Don’t they think it’s odd that all the people that told it like it was going to happen turned out to be totally correct and now we are no longer there? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? No I guess not….

Anyway, please keep up the good work Mr. Drummond, as far as I’m concerned you are the only one out there fighting for justice from the beginning and as a direct result of your work there has been positive movement towards actual justice for the murder of Leo Del Pinto.

Damian Mavis

(Carl Reisig btw had hit or pushed a policeman in an incident in a bar in which police were threatening to arrest her Thai boyfriend)

The main champion of the ‘she had it coming’ school of thought was a poster using the name ‘sabaijai’. He, in essence, forwarded the view that there was no climate of fear from police, and posted a number of condescending and derogatory remarks about sensational journalism.

Pretty much everybody in Pai was saying it was Carly’s fault, according to ‘sabaijai’, who comically referred to me as a journalist who used to ring up somebody he knew in Chiang Mai asking ‘Any dead Brits?’.

The family of Del Pinto reacted accordingly, as one can see in a letter posted on this site http://www.andrew-drummond.com and in The Nation newspaper.

I knew from an early stage the identity of the poster. It was a well known author of the Thailand Lonely Planet guidebooks, Joe Cummings who spends his life between Chiang Mai and Pai, who now occasionally plays in a band.

(Claymore incidentally had made it clear he was posting messages from Andrew Drummond)

Mr.Cummings is a former Peace Corps volunteer turned writer respected for his travel reports. His experience in investigative journalism outside the realm of value for money guest houses is rather limited.

When ‘Sabaijai’ (also a super-moderator on ThaiVisa.com) contributed a post saying that he had no commercial or business interests in Pai, Chiang Mai, or for that matter, anywhere in Thailand, I felt it essential to point out this was blatantly not true. Sabaijai as a super-moderator was actively editing posts in the same thread, while in fact he has been a key figure in the backpacker industry for many years, and even wrote a column for the Pai Post, under the same name Sabaijai.

When Ross Wilson made the film ‘Who Killed Kirsty Jones?” based on my investigations for ‘The Times’ Joe Cummings was used as a ‘talking head’ which is what he is more used to.

(“Thais are more tactile now. Before they would not even approach a female foreign tourist etc. etc”). Though in his blogs he gives the impression he was ‘on the case’.

Simultaneously residents of Pai, who had remained quiet suddenly started, contributing posts disagreeing with ‘sabaijai, saying relations with the police in Pai were by no means fine and dandy, and yes people were scared of the local police who had acquired a very bad reputation. Nevertheless Joe Cummings was still editing posts

Having ‘outed’ Sabaijai as Joe Cummings, Claymore was banned from Thai Visa as of course this is against ThaiVisa rules. So was the poster Westerby, who posted in my support and who made contact with me with by this post ‘Westerby’. He was banned because people thought he was ‘Claymore’ Another moderator, who supported my line was also relieved of her duties, and posters are continually emailing me now to say their posts have either edited or cut completely.

At the moment I view this website but will no longer contribute. I prefer the view of qualified editors. I take no delight in reporting now that most of my articles have turned out to be correct and the Thai government has now promised transparency into how Leo Del Pinto was killed.

*The ‘George’ referred to is the big boss at ThaiVisa.com

George is concerned that two top journalists are seen fighting on TV but quite how he could include that American *** in such an assessment is somewhat mystifying.

Keep up your usual standard of work and we may yet see another addled custodian of the dubious Thai peace suitably incarcerated.