Andrew Drummond quits Thailand - Too dangerous

[Spitfire]

Guess he's ruffled too many feathers but lasted 25 years here....long time, considering.

Doing what he does (investigative journalism) into all the scumbags that inhabit Thailand (plus the collusion of the local legal structure in much of the wrong-doing) is going to make you some bad enemies and looks like the 'dark forces' have finally got their way.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... s-thailand

Farewell

[caller]

It's a pity the Bangkok Post didn't pick up on any of his reports to give them wider coverage whilst he was actually doing what he did. Probably too risky for them.

[Name Taken]

I'm sure Andrew isn't the first or the last foreigner to leave Thailand over concerns/fears for personal safety.

[oakdale160]

This is not just one more ex-pat leaving. His reporting has been devastating and would have been enough, in most countries, to cause shame, resignations and discipline for senior figures. He has shown repeatedly that the police and courts are all corrupted and in many cases provide support and cover for criminal activity.
My guess is that he will continue to write on these issues from the relatively safety of the UK. But unfortunately it will have no effect!

[Gérard]

This is not just one more ex-pat leaving. His reporting has been devastating and would have been enough, in most countries, to cause shame, resignations and discipline for senior figures. He has shown repeatedly that the police and courts are all corrupted and in many cases provide support and cover for criminal activity.
My guess is that he will continue to write on these issues from the relatively safety of the UK. But unfortunately it will have no effect!

There are many countries where his reporting would have been impossible and he would have been expelled or even killed, so that Thailand is not so bad after all...

[oakdale160]

So that is your criteria. You believe that if an investigative reporter is not expelled or killed then there is nothing to complain about.

[nanyang]

This is not just one more ex-pat leaving. His reporting has been devastating and would have been enough, in most countries, to cause shame, resignations and discipline for senior figures. He has shown repeatedly that the police and courts are all corrupted and in many cases provide support and cover for criminal activity.
My guess is that he will continue to write on these issues from the relatively safety of the UK. But unfortunately it will have no effect!

There are many countries where his reporting would have been impossible and he would have been expelled or even killed, so that Thailand is not so bad after all...

France being one of those countries.

[Gérard]

So that is your criteria. You believe that if an investigative reporter is not expelled or killed then there is nothing to complain about.

I am not the complaining type, and I do not say that this is right or not, but living 20 years in a foreign country doing what this man did is quite a performance.
And I would not enjoy living in a country if I had a bad opinion of it.

[Spitfire]

I think, upon reflection, that the reason he lasted so long here is because the bad guys are so supremely confident/arrogant in the generally corrupt system that they know they have sweet FA to worry about (even if some foreigner reports on it), that they care not for what he has said in the past as the system is stacked in their favour and anything can be made to go away or almost nobody Thai cares about it...period. Couple that with the fact that most provinces are ruled as a personal fiefdom of high ranking cops and governemnt officials, then why should they care what the hell anyone says (especially a foreigner) as there's almost no internal scrutiny or accountability?

They are all safe to continue their suspect activities as they are sure few can interfere...who cares what some farang rants on about? It simply shows the level and extent of complacency and blaze arrogance/indifference levels we have reached here conserning those in power.

Only reason that they didn't kill him was because he was a high profile foreigner and it's not worth attracting too much attention as his reporting, despite being damning and revealing, has largely had debatably almost a zero effect. If he had been Thai he would have died long ago reporting this stuff in the local language.

That's one of the keys....reporting in English has a low readership or effect, and most who read it in English, the one's in power couldn't care two hoots about. If it was in Thai then that would be a different matter as the audience reached would be much larger and he would have been silenced much sooner. Even Vorani isn't silly enough to publish his good articles in Thai as it could be hugely negative for him and BBK Post.....also probably why the BBK Post didn't report any Drummond stuff too.....spineless as they know what will happen.

[buksida]

The most appropriate phrase to derive from all of this is ... "money talks, truth walks".

[margaretcarnes]

This is not just one more ex-pat leaving. His reporting has been devastating and would have been enough, in most countries, to cause shame, resignations and discipline for senior figures. He has shown repeatedly that the police and courts are all corrupted and in many cases provide support and cover for criminal activity.
My guess is that he will continue to write on these issues from the relatively safety of the UK. But unfortunately it will have no effect!

I hope AD does continue his revelations from the safety of the UK - but agree with you and others that it will sadly have little or no effect. Certainly not on Brits anyway, who love to watch exposees etc on the goings on in Thailand but either believe it is hugely exagerated, or don't care because it is somewhere they will never visit, and have no interest in.
AD therefore needs to choose his platforms carefully, as I'm sure he will realise. Buit maybe the bigger issue which thwarts foreign journalists in the LOS is that Thailand never poses a threat to other countries. Unlike Korea for example. It keeps its' internal politics pretty much to itself, and who are we to question its' policies on allowing in foreign criminals and con artists?

[Gérard]

France being one of those countries.

Quite right ! A foreign journalist like A.D. would probably not last long in the south of France, or Corsica. And I am not proud of it !
I agree with Buksida and will remember the idiom : "money talks, truth walks".

[Name Taken]

I think, upon reflection, that the reason he lasted so long here is because the bad guys are so supremely confident/arrogant in the generally corrupt system that they know they have sweet FA to worry about (even if some foreigner reports on it), that they care not for what he has said in the past as the system is stacked in their favour and anything can be made to go away or almost nobody Thai cares about it...period. Couple that with the fact that most provinces are ruled as a personal fiefdom of high ranking cops and governemnt officials, then why should they care what the hell anyone says (especially a foreigner) as there's almost no internal scrutiny or accountability?

They are all safe to continue their suspect activities as they are sure few can interfere...who cares what some farang rants on about? It simply shows the level and extent of complacency and blaze arrogance/indifference levels we have reached here conserning those in power.

Only reason that they didn't kill him was because he was a high profile foreigner and it's not worth attracting too much attention as his reporting, despite being damning and revealing, has largely had debatably almost a zero effect. If he had been Thai he would have died long ago reporting this stuff in the local language.

That's one of the keys....reporting in English has a low readership or effect, and most who read it in English, the one's in power couldn't care two hoots about. If it was in Thai then that would be a different matter as the audience reached would be much larger and he would have been silenced much sooner. Even Vorani isn't silly enough to publish his good articles in Thai as it could be hugely negative for him and BBK Post.....also probably why the BBK Post didn't report any Drummond stuff too.....spineless as they know what will happen.

[Ginjaninja]

I see his website is completely blocked now...

[Vital Spark]

You can still access it via his Facebook page. Just scroll down a bit and it tells you how.

VS