A British professor who accused a high ranking Thai government official of plagiarism and defeated him in the courts has been arrested and held in custody as a danger to Thai society.
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| Dr. Ellis in captivity |
Professor Wyn Ellis, from Swansea, an agriculturalist, was seized at Suvarnabhumi International airport Bangkok on Thursday by Immigration Police at the request of Thailand’s National Innovation Agency.
He was arrested after he returned from a conference in Norway.
Dr. Ellis is currently working for the United Nations Environment Programme
He has refused attempts to put him back on a Norwegian Airlines flight and it is believed the matter wil be raised at an meeting of the National Anti Corruption Commission in Bangkok tomorrow (Sunday) as it appears he was blacklisted out of spite by a corrupt Thai civil servant.
Dr.Ellis was sued by the director of the NIA Supachai Lorlowhakarn after accusing him of plagiarism by copying his PHD thesis on the organic farming of asparagus.
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| Wyn – file pictuire |
He was dragged through the courts for years with nine libel cases altogether, and even attacked on his way to court by having rocks thrown into his car.
But he won the cases and the Thai courts not only ruled that that he was innocent but that Supachai was guilty of forgery and had embarrassed Thailand.
He is currently returning the charges against Supachai Lorlowhakarn.
Supachai was also stripped of his PhD by the country’s Chuilalongkorn University but he did not lose his job and was only replaced this year.
From custody last night where he had been allowed to use his smart phone he said:
“On presentation of my UK passport, I was told I was blacklisted as a ‘danger to Thai society’ . I’ve been detailed in a holding cell in the transit area of Suvarnabhumi since then.
“The Immigration Police showed me my file, which contained a report stating that in Dec 2009 Supachai wrote to the Immigration Department claiming that I was a forger and plagiarist, and demanding my blacklisting.
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| Better than a Thai prison but ‘it ain’t half hot in here’ |
“The Immigration Departtment kindly obliged without question. But I only came to know of this last Thursday.
“The NIA had written to the Immigration Chief, revoking the original complaint, so they have no grounds for retaining the blacklisting, or for denying immediate entry into Thailand. We have asked the Immigration Chief to lift the blacklisting on Monday.
The timing of Supachai’s letter suggests that the Innovation Agency Director wanted Professor Ellis to leave Thailand and not return during his cases, which he would have won by default.
British consular services have been informed.
“I haven’t heard a peep out of them, A man at the Foreign Office said nothing could be done until Monday.”
Wyn Ellis draws laughs at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (guest appearance of Drummond’s chin hand and nose)
Absolutely disgraceful state of affairs.
Just what are the British Embassy doing about this completely unwarranted detention of Wyn Ellis?
Spineless, gutless…
Having been an 'outsider' on extended detached duty in a Brit embassy I can tell you the Bangkok staff were probably far too busy planning their next jolly or working on how to get the max out of their expense accounts and duty free allowances. I could add a lot more but better not – suffice to say I have a VERY low opinion of UK dips abroad.
So let me get this straight…
Profesdor Ellis is a danger to Thai society yet Drew Noyse a convicted extortionist, burglar and larcenist as well as a child rapist isnt…. Brian Goldie a multi convicted failed fraudster isnt and David Hanks a former pimp isnt?
What the f*****g hell is happening to Thailand?
Every time I hear the whole Thai "loss face" thing I laugh. I always ask myself, "What face is there to lose?" Shameful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvJ2bCmNsYk
for the second video
Poor Wyn. Looks like he has encountered his own version of Max Cady in Cape Fear. As usual there is never an admission of wrong doing by a so called high-so Thai. They'll lie, threaten, write dirty letters to the police about you, pay people to intimidate you and launch vexatious lawsuits against you. All in the name of face saving which is really just pathetic as the person in question is obviously a devious cheat and cunning coward. There is also the practice of rampant xenophobia where a Thai can never be wrong in any disagreement with a farang. Anybody taking the farang's side is a treasonous traitor. Any news about the Colin Vard case? I thought it was going to be all sorted out in 30 days. Thailand will eventually self destruct due to this rampant corruption and dysfunctional legal system. The two people who have kept the peace for the last few decades will be gone soon and the people who have lived and fed of that system will no longer have that protection to fall back on. After five minutes of mourning all hell will break lose. Military rule will be needed for years to keep the status quo.
Events can unfold very quickly Tommy. Do you recall Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena executed by a baying mob as they tried to escape? The Daily Mail is banned in Thailand for exposing how a certain person ran away to leafy England when things got hot in the Land of Smiles a couple of years ago.
Why do people post such nonsense and then expect to be treated like a credible commentator? Ceausescu was not executed by a baying mob. After being tried in some kind of court he and his wife were found guilty and sentenced to death. They were then executed by a firing squad. No baying mob in sight.
If you want to look at the mentality of people like this, look no further than Thaksin. Under his watch there were a number of massacre's. The war on drugs and the Muslim Mosque to name two. He also did a lot of dirty, self serving deals where he made a fortune. Paid no tax and just fled like a coward rather than face justice.
Has he even once shown any remorse? Compassion for the thousands who died? Shown any self introspection for his actions? No, all we've heard are excuses and whining as if he is the victim. It's always somebody else's fault. Just once I want to hear one if these types say. I was wrong. I am sorry.
I dislike Thaksin as much as the next man but what you are suggesting isn't accurate and if you're going to post endlessly on here you should be. The share deal that you are probably referring to was examined by the relevant authority and it was found that tax wasn't in fact due.
Just like he was found not guilty of hiding billions in assets in his staff's names. He changed the laws on foreign ownership just weeks before he flogged Shin Corp off. His wife also wormed her way out of her tax bill. Being exonerated in Thailand doesn't mean your not guilty. It just means a deal was done. You've obviously got a short memory. All I remember Thaksin ever saying was Shin was his children's company and had nothing to do with him. Total bullshit artist. Then there is his offshore secret companies he claimed he never had etc etc etc………….
Well, Supachai Lorlowhakarn is now famous, for all the wrong reasons.. the story of his crooked ways is all over British media, BBC et al. My feeling is that the Professor, inspite of this brief incarceration, will have the last laugh.
Looks like Jonathan Head has picked it up and now BBC is running the story… Hopefully that will secure the Profs release Monday morning
Yes Tim – I have retired. Jonathan of course is an avid reader of this site and quite often does not understand it.
No slight to you Andrew 😉 however the powers that be are probably more likely to respond to adverse publicity in the BBC than this August website….now, if only they took an interest in Hayward and Co…
AD – please explain why the redoubtable Mr. Head does not, quite often, "understand" this site.
It seems very understandable to me!
Most, (if not all), of the posts and those who comment on them oppose the injustices which permeate so much of life in Thailand.
The inequalities and the
corruption which is part of the fabric of Thai society. What is there to understand?
Perhaps Mr. Head himself may care to comment?
In the meantime – let's see Mr. Ellis free from detention.
As pointed out in another forum I would like to know the answers to the following questions:
Who asked for his name put on the Blacklist?
What is the correct procedure for being put on the Blacklist?
Who put him on the Blacklist?
Was the correct procedure followed in revoking his passport?
Was there an arrest warrant for him?
Why and on whose order was he detained?
This whole saga, in my opinion, has major implications for all foreigners living in Thailand. Only one vindictive or litigious complaint away from being in similar circumstances. The fact that he was a Thai dual citizen doesn't help matters!