Tag Archives: Crime

"Sadistic" Malaysian employer Yim Pek Ha sentenced to 18-years jail for abusing maid: Released on bail

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Yim Pek Ha being lead away from court in Malaysia where she was sentenced to 18-years for abusing her Indonesian maid

In August 2007 I wrote Death of maid in Malaysia highlights endemic foreign worker abuse which chronicled the widespread abuse of domestic foreign workers (commonly referred to as maids) by Malaysian employers. Death of maid in Malaysia highlights endemic foreign worker abuse focused on the murder of 24-year-old Indonesian domestic worker Kunarsih, who used just one name like many Indonesians, from Demak in Central Java by Goo Eng Keng and his wife Chen Pei Ee, while another incident referred to the horrific injuries received by 19-year-old Nirmala Bonat from Kupang, West Timor, from her employer Yim Pek Ha. Yim was accused of pouring boiling water on Ms Bonat, beating her, and pressing a hot iron on her breasts and back … Continue reading →

Pakistani receives life sentence for murdering Thai: Australian gets four years for killing American

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Mohammad Arif, death penalty commuted to life for murdering and dismembering a Thai woman

Just two days after the Chiang Mai Provincial Court handed down a four year sentence to 61-year-old Australian William Thomas Douglas for the March 2008 murder of American tourist Gary Bruce Poretsky, Thailand’s Court of Appeal was affirming a life sentence for a Pakistani man convicted for murdering a Thai woman in 2006. Mohammad Arif was found guilty on March 30, 2007 by the the Ratchada Criminal Court in Bangkok of murdering Ubon Ratchathani English-language teacher Dissanee Thongnarkthae in a Bangkok Hotel room on May 8, 2006. Arif had come into contact with Ms Dissanee through an internet chat room and arranged to meet her in Bangkok. However when Ms Dissanee arrived in Bangkok she was met by Arif instead … Continue reading →

Family of murdered American tourist call for Thailand travel boycott (Updated June 14, 2010)

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Hawaiian resident Gary Poretsky, murdered by Australian William Thomas Douglas in Chiang Mai, Thailand

This story was updated at 23:25 April 19, 2011 Additional material in red text The family of an American tourist murdered in the popular Northern Thailand tourist destination of Chiang Mai have reacted angrily to Monday’s provincial court ruling that means his killer will serve less than three years in jail and called on Americans to boycott Thailand as a tourist destination. Sandra Fall, mother of murdered Hawaiian resident Gary Bruce Poretsky said via email, “I cannot even celebrate the conviction. I have lost a son and this person will be free to walk the streets. Is that justice or what? “I am very upset at the outcome of the trial. I have sent an e-mail to the (US) State … Continue reading →

Cash payment lightens sentence for Australian murderer (Updated June 14, 2010)

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William Thomas Douglas being lead into court. The red armband denotes murder.

A 61-year-old former Perth resident will serve just two years and nine months imprisonment for the murder of a 46-year-old Hawaii resident in the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai after making a cash payment of Bt100,000 (US$2,955) to a woman who claimed to be the girlfriend of the victim in a trial that lasted less than three hours. William Thomas Douglas, formerly of Willetton, pleaded guilty in the Chiang Mai Provincial Court to shooting Gary Bruce Poretsky at the Keari restaurant on the morning of March 22, this year and was sentenced to four years imprisonment for murder, one year for having an unregistered firearm and a further six months for carrying a firearm in public. However, because he … Continue reading →

Aussie shooter fronts Thai court

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William Douglas leaves Chiang Mai court in shackles and wearing the red arm bands of a prisoner charged with murder.

A 61-year-old Australian man has appeared in a preliminary hearing of the Chiang Mai Provincial Court over the shooting death in March of an Hawaiian tourist. William Thomas Douglas, formerly of the Western Australian suburb of Willetton, is charged with the murder of 46-year-old Gary Bruce Poretsky at the Keari restaurant on March 23rd. At the brief preliminary hearing Douglas pleaded guilty to the murder charge, as well as to a charge of carrying a weapon in public and a charge of possessing an unlicensed firearm. The court agreed to a request by Provincial Public Prosecutor, Sonthaya Kruewate, for an expedited hearing date with the matter set for trial in August, and Douglas remanded in custody until then. ENDS: © … Continue reading →

Perth man remanded over fatal shooting of American tourist

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William Thomas Douglas, a former resident of Willetton in Western Australia, surrendered to Thai police on Saturday one and a half hours after he is alleged to have shot and killed Hawaiian resident Gary Booth Poretsky in a Chiang Mai restaurant following an altercation. After the hearing Douglas said he had “no regrets” over killing the American, who was visiting Thailand on a two week trip to receive dental treatment in Bangkok where high quality dentistry is considerably less expensive than in the US or Europe.

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American tourist not liked – killed

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A 60-year-old former Perth resident faces the death penalty in Thailand after he was arrested over the fatal killing of a 46-year-old Hawaii resident in the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai over the weekend. William Thomas Douglas, who claims to be a Vietnam War veteran, handed himself in to Chiang Mai police one and a half hours after shooting dead 46-year-old American tourist Gary Booth Poretsky in an all-night Thai restaurant popular with local Chiang Mai citizens. Douglas said he disliked American’s and thought ‘they talk down to everyone and consider themselves better than everyone.

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