British Journalist Andrew Drummond fails to appear at Supreme Court - arrest warrant issued.

Andrew Drummond - convicted criminal and wanted fugitive.

Convicted criminal British journalist Andrew Drummond today failed to appear at the reading of a judgement of the Supreme Court of Thailand and the Court has issued a warrant for his arrest, and Drummond is now a wanted fugitive and has been placed on immigration alert.

The order to arrest Andrew Drummond (translation below).

In case number 3014/45 lawyers for James Lumsden and the Court were waiting on the convicted journalist to appear, however neither Drummond nor his lawyer appeared in Court and lawyers for Lumsden requested a warrant -  the Court made an order for an arrest warrant to be immediately issued.

Drummond had failed to appear in this case previously, which was filed by James Lumsden, a Pattaya businessman. Drummond wrote an article on in 2004, and it has taken over ten years for the Supreme Court to prepare this judgement.

This is the second time in as many weeks Drummond has failed to appear in Court after failing to appear in Court in Koh Samui last month in two cases filed by Brian Goudie and a case filed by David Hanks claiming he was suffering from high blood pressure.

 Drummond had previously told Koh Samui Court he could not attend as he was attending meetings, and that claim is now under investigation and if proven false will likely result in a prosecution for contempt of court.

Drummond was recently convicted by the Supreme Court of Thailand in a second case filed by Lumsden, and was also convicted in Pattaya Provincial Criminal Court in February last year.

Drummond has already failed to comply with an order of the Supreme Court to publish the previous judgement in the Bangkok Post, and has now been given an extension to comply - failure to comply a second time will likely result in a prosecution for contempt of Court.

Translation of Order for Warrant of Arrest

#andrewdrummond #allycooper

Convicted British journalist Andrew Drummond reported to have fled justice in Thailand.

Thailand, 17th January 2015

Andrew Drummond - reported to have fled from criminal cases in Thailand.

British journalist Andrew Drummond has apparently fled Thailand.

Drumnond, who was already convicted twice in Thailand last year has written on his web site:

 matters I am dealing with cannot be written about safely in Thailand, and if I am to continue to function as a journalist it must happen outside Thailand’s borders 

Drummond currently is on bail in two cases in Pattaya Provincial Court, case numbers 8368/2556 and 1327/2557 and was due to post bail in three cases in Koh Samui Provincial Court in April in case numbers 1246/2556, 1268/2556 and 1826/2556. These cases were filed by Brian Goudie, David Hanks and Drew Noyes.

In addition, Drummond is due to appear in Court on Jnauary 29th for the reading of a second Supreme Court judgement in a case brought by James Lumsden - Drummond was convicted on the first Lumden case on October 27th.

In a short statement issued today lawyers for Goudie and Hanks said:

'Mr Dummond is facing a number of criminal cases filed by our Clients. It remains to be seen if he will attend his first court date on January 29th.

If Drummond fails to appear in any case arrest warrants will be issued.

Today's news comes as no surprise, we only recently filed documents with Koh Samui Court showing we were of the opinion Drummond was a clear flight risk - if it is the case that Drummond has fled the jurisdiction and warrants are issued, our clients are likely to simply commence legal proceedings in the UK.'.

Petchaburi and Pattaya Courts summons Sukanya Pechan to answer charges of fraud.

Sukanya Pechan

Following a report on this site regarding a Cha Am property developer being named as a defendant in a criminal case filed at Pattaya Court on 6th October further parties have come forward and filed new cases in Pattaya Court,

Ms. Sukanya 'Suk' Pechan (สุกัลยา เป๊ะชาญ), formerly ran a company 'P S Consulting and Travel Co. Ltd' in Soi Chaiyapruek 2 in Pattaya, whose offices are now derelict.

Following Ms. Pechan being tracked down by John McDonald in Cha Am, Pattaya Court issued an order freezing some of Ms. Pechan's assets, including her shareholdings in 'P S Consulting and Travel Co. Ltd' in black case number 680/56 red case number 1221/56 in which the Court ordered Ms. Pechan to pay McDonald THB 760,000 plus interest, which with interest and costs now amounts to over 1.2 million Thai Baht.

McDonald. along with another party, Mr Malcolm Simpson has now filed further criminal charges against Pechan in case number 441/58 and 442/58 in Pattaya Provincial Criminal Court.  Court documents allege that Ms. Pechan made an illegal KAYFAC loan contract in the sum of THB12,000,000 (GBP225,000) without the authority of company shareholders.

Following leaving Pattaya, Ms Pechan apparently opened a number of offices in Cha Am.

It is now reported that following the reports on this site that the offices in Cha Am are also now closed and that a further foreigner has filed criminal charges against Ms. Pechan in Petchaburi Criminal Court.

P S Legal Group (Cha Am) Co. Ltd in Cha Am - apparently closed.

Ms. Pechan, born in Khon Khaen, now apparently runs three companies in Cha Am, PS Legal Group (Cha Am) Co. Ltd (บริษัท พี. เอส. ลีเกิล กรุ้ป ชะอำ จำกัด), PS Construction and Design and PS Legal One Stop Service Co. Ltd (บริษัท พี. เอส. ลีเกิล วัน สต๊อบ จำกัด ) and is believed to have interests in a number of property developments in the Cha Am area.

Ms Pechan will face Court in Pattaya on February 9th in black case number 10378/2557, which details almost 100 criminal charges, including holding illegal company meetings, multiple counts of criminal fraud and making and using false documents. The case was filed in Pattaya Provincial Court and alleges that Ms. Pechan incorporated a new company on behalf of a client on 24th January 2012 to purchase a property in Pattaya, but then on 9th February 2012 registered a KAYFAC loan on the property in the sum of THB 2,916,000 (GBP 56,000) without the knowledge of the client. The case alleges that Ms.Pechan sold the property with a right of redemption for THB 2,916,000 when the true value of the property was THB 7,500,000 (GBP 144,000).

P S Construction and Design in Cha Am - closed.

Court records show that Ms. Pechan and three others have been charged with holding more than 20 company meetings without advising the home owner, and each meeting has four associated criminal charges.ords show that Ms. Pechan and three others have been charged with holding more than 20 company meetings without advising the home owner, and each meeting has four associated criminal charges.

Ms. Pechan apparently left Pattaya in July 2013 and set up base in Cha Am, leaving behind offices in Soi Chaiyapruek and also two other offices in Jomtien. Ms. Pechan previously had offices in Soi Buakow in Pattaya.

Investigations into the activities of Ms. Pechan in Pattaya and Cha Am are continuing.

Convicted British journalist Andrew Drummond published the notice of his criminal conviction in Pattaya Mail.

Pattaya, 15th January 2015

The Pattaya Mail noiice (header added)

Convicted british journalist Andrew Drummond has published a notice of his recent conviction to comply with an order of the Supreme Court of Thailand.

Drummond was convicted by a judgement of the Supreme Court of Thailand on 27th October 2014 in case number 2137/2557 in a case filed by James Lumsden.

The case is a long running defamation case, going back to 2004. 

Drummond has published a first notice in the #PattayaMail.

Drummond was initially convicted in Pattaya Provincial Court and sentenced to two months imprisonment (suspended for two years) but in 2007 the conviction was reversed by the Region 2 Court of Appeal.

On 27th October 2014, the Supreme Court of Thailand reversed the Region 2 Court of Appeal decision and confirmed the decision of Pattaya Provincial Criminal Court, sentencing Drummond to two months imprisonment (suspended for two years), fined him THB 20,000 (GBP400) and ordered Drummond to publish the decision of the Supreme Court in 'The Bangkok Post' and 'Pattaya Today' newspapers three times within thirty days of the Court rendering judgement. Drummond was given an extension of time to publish the notices.

Andrew Drummond - convicted by Supreme Court of Thailand.

Drummond will face the Supreme Court again on January 29th in a second case filed by Lumsden.

The publication comes in the same week that the Independent Press Standards Organisation #ipso upheld two complaints filed by #BrianGoudie against Drummond over two newspaper articles printed in two major Scottish newspapers #The Scotsmand and #TheScottishDailyRecord. IPSO found that Drummond's articles breached the UK Editors Code of Practice, and contained 'significant inaccuracy'.

The full story of the Lumsden case is reported at this link.

Drummond has not reported his conviction on his website.

IPSO condemns British journalist Andrew Drummond again over Brian Goudie article in 'The Scotsman'.

London, 8th January 2015

The UK Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which was previously the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has today upheld a second complaint filed by Brian Goudie in relation to an article written by British journalist Andrew Drummond in 'The Scotsman' newspaper last year.

The IPSO complaints committee found that the article contained a 'significant' inaccuracy.

Following the complaint by Goudie, IPSO investigated claims that Drummond had submitted an article to the publication that Goudie in his complaint alleged had breached the Editor's Code of Practice, a regulatory framework that lays out the requirement for newspapers and journalists to accurately report news stories.

The main complaint was that Drummond had had failed to report a successful Court appeal by Goudie, and that Drummond had fabricated an allegation that Goudie had received a payment of GBP 60,000 for legal services from a UK expat, John Jepson.

In finding that the article was inaccurate the IPSO complaints committee found as follows:

The Committee first considered the complainant’s concern that the article had contained inaccurate information in breach of Clause 1 (i) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, which states that “the press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures”. The complainant had stated that, contrary to information reported in the article, no payment had been made to him by John Jepson, and that the case referred to in the article had been withdrawn. He further stated that it was misleading for the article not to make clear that the decision of the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal, in which the complainant had been described as “not a person of honest character”, had subsequently been set aside. The Committee noted the existence of official documentation supporting the complainant’s position on these points, notably the judgment of Spender, Drummond and Mansfield in Goldie v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs. This had made clear that the original decision had been set aside, and this document was available to the newspaper. As such, the Committee considered that the newspaper had failed to take care not to publish inaccurate information in breach of Clause 1 (i). It further considered that the inaccuracies contained within the article, the failure to report that the AAT decision has been set aside, and the reference to a payment that had not been made, were significant such that a correction would be required under the terms of Clause 1 (ii), which state that “a significant inaccuracy once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence”. 

Goudie said today:

' I would like to thank the Independent Press Standards Organisation for their diligence in investigating this matter.

Whilst I have filed cases in Court, it is in my view substantially more appropriate that Drummond be censured by his peers.

The fabrication in the article that John Jepson had made any payment was disgraceful.

The editor of The Scotsman admitted early in the the piece that Drummond had provided them with inaccurate information, and I understand a retraction will now be printed.

This decision by IPSO today merely serves to confirm what I have said all along which is that Andrew Drummond does not write accurately then refuses to correct his errors'.

Lawyers for Goudie in Bangkok today said they would now consider whether or not the editor of the Scotsman and Drummond could be jointly prosecuted under the provisions of Thailand's tough Computer Crimes Act.

IPSO censures British journalist Andrew Drummond over Brian Goudie article in 'The Scottish Daily Record'.

London, 8th January 2015

The UK Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which was previously the Press Complaints Commission ( PCC) has upheld a complaint filed by Brian Goudie in relation to an article written by British journalist Andrew Drummond in 'The Scottish Daily Record' newspaper last year.

The Scottish Daily Record logo

IPSO found that the article contained a 'significant' inaccuracy,

Following the complaint by Goudie, IPSO investigated claims that Drummond had submitted an article to the publication that Goudie in his complaint alleged had breached the Editor's Code of Practice, a regulatory framework that lays out the requirement for newspapers and journalists to accurately report news stories.

The main complaint was that Drummond had stated Goudie had been charged with fraud in Scotland, which was proven to be a false accusation.

In finding that the article was inaccurate the IPSO complaints committee found as follows:

'The Committee first considered the complainant’s concern that, in inaccurately stating that he had been charged with an offence of fraud in Scotland, the newspaper had breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, which states that “the press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information”, and that “a significant inaccuracy once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence”. The Committee considered that, given the availability of a letter from the Crown Office in support of the complainant’s position, this error constituted a failure to take care not to publish inaccurate information in breach of Clause 1 (i), and that the inaccuracy was significant so as to merit a correction in line with the terms of Clause 1 (ii). '

Goudie said today:

' I would like to thank the Independent Press Standards Organisation for their diligence in investigating this matter.

Whilst I have filed cases in Court, it is in my view substantially more appropriate that Drummond be censured by his peers.

This decision by IPSO today merely serves to confirm what I have said all along which is that Andrew Drummond does not write accurately then refuses to correct his errors'.

Lawyers for Goudie in Bangkok today said they would now consider whether or not the editor of the Scottish Daily Record and Drummond could be jointly prosecuted under the provisions of Thailand's tough Computer Crimes Act.

#andrewdrummond #allycooper

Alba Laws and Sukanya Worakham to file criminal case against three Pattaya Expats .

5th January 2015

Three Pattaya expats will face criminal charges to be filed by law firm #AlbaLaws and its managing partner #SukanyaWorakham

After a brief procedural hearing last week in a case filed by #PeterMorris, #Alan Dempsey and #HeinerSchellenberg lawyers were instructed to file charges against the trio for allegedly making false police reports and allegedly instituting groundless criminal cases.

The trio have already attempted to raise the case with Bangkok based Crime Suppression police, and Pattaya police - both attempts resulted in police dismissing the case, and the trio are now attempting to bring the case by themselves to Court,

An application to adjourn the case until March 16th was accepted to allow Alba Laws and Worakham to file the counter charges.

In addition to the criminal charges, the men will face a civil claim for damages for breach of contract.

The case has recently been reported by convicted criminal journalist #AndrewDrummond.

Lawyers for Alba Laws said today:

'Our Client accepted a case on behalf of these three individuals and that work was completed according to a contract signed by the three. The three then attempted to break the contract and avoid payment, leading our Client to place a lien on funds held - this is standard practice and permittted by Thai law.'