Suit dropped against BBC journalist

ATHAI lawyer has dropped a criminal defamation suit against a BBC journalist over his investigation into foreigners being scammed out of retirement homes in the country, the broadcaster said yesterday.

Jonathan Head, a BBC correspondent, faced up to five years in jail after his report exposed how two foreign retirees had properties on Phuket island stolen from them by a network of criminals and corrupt officials. The lawyer who brought the suit – Pratuan Thanarak – decided to drop the charges on Wednesday.

Foreigners cannot own land in Thailand but they often get around the prohibition by putting assets in the name of Thais. The 2015 report detailed how a network of Phuket criminals, aided by corrupt officials, stole properties from foreigners by forging land title transfers or company ownership records.

One of the victims who featured in the report, British national Ian Rance, was named as a co-defendant in the suit. Charges against him were dropped yesterday.

According to the report, Pratuan admitted on tape to certifying Rance’s signature without him being present, a move that helped the wife transfer his properties out of his name. She was later convicted and jailed for the scam.

But Rance has been hit by several legal cases since going public, a common outcome for whistleblowers in Thailand which markets itself as a retirement destination for foreigners.