Thai Gov't charges Briton In Fire

[Guest luvthai]

Per Thai Visa: Government charges a Briton in setting of World Center fires. Jeff Savage a resident of pattaya is accussed in the setting of the World Center fire. Video footage has been obtained that supports the charges.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Is there a link available?

[Gaybutton]

Is there a link available?

I'll bet I know what this same genius was doing during Songkran . . .

 

Thai Government Accuses Foreigners In Bangkok Arson

 

[Guest]

Please tell me they have more than that video. I thought that they had videos of him starting the fire?

 

Anyway, what a complete fu(U)(ing Idiot.

[Bob]

Yes, what an idiot. At a minimum, he'll be tossed out of Thailand forever (and, for just being involved in a political protest, he ought to be).

 

But, unless he actually participated in burning or looting the mall or took some physical action to assist others in doing so, he surely wouldn't be convicted of anything in the west for just threatening to burn and loot the place. Nevertheless, what a total loser.

[Gaybutton]

Some of what he said was hard for me to make out, but he clearly said, "We are going to loot everything."

 

Next question: What was he doing out there in the first place?

 

And Thailand is a guilty unless proven innocent country.

 

There can be no dispute he was out there. There can be no dispute about what he said. I have no idea whether that is enough for Thai courts to find him guilty, but I have a feeling that even if there is no evidence of any kind to connect him with actually participating in arson and looting, this guy has already seen Pattaya for the last time.

 

Maybe he'll be lucky enough to be released, but I've seen people do smarter things.

[Gaybutton]

I thought that they had videos of him starting the fire?

Maybe they do. Maybe they have another video, one that simply wasn't posted on YouTube.

 

But he exercised his right of free speech. And it looks like he free speeched himself right into jail.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Good place for him too.

[KhorTose]

He must have thought he was at a British football game. Proof that the man is a moron is in the fact that he is still in country. If I had been stupid enough to be caught on a video displayed on utube saying those things, I would have immediately got on the first plane to anywhere else. This idiots stays in country. Duuuhhhhh

[Guest fountainhall]

Is it any coincidence, I wonder, that on another thread we are discussing the rights of free speech? This is definitely one occasion when saying what you felt was dangerously inappropriate!

[Guest]

He must have thought he was at a British football game.

 

British football has more or less eliminated domestic football hooliganism. Italy and The Netherlands have far worse problems.

 

As for the arsonist, if he is guilty, jail him & throw away the key.

I don't know what the hell he was thinking of. Our involvement in Thai politics is probably best limited to debating amongst ourselves on internet forums.

[Gaybutton]

Our involvement in Thai politics is probably best limited to debating amongst ourselves on internet forums.

I think you're right. I'm not here to try to change the way Thailand functions. And so far I haven't seen very many Thai people asking foreigners for advice or to physically involve themselves. While those of us who live here have a vested interest in Thailand, that does not alter the fact that we're guests here. It's one thing for us to get on message boards and talk among ourselves about our ideas for what Thailand and its leaders ought to do. It's quite another to get personally involved, especially when that involvement includes criminal activity.

 

I know that some would love to tell Thailand how to run their country. As for me, I'll limit what I have to say to the message boards until the Thai people start asking for my advice and participation.

[KhorTose]

Is it any coincidence, I wonder, that on another thread we are discussing the rights of free speech? This is definitely one occasion when saying what you felt was dangerously inappropriate!

 

Yes, it is an acceptable limit of the right of free speech. See Oliver Wendall Holmes on shouting "fire in a theater."

[Guest fountainhall]

See Oliver Wendall Holmes on shouting "fire in a theater."

I was interested to read that the quote (not having come across it before) is: “the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.” Yet I also noted that in a subsequent judgement the US Supreme Court overturned the earlier decision and effectively extended the boundaries of free speech - although not in respect to the incitement of imminent lawless action, which clearly was the object of the man in question. Yet I wonder what the law is in Thailand?

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I am sure Savage is about to find out.

[Gaybutton]

I received an Email today with a very interesting link to a British news article from THE SUN. Here's the beginning of it, but click on the link. Believe me, you'll want to read this one:

_____

 

The Brit Thug of Bloody Bangkok

 

From NICK PARKER, Chief Foreign Correspondent in Bangkok

 

THE British yob caught on video whipping up deadly riot fury in Bangkok was identified today as a London hospital driver.

 

Jeff Savage, 48, was filmed vowing to loot and burn a Bangkok shopping mall days before Red Shirt rebels left it in ruins.

 

And the tubby yob was unrepentant today.

 

Read more: The Brit thug of bloody Bangkok | The Sun |News

[Guest voldemar]

I received an Email today with a very interesting link to a British news article from THE SUN. Here's the beginning of it, but click on the link. Believe me, you'll want to read this one:

_____

 

The Brit Thug of Bloody Bangkok

 

From NICK PARKER, Chief Foreign Correspondent in Bangkok

 

THE British yob caught on video whipping up deadly riot fury in Bangkok was identified today as a London hospital driver.

 

Jeff Savage, 48, was filmed vowing to loot and burn a Bangkok shopping mall days before Red Shirt rebels left it in ruins.

 

And the tubby yob was unrepentant today.

 

Read more: The Brit thug of bloody Bangkok | The Sun |News

There is a difference in current Thai Constitution between the rights of Thai citizens and foreigners when it comes to freedom of speech. Taking into account a traditional xenofoby of the ruling elite in Thailand, I would not be surprised that at some point if things continue to heat up politically,foreigners become a target . However, nothing which is posted on any of the gay message boards which have zero influence on unfolding events in Thailand will be a reason for that.

[Guest fountainhall]

Britain's Guardian newspaper has printed a prison interview with the Brit in the YouTube footage, Jeff Savage. Here are excerpts -

 

Savage, who has lived in Thailand for nine years, told the Guardian he was being fitted up for crimes he did not commit. He denied he was involved in burning down the Central World shopping centre in the heart of Bangkok's shopping district.

 

"I am being stitched up, being fitted up. I thought it was just for overstaying my visa, but now this is serious," Savage said from behind bars in Bangkok remand prison.

 

"They are trying to pin a whole lot of stuff on me, and a few others … that we had nothing to do with. We are being made scapegoats."

 

Key in inspiring the allegations against Savage is a video shot during the chaotic final days of the redshirts' protest, now circulating on YouTube. In it, he is seen dressed in a bandanna and carrying a stick, exhorting protesters to set fire to the shopping centre, in the middle of the reds' protest site.

 

"We're gonna smash the fucking Central [World] plaza to shit. We're gonna steal everything out of it and burn the fucker down. Trust me, get pictures of that fucker. We're gonna loot everything, gold, watches, everything, and then we're gonna burn it to the ground," he says in the video, shot just days before the shopping centre was torched last Wednesday.

 

Savage conceded he was in the video. "I'll cut through the crap, it was definitely me. I said that," he said today. "I was under stress when I said those things. I was emotional, I was wound up because I'd been under sniper fire. I said it using old British sarcasm, I was being the caricature of the British soccer hooligan."

 

He insisted he was not in the vicinity when the fire began. "I had nothing to do with Central World burning down. Nothing at all. I swear. And I can prove it."

 

Savage has admitted to being involved in earlier redshirt demonstrations, including riots in Pattaya in April 2009, when protesters stormed the hotel hosting the Asean leaders' meeting, causing the conference to be abandoned. He was at state-owned TV station Channel 3 when it was set on fire last Wednesday, though he says he played no part in burning the building.

So he was "under stress". That explains it!

 

Full article at Briton faces jail or execution for inciting Thai redshirts to torch mall | World news | The Guardian

[Gaybutton]

So he was "under stress". That explains it!

Good. He's convinced me. Now all he has to do is convince the judge . . .

[Guest gay_grampa]

Britain's Guardian newspaper has printed a prison interview with the Brit in the YouTube footage, Jeff Savage. Here are excerpts -

 

 

So he was "under stress". That explains it!

 

Full article at Briton faces jail or execution for inciting Thai redshirts to torch mall | World news | The Guardian

 

Savage by name, savage by nature. This is the type of mindless yobbo that many UK residents of Thailand left Britain to get away from.

 

Even if the government can't get him for arson they can make a charge of incitement to violence stick and I hope this thug is put away for a very long time.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

So he was under stress because he was under sniper fire. Why was he in that area? It wasn't like he didn't know the danger of going there. He is just trying to "cop a plea" and I doubt it will wash with the Thai court.

[Gaybutton]

I doubt it will wash with the Thai court.

Maybe Thaksin will have his lawyer submit an appeal for him too . . .