BBC journalist Jonathan Head on trial after report about Phuket property scam that targeted foreigners

Case sparked by a 2015 report detailing how two foreign retirees had Phuket properties stolen from them by a network of criminals and corrupt officials

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BBC foreign correspondent Jonathan Head arrives at court to fight defamation charges brought against him by a Thai lawyer in Phuket. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:49pm, 23 Aug 2017Updated: 10:28pm, 23 Aug 2017

A British BBC journalist appeared in a Thai court on Wednesday for the start of a criminal defamation trial brought by a lawyer who featured in an investigation about foreigners being scammed of their retirement homes.

Jonathan Head, the BBC’s Southeast Asia correspondent, faces up to five years in jail at the private prosecution on the popular tourist island of Phuket.

Rights groups have said the case exposes how Thailand’s broad defamation and computer crime laws scupper investigative journalism and make it difficult to uncover wrongdoing in an endemically corrupt country.

The prosecution was sparked by a 2015 report by Head detailing how two foreign retirees had Phuket properties stolen from them by a network of criminals and corrupt officials.

One of the victims, British national Ian Rance, is a joint defendant in the prosecution. Both have pleaded not guilty.

One of the victims, British national Ian Rance, is a joint defendant in the prosecution. Both he and Jonathan Head have pleaded not guilty. Photo: BBC

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