British academic detained in Thailand after exposing official as plagiarist

[ozyjon]

In what page in the book of excuses

did that come out of?

Whats on the next page.

What © law?

[Traveller45]

Everyone is commenting this with countless variations of saying "Doesn't surprise me" etc. Such things happen everywhere, though, in many places much worse (Russia etc.). Try to do such a thing in Dubai, for example. Doesn't make it any better, no, but please keep in mind that we are guests here. We are not citizens. We should behave accordingly, i.e. with some reserve. Whistleblow, if whistleblow you must, in your own country. There is enough dirt under the carpet, usually. Leave cleaning up Thailand to the Thais.

[KonaRain]

BBC originally reported that the plagiarist was sacked from university

???

[KonaRain]

my browser..double post

I see he was stripped of PHD..

thanks

Edited September 7, 2015 by KonaRain

[Tep]

A lot of misinformed posters on this thread. Dr Ellis is not a Thai citizen. Here is what he actually relayed to the press after being arrested on Thursday at Suvannaphumi Airport.

“On presentation of my UK passport, I was told I was blacklisted as a 'danger to Thai society' . I've been detailed in a holding cell in the transit area of Suvarnabhumi since then.

“The Immigration Police showed me my file, which contained a report stating that in Dec 2009 Supachai wrote to the Immigration Department claiming that I was a forger and plagiarist, and demanding my blacklisting.

Better than a Thai prison but 'it ain't half hot in here'

“The Immigration Departtment kindly obliged without question. But I only came to know of this last Thursday.

“The NIA had written to the Immigration Chief, revoking the original complaint, so they have no grounds for retaining the blacklisting, or for denying immediate entry into Thailand. We have asked the Immigration Chief to lift the blacklisting on Monday.

The timing of Supachai’s letter suggests that the Innovation Agency Director wanted Professor Ellis to leave Thailand and not return during his cases, which he would have won by default.

British consular services have been informed.

“I haven’t heard a peep out of them, A man at the Foreign Office said nothing could be done until Monday.”

Some very clear and useful information. Dr. Ellis has been released from the detention centre and has now entered Thailand since Immigration has confirmed that he is no longer on the blacklist http://fccthai.com/items/1741.html

This was not a conspiracy involving state agencies. It was an improper use of authority by a weasel who was trying to cover his backside. As DG of NIA, the plagiarist had formal authority and use this authority to communicate officially to the Immigration Department. His agency then rescinded that communication and clearly administrative procedures at Immigration did not capture this. Once this was established, then Dr. Ellis was immediately released. Unfair? Certainly. A national conspiracy? No.

Government officials have certain authorities and powers under the law and a formal communication from one agency to another agency has the force of regulation and must be acted upon. As an example, under the old ranking system, officials of C6 and higher had the authority to provide surety for persons arrested and have them granted bail for some offences.

I am confused though about the citizenship issue. The FCCT in an earlier Tweet had referred to Dr. Ellis' dual nationality but my understanding is that naturalised Thais cannot enter the country on any passport other than their Thai passport and in this case, Immigration have no authority over a Thai citizen and certainly cannot detail or deport a Thai citizen on immigration charges. Different sources have different information on this issue.

I support most of the posters here who expressed a deep sense of unfairness about this case. I have followed Dr. Ellis' case for a number of years. There are systemic issues at play here, but essentially Dr. Ellis had the misfortune to associate with an a-hole and is having to deal with the fall out as bet he can. The system could provide more equitable assistance.

The hoary old chestnut of 'we are only guests here' has raised its pathetic head in this thread. I guess some people are too willing to trade their balls for cheap sex. The Thai constitution, or at least what-ever form of constitution is finally approved will say that everyone is equal under the law. Requiring equal protection is not whistle-blowing, it is natural justice. A 30 year resident who has contributed significantly to Thai society and national development with an international career and reputation being lectured to keep his head down and don't rock the boat is pretty gutless in my view.

[Thai at Heart]

Why doesn't everyone take a copy of this link and post it all over Chulalongkorn Facebook pages.

I have just done a few. The university should be incredibly embarrassed about this.

[Thai at Heart]

Everyone is commenting this with countless variations of saying "Doesn't surprise me" etc. Such things happen everywhere, though, in many places much worse (Russia etc.). Try to do such a thing in Dubai, for example. Doesn't make it any better, no, but please keep in mind that we are guests here. We are not citizens. We should behave accordingly, i.e. with some reserve. Whistleblow, if whistleblow you must, in your own country. There is enough dirt under the carpet, usually. Leave cleaning up Thailand to the Thais.

Absolute <deleted> . There is a professional code of conduct in the teaching profession and this Thai shmuck just broke it hands down. Now he is dragging the whole story into the public domain. Good on the Foreign professor I say.

Give it a day or two.

The farang guy will countersue the pants of this Thai charlatan.

[Thai at Heart]

Hasn't he flown anywhere since 2009? How come this came to light now?

[wooloomooloo]

About time the British embassy warned Thailand that they will slap a travel advisory on Thailand if he is not released immediately.

Fair point, but, unfortunately, our travel insurance is out of the window.

[Thai at Heart]

http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/fry_in_thailand.php?page=all

What a shocking story.

[NOC]

I hope Thailand gets punished by the international community for all it's disgusting behaviour. Thailand has no shame and those responsible deserve to suffer.

Then It's time to write everyone you know or can think of, like a journalist in another country... and ask them to tell everyone they know. And then have those people tell everyone they know. Rinse and repeat!

You can't get prosecuted for what other people outside of Thailand say.

[webfact]

RELATED TOPIC:

IMMIGRATION
UK academic held at airport amid blacklist controversy

Full story http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/854312-uk-academic-held-at-airport-amid-blacklist-controversy/

[cookee68]

Thailand at it's best, He won, now they want him out and shut him up, sad Thailand

[BritTim]

This is a surprise:

He said that Ellis' Thai wife, accompanied by a British Embassy official, was trying to get the blacklist withdrawn at the Immigration Department at Bangkok's Soi Suan Phlu, but declined to comment further about the case.

(source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/UK-academic-held-at-airport-amid-blacklist-controv-30268362.html)

The big surprise, to me, is this:accompanied by a British Embassy official. Usually, the embassy will just provide phone numbers of some lawyers. Perhaps, the BBC is asking questions.

[BritTim]

Seems that, when the British choose to apply pressure, they can still have an impact. The BBC is reporting the situation as resolved and Dr Ellis released:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-34177852

The whole episode reflects extremely badly on Thailand, of course.

[SheungWan]

There is plagiarism. Then there is copy and paste (without citing the source).

Utter rot. Unreferenced copying and pasting is plagiarism plain and simple. Quite a few students try to pull that stroke: 'I didn't know', 'I forgot' and so on, but it is invariably the case that where students copy and paste, it is not just one forgetful example but done wholesale. The trouble with students nowadays is that they are not even very good at cheating. They are very good however at denial in the face of the evidence. though.

[AyG]

He's free.

According to his Twitter feed he's back home and no longer persona non grata.

[gemguy]

So now....the good British Academic can sue the various people and various entities that are further making his life miserable and see where that gets him.

I also would like to see justice applied while the various Thai players are reprimanded in some meaningful way.

If that is the case you can almost be assured the British academic will be further harassed as those that would be or could reprimanded would have no choice but to retaliate as that is their mindset and mentality concerning a foreigner damaging their reputation and making them lose face while they know that nearly all other Thais will take their side on the issue and agree that such foreigners should be taught a lesson and learn to respect a Thai person....as that is how it works ...in their minds.

Furthermore if there is anyone hesitant to get involved then some financial persuasion can quickly change their thinking....lol.

Now here is a thought:

What do you think would happen if all the foreign Embassies here in Thailand were to organize a rally of some sort and all the foreigners living in Thailand were to gather together and protest this case in a pubic display of support for the British Academic.....say similar to what is going on in Malaysia right now.

Not that it would or could ever happen.....but ........Just saying

Cheers

[Thian]

Another case of "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM... DO YOU KNOW MY HIGH STATUS....

Well this sure ain't good for the status of that Thai university he works for.

This news is going viral now.

[gemguy]

recall Ambassador in protest what a circus! where art thou General?

How many days ago was it that Thailand announced new stricter IP laws and warned about plagiarism?

This case does look a circus. Thai national caught well and truly for plagiarism. "Top" Thai university ignores it and still allows him to graduate with PhD. Only acts and strips him of it when the Times Education Supplement does an expose. Meanwhile, the guy who cheated, had complained to immigration to get the good Doctor blacklisted in 2009. The NIA wrote a letter asking immigration to cancel that request.

Had Dr. Ellis not been out and back since 2009? Also, why have immigration ignored the NIA letter asking for the blacklisting to be withdrawn? Why did the NIA still employ the cheat and convicted forger for a long time after all this came out? Is he related to or very friendly with someone senior at immigration? Or is this just another administration cock up there?

Another great example of how the elite rich and connected few are not only above the law (it seems to have caught up with him, but took long enough) but more worryingly can get the law manipulated and made up to favor them.

You'd hope the British Ambassador would be on the case like lightening. Not to mention the UN.

The PM needs to realize, and realize quickly, just how much of a joke Thailand is. This will reflect on all Thai universities and degrees. You can't stop cheats - but you can act quickly when they're caught.

All universities can use software to detect plagiarism. Many now insist thesis are submitting with the report from the plagiarizing software to show what % has been "quoted" from others. Maybe Chula didn't get it until after the Times expose

That is their way of looking like they are addressing the problem.

To come to the direct rescue of a foreigner in conflict with other Thais of social status and or recognized supposed integrity....well....... that is not how it works here

Edited September 8, 2015 by gemguy

[Friendly Stranger]

Truth hurts. Yes, detain him and let more terrorists in..

[optad]

Why doesn't everyone take a copy of this link and post it all over Chulalongkorn Facebook pages.

I have just done a few. The university should be incredibly embarrassed about this.

[meltingpot2015]

There is plagiarism. Then there is copy and paste (without citing the source).

Utter rot. Unreferenced copying and pasting is plagiarism plain and simple. Quite a few students try to pull that stroke: 'I didn't know', 'I forgot' and so on, but it is invariably the case that where students copy and paste, it is not just one forgetful example but done wholesale. The trouble with students nowadays is that they are not even very good at cheating. They are very good however at denial in the face of the evidence. though.

You've clearly missed my point. Have a look at the video on post #63

where Dr Ellis is showing everyone the Phd thesis of Supachai Lorlowhakarn. All the highlighted text were directly copied and pasted from sources, and they were not cited. What I was saying was that there is "clever plagiarism", which requires a bit more thought than copying and pasting, and would need a bit more thought for detection.

If you look at the video at around 1min 05 seconds, you will see how the audience all laugh when they see the highlighted text. (most of the Thesis was copied and pasted from other sources) So, its not even "good at cheating" plagiarism. Its apparent to everyone.

By the way, you make it sound like "good at cheating" is something to be proud of, and you seem to be hoping for the halcyon days when students "were very good at cheating". There is nothing good about cheating. Especially when done intentionally. I don't think anyone can deny that such a large portion of their work being copied and pasted from sources (which were not referenced) was done unintentionally, or that they forgot to reference the sources.

You've clearly misunderstood and misinterpreted what I was saying in my post. You're not the only one that's done it, it isn't a first, so you may take some comfort in that. Next time when you read my post try and figure out if I am saying the opposite of what you think I am saying.

[Tomtomtom69]

Umm...what this report fails to mention is that Dr. Ellis happens to be a THAI citizen!! Not merely a UK expat that has lived in Thailand for 30 years.

I find it amazing that he was treated this way as a citizen. How can a citizen be blacklisted from his own country? Except MAYBE if he was a terrorist that has taken up arms with the enemy, such as fighting for ISIS, but this is merely a politically motivated case of loss of face.

So the Thai academic whose PhD thesis was mainly copied from Dr. Ellis and other sources lost face, but Dr. Ellis is the one who faces a blacklist?

You get Thai citizenship and while you supposedly get land ownership rights and all the other "perks" that are afforded to Thai citizens, but you do the right thing and act as a whistleblower and suddenly you are basically persona non grata? It's notable also that a couple of years back, his car was attacked and some terrorists came to the front gate of his housing estate with some grenades and threatened the guard there. Absolutely dispicable.

Of course, there are also parallels with Thaksin. His passport was stripped from him by the military government and he is effectively not welcome here. So he chooses to stay away. And unlike Dr. Ellis, he was born Thai (of ethnic Chinese parantage but that's a different story).

Then again, it should not be surprising that this kind of bs is occurring here - Thai citizens who dare criticize the monarchy and now even the military are being hounded and countries "hosting" them are being asked to return them to Thailand to face the music! The red shirt Thai citizen apparently afforded a NZ passport together with his gf in record time (after less than a year of residence there) who was accused of lese majesty has many times been the subject of the Thai authorities asking NZ to extradite him. Of course, that's never going to happen, but just saying.

[Tomtomtom69]

Notice how casually the perp gets back on the bike, he's not concerned anyone is going to try stop him. Can't say I would either as he could be packing and he'd no doubt rather kill someone than be apprehended for rocking (if in a major way) a guy's car.

I probably would have rocked him causing him to fall off his motorcycle and hopefully hitting his head on the pavement (i'M assuming he probably wasn't wearing a helmet) and thus suffering a brain hemorrage and death shortly afterwards.

Oh how gladly I would piss on his grave (well, more accurely, how I would just throw his ashes into the garbage bin).

[Tomtomtom69]

So now....the good British Academic can sue the various people and various entities that are further making his life miserable and see where that gets him.

I also would like to see justice applied while the various Thai players are reprimanded in some meaningful way.

If that is the case you can almost be assured the British academic will be further harassed as those that would be or could reprimanded would have no choice but to retaliate as that is their mindset and mentality concerning a foreigner damaging their reputation and making them lose face while they know that nearly all other Thais will take their side on the issue and agree that such foreigners should be taught a lesson and learn to respect a Thai person....as that is how it works ...in their minds.

Furthermore if there is anyone hesitant to get involved then some financial persuasion can quickly change their thinking....lol.

Now here is a thought:

What do you think would happen if all the foreign Embassies here in Thailand were to organize a rally of some sort and all the foreigners living in Thailand were to gather together and protest this case in a pubic display of support for the British Academic.....say similar to what is going on in Malaysia right now.

Not that it would or could ever happen.....but ........Just saying

Cheers

First of all, I thought he was a THAI citizen. So why is he constantly being berated as being a mere "foreigner"?

Secondly, there is no solidarity amongst foreigners in Thailand. And that's a very big problem. Because everyone looks out only for themselves here, you suddenly find you can't rely on the support of your foreign friends, who are not really friends anyway. My neighbors are Americans but they have never introduced themselves to me, nor to any of their [our] other neighbors. They are like recluses or hermits. But that's a typical foreigner mentality in this country. Very, very sad.

What is it with foreigners not wanting to get to know each other and standing up for each other's rights? Why is it that at most, they only get together for chamber of commerce networking events, but they don't really have any real solidarity amongst themselves? When the shit hits the fan, they laugh at each other, rather than offer support?

Thais hang around each other and support each other in the west, even newcomers often quickly find their footing. Why not in Thailand. Please someone explain this strange, selfish and weird foreigner mentality.

We should be hugging each other when we see each other on the streets, not avoiding each other.

[Morakot]

A lot of misinformed posters on this thread. Dr Ellis is not a Thai citizen. Here is what he actually relayed to the press after being arrested on Thursday at Suvannaphumi Airport.

“On presentation of my UK passport, I was told I was blacklisted as a 'danger to Thai society' . I've been detailed in a holding cell in the transit area of Suvarnabhumi since then.

“The Immigration Police showed me my file, which contained a report stating that in Dec 2009 Supachai wrote to the Immigration Department claiming that I was a forger and plagiarist, and demanding my blacklisting.

Better than a Thai prison but 'it ain't half hot in here'

“The Immigration Departtment kindly obliged without question. But I only came to know of this last Thursday.

“The NIA had written to the Immigration Chief, revoking the original complaint, so they have no grounds for retaining the blacklisting, or for denying immediate entry into Thailand. We have asked the Immigration Chief to lift the blacklisting on Monday.

The timing of Supachai’s letter suggests that the Innovation Agency Director wanted Professor Ellis to leave Thailand and not return during his cases, which he would have won by default.

British consular services have been informed.

“I haven’t heard a peep out of them, A man at the Foreign Office said nothing could be done until Monday.”

Thanks for posting! Could we please have a link to the source.

[Morakot]

Types and Severity of Plagiarism Violations

Download higher resolution Infographic:

http://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Infographic_Did-I-Plagiarize1.jpg

Edited September 8, 2015 by Morakot

[SheungWan]

So now....the good British Academic can sue the various people and various entities that are further making his life miserable and see where that gets him.

I also would like to see justice applied while the various Thai players are reprimanded in some meaningful way.

If that is the case you can almost be assured the British academic will be further harassed as those that would be or could reprimanded would have no choice but to retaliate as that is their mindset and mentality concerning a foreigner damaging their reputation and making them lose face while they know that nearly all other Thais will take their side on the issue and agree that such foreigners should be taught a lesson and learn to respect a Thai person....as that is how it works ...in their minds.

Furthermore if there is anyone hesitant to get involved then some financial persuasion can quickly change their thinking....lol.

Now here is a thought:

What do you think would happen if all the foreign Embassies here in Thailand were to organize a rally of some sort and all the foreigners living in Thailand were to gather together and protest this case in a pubic display of support for the British Academic.....say similar to what is going on in Malaysia right now.

Not that it would or could ever happen.....but ........Just saying

Cheers

I would think now that the Thai authorities would like to put this matter to rest.

[SheungWan]

All this over an essay on asparagus. Maybe asparagus is under threat and is a national security issue. I hope the Federal Bureau of Asparagus are on the case. Amazing asparagus Thailand.

It is not an essay, it is a Doctoral Research Thesis. I think the defamation law is more related to the reputation of individuals concerned rather than the status of asparagus, no?