Tag Archive for 'Thailand'

British pensioner awaited his own murder armed with a tazer - Daily Mail -Daily Telegraph - Daily Express

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Andrew Drummond
on August 12, 2008
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British pensioner killed in Thailand predicted his own death - Daily Telegraph edit

British man murdered by Thai bride and her lover after he predicted his own death - Daily Mail edit

Link to SUN

Link to SKY TV News

 

From Andrew  Drummond
Suwannaphum, Thailand- September 11 08

Photographs: Andrew Chant
A retired British design engineer predicted his own murder and sat helplessly in his tropical ‘palace’ waiting for it to happen.

Friends said today they armed 69-yr-old Ian Beeston with a tazer gun to protect himself. But it was not enough.
Last Saturday they found body his body. The pensioner who worked at Perkins and Ford’s Dagenham had been beaten and stabbed to death. Police said it took him seven hours to die.
Today Beeston’s wife and her Thai lover were arrested and charged with the murder as horrified onlookers ,shocked at the callousness of the deed,  jeered  and shouted ‘hia’ (Monitor lizard) – a strong Thai insult.


(Crowds outside Beeston’s home await the murder reconstruction)

Neill James a consular official of the British Embassy in Bangkok who attended the murder scene in the north eastern Thai province of Roi-Et called on local police for a transparent enquiry, said local police.

(Ian Beeston and his wife present water heaters to local police)

Beeston had predicted his own death in writing. He wrote a letter saying ‘It is just a matter of time now. I am in real fear for my own life. I need things to proceed quickly”.  He left the letter with lawyers.
Trouble started just four months ago when Beeston, married nine years to his 42-yr-old Thai wife, Wacheerawan, nicknamed ‘Wanna’ discovered that she had cashed in all the property he had bought in Thailand at a local bank.


He had invested all his life savings in over an acre of property and built his marital home, a guesthouse and a restaurant near a village called Suwannaphum, meaning ‘Golden Land’.  Thai newspapers this week described him home (above) as ‘ palatial’. 
But under Thai law, as foreigners cannot own property he had put it in his wife’s name.
“I thought she loved me but she just wanted my cash,” penniless divorcee Beeston , who arrived in Thailand with £350,000 told friends at the time. He then asked his wife to leave the marital home and live in a shack with corrugated iron roof nearby. (below)

 


And he began selling all moveable objects in the house and restaurant piece by piece to survive until he could legally get the funds to return home.
“It was like he has signed his own death warrant,” said neighbour Andrew Herrington, 51, a retired HGV driver from Sheldon, Birmingham.
“His wife (pictured below right) lived behind the main house with her Thai boyfriend. Every time we went to visit she would come out and scream and order us away. ‘This is my house. This is my land’, she would shout.

“I was due to meet Ian on Sunday. We had to meet on the main road near his village, because his wife would create a fuss if any westerners came. But he never turned up.  I was very suspicious.
“Ian knew that he was going to be murdered. He had already complained that while he was away she had put something inside a beer in his fridge.
“He had felt ill. So he sent the beer away for analysis to a local hospital. He was awaiting the results.
“But it was an open secret in the area that Ian was going to be murdered.
“When she arrived in the village she took her husband bearing gifts to all the police and local dignitaries.  But she had a secret police lover too.
“When I recently went home to Birmingham a policeman told me ‘ Perhaps your friend will not be alive when you come back’.
“So when I went to his house on Sunday and saw his car was there and the house locked up,  I knew then his time had come.  His wife came out shouting at me and my wife to go away. We decided to call the police.
“When they came they found his badly beaten body. I identified him.  Only the week before he had been at my house to collect a box of Mars chocolate bars.  He did not like the ones made in Asia.
“Ian was a nice and charming man, always helping others. He helped me with the wiring in my house and he designed my stairs, but he would not take a penny.  But secretly he was broke and he had nowhere to go once his home had been taken away from him.”
Another neighbour Australian Bill Lamb, from Woolagong, nr Sydney said: “Ian was a lovely chap. But whenever we visited his wife would come out from behind the house and shout at us.  She complained to the village chief to keep us away.
“Ian was helping me with some welding. He was a jack of all trade. He told us all he was going to be murdered, and quite frankly we believed him, and thought so too.
“Friends had brought him a stun gun, a tazer, to use to protect himself.  We wanted him to go home to England but he was spending his last pennies trying to get his property back.  He was due in court today.
“For the last three months he had been a prisoner in his own house.  We have been bringing him food, but he has been living on mashed potatoes.
“The grass around his house has grown because his wife has chased the gardeners away. He was a very tidy man.”
Police Captain Patapong Patniboon of Suwannaphum Police said: “Ian Beeston’s wife and a Thai friend from Petchabun Province, Somchit Janong, 48, have both been arrested for her murder. We have assured the British Embassy that the investigation will be thorough.”


Yesterday Province, Somchit re-enacted the crime saying he did it for ‘Wanna’.
A British Embassy official said that attempts were being made to trace Beeston’s grown up children, whom had moved abroad, and his ex-wife.
*Three years ago Briton Toby Charnaud, a gentleman farmer aged 42, was beaten to death barbecued and his body fed to the tigers in Kaeng Krajan national park in Thailand after he divorced his Thai wife and removed her from his will.  She was later charged and convicted with other relatives.

 

Wife of Premier League club boss jailed - jail boss fired - Daily Mail

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on August 1, 2008
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Wife of Premier League club boss jailed for three years on tax evasion

Daily Mail

By Andrew Drummond
Last updated at 2:02 PM on 31st July 2008

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The wife of Manchester City Football Club owner and former Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra was sentenced to three years jail for cheating her country out of millions in a massive tax fraud today.

But then she was released immediately on bail and is expecting to be leaving soon with her husband for the Beijing Olympics.

Pojaman Shinawatra is unexpected to do any real time in jail in the near future. Dressed in a pale blue suit and a string of pearls, she still looked shocked as the verdict was read.
The appeal process could take over eight years if the case goes to the Supreme Court.  The defendants had ‘lied, cheated, and conspired to evade taxes, which is regarded as a serious crime,’ the judge said at the Criminal Court in Bangkok.

 
Convicted: Thailand’s deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra (L) and his wife Pojaman (R) arrive at the Court in Bangkok today

‘The defendants are high-profile and wealthy citizens,’ the judge added, remarking that Pojaman’s husband ‘was the leader of the country and she is obligated to pay taxes as a model for society.’

Pojaman, her brother and secretary were convicted of evading the equivalent of over £10million in taxes in 1997 through a complicated transfer of shares in the family’s flagship communications business Shin Corporation that involved placing stocks in the name of one of the family’s maids.

Pojaman, 51, was accused of conspiring together with her brother Bhanapot Damapong and her secretary.

Her brother, also received a two-year jail sentence. The secretary, who played a lesser supporting role, was sentenced to two years. 
Thaksin’s spokesman, Pongthep Thepkanjana said: “Thaksin is not disheartened. They respect the court ruling but it is not the end. We will fight until the end.”
In fact it is only the beginning of s series of cases now hitting the courts which have been in the pipeline for two years.

Thailand’s Supreme Court decided this week to put Thaksin on trial for corruptly offering the Burmese military junta a low interest loan from the Thai government’s Export-Import Bank in a deal to benefit his family’s satellite and broadband business.

Both he and Pojaman are also currently on trial for corruptly acquiring land in the centre of Bangkok from a Thai government department at a third of its market price, something akin to Gordon Brown ordering his government to hand over 13 acres of Whitehall.

In another case Thaksin Shinawatra is also accused of initiating a government lottery, the proceeds of which were not properly accounted. As these cases are being heard in the Supreme Court there is no appeal.

With houses in Hong Kong and the U.K. and billons of dollars offshore many people in Thailand have expressed the view that they do not think Thaksin Shinawatra will come back from the Olympics.

But if he does, they say, he is already prepared.

They point to the fact that in an unusual move a recent Cabinet resolution essentially replaced The Director General of Thailand’s Prisons, with the former Director General, whom Thaksin appointed.

The outgoing Director-General Wanchai Roujanavong is an authority on international crime and apparently corrupt politicians.

His book ‘Organised Crime in Thailand’ details how politicians play a major part in organised crime in Thailand, how they avoid tax, buy votes, and to a certain extent control the courts, while at the same time playing the role of benefactor to the people.

He said: ‘I expected to be here for another year. But I am a civil servant I must go where I am sent.”‘

 

‘I decided to pluck all my resources to live- The Sun June 09 08

Published
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on June 12, 2008
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British divers swept out to sea tell of their terrifying ordeal

From Andrew Drummond, Pulau Bidadari, Indonesia

For SUN story and slide show click here
UNEDITED VERSION HERE

From Andrew Drummond, Pulau Bidadari, Indonesia

This is the moment 25-yr-old Charlotte Allin thought she was about to die.

 

Charlotte hanging on to ‘Wilson’. Copyright James Manning

Strapped to a long with four other castaways and having been swept 40 miles by an ocean current her eyes can reveal her anguish. Right now she knows she may never see land again.

The log, on which their lives depend, has been named ‘Wilson’, after the football Tom Hanks dressed up as an imaginary companion in the Hollywood film ‘Castaway’

Public school educated Charlotte knows her only choice is to paddle furiously with her colleagues for land but they are making no headway.  It looks like they will be washed away far into the Indian Ocean never to be seen again.

But after weather conditions miraculously changed the party struggled ashore led by the heroics of her former Royal Marine Commando boyfriend only to be attacked by a lethal Komodo Dragon.

Now for the first time Charlotte and her boyfriend Jim Manning, 30, told of their two day two night ordeal, which began on what was their last planned dive off Komodo Islands in Indonesia.

Here on Pulai Bidadari, off the coast of Indonesia near the town of Labuan Bajo, recovering from exhaustion, dehydration, and cuts and bruises, they told of their fateful last dive with colleague Swede Helena Naradainen, Frenchman Lauren Pinel, and dive leader Kathleen Mitchinson, 50, from Carlisle.

“We had just done one dive site called the Hanging Gardens and went for our last dive 65 minutes at a place called Manta Corner.

“The dive went fine with our supervisor Kath. We went down 17 metres at 15.03, according to Jim’s watch, and saw Frog Fish and Scorpion Fish, Moray eels and sharks and surfaced at 16.08.

“We saw our dive boat and signalled. But the boat had its back to us. So we blew n our whistles and put out a bright orange Surface Marker Boy SMB).   Still they did not see us so we put up another surface marker boy.

Added Jim: “I had waited for over an hour before to be picked up by a dive boat so I was not worried. But the current was taking us away quite quickly. So we put out a second and third markers boys.

“We drifted past a rock then between two islands. Each time we tried to swim towards the island across the current we failed.”

Said Charlotte: “Jim and I got separated from the rest who had ended up in some sort of whirlpool.  We eventually kicked ourselves back to the group blowing whistles.

“By 6pm it was getting very dark. We needed to get to land. We saw lights on an island and tried to paddle towards it. But each time he headed towards an island he current took us past and around it.

“I was talking to the group trying to keep them interested, trying to keep their spirits, but maybe my spirits up.  We were getting very thirsty and it was getting cold.

“We drifted past yet another island.  The next hour must have been the worst. We knew from our dive leader Kath that the Indonesians could not search at night because of the reefs.

“I thought this is it.  We are going to drift off into the Indian Ocean never to be found. I thought we would die of hypothermia. We were not worried about the reef sharks.

“Then we saw something black in the water in front. My first thought that it was a shark, then, more optimistically,  a dolphin.  But when we swam towards it we saw it was a log. A massive great tree stump about 18 inches in diameter.  It was big enough to support us all.

“We clipped ourselves onto to the log and Jim clipped himself to me and I clipped myself on to Helena the Swede.

“Then the weather turned bad. The wind got up and do did the waves with them. We were all attached to the log and we were swirling around in the stormy water.

“We were swallowing water. We tried to use our masks to protect our faces. In the skies we saw shooting stars.  Each time we saw one e veryone in the group made a wish. Some wished for dry land. Some wished for safety.  I just wished for my life.

“Beside me Helena had taken ill. Basically she was seasick, but in an extreme way.
I tried to talk to everybody. I did not want to die. I made a decision looking up at the stars that I would live or die. I decided I had to pluck up all my resources to live.

“I had to be positive. We all had to stick together. We were kicking continuously even though the wind wand currents were swirling us around all the time. We were kicking to stay warm.  Although Helena did not seem to be responding.

“My fingers were red and bruised from digging my nails into the log. My other arm was tucked under Jim’s life jacket.  We had long since got rid of our diving weight belts.

“We chatted to each other. I asked Lauren about his travels. I asked Kath about her other diving experiences.   Jim joked that he hoped Kath was not going to charge us for a night dive as well.  We were just talking and joking to keep our spirits up, but we all knew what was happening was deadly serious.

“We knew we had to find land. Then at about 10.45 at night on Thursday the sea flattened out. Then we started kicked like mental for our lives.”

Said Jim from Barnstaple:  “We knew then we had to kick ourselves to some sort of island if we were going to get through this.  Everybody was aching. We all had cramps.

“At some point I saw a white patch ahead in the darkness. I thought it might be a beach.  I said to the group that I would leave ‘Wilson’ and swim to the white patch. If it was a beach I would return and tell them.

“But some people were not in agreement. Certainly Charlotte was not. It was eventually agreed that both Kath and I go.

“There was a chance that once we let go of ‘Wilson’ we would let go of our lives. But this white patch was the only recognisable solid thing we could see.

“Kath and I swam off together and found we could make good progress without the log.  It was ashore. But Kath could not get ashore. She was being flung against the rocks.

“We decided to switch places. I tried to get ashore and succeeded. It was a beach of sorts but there were massive white pebbles in the way.  I found a way through and came back to signal to the rest of the group. 

“First came Lauren the Frenchman then Helena, then Charlotte and finally Kath.”

Charlotte, Lauren, Helena on the rocks after striking land. Copyright James Manning
“Yes. We were delirious with joy, “ added Charlotte, “but we could not stand up. We had to lie down and look up at the sky. We were cold and shivering with unbearable pain in our legs and stomachs and unable to sleep – but we were alive!”

“Kath had decided that the island we were on was called Pulau Pandar. If that was true, she said,  in the next cove would be a sandy beach where fisherman and live aboard dive boats spent a lot of time.

“Kath and Jim would go in the morning to raise the alarm.”

In fact the group had landed on Rinca Island, an island dominated by lethal Komodo Dragons, whose bite is fatal to both man and beast.

But when Kath and Jim went to search the following day they did not know this.

Jim, a former Corporal of  59 Independent Commando Squadron, Royal Engineers, who has done tours of duty both in Afghanistan and in Iraq and had been offered a place on an SAS course, takes up the story.

“When we woke up we found a hill behind us 200 metres high and very steep. This was not a walk it was a climb. Initially it was ok to go on hands and knees, we had to go through and under brambles and thorns.

“But it got to the stage that it was so steep that it one of us fell we were going to be in a very bad situation. I told Kath I would go on my own. And she made her way back to the beach.

“I had to be careful where I was putting my hands. I did not know what was in the crevices. When I got to the top I did see another bay. And started to go down the other side. I was stopped in my tracks.  Actually I landed back on my arse rather than stumble right into a beehive, then backtracked.

“I went along the coast along the top of a cliff and saw another bay.  I was parched. I could not breathe. The sun had come up and was beating down full and I had not had a drop of want since 2.30 pm the previous day.

“I managed to get down to a beach and dived into a rock pool to cool off.

“By this time I knew it was useless to go back and tell the group that this was the wrong island. I had to go on. I could not go up.  The sun was too hot.

“But the cliffs were high and the only way to get round the island was by both swimming and climbing.

“But the swell was getting up too.  I still had diving boots, but apart from that I was just about naked.  The waves would bounce me against the rocks. I was able to use my boots to fend myself off most of the time, but I took a bit of a beating as well from the sharp rocks and crustaceans.

“When the current caught me it the waves would roll me over, take me out,  turn me upside down. I did not know where I was. Each time I recovered I would swim madly for the shore.

“At one point I had to climb again and made my way up the cliff forcing my hands and fists into every available crevice.  But this was not like army training, where we used ropes and you could even let yourself fall onto the rope to take a breather.

“Eventually I found a cove with a sandy beach. I thought I saw some people there and started shouting and swearing at them when they did not reply.  When I got up closer I realised the people were just rocks, but they looked like people sitting and holding their knees.

“I saw monkeys and a herd of deer but they were too far in the distance.  Eventually I found a section of rocks facing the sea, which had three flat shelf-like surfaces on which I could lie, although they were at an angle and I had to use me feet to stop slipping off.

“I could rest there and watch out for boats.  I went back to the beach and gathered some leaves. I covered myself in leaves for warmth.  All I had was shorts, a Rash Vest.

“I kept staring out to see and saw a boat and again I started shouting, then swearing. But it was not a boat it was a rock.

“At midnight I moved down to the bottom shelf because I could not stay awake to stop myself slipping off the higher shelf.

“Then in the morning after stripping off washing myself in the sea and began my lookout duties again.

“I was struggling to stay awake. Then I saw this speedboat approaching. I jumped and waved and ran down and jumped into the sea.  It was 12.30 pm.

“My colleagues were all there. Everybody was smiling, even the Indonesians.

“I did not know I had spent all this time in Komodo Dragon land.”

While Jim was out looking for help Charlotte remained with the rest of the group on the beach where they had landed.

“The first morning our spirits were good. We saw three boats. One looked like it had spotted us and started coming towards us, then it turned away. We were waving our safety sausages (SMBs). We thought it had turned away to summon help.

“I had mixed emotions about Jim. I knew he was capable of doing the climbs and that he was physically and mentally strong. But I knew he could fall and if that happened nobody could help him.

“Kath and I started to get a fire going after collecting dry grass and by using a magnifying glass which she had. But it got really hot and we had to hide in the shade of the rocks, which were like giant white pebbles.

“We also put together an SOS sign made out of these giant white pebbles, but I could only carry one at a time and we were all absolutely parched. We were so, so, so thirsty.

“Every time the thirst played on me I just imagined I had drunk a large glass of Sprite (lemonade) with ice through a straw.

“I felt like I had had a drink. We found a coconut and Kath broke it open. But inside it was rotten. We kept it anyway just in case. 

“We kept ourselves occupied by playing hangman or noughts and crosses in the sand.
Lauren the Frenchman spent the morning and afternoon on a lookout rock, coming back at midday for two hours because Kath said the fishermen would not be out during those hours.

“At midday the heat was unbearable there was no shade at all.

“We saw ships in the distance but nobody saw us and by about 4.30 pm I was beginning to despair. We found an overhang in the rocks by the shore and saw water dripping down. Kath and I tried to drink it. When we did we realised it was just sea water from the splashing waves.

“Then suddenly we heard a scream. We saw Helena and right next to her was a Komodo Dragon. It was just inches away.  These Komodos can kill buffalo and deer with just one bite.
“The Dragon made a lunch at her and I saw his tongue darting out. Then he grabbed the hood of her suit which was beside her.  We rushed and Kath picked up a couple of sticks and beat it, but it did not go away.

“Then the Komodo grabbed Jim’s wet suit which he had left behind. Kath hit the Dragon again and he left go

“We rushed to the sea to fill out bottles with sea water, because we were told the Komodos did not like water.  But it did not seem concerned when we threw water over it.

“The Komodo Dragon kept coming back. It was big but not an adult, We knew it must have a mummy and a daddy about somewhere. People and other animals die from the bites from the bacteria.

“I collected all the wetsuits because we needed them to keep warm during the night. We let the Komodo have any masks or flippers or BCDs (buoyancy control devices) he wanted.

“We were confused what were Komodos doing on this island. We huddled together for the night.

“Lauren seemed to have the most energy and we asked him why. He said he had been eating sea snails.   That cheered us up.  The next morning we knew it was safe to eat them.  So having slept all night on some big boulders we went down for breakfast,

“At first we just broke off the shells, smashed them with a stone and swallowed them.
But Lauren was chewing. So we gave them a try. They were black and slimey but actually not bad and we got some juice from them.

“But our spirits were still down.  I did not think we would be able to survive one more night. By this time I thought Jim was dead.  I thought even if we were rescued I would not leave without him.

“Then about midday we saw a boat out to see turn around and head in our direction.
Could that boat have at last spotted us?  We did not want to let our hopes up. But it came on and came on towards us. Oh my God. It IS coming!

“Kath and I dropped on our knees and burst into tears. 

“When we got on the boat and had some water we insisted that Jim was still out there. The boat took us around the island and then a crewman shouted from the front. He’s here.  My darling was jumping up on a rock and waving his hands.  Our lives had been spared.

“We do not blame anyone for what happened.  It could have happened to anyone.
We are just so glad all of us to be alive.”

Charlotte and Jim’s trip was organised by Ernest Lewandowski from Locherbie, Scotland and Kathleen Mitchinson, from Carlyle who run Reefseekers Dive Centre out of Labuan Bajo.

Said Ernest afterwards: “We are so happy that everyone is safe. I had already got by group back into the boat. We raised the alarm when we could not find Kath’s group.

“I went to see a local soothsayer in Labuan and she predicted exactly where the group would be found. I am very proud of the way Kath led her group.”

Copyright: © Andrew Drummond June 8 2008

 

‘

 

 

 

Charlotte, Jim, and Kathleen: Picture: Andrew Chant

Alone on dragon island … How Britons swept away during dive survived their terrifying ordeal - Mail On Sunday June 8 08

Published
by
Andrew Drummond
on June 12, 2008
in General News and The Times
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By Andrew Drummond

For full story and pictures click here

Three British divers swept away by powerful currents in the shark-infested Indian Ocean told last night how they fought off an attack by a man-eating Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard.

The group were threatened by the 10ft beast as they awaited rescue on a remote Indonesian island.

They escaped its razor-sharp teeth and poisonous saliva, which it spits at victims, by throwing stones until the predatory animal slunk away.

In a graphic account of their 45-hour ordeal, dive instructor Kathleen Mitchinson described how they survived on nothing more than raw shellfish.

She said the scraps of food - and the knowledge that her partner of 20 years was searching for her - were the only things that kept her alive.

Sitting up in her hospital bed, Ms Mitchinson hugged Ernest Lewandowski and told him tearfully: ‘I didn’t give up hope. I’m so happy to be home and that we are all safe and sound.’

Ms Mitchinson had been in charge of a group of tourists who had gone to Komodo Island, the giant lizards’ natural habitat, last Thursday before setting out in a small wooden boat for what was supposed to be an hour-long dive.

With her were a British couple, former Royal Marine James Manning, 30, and his girlfriend Charlotte Allin, 24, and a Frenchman and a Swede.

Meanwhile Mr Lewandowski was diving with another group of visitors at the same spot. When his party surfaced, they were picked up first by the dive boat team.

But by the time the boat returned for Ms Mitchinson’s group they had been carried away by a strong current.

After a huge search involving the Indonesian navy and dozens of local fishermen, a rescue boat spotted the missing divers’ inflated orange and red ‘safety sausages’ - brightly coloured flotation devices designed to attract the attention of rescuers.

They were laid out in the shape of a cross on the rocks of Rinca Island, about 20 miles from where they had gone missing.

The divers are believed to have been in the water for around ten hours before being
washed on to the rocks.

They were taken to hospital - dehydrated, exhausted and sunburnt, but with no serious injuries.

One Indonesian rescuer said: ‘We saw them at the beach. They said they had found a Komodo dragon on the island which was ready to eat them. They had to throw stones to keep it away.’

Mr Lewandowski, 53, who runs a diving school with Ms Mitchinson on the nearby island of Flores, said the stranded divers had spent a terrifying night being buffeted by huge waves.He added: ‘They are very tired and hungry. The hospital has done a great job. Kath’s just really glad to be home - and grateful to be alive with the whole team.’

Asked about the terror of shark attacks, he replied: ‘They talked about what happened above them, not the creatures below.

‘It has been quite an ordeal, but they are all safe. That’s the most important thing.

‘They had a miraculous escape, but the fact is, they are all experienced divers. This was an absolute freak accident. There was nobody at fault.

‘They did all the right things: They stayed afloat in the surf and kept together as a group.

‘They grabbed hold of flotsam and jetsam and kept hold of that in huge waves out in the Indian Ocean, which were crashing over their heads.

‘They were in dangerous open ocean, the next stop to Antarctica. Most of the time they were totally covered in water.

‘Kath was the team leader and coordinated things, but they all took turns in keeping each other going. They worked as a team, which is one of the things that is vitally important.

‘Eventually, when shallow water was available, they swam towards the shore. They were all supporting each other. Anybody who became a weak link was made to have strength. That’s how they survived.

‘They went with the current, which was the only thing they could do. They kept as close to land as possible and when they could make it to land, they did.’

Ms Mitchinson and Mr Lewandowski, who met while diving in the north of England, have lived in Indonesia for 15 years, the past seven on the island of Flores, where they run a dive centre and turtle nursery.

Both are originally from Carlisle. Mr Lewandowski, 53, spent most of his life in Scotland before moving to the Far East.

He said: ‘Kath knows the area very well and they managed to survive by eating shellfish off the rocks, like little abalone, and utilising what they had around them - the sort of food you eat in posh restaurants.

‘They were eating them raw, which gave them energy and moisture.’

When rescue came, the large dive boat which spotted the castaways was unable to enter the inlet and a smaller craft was dispatched to pick up them up.

Mr Lewandowski said: ‘When I received news over the radio, I was ecstatic. I just wanted to hear Kath’s voice again.’

When they did get their tearful reunion later yesterday back on dry land at Labuan Bajo, Miss Mitchinson’s throat was so dry from swallowing salt water that she could hardly speak.

Mr Lewandowski said: ‘She just said, “I’m home safe and sound. I knew you wouldn’t give up on me…”

‘She had no doubt I would be doing everything in my power to find her. And she knew, no matter what, I wouldn’t stop.’

Mr Manning, from Devon, trained as a Royal Marine engineer and has his paratrooper’s wings.

Speaking at the family home near Cullompton, his brother Ollie said: ‘It’s been an anxious wait and we feared the worst when we were initially contacted and told he was missing.

‘James is a tough lad. He can look after himself. He was in the Army for ten years and I knew that if he could get everybody out of the water and on to a reef or beach then he’d be able to use the survival techniques he’d been taught.’

His mother Sally-Ann said: ‘He is physically shattered but otherwise OK.’

Ms Allin’s sister Sarah-Jane, 26, said at her home in Bideford, Devon: ‘We had a call from the Foreign Office at 5am and then Charlotte herself got through at 7am. She sounded tired and shocked but said she was all right.’

In Komodo National Park, where the three Britons were diving and where most of the creatures live, there have been eight serious incidents since 1980.

In the most recent - the first fatal attack on a human in 33 years - an eight-year-old boy died after he was mauled by a 10ft long, 15st dragon in 2007.

He was tossed around like a rag doll and savaged by the lizard’s razor-sharp teeth as it tried to snap his neck just as it would other prey.

Even if the boy had survived the attack, he would have died of blood poisoning from the 50 virulently toxic species of bacteria contained in the dragon’s saliva.

Probably the best-known victim of the dragons’ dangerous unpredictability is Basic Instinct actress Sharon Stone’s ex-husband Phil Bronstein.

He was on a tour of Los Angeles Zoo in 2001 and was in the dragon’s cage when the creature clamped its serrated teeth down on his foot.

After prising its jaw open and escaping, he had to have surgery to reattach severed tendons and rebuild a crushed big toe and was given massive doses of antibiotics to combat the poisonous saliva.

Attacks on humans are rare and the creatures, which are notoriously bad-tempered, mainly feed on monkeys, pigs, wild deer and even water buffalo.

A skilled and savage hunter, it is the only lizard species that hunts and kills prey larger than itself, and larger than it can swallow whole.

It can sprint at 15mph and has a keen sense of smell. But instead of chasing its prey, it prefers to lie still and camouflaged before lunging and sinking its teeth into its victim.

Experts say that even if its prey escapes, it will die within hours from septicaemia.

But despite its awesome strength, the komodo dragon is on endangered species lists and is under threat from tourism, poaching and volcanic activity.

About 3,000 live on Komodo Island and other islands 300 miles east of Bali, and there are some in captivity - a clutch of four was born at London Zoo in 2006.

 

Police re-arrest ‘The Ghost’ April 2 2008

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Police re-arrest ‘The Ghost’ - April 2 2008

From Andrew Drummond
Bangkok
Wednesday April 2 08

A convicted British child-rapist was back behind bars in Thailand today after police revoked bail after angry protests by a child protection agency.

Maurice Praill, 77, nicknamed ‘The Ghost’ from Harold Hill, Essex, was sent to Nongplalai prison, Pattaya, after Sudarat Sereewat a member of the country’s National Child Protection Committee complained ‘on behalf of the children of Thailand’.

Praill had earlier boasted that a local policeman played the keyboards at his wedding to a 15-yr-old child bride in a ceremony blessed by Buddhist monks.PraillM04 Wedding 1

He will appear in court on April 7th on a charge of child sexual abuse with an eight year old boy where he is expected to ask for bail again.

Praill was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to 14 years in jail for the rape of two under-aged girls in Pattaya. But he never did time. He got bail to appeal against his conviction and when he lost his appeal in 2004, he was given bail again to appeal to Thailand’s Supreme Court.

He was arrested again last year together with three other foreigners and charged again with child sex abuse.  In this case it was alleged young girls were delivered to foreigners on the back of a motorcycle.  One of the alleged victims in this case was the daughter of Praill’s latest maid.

Praill was bailed. But the prosecution subsequently offered no evidence against him although an American was subsequently jailed for 16 years.

Then last month Praill was arrested for sexually abusing an eight year old boy. Again he was bailed, this time for 400,000 Thai baht (£6,411).

After he was released Sudarat Sereewat, also Secretary General of FACE (Fight Against Child Exploitation) protested to Region 2 Provincial Police, which covers the resort of Pattaya.

“If we can’t put this man behind bars to protect our children, who can we (have detained)?” she said.

Local newspapers in Pattaya have reported that Praill was arrested on allegations of child abuse even before 2001 but was released after paying local ‘fines’ at Pattaya Police station.

Shortly after his arrival in Thailand he went through a marriage ceremony to a 15-yr-old girl, the daughter of a previous maid. The wedding was blessed by monks and a Pattaya policeman played keyboards at the party claimed Praill, whose stepson Jon Goodman played soccer for Ireland, Crystal Palace and Wimbledon.

 Praill, said he was surprised himself that he got bail. Nicknamed the ‘Ghost’ by children who describe his appearance as scary, he said after his release: “It’s incredible. How can an alleged offender who has committed rape against two young girls on four separate occasions ever get bail for that? And how could he get bail again? It could not happen in the UK, but it happened in Thailand which is comforting for me.”

The British Government has spent hundreds of thousand of pounds on courses for Thai police, social workers, and court officials, on how to deal with child sex offenders.

Most courses have been preceded by receptions at the Ambassador’s mansion.

Bea the hippy princess raves at the full moon - Mail on Sunday March 30 08

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Bea the hippy princess raves at the full moon

Link to Mail on Sunday

By ANDREW DRUMMOND
 

Princess Beatrice has been enjoying a backpacker-style break in Thailand - drinking the local whisky and dancing on the beach into the early hours. Princess Beatrice 01

The 19-year-old flew into Phuket two weeks ago and headed for the picturesque island of Phi Phi with a group of 15 girlfriends and two armed guards.

Her party hired a block of 12 rooms at the £48-a-night Phi Phi Villa Resort, close to beautiful TonsaiBeach.

Each day she swam with her chums in the local bay and partied on the sands.

Last Saturday night, Beatrice’s group headed to Koh Phagnan to enjoy one of the island’s notorious “Full Moon” raves.

A tourist was stabbed to death at that party, although it is not known if Beatrice was aware of this.

The parties attract thousands of young travellers each full moon and have been the subject of Foreign Office warnings following a series of rapes and deaths.

Left: Princess Beatrice - file picture
Back on Phi Phi, the Princess’s favourite spots included the British-owned Tiger Bar and a Thai-run beach bar called Hippies, where backpackers dance under candlelight on the beach.

Philip Osman, 26, of the Tiger Bar said: “Beatrice certainly knew how to party. She was up there dancing and encouraging others to join in. Princess Beatrice Phi Phi 01

Picture - Dancing at Hippies’ Bar (Andrew Chant)

“She was drinking by the bucketful. She bought a bucket which she filled with Thai whisky, Red Bull, ice and coke. But I did not see her drunk.”

Princess Beatrice’s trip comes at a time when the country’s tourist authorities have expressed concern over attacks on tourists and have even come up with a plan to issue female tourists with whistles.

Recently a 27-yr-old Swedish woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight on Khao Mai Beach on the holiday island of Phuket.

At Hippies bar on Koh Phi Phim frequented by Princess Beatrice,  a DJ currently faces a charged of murdering a Belgian tourist as he walked home. The tourist is alleged to have insulted a Thai woman.

A spokesman for Beatrice said she would not comment on a private trip.

Princess Beatrice Phi Phi 02 1

Selling booze by the bucket on Koh Phi Phi (Andrew Chant)

Princess Beatrice Tiger Bar Phi Phi 1

Philip Osman, from Swansea, and Toby Collingwood, from Hull, co-owners ‘Tiger Bar’  Phi Phi Island

Thai police played the keyboards at my wedding to child bride - says child rapist

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Thai policeman played the keyboards at my wedding to under-aged girl, says convicted child rapist - March 23 08

From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok
Police in Thailand said today  they were reconsidering a decision to grant bail for the sixth time to a convicted British child rapist, known as ‘The Ghost’ who was arrested last week for abusing an eight-yr-old boy.

After protests from child-watch groups Police Colonel Khanisorn Yuwawhitaya, in charge of the Women and Children’s Division of Thai Police Region 2, which covers the resort of Pattaya, said he would send an order to police in Pattaya to ‘put things right’.

Police in the resort, infamous for its sex trade, have repeatedly released Praill, 77, from Harold Hill, Essex.  He was last bailed on Wednesday for the equivalent of £6,500 within hours of his arrest in the shower of his home in Bongkot Villas, Pattaya.Maurice Praill 02 1 2

Praill, the step-father of ex-footballer Jon Goodman, who played for Wimbledon, Crystal Palace, and Ireland, was convicted in 2001 for the rape of two under-aged girls in the resort, aged and 11 and 12 and jailed for 14 years. He was bailed pending appeal and when he lost that appeal in 2004 he appealed to the Supreme Court and was given bail again. 

Prior to 2001, Praill had been arrested three times on child sex allegations.
Each time he was released by Pattaya police, after paying ‘fines’ to local police, according to the local newspaper ‘The Pattaya Mail’.

He was arrested again in March last year with three other foreigners who allegedly used a ‘home delivery service’ for paedophiles in Pattaya.  Young girls were taken on motorbikes to the customers apartments, police claimed.

One of the three, American Glen Allen, 61, was last month jailed for 16 years in cases involving girls or 9 and 11. But the case against Praill is no longer in the court after the prosecution offered no evidence.

(One of the ‘victims’ in the case was a daughter of another of Praill’s maids. She was not called to testify against Praill.    Police claimed he abused her upstairs while the mother did the housework downstairs. Praill admitted knowing her however ‘from the day she was born’)

Maurice Praill, 77, known to his child victims as ‘The Ghost’ because of his frightening appearance, denied yesterday ever paying bribes to local police.

“I don’t need to. They never produce proper evidence against me, “ he said at his Pattaya home.  “They are targeting me. It’s getting a little hot.  But I could be dead before they get a conviction on the latest charge, and I am confidence I will win my appeal for child rape. I have one of the best lawyers in Bangkok. I’ve seen him on TV.”

“I like young people. All my girlfriends have been younger than me,” he added.

Two years after his arrival in Thailand in the late eighties, Praill married a 15-yr-old girl, the daughter of his maid, who had been in his house for two years,  in a marriage blessed by Buddhist monks.

“The parents asked me to marry their daughter. They wanted to secure her future.  Her father was not too well. A policeman even led the band and played the organ at the wedding party,” he said yesterday, adding that the girl left him within the year to join her glue-sniffing chums.PraillM04 Wedding

“The latest charges are a set-up. This boy has been at my house but I sent him away giving him 50 baht. I sensed there was something wrong.

“The day I was alleged to have committed this offence my ex-wife, who remains a friend, was staying with me on the way to Borneo.

“Its members of a local orphanage who are setting me up. They have tried before and failed.”

Sudarat Sudarat of  Thailand’s National Child Protection Committee and Secretary General of ‘The Fight Against Child Exploitation’ (FACE) said she had protested Praill’s release.

“Every time he is released children are in danger, “ she added.

The British taxpayer has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds to pay for courses for Thai police, court officials, and child welfare groups, to ensure paedophiles are swiftly and professionally dealt with. The courses have often been preceded by parties hosted by the British Ambassador.

The courses were introduced after several notable paedophiles being tracked by British police were either released without charge or acquitted in court.  The most recent courses were run by Britain’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre  (CEOP) which will shortly host more visits by Thai police to the U.K.

Added Sudarat Sereewat: “We are trying to establish why Praill has been released so many times. Is it could be corruption? Is it incompetence. I would not like to say either without proof.  But police have now said they would withdraw the bail.”

FACE are in possession of a diary allegedly written by Praill in the early nineties, five years after his arrival in Thailand after retiring from running a video hire company in Chingford.Maurice Praill Diary

In the diary he describes how he paid children for sex by paying their school fees or buying them glue or simply giving them a few pounds.  He describes his anger at their ingratitude when they refuse or when they do not perform to his satisfaction.

Left: A page from Praill’s old diary

This page describes a frustrating night at home with two young girls who are sniffing glue but refuse him. One says ‘ Dont want. It hurts’.  ‘How much more can I take?’ complains Praill. The following morning he reports a girl ‘won’t touch it let alone smoke it’. But he reports happily at the end  he has succeeded and had the best session possible.

‘And she seemed to enjoy it - at last’

  Maurice Praill denies he has kept a diary.

LINKS

Child rapist ‘The Ghost’ arrested again - Daily Mail

Paedophile arrested for sixth time - Irish Independent

This article was updated on March 24 2008

Scandal as ‘child rapist’ released on bail again in Thailand - March 20 08

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 British paedophile ‘The Ghost’ accused of child rape ‘three times’ is arrested AGAIN in Thailand - Daily Mail

Stepfather of ex-soccer star accused of abducting Thai girls - Irish Independent March 21 07

Sixth arrested for convicted paedophile - Irish Independent March 19 08

From Andrew Drummond, Pattaya

 20th March 2008

The most notorious British paedophile in Thailand walked free from a police station again today after being granted £6,500 bail for the alleged sexual abuse of an eight year old boy.

Maurice Praill 02

 Maurice Praill, 77, formerly of Harold Hill, Essex, was arrested yesterday while already on bail for two other child sex offences. But he has been arrested in Thailand numerous times and been released.

 Police in Pattaya said today they raised the bail to the maximum amount allowed under law but Praill, known locally as ‘The Ghost’ was able to meet the fee. They declined to discuss why he was given bail at all.

Two years after his arrival in the late eighties, Praill married a 15-yr-old girl, the daughter of his maid, in a marriage seemingly blessed by Buddhist monks. The girl fled after three months.

 In December 2001 he was convicted of the rape of two young girls, but the formal charge only came after a series of arrests in the resort for which he was released after the local press reported he had paid ‘fines to local police’.

 But after his conviction he was immediately released on bail, and when he lost his appeal in 2004, curiously he got bail again to appeal to Thailand’s Supreme Court.

 In what child protection agencies describe as a ‘scandalous state of affairs’ Praill was arrested again last year for abusing two girls aged 9 and 11 at his condominium in the resort but within two weeks was out on bail again of £8000.

 Child welfare agencies have long believed that a fund exists subscribed to by an international paedophile group to pay ‘costs’ for members arrested in Thailand

Praill was arrested at his new home in Bongkot Villa, Pattaya, after a police surveillance team saw an eight-yr-old boy being delivered to his home in a motorcycle side platform, normally used by the driver for transporting goods to market.

 Thai police were called in after a member of the Child Protection Centre passed on complaints from the parents of the eight-year-old boy.

 Praill, who was previously arrested for abusing young girls, had now turned to young boys, said Police Colonel Khanisorn Yuwawithaya, who led the latest investigation.

 The police had been contacted by Supakorn Noja, of  the Pattaya Child Protection Centre, said Commander Kanisorn. “We formed a team and conducted surveillance. We witnessed the eight year old boy being delivered to his house. We arrested Praill when he was in the shower at his home in.”

 Sudarat Sudarat Thailand’s National Child Protection Committee described the Praill case as ‘scandalous’.

 “He could have been abusing our children for twenty years yet nobody has put him behind bars. I am shocked they have let him go again.

”We have spoken to some of his child victims. They call him ‘The Ghost’ because of his frightening appearance.”

 Britain, she added, had spent hundreds of thousand of pounds on much publicized projects accompanied by Embassy cocktail parties to educate the Thai police and justice system how to deal with child sex offenders.

 “This makes those efforts look very weak.  The Thai justice system will have to take more notice of the safety of the victims and possible future victims. He should never have been given bail. Paedophiles are repeat offenders,” she said.

 Praill  ran a video hire company called Phoenix Entertainment based in Chingford, Essex. His stepson footballer Jon Goodman, was capped for Ireland and also played for Millwall and Wimbledon. He is believed now to have cancelled all contact with his stepfather.

Praill’s lawyer, Nitiwat Pattanasarn, said: “Maurice Praill denies the allegations against him.

At his home in Pattaya after being freed Praill said: “It looks like the police are targetting me. I blame the child welfare agencies for targetting me. They are setting me up.  Yes I like young people.  I have always had younger girlfriends.

Picture: Maurice Praill at his wedding to the daughter of his maid. He paid 40,000 baht. Then about US$1000.Maurice Praill with Thai bride 1

 A second Briton, named a Ronald David Wiener, aged 59, was also relased on bail in Pattaya for sodomy in connection with another eight year old boy, who was playing on the beach while his parents ran a food stall. Wiener, from London, allegedly offered the boy the equivalent of £12 to go with him The cases are not connected.

Police said he willingly admitted the offences and came to Pattaya because he was told he could find young boys there. They also took away a number of pornographic videos of young boys having sex.
 

Briton killed over Thai bride March 14 2008

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From Andrew Drummond,
Bangkok, March 13 08

A Briton was murdered in Thailand by a mentally disturbed man who was jealous of the man’s forthcoming marriage to his sister.

Retired ICI worker Ivor Chandler, 56, from Skelton, East Cleveland, had been taken by a his Thai girlfriend, Chumporn, 28, from the resort of Pattaya to meet her parents, in the northern province of Phetchabun at the weend when Chandler was killed.

Shortly after his arrival late last week in the village of Khlong Thom he was attacked by the girl’s brother and fatally stabbed in the throat.

Police Captain Komchart Kankasaen said: “The brother, Tui Minim, is now in custody. He is not mentally well. He has to be looked after 24 hours a day by his family. He has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals.”

“It seems that he was jealous of all the attention the foreigner. He did not like strangers and he was used to getting all the attention.”

Mr.Chandler made regular visits to Thailand to visit his girlfriend. They planned to marry later this year.

John Denver karaoke sparks Thai killing spree - Sunday Telegraph March 9 08

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 John Denver karaoke sparks Thai killing spree - Sunday Telegraph

From Andrew Drummond,
Bangkok
A gunman in Thailand who shot-dead eight neighbours, including his brother-in-law, said yesterday he had had enough of the noise and their awful karaoke singing.

Weenus Chumkamnerd, 52, put his gun to the head of a respected female doctor and seven of her guests as they partied at her home in Songkhla Province, South Thailand.

“When I began shooting nobody pleaded for his life because they were all drunk,” he said after his arrest.

Weenus said he was so furious himself that he did not notice he had murdered his brother-in-law.

“I warned these people about their noisy karaoke parties. I said if they carried on I would go down and shoot them.  I had told them if I couldn’t talk sense into them I would come back and finish them off,”  he added.

Weenus, a rubber tapper, was arrested yesterday after going on the run after his killing spree on Sunday last week in the townn of  Hat Yai, near the Malaysian border.

The doctor who was hosting the party, Dr. Suthathip Thammachart, 36, a director of a local hospital who was due this month to get an awards for her services to medicine.

Weenus short her husband, Trirat, first and she was the last person to be shot. Her husband who would have been the nineth fatality survived after playing dead convincing Weenus that he too had been killed.  He later recovered in hospital.

When he realised he had shot his brother-in-law, named Boontip Desaro,  Weenus said he was filled with remorse.  He got his son to take Boontip to hospital, but he was already dead.

A neighbour said that the karaoke group normaly sang Thai pop and southern Thai ballads, but one particular western tune could be heard often  - John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’.

British property tycoon paid out to blackmailer - Irish Daily Mail, March 6th 08

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From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok,
March 5th 2008

An Irish computer hacker who posed on the internet as a young Thai woman to successfully blackmail a British millionaire in Bangkok was arrested by police yesterday in Northern Thailand.

Computer hacker David Gerard Murphy, 42, from Dublin, was seized by police, after he decided 40,000 Euros was not enough for his silence and he went back for more than double that amount.

20080305murphyd02 2

Murphy had emailed the businessman in his office in Bangkok’s business district of Silom posing as a young Thai woman who wanted to introduce herself to him and wished to send a video.

When the businessman accepted and downloaded the video, a virus was introduced which scooped up all his private business correspondence into Murphy’s computer.

The next day Murphy contacted the businessmen threatening to pass on his secrets unless he paid up 2 million Thai baht – 41,688 Euros. The businessman paid up, said Lt.General Virachom Boontaw in Chiang Mai, where Murphy was arrested.

Police are keeping the victim’s name and his secrets confidential, but Murphy would have got away with it had he not got greedy, said Thai police.

Having spent the cash on girls and other entertainment he went back for more, said Police Lt. General Boontaw.

“The first payment was made two years ago. According to the warrant of arrest at the beginning of this month he tried to blackmail the businessman again ordering him to send a further 5 million baht (104,330 Euros).  But this time the businessman went to the police.”

Police arrested the Thai holder of a bank account to which the money was to be sent in the town of Nakorn Sawan, just over halfway halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Enquiries led to Chiang Mai where Murphy was found renting a room in the Baan Thai Guest House with a young Thai woman called Surin, aged 23.

Murphy has refused to comment on the matter but admitted he knew something about the businessman in question.

His girlfriend Surin told the police: “I have known him for six months but he never did any work.  He used to sit all day in internet cafes.”

Added Lt. General Boontaw: “We believe he has been financing his good times in Thailand blackmailing businessmen here. That has paid for his drinks, his girlfriend.

“He told us that he graduated from University in computer studies but he has used his knowledge to become a hacker.”

Thaksin returns to a hero’s welcome -The Times February 28 2008

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February 28, 2008

Thai ex-premier arrives home to hero’s welcome

Andrew Drummond and Richard Lloyd Parry, in Bangkok

thaksinFeb2808 2

Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed former Thai Prime Minister, was greeted with a hero’s welcome in the capital Bangkok today as he returned home to face corruption allegations.

The Manchester City football club owner, who was ousted in a military coup in September 2006, was accorded the welcome of a liberator after his Thai airlines 747 touched down on a flight from Hong Kong.

After telling officials in the VIP area that he was worried about his security but that he had confidence in Thai justice, he walked out of the airport and fell to his knees to kiss the pavement.

Mr Thaksin’s return marks the latest step in a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the former Thai Prime Minister.

Months ago, he appeared to have been consigned to the dustbin of history after being forced out of office in a military coup, stripped of much of his fortune and facing criminal charges that could land him in prison.thaksinFeb2808

But this morning, analysts believe his triumphant homecoming could mark the latest step in his remarkable return to power.

Thousands of supporters, including members of Thailand’s new Government, a smaller number of opponents and 10,000 police, were waiting for him at Suvarnabhumi airport, some carrying banners and life-size cardboard cutouts of his image.

After arriving, he was immediately taken to Bangkok Criminal court to answer a charge of abuse of power.

Once there, he was, as expected, bailed for £136,500 and told not to leave the country without the court’s permission. However, analysts believe that the court was unlikely to refuse such permission, and that the allegations against him may soon be dropped.

No sooner had Mr Thaksin left court than Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee announced that he would be appointed as economic advisor to the government.

The former Prime Minister, who has kept himself in the international public spotlight by buying Manchester City and appointing former England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson as manager, has been banned from politics for five years, along with 110 of his MPs in the now defunct Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thai) party.

However, Thailand’s current government, led by current Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of the People’s Power Party, gained power largely by using the former Prime Minister’s popularity in its election campaign. He was accompanied home by PPP party officials.

It is likely now that moves will be made to lift the ban on Mr Thaksin’s political career even though he has repeatedly claimed he has retired from politics. He still has a massive power base in the north-east of Thailand where his policies are popular with farmers.

“I just want to go home to my family and thank them and everyone for their support,” he said.

Thaksin’s return, however, is likely to lead to further splits in national unity. The military coup came after months of street demonstrations by pro-democracy supporters, who objected to his clampdown on press freedoms, human rights abuses and his alleged corruption.

Memorable returns

— On return from exile last year, Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani Prime Minister, planned a two-day procession through Karachi. Hours into the journey, she narrowly escaped a suicide bomb that killed 100 supporters.

— In 1814 the French Emperor Napoleon lost to the allied armies and was exiled on the island of Elba, with a personal staff of 1,000. After 100 days, he escaped to the mainland and caused royalist forces to join him with the cry: “If there is any soldier among you who wishes to kill his Emperor, here I am”

— After 20 years in America, the dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to post-Soviet Russia in 1994, taking two months to cross the country by train, met by well-wishers at every stop

Sources: Times archives, One Hundred Days: Napoleon’s Road to Waterloo

Pictures: Reuters/Getty/EPA

And now for something completely different - Spawn to be wild - The Sun Jan 11 2008

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Frog1 1

 From The Sun and the Daily Star, January 11 2008

 Pictures by Reuters and Andrew Chant

 Of course as this frog is in a Catatonic state the video is not quite so good!

Hopper on a chopper! Spawn to be wild, Going down the old frog and toad!  Rev it! Rev it! - a good day for the tabloid writers.

The ‘Times’ was a bit more laborious.  ‘Chonburi: According to the nursery rhyme when froggie goes a courtin’ he takes a sword and pistol by his side. This frog though prefers to travel unarmed on a Harley-Davison.’  Ahemm!

 Frog 3 1 2

But you can trust Metro newspaper to come out with the boring truth: “Now. Call us skeptical old curmudgeons if you will, but we think the real story’s more like this: Ms. Bamrungthai enjoys putting the frog onto human toys and taking photos.

 

Frog bike

We really don’t think that the frog has much say in the matter, or that what it does on the toys can really be describes as playing”.  - Never mind the story did make ‘Biker Chick News’ after all.

frog2 1

It all went tits up! Nov. 20 2007

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Pensioner drugged and robbed by women in Thailand

By Andrew Drummond in Bangkok

Tuesday November 20 2007
A retired Irish businessman living in Thailand has had his savings stolen by two women who drugged and robbed him.
Jerry McCarthy (66), from Co Louth, woke up with a headache after befriending two women in a bar.

He signed a statement with Thai police saying he had taken them back to his home in Pattaya, which is 100 miles east of Bangkok.

This police statement suggested he may be the latest victim of two local women who smear themselves with a powerful drug.

But last night Mr McCarthy denied this, releasing a statement saying: “I refute it (the police statement) absolutely as it does not at all reflect what occurred that night.”mccarthyj01

Mr McCarthy, from Dundalk Street, Carlingford, a separated father of two, and a former manager of a plastics company, said: “The robbery arose after the non-alcoholic drink I was drinking in a bar was spiked with an illegal substance.

“Following the robbery I was interviewed by the police while still recovering from the illegal substances which was administered to me. A statement was presented to me to sign in Thai and not in English.”

He lost €3,200, his laptop computer, and two mobile phones when he collapsed after he brought the women back to his home.

Police in Pattaya said that the chances of making an arrest were slim.

Police Colonel Kongrit Thamasatien said: “He also lost his passport and his credit cards. The cash was in his safe. The two women managed to escape with the entire safe and its contents. We believe a number of foreign tourists have been drugged recently by the same two women.”

Last night Mr McCarthy said he wanted to clarify some issues with Thai police.

“I have contacted the Thai police with a view to amending my statement to reflect what actually happened and to clear my name.”

Mr McCarthy, described by people in Carlingford as a “quiet man, who kept to himself”, is a former captain of Greenore golf club.

* Pattaya police said that McCarthy stated that he had driven into the city from his home on Pratamnak Hill, picked up two girls in Soi 12 and stopped at a 7/11 to buy drinks on the way home. It was at his home after playing with the girls, in a way which is now disputed, that he became ill and blacked out.

In a sensational case in 1995 three Austrian steelworkers slept through Christmas at the Thai Garden Resort in North Pattaya after being administered with an ‘Upjohn’ drug by girls who had apparently smeared their nipples.Upjohn07

Photos and videos of two of them snoring well into the police investigation were beamed around the world, and to their wives back home, long before their return.

- Andrew Drummond in Bangkok

Irish Independent story

WARNING FROM THE PATTAYA CITY NEWS, edited by Howard Miller

“A much publicized new form of drugging was apparently used by the two women which we will explain in full, for the benefit of others who may get caught out by the same trick. The women had placed medication on their breasts and encouraged the victim to lick this particular area. He failed to realize that he was ingesting a flavorless chemical which causes you to lose consciousness.

Headline from the London SUN:   ‘It all went tits up!”

Welcome to the world of Thai journalism - This is London

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Welcome to the world of Thai journalism
By Andrew Drummond 21.11.01
 
They met, over a meal of catfish and whisky, on a smart riverboat restaurant. Within a few minutes, the deck was soaked in blood and three of them were dead. The bloodbath - the result of a difference of opinion between reporters from rival newspapers - may have curled a few hairs in the West.

But here, where journalists often pack Uzis and Magnums, the news was greeted with little more than a few raised eyebrows. I would certainly think twice before accepting a dinner invitation with some of my Thai counterparts.

For the press in this country is like no other. The tabloids, perhaps the least restricted in the world, are forever breaking new boundaries on easy showbiz targets. When, for example, a film star was being blackmailed, the mass tabloid Thai Rath published the blackmailers’ nude pictures of her.

Yet where politicians and other influential figures are concerned, the rules are rather different. Here, journalists are not necessarily picked for their writing skills but for the influence they wield. Many have their own rackets, nightclubs, bars and restaurants. There is a local expression: “Truth will never die, but if you tell it, you will die for sure.” In one record year, 19 journalists were slain in a variety of incidents; this was not necessarily because of their fearless search for the truth but because of conflicting business interests.

I once ran a campaign to close down a camp of long-necked tribal Padaung who had been put on display in a “human zoo” for tourists in the same province. The families, including 21 children, had been kidnapped from Burma. The head of the kidnap gang hired a national newspaper journalist to write that I was a “foreign spy” and that the child welfare officer who was helping me was a “riddled old hag who wanted to start her own rival camp”.

We won. The camp was closed but we had to take it to the government in Bangkok who warned the local mayor and local police, all of whom were in the gang leaders’ pocket, to back off.

Foreigners are now sending me letters from jail claiming they have had to pay small fortunes to journalists in order for their misdemeanours to be kept out of the local paper. They have also been presented with a price list for bail and a full acquittal.

Last year, a British millionaire was arrested in Pattaya, after apparently being found in possession of 100 amphetamines found in a packet of cigarettes. I called for a copy of a video of the Thai police press conference, which showed two policemen speaking in Thai about how rich they had become as a result of the arrest.

Not one local journalist picked up on the injustice, yet they must have known what was going on. The Briton was sent to jail. A few days later, along came a Pattaya journalist who offered him a deal: hand over £25,000, and the reporter would sort out an acquittal.
 

Drugs kingpin seized at Thai mansion while packing pills for Halloween - Daily Mail

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From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok, November 2 2007

Briton who ran a world-wide drugs syndicate from his mansion home in Thailand was arrested last night as he was packing drugs for a ‘high society’ Halloween party.

Marcus James, 48, from Lewisham, South London, was seized along with his common-law Thai wife Linrat Chalwatworachot, 36, at his £1 million mansion in the resort of Pattaya, 100 miles east of Bangkok.

Police seized drugs, drug making equipment, and all his assets worth in excess of £10 million. It included stashes of gold and cash.

Marcus James01

Marcus James was seized at his £1million mansion in the resort of Pattaya

Using sniffer dogs Thai police found Ecstasy and met-amphetamines hidden in upstairs and downstairs toilets, in an office desk and a safe. They also found the materials for making ‘Ice’.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Adisorn Nongsee said James admitted all as he had been caught red handed.

“He was packing drugs for a Halloween party.

“His cover was that he was running a travel company, but his real business was drugs.

marcusjames02

Marcus James looks on at what the Thai police uncovered

“He admitted to our investigators that he was making the drugs and sending them to England and Europe where they were used at ‘high society’ parties. He was also supplying high society parties in Bangkok and Pattaya.

“He had become rich from his business and been able to buy several cars and a 1903 Harley Davison motorcycle.”

Police said that although his house in Jomtien Palace Village contained most of the equipment for making drugs they believed the actually factory was elsewhere and they were still looking for it and other members of the gang.

They have yet to weight all the drugs and formal charges will be made later, but they so far had counted over 6000 Ecstasy and met-amphetamine tablets.

Marcus James faces the death sentence in Thailand, but all death sentences given to westerners have been reduced to life imprisonment.

Daily Mail

Seized how ’swirly’ paedophile worked with boys all his life - Daily Express October 20 07

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SEIZED: HOW ‘SWIRLY’ PAEDOPHILE WORKED WITH BOYS ALL HIS LIFE 

EXPOSED: Neil, 32, once worked as a chaplain

Vico6 

 Saturday October 20,2007
By Andrew Drummond in Bangkok and Cyril Dixon in London 
THE world’s most wanted paedophile was paraded in public yesterday after a global manhunt traced him to a remote bolthole in Thailand.

Christopher Neil, 32, was flown to Bangkok and put in front of the cameras by police after a tip-off led to his arrest.

Neil ,nicknamed Vico, became the focus of an international search after images of him abusing children were posted on the internet with his face digitally disguised into a swirl pattern. Yesterday, as Thai police warned he faces up to 20 years in jail, details of Neilís sinister double life emerged, including his work with children as a teacher and chaplain.

Family and friends described Neil as an ordinary Canadian from a respectable family who had trained as a priest.    

He was said to be a ìregular guyî who had once worked as a military chaplain offering comfort and advice to recruits as young as 12.

Neil was identified after Interpol specialists managed to unswirl his image.

He was arrested in Nakorn Ratchassima province, 150 miles north-east of Bangkok, where he had fled to stay with a Thai friend.

During the investigation, police collected up to 200 photographs of Neil abusing young Vietnamese and Cambodian boys as young as six. Police say he will be charged within 48 hours with abusing three victims, aged nine, 13, and 14, at an apartment in the city.

Wearing a white shirt and dark sunglasses and with a foot injury visible, Neil was placed at a table at Bangkok police headquarters where he stared impassively ahead while photographers took his picture.

Police Lieutenant-General Ponsapat Pongcharoen said: “We received several tips and also found victims of his abuse. We went to pick him up this morning.”

“He has already been identified by one of the victims, not only from his face but from a mark on his body. I cannot tell you where that mark is.”

“We have a message. We take the abuse of our children very seriously. It is against our culture and against our religion. We will not tolerate foreigners coming to Thailand to abuse our children.”

Yesterday, residents in Neil’s home town of Maple Ridge, near Vancouver, were in a state of shock.

His younger brother Matthew, 30, said: “Our range of emotions has gone from anger to shock to devastation. My mother is completely devastated.

“He came back to stay with us this year from April to August. We’d often go for a few beers and watch the hockey game. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.”

Teacher Amy Bowler, who grew up with Neil in Maple Ridge, said she contacted Interpol after seeing his image in press reports. “It was certainly unthinkable that he would be a predator of any kind,” she said. “But the resemblance was so striking that I contacted Interpol if only, I thought, to rule him out. None of us wanted to believe it was true.”

Neil had begun training to be a priest in the 1990s at the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, a few miles from Maple Ridge.

Rector the Rev. Nicholas Ruh said yesterday Neil left because he ‘lacked the necessary personal qualifications’.

However, he was allowed to work as a chaplain at military cadet training camps in Nova Scotia for several summers where he gave spiritual guidance to youths aged between 12 and 18.

Although Neil has spent most of his working life in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, he also held a volunteer instructor’s post at St Patrick’s Elementary School, Maple Ridge, six years ago.

Most recently, he taught at a private school run by the Adventist Church in Bangkok and offered web advice to Canadian teachers on how to avoid police scrutiny when applying for jobs in south-east Asia.

Daily Express story here

Thai guides ignored official warning not to go into caves - Times Oct 16 2006

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From Times

October 16, 2007
Thai guides ‘ignored official warning not to go into the caves’

 Helena Carroll 3

 Helena Carroll, the sole survivor, rescued from the cave in Khao Sok National Park

Andrew Drummond in Bangkok
The two tour guides who led six foreign tourists to their deaths in a cave in southern Thailand at the weekend had been warned not to enter the caves by park officials, it was claimed today.

The two Thai men were specifically told about the dangers of flash flooding during the monsoon season, now at its peak in Thailand, but ignored their advice.

The warning was given by the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 5, which covers Khao Sok national park, where Helena Carroll, 21, from Solihull, was the only survivor of the disaster in Tham Nam Thalu cave.

Because it had not been raining immediately before the group entered the cave, the report concluded that the guides ignored the warning from park officers.

The park was hit by a torrential downpour while the tourists were inside, causing a flash flood to sweep everyone but Ms Carroll away.

The TAT forwarded a copy of its investigation into the tragedy to the British, German and Swiss embassies in Bangkok today.

The victims were a Swiss family, Benno Fischer, 49, and Stalder Fischer, 48, and their daughters Ambarea, 17, and Sarah, 15; a German boy Eddie Gaempe, 10, and John Cullan, 24, Helena’s fiancee.

The two guides killed were named as Kitisak Pratoom, 30, and Sahachai Boonkong, 25.

Meanwhile, Banyat Jansena, the Thai deputy Interior Minister, ordered the closure of Khao Sok and five other national parks in Surat Thani, saying they were at risk from flash floods.

The parks were: Kaeng Krung, Tairomyen, Klong Panom, Angthong Marine Park and Pangan Marine Park. The last two are particular popular with scuba divers.

Today Ms Carroll was being looked after by British Embassy officials. A spokesman said the Embassy had dispatched a Vice-Consul to the scene as soon as they heard the news.

After being rescued she said: “One minute I was in what I thought was the most beautiful place in the world. The next thing there is death all around me.”

“We had got halfway through the cave and I heard this sudden roar. I looked behind and saw this rush of water coming towards us,” she said.

“John and I started climbing. The first thing we saw was the tour guide and 10-year-old German boy being dragged away, then the Swiss couple and their two lovely girls.

“As we climbed I lost my grip and slipped down but John grabbed me and pulled me up. We kept climbing higher and found a ledge. We were all alone in the dark. We could not see anything as all the torches had gone.

“John said, ‘If we stay here we are going to die’. But I said we should stay. At least we were safe where we were.

“But he decided that he would get into the current and flow with it. He thought the current would take him out, then he could bring help to rescue me.

“He slipped into the water and that’s the last I ever saw of him. He let go and he was just gone. I was alone in the dark. All I could see was insects that light up like fireflies and hear the rumbling of the water. I sat there shivering all night. I had no idea what the time was.

“Then all of a sudden I saw a bright light. It was the light of a torch and so I started shouting ‘Help. Help. I’m over here’.

“When I got out I was told that many people had died. They had been found at midnight, eight hours before I was rescued.”

Hero pulled others from wreckage - The Times September 18 2007

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Hero pulled others from wreckage

From The Times September 18, 2007

Andrew Drummond, Simon de Bruxelles and Will Pavia

A British traveller has been hailed a hero by the Prime Minister of Thailand for hauling fellow passengers from the burning wreckage of the aircraft in which at least 88 people died.

Peter Hill, 35, from Manchester, was praised for his heroism. The unofficial toll of Britons killed in the crash on Sunday in Phuket rose to five.

Phuket air crash Peter Hil

Among those missing and feared dead were a retired couple from Bristol who had stopped in Thailand on their way to starting a new life in Australia. Tony Weston, a former Royal Marine in his sixties, and his wife Judy, 64, a retired nurse, had told neighbours that they had won the trip to Thailand in a competition.

They had sold their home and their possessions were being shipped to Australia, where they were looking forward to meeting their new grandson.
Also missing was Alex Collins, 22, a recent graduate from South Wales, who had set out last week on a six-month trip with his girlfriend, Bethan Jones.

Yesterday Ms Jones, from Porth, Rhondda, was receiving treatment for severe burns sustained in the crash. Mr Collins’s parents were said to be distraught. A friend said: “They were so excited and had been planning this trip for ages. They’ve both been saving up and were really looking forward to it. It is hard to believe that just a few days later it has all turned to tragedy.”

The Foreign Office was unable to confirm the number of British dead, but the Irish Government announced the death of Aaron Toland, 22, a recent graduate from the University of Ulster, who had been travelling with Christopher Cooley, 23, from Londonderry. Mr Cooley was in intensive care. Martin McGuinness, the Deputy First Minister, said that he had visited the parents of both men.

Mr Toland’s family prepared to fly to Thailand. His aunt, Patricia Logue, the deputy mayor of Derry City Council, said that the family were devasted.

Quinton Quayle, the British Ambassador, said that he believed that “several British citizens” died in the crash. Three Britons were confirmed injured, including Peter Hill. Surayud Chulanont, Prime Minister of Thailand, and Nittaya Pibulsonghkram, the Foreign Minister, visited Mr Hill in hospital, bringing flowers and fruit.

Mr Hill had been sitting in Row 24 on the One-Two-Go flight from Bangkok which crashed as it attempted to land. He was next to an emergency exit, which he forced open. He was said to have dragged out Ashley Harrow, 27, from Northern Ireland and two Israelis. All suffered serious burns.

Phuket air crash Scott Harrow

Mr Pibulsonghkram described Mr Hill as a hero who “pulled two people out at his own risk”. He added: “He is doing pretty well.” Mr Hill said: “I might have got it [the exit] open a bit, but Ashley [Harrow] smashed it.”

Robert Borland, 24, from Perth, Australia, said: “As we approached Phuket airport it seemed we were coming in too fast. I think the pilot decided conditions were not right because he accelerated and pulled up. It felt we were going up, but then we hit the ground. Everything went black, pitch black, with smoke. Then there was fire.” Mr Borland was pulled out on to the wing, his clothes alight. He suffered a broken arm and severe burns to his legs.

Pictures: Above, Peter Hill; Right, Ashley Scott Harrow

‘Saint in Yellow saved me’ - The Australian September 17 2007

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Andrew Drummond and Elizabeth Gosch

September 18, 2007

ROBERT Borland was on fire and covered in aviation fuel when he was dragged from the blazing wreckage of the Phuket plane crash by a Thai passenger he calls the “saint in yellow”‘.

Speaking from his Phuket hospital bed, where he is recovering from a broken arm, burns to his legs and a back injury, Mr Borland said yesterday he had been saved by a man wearing a yellow T-shirt, worn by many Thais on Mondays to honour their king.Phuket air crash Borland

“The Thai man with a yellow T-shirt dragged me out on to the wing. He was like a saint to me,” he said.

The 48-year-old, who grew up in Perth, has been living and working in Thailand for 12 years and was on the island on Boxing Day 2004 when the tsunami hit. On Sunday, he was returning to Phuket after travelling to Bangkok and Singapore on business.

“It’s impossible to describe how lucky I was,” he said.

Mr Borland said the One-Two-Go flight, which took off from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport at about 2.30pm on Sunday, was fairly rough.

“The captain kept the seat-belt light on all the time. Over Phangnga Bay and James Bond Island we were flying in and out of the clouds. Occasionally you could see the island in the bay,” he said. “As we approached Phuket airport, it seemed we were coming in too fast. I think the pilot decided conditions were not right, because he accelerated and pulled up. It felt like we were going up, but then we hit the ground. Everything went black - pitch-black with smoke. Then there was fire.”

Although he was suffering a broken and dislocated left arm, back injuries and burns to his legs, Mr Borland, who was sitting in seat 24F, managed to push open the emergency exit window next to him.

“I pulled the hatch but then realised there was an inferno outside, so I pushed it back and fell to the floor,” he said.

“I crawled over to the other side where there was another exit and at that time I realised my trousers were on fire. I crawled to the exit door but couldn’t raise myself to get out. Then the Thai man with a yellow T-shirt dragged me out on to the wing. I slid down to the ground and saw others coming out of the exit.

“Firemen were on the scene almost immediately, pumping foam. One took my hand and said in English, ‘You’ll be OK’. I replied in Thai, ‘I cannot move, my back is injured’.

“Two other firemen came and dragged me through a drainage ditch, where I was picked up and taken to a local hospital where my wounds were cleaned before I was taken here.”

Mr Borland’s father, John, who lives about an hour’s drive south of Perth, said he was enormously relieved to hear his son’s voice during a phone call at lunchtime on Monday.

“Obviously we heard about the crash last night and we’ve had updates all day, but it was a relief to speak to him,” Mr Borland said yesterday.

“He was quite lucid - very chipper and very impressed with the treatment he has been receiving at the hospital.”

Mr Borland said his son was working on a residential development of almost 200 units on the resort island.

“As far as we know, he will continue to work up there, but we’d like to see him back here inAustralia to get treatment byburns specialist Fiona Wood,” he said.

“He was also in the tsunami, so he’s a very lucky lad.”

Robert’s mother, Muriel Robertson, was expected to fly out to see her son last night.

“I want to go up there, make sure he’s OK, and if not I want to get him back as soon as possible and under Fiona Wood. As soon as he is capable I want him on a flight back,” Ms Robertson said.

Mr Borland, who was born in Scotland, migrated to Perth with his family when he was nine.