Briton Geoffrey Bond, Lord of the Manor of Hawald, a title which like many others can be acquired on the internet for £25, has written in to complain and ask for withdrawal of a story on this site concerning confidence tricksters and the newly opened ‘Wolf Bar’ in Bangkok.
Here is the letter – I have deleted a couple of names because to include them may of course be libelous.
“I was a little upset to see your article on Sophisticated Berks of Bangkok Exposed that dragged in WOLF as a lot of good people are working in WOLF and not sure why the very personal attack on me and WOLF was necessary?
We haven’t done anything wrong. I understand the expose on Mark Hallet and he will not be back to WOLF. Your friend xxxxxxx xxxxxx, and also a good friend of the WOLF restaurant owner, a lovely solo mother of 3 children, came in and told us that he knows you and that a Baron XXXX XXX XXXXX was next on the expose list and we should distance ourselves from him.
We did some DD on him and he’s also been told not to return. If there is anything you wish to discuss with me, I would be happy to discuss.
Your personal dig at me was not polite nor necessary and all my network who saw it and generally support your work were disappointed.
For WOLF it hurts 20 Thai who do not even know these people you have identified. I would appreciate it if you could remove this art article or edit it so that WOLF and I are removed from this site and association with these people. I will await your comment back. Regards, Geoffrey.”
Well first of all I should say that of course there was no attack on the ‘Thai owner – the lovely solo mother of three – and secondly while I do not do bar or restaurant reviews, I am sure the food and drink may be very good. So my apologies to those 20 Thais in the back room.
But XXXX XXX XXXXX is not on my next exposé list, well not yet.
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| Sir John Bond – a likeness |
And it seems awfully unfortunate that he has now had not just one but two shareholders however that he has had to question.
So to all out there have a happy drink and a meal with the Bangkok Berks. And look here’s another advert for the place.
But do not put your cash in. Once you do, getting it back may be like extracting the sugar cane from the mouth of an elephant.
Contrary to the Lord of the Manor of Hawold’s claims I am afraid according to my postbag he has done more than a few things wrong not just in Thailand, so I won’t be deleting his name quite yet, especially a guy who is selling ‘hedonism’ in Thailand.
According to ‘members’ of ‘The Wolf’ Geoffrey claims to be the son of Lord John Reginald Bond, former Chairman of HSBC Bank. It appears that under Sir John’s tenure-ship are the roots of HSBC’s major current problems.
This from the Daily Mail:
When the Swiss tax dodging scandal erupted; HSBC blamed its failure to properly ‘integrate’ its huge new private banking arm into the group.
In other words, it failed to crack down on dubious practices that were rife at the Swiss banking arm.
A significant portion of that blame has to be laid at the feet of Bond, 73.”
I am not sure Geoffrey’s claim is true. Sir John had a daughter and two sons. And there is a likeness. (But Geoffrey also refers to his father as Michael, I’m told)
But if it were – I would have been talking to the Daily Mail some time ago.
But if he claims to be a Lord, as his critics say, then he is fibbing. On his passport he states rather bumptiously he is ‘Lord of the Manor of Hawold’.
But that’s one for the birds I guess and to impress foreign officials who know no better
I’m guessing he is using this to go through ‘diplomatic’ channels – together with his ‘Honorary Consul of Montenegro’ card. Lord of the Manor titles can be bought for a few nickers, quid etc. on the net.
You even get a few square feet of some bog somewhere.
The title Lord of the Manor does not of course entitle anybody to sit in the House of Lords or even a privileged seat in a bus station waiting room.
But you could get a part in a BBC sit-com.
I cannot find the Manor of Hawold in the UK and am hoping in his next letter Geoffrey will tell me where it is. He was born in Malacca so I guess he does not have too much of a connection with the Manor of Hawold, wherever it is.
But I did find a Hawald on the website ‘Mysterious Britain and Northern Ireland’ where a certain Eli Hawald in the village of Hawald which has no electricity saw a space craft land, figures being shot out, and then leaving after a siren went off sounding like puppy dogs.’ I think that Hawald could be in Israel though.
Oh and here is another reason, of many, why I will not be taking Geoffrey’s name down quite yet.
Take this line-up for instance which he proudly displays on ‘The Wolf’ website. These guys are cashed up of course but Geoffrey needs to check their antecedents and where they got their cash from.
THE SOPHISTICATED BERKS OF BANGKOK EXPOSED
Only in Thailand, eh?
I once met the seventh son of the seventh Earl of Athol or some such thing in a bar slouched over his pint( bought on a tab, of course) holding court. I was much amused and enquired where he received his education, a query he deflected and it remained unanswered. When I pressed him he excluded me from his gathered audience and I was left to grin happily from ear to ear. He was eventually nicked on his return to London for a previous scam and I think he was actually a Croydon born plasterer or car dealer.
Is it something in the water here, do you think?
Mine eyes gazed upon no sight more inspiring than catching a glimpse of the gallant Lord Bond flying along the Sois of lower Sukhumvit astride his trusty orange-vested steed, rushing to the aid of a bar-damsel in distress.
So "good" Geoffrey is trying the soft approach to start off with. Let's see his true colors come out real soon. The bloom will soon be off the rose. Perhaps he will morph into a "Jeffrey" of sorts, pending the outcome of his bank account balance..