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On 20 September 2016, the Bangkok South Criminal Court found human rights defender Andy Hall guilty of criminal defamation and Computer Crimes Act charges case brought against him by Natural Fruit Company Ltd. The court sentenced Andy Hall to prison for 3 years and fined him 150 000 thai baht (€3856). Imprisonment will be suspended for 3 years.

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/c ... -andy-hall

excellent article written by Andrew MacGregor Marshall

LONG read but if ur interested in Thailand and its future...

https://wikileaks.org/Thailand-s-Moment ... -Part.html

https://www.wikileaks.org/Thailand-s-Mo ... t,110.html

To use an Americanism, "This sucks big-time" but I can't see the Youkay government getting overly bothered
about a human rights person in trouble in an Asian country usually thought to be friendly to the West.

In all probability, some backstairs deal will be done quietly and he'll be out inside a year.

People like him are truly admirable - but like mountaineers and explorers, they're very well aware
of the risks.

boozyoldman wrote:To use an Americanism, "This sucks big-time" but I can't see the Youkay government getting overly bothered
about a human rights person in trouble in an Asian country usually thought to be friendly to the West.

In all probability, some backstairs deal will be done quietly and he'll be out inside a year.

People like him are truly admirable - but like mountaineers and explorers, they're very well aware
of the risks.

Suspended sentence so no jail, as long as he "behaves"... if I was him, I'd leave town since they are going to give back his passport.

phuketrichard wrote:

On 20 September 2016, the Bangkok South Criminal Court found human rights defender Andy Hall guilty of criminal defamation and Computer Crimes Act charges case brought against him by Natural Fruit Company Ltd. The court sentenced Andy Hall to prison for 3 years and fined him 150 000 thai baht (€3856). Imprisonment will be suspended for 3 years.

/quote]

This is the scary stuff if he doesn't leave :

In addition to the two criminal cases, Natural Fruit has also filed two civil claims for damages against Andy Hall totalling 400 million baht (approximately 10 million euros). These cases have been but on hold until the corresponding criminal cases have been concluded.

AM has it nailed; Andy Hall had better leave Thailand ASAP.

What a strange screwy country - all the glitter and corruption and cruelty and happiness all mixed up in a bucket.

Like here but bigger and richer.

read the links for a better understanding, also the book,"the king never smiles"

its so dam easy to leave Thailand with or without a passport, thing is even with his passport, i doubt they will allow him to go thru immigration.

The clowns want to keep him as part of their little show.

Wise expats don't even waste time thinking about the Circus formerly known as Thailand, much less go there.

Avoid it (like the plague).

The Finnwatch press release from September 20, 2016 :

https://cdns.walkfree.org/wp-content/up ... N__20Sep16

GOOD NEWS!!!!!!
Justice does prevail,even in Thailand

Supreme Court acquits labour rights activist Andy Hall
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed criminal defamation charges against British activist Andy Hall regarding his 2013 Al Jazeera interview on alleged labour violations at a big exporter of canned pineapple and juice.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... -andy-hall

Andy Hall leaves, 'fears for his safety'
7 Nov 2016 at 06:59
WRITER: THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION

Prominent British rights activist Andy Hall left Thailand early on Monday, saying he feared for his safety amidst legal problems and growing harassment from companies that have been "irrational, vindictive and aggressive".

Mr Hall, who has worked on the rights of migrant workers in Thailand for 11 years, has recently faced defamation lawsuits by companies he has accused of labour violations.

"The situation is not good right now," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone on Sunday before his flight, speaking from Mahachai, a town near Bangkok and the centre of Thailand's seafood processing industry.

"It's rapidly deteriorating. It doesn't feel safe. There are people who are intent on wearing me down. I've worked with so many companies in Thailand, and it's rare to have a company that is so irrational and so vindictive. It's enough to wear anyone down."

In September, Mr Hall was handed a suspended three-year jail term and fined 150,000 baht ($4,300) for criminally defaming Natural Fruit Company, a pineapple wholesaler that supplies the European Union.

Rights groups called the verdict an alarming precedent in the fight against labour exploitation.

Emboldened by the ruling, a chicken farmer who lost his EU contracts and had to shut down his 1.6 million-chicken operation after Mr Hall exposed alleged labour violations on one of his three farms, said he planned to pursue his own defamation case and has hired the Natural Fruit lawyer...

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... his-safety

What was Andy Hall doing defending migrant workers in Thailand ? Well, sometime these things just happen... it's a long story ...

Hall heads for Paris but fight for rights goes on.
In June 2005, he took leave from his PhD and academic teaching, and went to Thailand initially to stay with a Thai university friend, travel and meditate at some temples. He found himself in Chiang Mai and came across Shan construction workers who were disabled and maimed from their jobs but couldn't get access to compensation...

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... ts-goes-on