A British scientist who took on the Director of Thailand’s National Innovation Agency for copying his academic thesis has had to report death and kidnap threats to his local police station in Bangkok.
Professor Wyn Ellis said today that he was alarmed by telephone calls he had received while taking a long lie in on a day off.
“The calls woke me up. A man in Thai was saying how I was going to be killed but first my wife and I would be kidnapped. I thought, this is a bit strange.
“He said in Thai that he was waiting outside and would soon be coming for my wife and I.”
” He does not sound like a regular hit man. But I was concerned enough to make the police report.“
Wyn Ellis survived unscathed from nine assorted, but mainly libel, cases brought against him after he exposed NIA director Supachai Lorlowhakarn for copying most of his thesis on organic farming to obtain his own Phd.
A huge stone was also was also used to attack his car on his way to one of his many court cases.
He had given police two telephone numbers which will almost certainly be 1-2 Call.
While Supachai has been stripped of his PhD and convicted, fined and given a suspended sentence on a criminal charge of forgery, he remains Thailand’s Director of Innovation.
Below: ‘STICKS AND STONES
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There is no known connection linking Supachai to the recent threats.
If a Thai national thinks his country may have been dishonoured by Ellis’ allegations and subsequent success in the courts the caller could have easily been acting under his own initiative.
(For common sense reasons we are not naming the local police station or area of Bangkok at this stage)
My Five Years of Hell – British scientist in Bangkok
For those who feels that this is not right, better make noise about it. We are getting beyond embarrassment and I feel that this should be know to all to…at least realize that Thais are not that polite as what we try to make everyone think. I am sorry for you Dr. Ellis, I really do.
Thanks v much Kh Daeng for your kind support. it is, indeed, beyond embarrassment. I love Thailand and have lived here for the best part of my life without a cross word with anyone, except taxi drivers…
It's clear that the plagiarism allegation brought unwelcome scrutiny on NIA, and threatened to rain on their party. Why did the former NIA Chairman and a senior Board member resign suddenly in 2011, and why have all 3 MOST Permanent Secretaries and Ministers since 2008 refused to take disciplinary action following their own investigation findings?
As a result, we now fear for our lives. I do hope good Thais should make their views known, help end this evil and bring back a measure of dignity to our society. Thank you again.
A s I write, they are still calling me- 40 aclls in teh last 10 minutes. Why not give them a dose of their own medicine? 085 238 6364
What a parasite. First he steals your work and now you've got some coward threatening your family. These people have no self- introspection, they blame everyone except themselves.
It's one thing to hear about the crimes and scams some people commit, but when you hear the excuses they come up with, it becomes pathetic. Thai society is in a mess with a lack of basic ethics from it's leaders. All we ever see is patsies and scapegoats punished.
Thailand has no real positive role models. All we see is status, celebrity and money being worshipped. They don't seem to see the face they are hell bent on saving is fake. They are only fooling themselves.
There are elements and people in Thai society that have a mentality better suited to feudal China. They act like warlords rather than leaders. Hoarding massive amounts of cash is their life goal.
I can't see anything less than a total disaster being able to change things in Thailand. We saw 5 minutes of soul searching after the crash in '97 and the tsunami. Everybody soon forgot and went back to their same corrupt ways.
-> The Weapon- Though I love this place, I echo your sentiments. Not only do these people have no shame, but those around them- their teachers, supervisors, professors, and Ministers who have all turned a blind eye, have helped directly to pull that threatened trigger. For your blindness, cynicism and cowardice, they all deserve to be named and shamed, every bit as much as the original perpetrator. You can well imagine- we're only scratching the surface so far- I suspect NIA has a great deal more to hide than merer IP violations.
74 more calls today, until I blocked the numbers. However, we can probabbly be assured of a quick resumption using new 1-2 Call numbers. Seems that someone has set up a FB page: 'Solidarity- Hit the HItmen'. Check it out: better not 'Like' it though…
The problem is when the whole system becomes so rotten the bad guys are actually running things and often wear uniforms. You go to the Police station to report a crime and the odds are you are dealing with a bigger crook than your tormentor.
I always warn people about dealing with the Police in Thailand. Often you'll hear of naive people who complain to a higher ranked Policeman expecting he holds himself to a higher standard of behaviour than the lower ranks. More often than not your dealing with a bigger and better crook who expects bigger pay-offs for his time. I've seen this many times.
I empathise with your problem. Your tormentor is probably just trying to get you to leave the country so he can claim some form of perverted victory.
It seems imperative that a strong, uninterrupted light is allowed to shine on ugly practices like those which Wyn Ellis has bravely helped to uncover. Such corruption is possibly more common worldwide than any would like to admit, and stories like Wyn's need the oxygen of publicity.
This ultimate resort to violent threats seems like desperation now that the game is up. Let us pray that those responsible will see what they are, and either finally begin doing something constructive for other humans, or just f*ck off and leave decent people like Wyn and his family in peace.
An escalation of the intimidation- following the death threats (300 calls so far…) a gang of motorcyclists tried to enter my housing estate. They showed the guard several bags of ‘ping-pong’ grenades and made a threat against the guard’s life. 'You want to die instead of that farang?' Fortunately the guard had the guts to stop them from passing through. More Bangkok Barbarians.