Another US fugitive sent on his merry way from Thailand
I’m starting to wonder what we are all doing here. We live in this bizarre world where we can no longer look at teachers and take them seriously. I’m not even talking about the hapless travellers who make their way to Phuket and discover the meaning of life — there are individuals even more despicable.
A brief digression about these travellers: I was sat with work colleague at a restaurant during my lunch break yesterday. On this particular lunch break, a dreadlocked lady walked past, looked at us and burst out laughing. Nobody saw her except me, but I knew exactly what she was thinking.
We weren’t doing the Thailand right. We weren’t living her dream, sat in that restaurant. It’s she — with her refined sense of worldliness — who sees things from the other side. A group of shirted foreigners eating Western fare is unacceptable.
My editor and news editor were having lunch in the same restaurant some time ago, when an aged teacher walked over to their table and said, “I feel bad for you guys coming to Thailand and just eating Western food.” They just nodded and said, “Thank you.”
There must be some great disorder in the world if these are not the people who give teachers a bad name.
James John Betts: He could be any one of the thousands of teachers working in Thailand. Fifty-one years old. Employed at an all-boys school in Bangkok. Wanted in the US on 184 counts of child pornography. Investigators announced his arrest yesterday.
The stigma that now goes with being a teacher in Thailand comes from the motley bunch of characters whom you have seen skulking around the country without suspecting them of being anything more than introverted.
Will it end? It’s unlikely. We can but hope that America stops allowing its wanted criminals to vacation to Thailand, Mexico and so on.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
With all the security measures and garbage we have to do to leave the country, you’d think they’d be able to pick up on a wanted fugitive getting on an airplane. Seriously!
February 26th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I agree with the entire post except for the last sentence. Sorry, but it is not up to America to do anything… this is a Thailand-based problem. It is therefore the Thais with the “to-do” list to clean this sort of BS up…
February 26th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Are you saying America should continue to let wanted criminals get away? If America can’t stop them leaving, how can Thailand stop them entering? Cleaning up the way teachers are employed should, however, be a must if Thais want to protect their children.
February 26th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
“We can but hope that America stops allowing its wanted criminals to vacation to Thailand, Mexico and so on.”
Absolutely- It’s so strange that I have never met a British, European, or Aussie criminal in Thailand.
Oh… wait… errrr…
February 27th, 2008 at 2:26 am
Well yes, the Brits and Aussies also do a good job of letting their wanted criminals get away. But they seem to be less motivated to haul them back.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I meant to imply (and thought I did) that lax rules for ANY country letting these types of people OUT only BENEFITS said country. Therefore, it is up to ALL countries to stop these types (regardless of where they are from) from getting IN. That’s what the US is currently doing a la TERRORISTS…. Every country has its own scourge of foreigners and for Thailand… it is paedophiles and porno freaks…..
March 12th, 2008 at 10:33 am
I once new a Swedish fugitive (though no one except him knew about it at the time) that was a student at my international uni. He was wanted for violently attacking his girlfriend with a broom stick {snip details} Anyway, it was in the news one day that immigration had busted him and everyone at uni who knew him (or thought we did) was just shocked… You would have never guessed such a personality trait from meeting him, as I suspect is the case with all these pedophile teachers… white skin…blue eyes…farang, speaks English, hired!