‘WANT A VISA BOYO?’
Briton Sean Tinsley, who was recently arrested returning from Britain and charged in connection with the attack on English school teacher Adam Pickles in Pattaya, said today he would like to tell his side of the story.
But he said he needed time to clear up personal matters.
The boss of ‘The Visa Shop’ in Soi Bhukao, Pattaya, has now been released on bail. He did not specify the amount. Enquiries are continuing.
Tinsley who was arrested in 2007 on visa charges left Thailand shortly after the attack on Adam Pickles, from Leeds, Yorkshire, is now back at work.
The attack on Adam Pickles caused a public furore in Pattaya. He was a popular teacher and Head of English at the International School of the Regents in Pattaya. Now he remains in a coma in Leeds General Hospital in Yorkshire.
He was allegedly attacked by Tinsley after allegedly scraping his car while getting out of a parking spot opposite a bar in what is locally known as ‘The Dark Side’.
Friends of Adam, who have seen the medical reports, believe that Adam was attacked with a very hard object like a car’s wheel brace, because a sizeable chunk of his skull was removed and was sent to Britain in a medical container along with Adam, when he was medivac’d.
A file from a CCTV, on which much of the case seems to balance, appears to show Tinsley following Adam and then coming back less than ten minutes later apparently re-enacting an attack on someone. Tinsley is previously known to have had ‘very good relations’ with police and immigration police. His was one of the first ‘Visa Shops’ in Pattaya but now there is a plethora of them.
Several of his clients were arrested and had to pay ‘heavy fines’ of 200,000 baht each after they bought visas off Tinsley in and around 2007. Passports were initially sent to Phuket for stamping.
Later Tinsley allegedly switched his operations and started sending passports to the Thai Consul in Cardiff – A jovial singing Welshman – who seemed to stamp anything and everything.
These passports were then sent back to Pattaya. However the visas were useless as the holders of the passports did not contain entry stamps to Thailand, which is what finally authorises visas issued abroad.
When the holders started leaving the country they began being picked up at the airport by Immigration police who naturally wondered where they came from.
How Tinsley managed to deal in these visas s at 30,000 baht a pop shows a remarkable degree of ‘salesmanship’.
But although consular officials, who had to deal with the resultant fall out, were not amused, no action was taken by the British Embassy.
There are mixed reactions in Pattaya. Tinsley’s friends say Tinsley is an amiable man who helps out Brits in distress in Pattaya.
In some forums and on comments on this site people viciosuly disagree. Little attention need to be paid to comments written by people with nom de plumes.
His release on bail however suggests he is no longer on a charge of attempted murder. This is of some concern to Pickles’ parents in Yorkshire who are considering suing Tinsley for damages.
They have had to mortgage their house to help pay the bills despite very successful appeals in Pattaya and back home which raised over £70,000. Initially they congratulated Banglamuang Police on a job well done.
Footnote: For any Welshman living in Pattaya who want to go home this usually does the trick.
Come on AD, the villain of the piece appears to be Sean rather than any Welshman. Nice to hear some good singing on your site though – can't recall any Scot or Irishman with such a strong tenor voice. Difficult for me to comment about a Cardiff consul as the mysterious ways of consular and embassy staff – most of whom are not Welsh – have always escaped me. Posters with nom de plumes may have sound opinions to share despite not posting under their real names. There are posters on Thaivisa who post under their real names but that does not mean there is any value in what they say. Take a look sometime.
Enigma – Kenneth McKeller, MacPavarotti, Harry Lauder 🙂
No need to be sensitive about posters using real names or otherwise. Fact of life if you use a real name the post will be taken more seriously. Posters using pseudonyms can however gather a good reputation if their posts are consistently good. And of course there are some real berks using their real names including the Chancellor. But these people in general do not know they are making fools of themselves. Present company excepted. The Welshman bit is related but a seperate story of course. I have not accused him of the attack on Mr. Pickles. Apologies if Welshman and jovial seemed a contradiction in terms.
That's Neddie Seagoon from the Goon show!
Tinsley getting bail was always on the cards: anyone accused of pretty much anything unless they are Burmese fisherman or Cambo dross will get it if they can stump up the collateral. The notion that causing death is sufficient to incarcerate may be applicable to those without a pot to piss in but for everyone else it is automatic. The man has to deal with the case and that will depend upon the evidence. Nothing different to any other country really. Looking ahead, if he cops a plea and offers contrition then a year or two might be on the cards, but if he coughs up compensation then it will be even shorter. It's the way it is but in truth no sentence will alter the victim's future and so the family should really begin to see a different way: acceptance is to move on. We're in Thailand not UK.
He is still on a charge of attempted murder. What's shocking is that it is normal for the courts to grant bail for this! He was denied bail because of strong opposition from the police (very rare), on his 3rd attempt at bail the court approved it. Concern is now high that he will abscond, we know he has a 2nd passport in another name.
I have just learnt he took his half-Thai son to his parents in the Kingswinford, UK before he returned to Thailand alone.
Neil while your feelings are understandably running high you have been making posts I cannot legally use. I have deleted one and this one is edited. When one is making claims of corruption the evidence should be at hand I am afraid.
That's fair enough. My source is the UK Foreign Office in Bangkok. I would still like it confirming from another reputable source though whether he has bail or not as I am hearing conflicting stories.
Neil: Well he is not in custody. I spoke to him at his shop
Thank you Andrew, that's all I need
Not an expert but It will be interesting to see if it goes any further now too be honest unless the FCO gets involved but even then the courts and police have bailed him.
So do we get to hear Mr Tinsley's side of the story?
As I for one am intrigued as to what he has to say.
I'm sure it will be given as I reckon he has to clear his end up although whether it'll be taken on board?
I don't know what it is BTW.
What's the latest on this? I can't find any updates here or on various forums relevant to Mr. Tinsley for the last few weeks. Anything to report?