BBC’S HEAD FACING LAWSUIT

The BBC’s Bangkok-based Southeast Asia correspondent Jonathan Head, pictured, is facing a defamation lawsuit as a result of a September 2015 report regarding two Western expatriates who were allegedly defrauded of their property investments on the island of Phuket.
The story was widely reported overseas but barely mentioned in the Thai media as I recall.
If convicted Head faces up to nine years in jail.
The BBC issued a statement from London in support of Head.
It said: “A complaint of Criminal Defamation and Abuse of the Computer Crimes Act has been made in Thailand following a report by the BBC into alleged property fraud. The BBC stands by the high standards of its journalism. As this is now a legal matter there will be no further comment.”
The overseas media does not, in general, have a good reputation among most Thais. I can see why. It’s always the ‘bad’ and ‘sensational’ news that gets reported overseas. I can also see why that happens too because good news, sadly, doesn’t attract the same levels of interest.