Friday, May 15, 2009

Simon Burrowes misses flight from Phuket!


Mr Burrowes during an interview after his release on bail in February.

PHUKET CITY: It seems that British tourist Simon Burrowes’s troubles in Thailand will never end. His flight out of Phuket left at 3pm today, but, in a situation that is all too familiar to Burrowes, he was not on it.

Immigration officials at the airport told him they wanted to make some “additional inquiries” before permitting him to board the plane.

A police officer accompanying Mr Burrowes decided that Mr Burrowes would have to go to the Phuket Immigration Office in Phuket City – and miss the flight that had been paid for by an anonymous Thai benefactor.

This time, it seems, he kept his cool.

“It's not that much of a surprise, really,” he told the Gazette, explaining that after all he had been through, he was fully prepared for a hitch.

“It’s nothing. It really is nothing,” he said, sounding resigned.

Accompanied by the police officer and a Thai national who has been helping Mr Burrowes since he was released from prison, the luckless muay thai fighter is, as this report is posted, in a car heading for the Immigration office in Phuket City.

Friends of Mr Burrowes are attempting to secure him a place on another flight later today.

– Dan Waites



Friday, May 15, 2009

Burrowes update: more jail time possible!

PHUKET CITY: Simon Burrowes may have to spend a night in a cell at Phuket City Immigration Office while his case is processed, the Gazette has learned.

An officer at immigration said Mr Burrowes should be able to leave the country tomorrow after “some paper work” is completed.

This might mean he will have to spend a night in jail, the officer said.

Thai jails are not unfamiliar to Mr Burrowes, who spent three weeks in Phuket Provincial Prison after losing his temper with an Immigration officer at Phuket International Airport.

Mr Burrowes was due to fly out of Phuket today at 3pm after receiving a one-way ticket home to the UK, paid for by an anonymous Thai benefactor.

When he reached Phuket Airport to catch the flight, he was told that some unspecified “additional inquiries” would need to be made.

In what might have felt like a case of deja vu to the muay thai pugilist, the flight left without him.

He was driven to Phuket City Immigration Office, where he remains.

A foreign gentleman is understood to be attempting to secure Mr Burrowes’s release today.

For our previous report, click here.

Immigration officials would not permit a Gazette reporter to interview him and the officer in charge of the case at Immigration was reportedly “not available for comment”.

Martin Carpenter, Honorary British Consul in Phuket, said he was aware of the situation.

“We will provide Mr Burrowes with any assistance that we can to make sure he can get back to the UK,” he said.

“The Immigration department are probably only following procedures,” he said. “I don’t even know if the Immigration department knew if Mr Burrowes was actually leaving this afternoon.”

The consulate had not received a court report following the Burrowes case and did not know his exact immigration status, he said.

“It is up to the individual and their legal council to understand exactly what his immigration status is,” he added.

The Gazette has been unable to confirm whether the latest detention is related to unpaid overstay fines.

Mr Burrowes earlier told the Gazette that he thought the public prosecutor in his case had managed to get his 20,000 baht in overstay fines waived.

– Dan Waites and Gazette reporters


Phuette Gazette
Phuket, Thailand
17:37 local time (GMT +7)

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?id=7358