BY ANDREW CHANT, Bangkok
Scots sex club kings lose fight to have brave journalist jailed
March 15 2010
A British journalist, who exposed the activities of two Scots – nicknamed the ‘Gay MacMafia’- in the Thai sex resort of Pattaya, has been cleared of two cases of criminal libel after a nine year court battle.
Freelance correspondent Andrew Drummond, 57, former correspondent of ‘The Observer’ and London ‘Times’, was cleared of libeling James Lumsden, 59, from Falkirk, who with his partner Gordon May, 67, from Edinburgh, was one of the biggest foreign players in the resort’s gay sex industry.
Drummond, also a Scot, from Edinburgh, and former bureau chief of the News of the World in Scotland, wrote a series of articles describing the misfortunes that befell Britons who were encouraged to go into business with Lumsden and May.
In April 1990, Iain Macdonald, 28, the son of a former Provost of Inverness, died in a fire at the Ambiance Hotel in Pattaya, owned by Lumsden & May, just one month after he had inexplicably bequeathed his £250,000 inheritance in 50 per cent of May and Lumsden’s business -’Boyz Boyz Boyz’ club and the Ambiance Hotel -to Gordon May’s boyfriend – a Thai male a-go-go dancer.
The will was illegal, because it was signed by the beneficiary. The male a go-go dancer got nothing, but Iain’s mother, Eileen MacDonald, never got the money back anyway, wrote Drummond.
Jim Lumsden as an 'artiste' - File photo Pattaya Gay Festival
A second businessman Kevin Quill, 39, from Bradford, Yorkshire, invested over £300,000 in a business called Patika Ltd. with May and Lumsden which, was also a hotel and bar.
Quill was arrested in 2000 by Pattaya Police after leaving the Ambiance Hotel. When police searched his luggage they found 170 cartons of contraband Benson & Hedges cigarettes. In one packet in one carton they found nearly 100 methamphetamine tablets.
After being refused bail, Kevin Quill was removed as managing director of the company and was replaced by May. His computer was wiped of all his financial records, and his apartment was stripped and rented out by his partners, wrote Drummond.
Quill was subsequently jailed for six years for drugs possession. The British Consul at the time, Deryck Fisher, wrote a letter, stating that the Assistant Police Commissioner Noppadol Somboonsap*(1) in Bangkok, had admitted that Quill was framed.
The Appeal Court judges, Seramee Sirimankarak, Sittisak Wanachkij, and Ariya Navintum ruled: “The defendant was doing his job as a journalist, making facts public for foreigners doing business in Thailand. There is nothing defamatory in what he wrote.”
Marwaan Macan-Markar, president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand said:“We welcome these two court rulings in favour of Andrew Drummond, particularly since the alleged libels involved were criminal offences under existing Thai law..
“The verdicts demonstrate a fundamental respect for investigative reporting in the public interest. This is a good day for journalism and the law in Thailand.”
Gordon May
Andrew Drummond’s original reports were printed in London and Glasgow, but James Lumsden, also a drag artist, chose not to sue in Britain but in Thailand which, he said, he considered his home, after the Bangkok Post printed two similar stories. Drummond was subsequently given two, two month, suspended prison sentences and fined a total of 80,000 baht.
The Bangkok Post ap0logised in print to Lumsden blaming Drummond for the alleged libels.
Andrew Drummond, an award winning journalist, from Edinburgh and educated at The Abbey, Fort Augustus said: “ I’m of course very pleased. My thanks must go to Steve Turner former President of the BAJ for his never ending support and encouragement and my colleagues on newspapers in the UK and their bosses who helped pay my expenses.
“I’m proud to say that there wasn’t national newspaper group in the UK which did not contribute and then of course there were the scores of individuals both there and here.
“The judgments in my favour will please the victims and their relatives, but they are small consolation for the devastation these people have suffered”.
‘There are obviously issues to be resolved”.
Lumsden (centre) as himself with others, not themselves. Pic: Pattaya Times
Jim the fundraiser
Andrew Drummond: Meanwhile thank you to reader ‘x’ for pointing out this more up to date picture of Jim Lumsden. Here he is in January with Eugene Gallagher, President apparently of ’Tree of Life’, which is supposed*(2) to be a charity in the UK raising money in the field HIV. Eugene has just presented Jim with a dod of crystal for Jim work’s towards HIV and a cheque for a thousand quid to a local orphanage. As is usual among visiting UK charity presidents Eugene then went on to judge the ‘Mr. Body Beautiful Contest’ at the ‘Copa’ bar run by UK bankrupt Peter Storrow, where he donated another 10,000 baht to the Pattaya Gay Festival. *(2)I say ’supposed’ because the Charities Commission seems to know nothing about it and I can’t find it anywhere, but I’m sure it exists. I would want to know that if I were donating to the ‘Tree of Life’ that my money was going to more worthy causes than to buying crystal for one half of the so called ‘GayMacMafia”. Info on Eugene Gallagher welcome.
”(1) Police Lt.General Noppadol Somboonsap, ( now retired) regarded as a man of integrity by members of FRANC in Bangkok, kindly drove down to Pattaya to give evidence at my trial for which I remain very grateful, and also to guys like Dominic Faulder at the FCCT, and my gay friends down in Pattaya, who continually keep me informed”.
FRANC - Foreign Anti-Nartcotics Committee - basically a working, and a ’once in a while’ drinking committee, for foreign police, and customs liaison officers in Bangkok, which would include RCMP, FBI, DEA, Deutsche Bundespolizei, UK Serious Organised Crime Agency, Australian Federal Police, NZ Police, Swedish Police (representing Scandinavia) and others from Asia.
Iain Macdonald a few days before his death. His mother made an affidavit
Kevin Quill, in and out of jail. British officials knew he was no drugs user
Congratulations, Andrew. Keep up the good work.
Congratulations Andrew!
Well Done Andrew !! Been a Long Battle but well worth it.
No Doubt much more to come out on this Bunch.
Dear Andrew
That’s absolutely wonderful news! Thank you for your kind words about me, but you deserve all the praise for risking your livelihood and freedom to stand up for justice. Thank goodness you had the tenacity to give Thai justice the chance to come good. You acted in the best traditions of journalism and I’m proud of you.
I hope the Foreign Correspondents’ Club throws a big party for you. You’ve given every journalist cause to celebrate.
Best wishes.
Regards, Steve
A reader has asked me if I have any up to date pictures of Mr. Lumsden dressed in normal men’s clothing, as the above picture, may be seen as a little flippant. I agree. That’s probably a fair point. Unfortunately this is the only picture I have taken in the last year or so and I would appreciate any normal up to date picture of James Lumsden.
Congratulations.
And, a great day for investigative journalism in Thailand.
Don’t stop doing this important job with fairness and flare. I am sure you enjoy the work and that you appreciate the help and support you indirectly give expats here.
Congratulations again, Andrew.
Congratulations,well done !!!!
Truth wins through at last.
Well done Andrew,I hope you continue the good work.
Well done Andrew, let’s hope that’s the end of this saga.
Congratulations. Sorry it took so long!
Well done on winning that battle, a battle you should never have had to fight in the first place.
Well done Squire Drummond, it’s been one hell of a long haul. Congratulations. Triples all round.
Excellent.
There is hope !!!!
Best regards
phil.
Andrew, excellent news. Presumably your fine was returned. Are these two people still operating in Thailand?
Well done Andrew, you are a credit to the world of journalism and justice. I have been a long supporter of your fight against the injustice of what must be one of the most seamy of all stories to come out of Pattaya. Let us all pray for justice for others also wrongly convicted and stained in this most sordid of tales.
Keep up your outstanding work, and again thank you very much.
Glad to hear you’re in the clear. Keep up the good work. Thailand needs you more than ever.
That’s great to hear. Congratulations.
Congratulations Andrew!
Congrats Andrew. Nice to see the Thai justice system showing it can work, even if it takes many years; and please keep up your vigorous journalism.
Congrats Andrew .. have a few for me (beers that is)
Give my best tto Mr Chant
Congratulations.
Whilst I have heard a few sides to the saga I would still go along with the end result you achieved.
Anon: The truth will out. But I will publish the full judgments in English when they come back ….But I’ve heard stories about you too! That is, of course, is you are the same ‘anon’.
I still have not heard the other side to this saga myself. Only denials, no comments, or ‘ prove it!!’
Many other cases in Thailand need journalists such as you to expose the corrupt system of justice and make the facts known. Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading more in the future.
Excellent news, Andrew. Please keep up this good work and I look forward to reading your posts.
Hi Andrew
I had no idea that this was still hanging over you !! So I am pleased that it has finally gone away and that you are vindicated !!
Keep up the good work and I hope you and your family are thriving !!
Congratulations, Andrew. It takes courage to write unpleasant truths, and I’m sure it was a long, exhausting battle for you. Keep up your good work!
Congratulations. In Thai law does the losing party have to pay your costs? And just out of interest, how much did you have to pay in legal costs to defend your reputation in this stupidly-brought case?
Alan Mann: Yes I had to pay my costs, but I was very lucky in so far as a whip round of colleagues, in London mainly, eased the burden.
, if Lumsden was so confident, why did he not sue in Britain where damages could have been really crippling against me had he won.
British libel laws are punitive which is why I always wondered,well for 2 seconds anyway
Of course there were the endless wasted days without pay etc, costs of trips, hotels, I have not had time to sit down and assess the damages. It should have taken 10 minutes. It has taken 10 years, but was worth hanging on.
This is not a case, I’m afraid, where we can shake hands and say let bygones be bygones. There were just too many threats, and dirty tricks pulled.
nice to see justice prevail, even though it’s taken such a long time!
keep up the good work you do, it really is admired & appreciated by the majority.
Alan: Oh and I forgot. There was my Rover ‘limo’ which I bought off the Embassy drugs guy which was seized as part of a 1 million baht civil case. I dont want it back but I will have to get the civil case overturned.
We look forward to reading the English translation of the court verdict Andrew. Please keep up your investigative work as there are so many people, families and friends who were and have been severely hurt with all the events that you previously reported.
WOW !!!! Congratulations ANDREW.IT NOT SO MANY TIME THAT I HEARD GOOD NEWS FROM U.FINALY DREAMS COME TRUTH.KEEP WORKING I WILL BE YOUR SUPPORT AS ALWAYS.
Andrew Drummond: (’Nick’ is ex-girlfriend of many years and being Thai she hated calling up the police and asking them ‘impolite’ questions! and getting rude answers back): ‘Ah Nick but think about the good times too!”
Top job, old son. Great to get legal burden off your shoulders and secure richly deserved win.
If we’ had been in top bar at The Harrow, I’d have gladly bought you a large one!
Andrew Drummond: Jings Colin. Great to hear from you. The Harrow it is! But will have to wait till next time I’m back in the old Fleet Street. You’ll have to go to Waverley first and come back on the ’sleepa’ with a big tray of Scottish meat pies frae Linlithgow!
Don’t see many guys from the ‘Street of Shame’ here nowawadays. Just speak a lot on the phone, or when they are passing on the way to OZ. Budgets I suppose. Either that or the rest head straight for Patpong, Nana, or their retirement bungalows in Hua Hin!
Footnote: The Harrow is a little pub next to the old Daily Mail and Evening Standard offices. Old haunts:Harrow, Daily Mail, Evening Standard. Bell and Punch, Cartoonist, Daily Express/Sunday Express. Tipperary(Top o’ the Tip) News of the World. First Edition; free Italian dinner for all NoW staff on a Saturday night. Wine Press: SUN/News of the World and others. White Swan better known as ‘Mucky Duck’ or ‘Stab’ as in ‘Stab in the Back’: Daily Mirror/Sunday Mirror/People. Freezones: Wig and Pen, City Golf Club, El Vinos 1 and 2. Observer, grotty wine bar south of the river in Battersea (when I was there). Forgotten the bar in St. Andrew’s Hill now, also forgotten the Guardian pub in the Farringdon Road. Anybody?
Follow this link for Adamson: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/may/14/11
Just a short note to thank you all for your kind wishes and also to members of Sawatdee Gay Thailand. I am sure Kevin Quill will be grateful for most of your sentiments.
Of course I might have to make an exception of a poster there calling him self ‘Bob’ who has copied a reply I made in this blog here and has come to the conclusion that I did not know exactly what went on in this case down in Pattaya.
http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/gay-thailand-f9/andrew-drummond-cleared-gay-mafia-libel-trials-t19342-15.html
Bob: “Quoting Andrew Drummond himself from his own blog: “I still have not heard the other side to this saga myself. Only denials no comments, or ‘ prove it!!’”
“I’m sure the people who write for the National Enquirer also call themselves “journalists.” The guy acknowledges he doesn’t know what happened but that doesn’t stop his printing “facts” in such a fashion so as to suggest there was arson, murder, planting of drugs, theft, etc.
Andrew Drummond: Well Bob. Thank you for your comments.
I have not accused them of murder. Other people have. But the evidence of their ex-employees would never have stood up in a court of law and least of all in Pattaya.
But I know exactly what happened. But you know that don’t you ‘Bob’?
Anyway to most of the posters at sawatdee gay Thailand. Many thanks. Your comments are much appreciated.
Excellent news about great hopes for the future. The challenge now is to expose the truth and out all the people who lied against you. I’m sure you are prepared for the battle and you have all the evidence in your favor. Now is the time for some truth and some sweet, sweet revenge. Enjoy!
I heard today that you won your appeal over these two **** . Great. Hopefully one day they will get what they deserve.
I know that the last few years have been difficult for you but truth will out and Eileen and I are very pleased for you. You have been brave and true to what is right and the eventual outcome shows how right you were.
Perhaps one day justice will arrive ? Maybe.
Anyway we are delighted for you – we appreciate all you have done. Get in touch with me if back in this area and please keep me updated !
Cheers
Graeme
Andrew Drummond Note: Eileen is the mother of Iain who died at the Ambiance Hotel.
Congrats mate - hope all’s well.
ALASTAIR LEITHEAD
BBC Asia Correspondent
Congratulations.
Bringing down the criminal Hua Hin mafia - one violent and dishonest pig at a time.
Very best wishes for the future Andrew. I guess we’re all in this ‘Amazing Thailand’ thing for the long haul.
Andrew Drummond Hua Hin, Peter? That’s another story.
Nicely done and a class act. Much more class in dealing with such cads then I would have had in dealing with such scum for sure.
Andrew,
As a resident expat in Bangkok I followed the saga here in the Bangkok Post.
All expats in Thailand (gay and straight) owe you immense thanks. The fear of speaking out and well known police corruption has allowed vermin like ***** to thrive in this beautiful country.
Now all expats in Thailand should support you to bring this saga to its final destination. ******, as far as I know, still roams Pattaya in full freedom. His proper location is behind bars for a very long time. Ditto for *****.
Let us know how you think expats here could help. I assume widespread dissemination of the above articles would help. It may be impossible to nail these dangerous idiots in the courts but surely even they can be further damaged by the court of public opinion.
Any suggestions?
Patrick
Having worked here in Pattaya for 7 years I have had the misfortune to have had dealing with scumbag ****.
It is to be hoped that your story will be given a wide exposure in many countries to warn others just what **** and his cohoots are still capable of - there is no doubt in the ex-pat community that Ian was murdered and everyone knows exactly who was responsible.
Andrew Drummond I have had to edit the last two posts for obvious reasons.
Congratulations Andrew! Take many years to win it.
Cheers,
Mookka
Gosh, I had forgotten all about this, it was so long ago. Good on you Andy. Congrats, onwards and upwards! Pim
Congratulations Andrew!
I am absolutely delighted to hear this, and can only hope that one day, justice is also done, for my father, and for the other gentlemen that he had the misfortune of getting involved in business with, two **** *****.
All the best,
Aaron
I send my congratulations. Time to move on now.
Good stuff, Andrew.
Nice to be completely vindicated.
Hope all is well.
Am back in London now….
Best wishes
Andrew
Andrew, that’s great news. It’s good to see that old standards live on and there is still a willingness to expose corruption and wrongdoing. Would love to get out to Bangkok but the dictatorial antics of Willie Walsh in penalising his hardest working staff has put paid to that in the short time.
No doubt see you sometime and next time in London get in touch
Best wishes
Paul
Hello Andrew,
Havnt see u in a while. Hope this email finds u in good health. Im just looking and thought of u. I’m going to brother daves in oz.in a couple of months.Iii stop over and maybe have a few beers if youre free. Take care. Paul
Andrew Drummond: Paul. Tried to email you but it bounced back so am replying here. Yes. It would be great to meet up again! My numbers are on my home page.
Congrats Andrew. I found this site only recently but glad you were cleared of the earlier case which I have only just heard of..
Happy Easter. Great news about your court victory and there’s me thinking there’s no justice in the world! Your’re a bloody hero mate. Love and best wishes to Pat and the kids.
Dear Andrew
first of all congratulations on your steadfastness , lesser men would of no bothered , good to see you have balls of steel ,
I have followed the case with great interest , I know kevin quill well , its so so sad what has happened to him. but I do know people that you don’t know in pattaya and I have heard other stories,
I also have met lumsden on many occasions , he’s a plausable man , say no more,
I am surprised to learn that the copa bar owner is a bankrupt, where did he get money from to open the copa and carryout all the alterations ? Mind as you well know pattaya is a well know magnet for petty criminals and fraudsters and paedophiles,
and providing they pay the corrupt police they can get away with Murder, literally
every night in the so called gay community there seems to be some kind of a charity night , I have always been mindful that those people who are running go go bars use charities and good causes as excuses to improve their own bar profits. they seem to take it in turns . lumsden has always been at the forefront of charity fund raising .
lets face it they are mostly pimps , in every bar every all the staff are for sale . that fact is undeniable . I have watched the cash change hands and mama sans touting on behalf of the western bar owners , having been offered guys my self a thousands time’s
I am really deeply pleased that you won your appeal , but if Thai law was more like Uk law many of pattaya’s bar owners would be behind bars , and not in boys town , I mean bang kwang prison bars
but time will tell ,
good luck ronny
Andrew Drummond Ronny. If you study how the real Thai mafia operate you will know they also give heavily to worthy causes. So of course have British criminal gangs, like the Krays. Charities benefit greatly from the bar scene in Pattaya and why not. The dodgy people giving money to charity of course always get themselves pictured doing to. They attempt to buy respectability and the local press is happy to give them it.
The genuine ones, much less so.
Andrew is it true that Lumsden has appealed against this verdict to The Thai Supreme Court? If so the mind boggles…
Andrew DrummondWell he will be trying his best
and has announced he will in the Pattaya Mail. However first he has to get permission from the lower court and then the Supreme Court will have to decide to accept the appeal for review.