There is much, too much, we do not know about the vicious attacks on the Middlesborough couple in Hua Hin which have dominated the Thai-UK news channels in recent days. Much of the rhetoric has been devoted to criticism of the Thai legal system and the horrors of being British even before a Thai court has had the chance to hear the evidence.
The initial attack on Des and Mary appears to have occurred in December 2023 after a controversy with neighbors (one Thai and one Brit in some reports) about a land border dispute. Presumably the matter has had some adjudication since the violent neighbors, we are told, initially pleaded guilty to serious assault but later – presumably in mid or late 2024 – changed their plea and accused the Middlesborough couple of “superficial injury and mental anguish”. Whether the Thai judges will accept that line of defence is just speculation.
As far as we know, the Thai court has not heard any detail of assaults by any party. The UK press and many on social media are pre-judging that Mr and Mrs Byrne are about to be jailed in Thailand, then to suffer the indignities of “post-probation sentencing” – a silly term unknown in the Thai legal lexicon. On the other hand, it could just as well be a ploy by lawyers for the opposing duo to muddy the waters and minimize any future serious sentence for the original attacks on the Byrnes.
The Thai court wheels turn very slowly and hearings stretch over many months as they don’t follow one day after another. Judges will want to know about the change of plea and will require medical reports on the Byrnes’ obviously devastating injuries. The notion that the Byrnes, both of pensionable age, are going to be sent to prison because of injuries inflicted by third parties suggests a total lack of knowledge about Thai criminal justice.
It is, of course, a horror story that the Byrnes’ retirement to the “Thai Riviera” has turned out disastrously. The saga is full of what-ifs. Foreigners cannot own freehold land in Thailand so their house was likely rented or leased or owned by a company with Thai shareholders. Perhaps the Byrnes should have referred the matter to the actual owner rather than allow tempers to rise.
Lobbying the British foreign and development office (or the UK embassy in Bangkok) to intervene is understandable. Hundreds of distressed Brits over the years have similarly pleaded. It’s pointless. A golden rule of Anglo-Thai diplomacy was, is and always will be not to become involved in legal affairs abroad. The Thai embassy in London tit-for-tat does not represent Thais in UK courts. The Byrne case is unlikely to see a clear result any time soon. Best to study the Thai legal system before you decide to retire here.
