.

[Suradit69]

Yes smart people with an opinion are unwanted here...

I thought this thread was about Andrew Drummond.

[jaapfries]

Very, very sad to see you go; for more than one reason . . . . . . . . . . .

[evadgib]

Je suis Andrew.

(I can feel an 'I'm Spartacus' thread coming on:) )

[Johnnie99]

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.

[Card]

You know the Asian saying about messing with someone else's rice bowl... AD has ruffled more than a few feathers over the years...

There seems to be an entire segment of old timers that have had it with Thailand and are moving on... Things were always better in the "old days" to these guys... I wish them well where ever they go, because the entire world has changed in the last 20 years and the "old days" are long gone in a lot of places...

You are of course correct, I have been here 37 years straight and prior to that was stationed here during the Vietnam War. I can't return home to NY or any other city. I have made my bed and here I will die. Sure the place has gone to the dogs but now they're my dogs too. At 67, a widower with two grown children where would a pensioner like me return to the bliss that is America with their whiny women and entitled princesses? No thanks I will take my chances here with my fluent Thai, massages and overpriced wine and cheese.

If it wasn't for my Thai partner I would consider moving away from Thailand after 11 years here. Unfortunately, I find Thais are becoming increasingly pushy and disrespectful, even to old guys like me. I see so much selfishness and bad manners around that it makes me fume. Some of it is also very dangerous, especially inconsiderate driving. I could live in many places around the world, but I'm kinda stuck here, although it's not too bad. It's just that it's getting worse all the time..

Edited January 18, 2015 by Card