View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Media Law
March 18, 2010

Drummond celebrates victory in Thai libel battle

British freelance journalist Andrew Drummond has celebrated a victory in his long-running criminal libel battle through the Thai courts over stories which featured two expatriate Scots involved in the sex industry.

Drummond has been cleared of two counts of criminal libel brought by James Lumsden, 59, from Falkirk, and Gordon May, 67, from Edinburgh – two businessmen involved in the sex industry in the resort of Pattaya.

Legal action was brought against Drummond after he wrote a series of articles describing the misfortunes that befell Britons who went into business with Lumsden and May.

In April 1990, Iain Macdonald, 28, died in a fire at the Ambiance Hotel in Pattaya. A second businessman Kevin Quill, 39, from Bradford, Yorkshire, invested money with May and Lumsden and was jailed for six years for drug possession after he was arrested by police in 2000.

The Appeal Judges, Seramee Sirimankarak, Sittisak Wanachkij and Ariya Navintum ruled: “The defendant was doing his job as a journalist, making facts public for foreigners doing business in Thailand. There is nothing defamatory in what he wrote.”

Marwaan Macan-Markar, president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, said: “We welcome these two court rulings in favour of Andrew Drummond, particularly since the alleged libels involved were criminal offences under existing Thai law.

“The verdicts demonstrate a fundamental respect for investigative reporting in the public interest. This is a good day for journalism and the law in Thailand.”

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

The original reports were printed in London and Glasgow but Lumsden chose to sue in Thailand, which he considered his home, after the Bangkok Post printed similar stories. Drummond was subsequently given two two-year suspended prison sentences.

Drummond said: “I’m of course very pleased. But this is small consolation for the families of Iain Macdonald or Kevin Quill. Their lives have been devastated.

“My thanks must go to Steve Turner former president of the BAJ for his never ending support and encouragement and my colleagues on newspapers in the UK and their bosses who helped pay my expenses.”

Topics in this article : ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network