UK blacklisted whistleblower finally gains entry to Thailand

Immigration officials told Dr. Ellis that he was "blacklisted as a danger to Thai society" & could not enter Thailand. Blacklisting part of long battle with Thai government official who plagiarised 80% of his PhD dissertation & had PhD revoked by Chulalongkorn University.

IMMIGRATION BLACKLISTING

UK blacklisted whistleblower finally gains entry to Thailand

8/09/2015

Upon his arrival to Thailand, UN consultant Dr. Wyn Ellis, 57, presented his UK passport to airport immigration and that is where his five day ordeal in Suvarnabhumi airport detention began.

Thai immigration officials told Dr. Ellis that he was "blacklisted as a danger to Thai society" and could not enter Thailand.

The blacklisting was part of a long battle Dr. Ellis had fought as a whistleblower against a senior Thai government official who plagiarised 80% of his PhD dissertation.

In an attempt to escape punishment this official had launched several defamation lawsuits to suppress the truth, but finally lost his battle and his senior government position a few years ago.

The blacklisting of Dr. Ellis, which was done without his knowledge or any opportunity for him to defend himself, was never revoked. 

PHD REVOKED FOR PLAGIARISING 80% OF DISSERTATION

In 2012 Mr. Supachai Lorlowhakarn held the position of director of the National Innovation Agency (NIA) (read mini-biography of Mr. Supachai here)

In 2012, Chulalongkorn University revoked Mr. Supachai's doctorate degree (PhD) in agricultural technology awarded in 2008 (see here, here & here).
 
That Mr Supachai had plagiarised 80% of his PhD dissertation, was the conclusion reached by the Chulalongkorn University council investigating the misconduct.

Angered by its actions, Mr. Supachai filed both criminal and civil lawsuits against Chulalongkorn University but lost all cases.

Mr Supachai had also allegedly plagiarised the research of Dr. Ellis for his PhD dissertation.

PLAGIARIST GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL SUES EVERYONE IMAGINABLE

In a last ditch effort to save his career, Mr. Supachai launched criminal defamation lawsuits against many people and organisations including Dr. Ellis and Erika Fry, an investigative reporter at the Bangkok Post newspaper who had written an article exposing Mr. Supachai's plagiarism.

After years of appeals, Mr. Supachai finally lost all of these cases. Along the way, Mr. Supachai was also found guilty of criminal document forgery.

All of this coincided with a variety of threats and attacks against Dr. Ellis. As he described them to Times Higher Education in the UK in 2013:

"...the death threats were the latest escalation in years of surveillance and harassment that had included an investigation of his tax affairs and raids of his home by immigration officials. He was also bombarded with rocks by motorcycle-riding assailants as he drove to a court hearing in 2011, an incident captured by CCTV cameras." (see here) 

As for the barrage of lawsuits launched against his accusers by Mr. Supachai, Erika Fry wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review:

 "I was charged with criminal defamation, a consequence of reporting in the Bangkok Post that a Thai official had been accused of plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation on organic asparagus. He also had allegedly stolen intellectual property and misused his agency’s funds to hire the organic asparagus researchers - mild but embarrassing treachery made relevant given his position as director of the National Innovation Agency (NIA), a Thai state enterprise that manages intellectual property. He had done more elaborate things - absurd but largely documented - to cover it all up, like manipulating immigration documents and work permits and making threats against his accuser, a British agricultural consultant named Wyn Ellis. The evidence of all this, particularly the plagiarism, was beyond dispute...  the official had lost face—the most precious of commodities in Thailand - and he leveraged his connections against me. Along with the Post’s editor-in-chief and Ellis, I was fingerprinted, jailed, and forbidden to leave the country until the Thai courts, which can take years to process cases, resolved the matter."  (Source: Columbia Journalism Review here)

DR. ELLIS FINALLY GAINS ENTRY TO THAILAND

Living in the airport's detention room, Dr. Ellis took what action he could to gain entry to Thailand.

The immigration police showed him their file with a report saying that in December, 2009 the National Innovation Agency (NIA) wrote to the Immigration Bureau asking it to reconsider his visa.

Dr. Ellis said he was accused of stealing government property for his personal benefit, forgery, and complaining about government officials.

Mr Supachai told the Bangkok Post by telephone he could not recall if he had submitted the letter to the immigration police.

"I cannot confirm the letter exists. Even if it does exist, a staff member could have written it for me to sign, or it would have only been a general examination of Mr Ellis' status, and not a request for him to be on the blacklist. That would have been an abuse of authority," he said.

In an urgent letter submitted to the Immigration Bureau on Friday and seen by the Bangkok Post, the NIA under a new director asked immigration staff to revoke the original letter submitted by Mr Supachai on Dec 1, 2009, regarding Mr Ellis' visa, as it was a "personal matter".

Pol Maj Gen Suwitpol Imjairat, chief of Immigration Division 2, which supervises immigration processes at Suvarnabhumi airport, confirmed Mr Ellis' detention was due to being on the "blacklist" of people who are prohibited from entering the country.

"We told him that he can file an appeal, but since he does not wish to do so, we will have to deport him to the country he travelled from," he said.

Pol Maj Gen Suwuitpol declined to comment further on the blacklist, but added that Mr Ellis poses a "threat towards the country's national security".

His Thai wife submitted a petition Monday to the Immigration Bureau to remove his name from the blacklist.

Shortly before he left Suvarnabhumi and was finally allowed to enter Thailand at 9.30pm Monday night, Dr. Ellis in a Facebook posting called for charges to be filed under Section 157 of the Criminal Code for the vendetta that the former government official Mr. Supachai had waged against him.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/684072/detained-briton-freed-allowed-into-thailand

https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/death-threats-in-thailand-for-uk-whistleblower/2006659.article

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20131031161316390

http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/fry_in_thailand.php?page=all

https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/doctor-no-more-thai-official-finally-loses-title/420399.article

https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/innovation-boss-in-duplication-row/419680.article

http://www.asianscientist.com/2012/07/academia/chulalongkorn-university-plagarism-case-supachai-lorlowhakarn-2012/

http://thaipublica.org/2015/09/wyn-ellis-7-9-2558/

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