BBC journalist on trial for Thailand crime reporting

[happyinthailand]

A ridiculous case....  the lawyer admitted he notarised a document not in the presence of the required party. How the case got this far speaks volumes for true justice in Thailand.

 

[Mister Fixit]

34 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

Correct me if I am wrong. All those western countries defamation/libel laws require that for defamation/libel to take place, what is said must be false, whereas under Thai Law the issue of being true or false is immaterial to finding of being guilty of defamation even if the statement is true. If I call you a thief and you are not, in the western jurisprudence you can sue for slander (verbal statement) or libel (if in print). If I call you a thief and you are one no western court would entertain finding the journalist guilty as the accused thief has to take responsibility for his own wrongdoing.

 

I don't think Mr onthesoi has much idea about the law in any country, and certainly not here.  

 

[Godang]

Phuket is the most corrupt of Thailands islands closely followed by the other tourist islands. The police and Pratuan must be some of the most wealthy.

[jesimps]

54 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

this law and the twisted way it is being used say a lot about thailand

Also says a lot about Suradit69 and onthesoi who seem to support this insane law. They even spout such blx as to suggest that the same happens in the west.

[Mister Fixit]

17 minutes ago, onthesoi said:

 

Matter of public record, 5 mins on google will validate my post... But, it sounds like you have a closed mind on the issue.

 

Those pesky facts putting you off your thai bashing stroke?

 

Oh Gawd, we have another Thai-pologist in our midst.  

Edited August 23, 2017 by Mister Fixit

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, onthesoi said:

All western countries have defamation/libel laws, including the UK where the BBC adhere to the letter, but they come to Thailand and think they are above the law.

 

JH is a professional Thai basher... So som nom na!

you don't get 5 years imprisonment for telling the truth in the West.

[Chivas]

BBC caught between a rock and a hard place. To pull Head out of the region to never return would have likely ensured no future BBC crews allowed into Thailand.....hopefully (and I suspect he has) he has the best lawyer money can buy to defend him

[soalbundy]

Just now, Chivas said:

BBC caught between a rock and a hard place. To pull Head out of the region to never return would have likely ensured no future BBC crews allowed into Thailand.....hopefully (and I suspect he has) he has the best lawyer money can buy to defend him

It is the Judge that they need to buy

[LannaGuy]

1 minute ago, Chivas said:

BBC caught between a rock and a hard place. To pull Head out of the region to never return would have likely ensured no future BBC crews allowed into Thailand.....hopefully (and I suspect he has) he has the best lawyer money can buy to defend him

I'm hoping BBC will do a full length feature documentary on the case, get international attention, and if Thailand say's 'bye-bye' to the BBC so be it!  report on the truth and damn the rest! 

[EnlightenedAtheist]

Interesting case. I agree with the lawyer, actually. It is not right to defame and libel someone BEFORE a court has assessed whether or not someone has erred. If I were the journalist/the BBC, I would sue for wrongdoing (I don't recall reading he did). Did he? At the same time, isn't the underlying issue that the journalist (and not just him) does not believe that the courts are allowed to assess cases without outside interference?

Edited August 23, 2017 by EnlightenedAtheist

[Asiantravel]

1 hour ago, onthesoi said:

All western countries have defamation/libel laws, including the UK where the BBC adhere to the letter, but they come to Thailand and think they are above the law.

 

JH is a professional Thai basher... So som nom na!

Complete rubbish !. He was exposing criminal property fraud to the world.

If it happened to you and you lost £2 million through fraud  like the victims in this case, would you just accept it ?

if you suffer hardship here I hope people just say som nom na about you!

[brewsterbudgen]

A brave journalist and a credit to the BBC. Good luck to him.

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, onthesoi said:

All western countries have defamation/libel laws, including the UK where the BBC adhere to the letter, but they come to Thailand and think they are above the law.

 

JH is a professional Thai basher... So som nom na!

Each and every Thai on Thai Visa.com I read an ill-informed,  uneducated and idiotic comment...   the quoted comment above is todays idiotic comment... How someone can be so far from the truth about someone who reports the truth in an attempt to unearth significant corruption and wrong doings.... 

 

Some people seem to bury their head in the sand while putting both feet in their mouths and still manage to scream from the mountain tops of how spectacularly dumb they are... Well done onthesoi - it is because of people like you that so many get away with the huge degrees of corruption and inhuman behavior, it is because of people like Jonathan Head that some don't.... 

 

 

And.. for the record... In the UK and most other countries Deformation / Libel laws are only enforceable IF the accusations / reports are false. In Thailand these Deformation laws are fundamentally flawed in that they are enforceable even when the accusations / reports are factual.... all that is needed is show intent to defame. 

 

In its simplest terms, if someone were to rob you of your car, you could accuse them publicly of such theft and they could accuse you of deformation....

 

 

[Lupatria]

1 hour ago, Briggsy said:

You have successfully analysed where the power lies and whose hand is on the levers of state power.

 

I would also like to wish both defendants a quick and complete acquittal.

There is no such thing as “La Familia” in Thailand. They have police, army, lawyers and influential figures to take care of it.

[jayboy]

1 hour ago, champers said:

I am sure that Head has been reporting for the BBC in the region, but outside Thailand. He has returned specifically for the trial. He must be very confident.

Unlike the likes of a grub street hack like Andrew Drummond, Jonathan Head is rather well connected with the self confidence and contacts as with many BBC public school/Cambridge products.He is close to Khun Anand Panyarachun and other influential well respected Thais.I would be amazed if he was convicted.

Edited August 23, 2017 by jayboy

[Asiantravel]

10 minutes ago, EnlightenedAtheist said:

Interesting case. I agree with the lawyer, actually. It is not right to defame and libel someone BEFORE a court has assessed whether or not someone has erred. If I were the journalist/the BBC, I would sue for wrongdoing (I don't recall reading he did). Did he? At the same time, isn't the underlying issue that the journalist (and not just him) does not believe that the courts are allowed to assess cases without outside interference?

so let me try to understand your way of thinking? You support the lawyer?

And what do you feel about Ian Rance (a chartered surveyor from the UK if that means anything i.e. someone who has an in-depth training in property matters)who was one of two victims and who lost £2 million through fraudulent acts. He is also being sued for defamation which happened to him while he has just being trying to get his money back! Do you think that is fair?

I mean would people like you expect him to just take a £2 million loss on the chin?

it's the most alien form of justice system I could ever imagine where the victim becomes the guilty party

[Justgrazing]

2 hours ago, onthesoi said:

All western countries have defamation/libel laws, including the UK where the BBC adhere to the letter, but they come to Thailand and think they are above the law.

 

JH is a professional Thai basher... So som nom na!

Quite .. But the difference between UK defamation laws and here is/are in Britland it is a civil case as in even if you lose its only money not you're liberty you pay with .. That difference is what ensures this country remains in the past unable to keep up with the future .. It is just the latest manifestion of trying to shut people up for portraying Thailand for what it is .. The Beeb aint my taste in reporting but the right of J H to do his job for them should be defended particularly if his investigations are in the interest's of foreigners who have been getting ripped off ..  And if you go back 2 yrs to a story in Bangkok reported on by the J H for the Beeb that didnt portray the Thai's in a very professional light you may begin to see some payback for J H in this current drama .. Either way I hope he wins out and rubs the Thai's nose (s) In it .. 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Justgrazing
Spelling

[theguyfromanotherforum]

2 hours ago, onthesoi said:

All western countries have defamation/libel laws, including the UK where the BBC adhere to the letter, but they come to Thailand and think they are above the law.

 

JH is a professional Thai basher... So som nom na!

 

I'm not giving you a like, so have this instead

 

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by theguyfromanotherforum

[4MyEgo]

I forgot Thai lawyers are honest, remember the one that took off with that young girls 4,000,000 baht payout, ah yes !

[manhood]

Journalists have ! to do investigating work on many many cases : who else should do it and have the power or money and time to get on it!

Can you imagine where the western countries would stand nowadays if we not have a free pres

YES we would stand exactly there where Thailand is, and Turkey is, and Noth Korea is and and and...

 

So support the work journalists as lone they are doing their job in the way it goes by journalism rules!!!!!!!

[wvavin]

The Thai judiciary just make themselves look stupid if such cases continue to rule the days!

[simtemple]

2 hours ago, onthesoi said:

All western countries have defamation/libel laws, including the UK where the BBC adhere to the letter, but they come to Thailand and think they are above the law.

 

JH is a professional Thai basher... So som nom na!

Yes  all Western countries have libel/defamation laws but only in utterly corrupt Thailand are they applied by Thai elites to prevent exposure of their criminal operations/activities.

Please provide proof that JH is  a professional Thai basher or prepare to be sued for  defamation.

[AGareth2]

The Streisand effect is the phenomenon whereby an attempt to hide, remove, or censor a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicising the information more widely, usually facilitated by the Internet.

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, onthesoi said:

All western countries have defamation/libel laws, including the UK where the BBC adhere to the letter, but they come to Thailand and think they are above the law.

 

JH is a professional Thai basher... So som nom na!

Apart from being false, it's 'som naam na'

[NanLaew]

24 minutes ago, onthesoi said:

I've got all the thai bashers ruffled it seems lol.... Like shooting fish in a barrel

If that's what you like to think you've accomplished, fire away.

 

The thread is NOT about anyone's unique perception of double standards at Broadcasting House. It is about the arbitrary and cavalier use of defamation laws in Thailand and the easy manipulation of Thailand's computer crimes act by certain people who consider themselves above the laws that they in particular have been taught to respect and observe.

 

If in doubt, READ THE THREAD TITLE.

[renaissanc]

Thaksin Shinawatra will be disturbed by this because Jonathan Head has been a staunch supporter of his Red Shirts for many years. Head likes to describe the Red Shirts affectionately as a peace-loving, grassroots movement. His biased reporting will not be missed, if he ends up on the wrong end of the court's decision.

[Baerboxer]

I don't always agree with Mr. Head's political views. But do wish him every success in this case, along with the other defendant too.

 

There is something alien to most people that someone can bring a charge of defamation based on the facts outlined here.

 

Come on Thailand. Time to change, the world is looking.

[stephen tracy]

5 minutes ago, renaissanc said:

Thaksin Shinawatra will be disturbed by this because Jonathan Head has been a staunch supporter of his Red Shirts for many years. Head likes to describe the Red Shirts affectionately as a peace-loving, grassroots movement. His biased reporting will not be missed, if he ends up on the wrong end of the court's decision.

You don't know JH... that's pretty obvious

[Asiantravel]

6 minutes ago, renaissanc said:

Thaksin Shinawatra will be disturbed by this because Jonathan Head has been a staunch supporter of his Red Shirts for many years. Head likes to describe the Red Shirts affectionately as a peace-loving, grassroots movement. His biased reporting will not be missed, if he ends up on the wrong end of the court's decision.

so you would be happy with  a North Korean style newsreader delivering only the good points every day

[dominique355]

All western countries have defamation/libel laws, including the UK where the BBC adhere to the letter, but they come to Thailand and think they are above the law.

 

JH is a professional Thai basher... So som nom na!

 

That is simply not true.

In any civilized country a diffamation charge is dismissed if the defendant con show that what he said is true and based on facts.

Not so in Thailand. The veracity if the defendants publication has no bearing here.

In other words, if you call a crook a crook you go to prison.