One of the victims, British national Ian Rance, is a joint defendant in the prosecution. The man bringing the prosecution is Pratuan Thanarak, a local lawyer who featured in the BBC's report looking at how Rance lost $1.2 million worth of properties. A copy of Pratuan's complaint seen by AFP alleges that the BBC's report caused him to be "defamed, insulted or hated". Unlike most countries where defamation is a civil crime, in Thailand it is a criminal offence. Andrew Drummond, a British crime reporter, left the country the same year because of multiple cases brought by those he exposed as did British labour rights activist Andy Hall in 2016.

Source: The Nation Bangkok August 23, 2017 04:30 UTC