The Story We Never Dreamed We Would Have to Publish

News travels fast and you may already have heard that our two offices in Bangkok were raided by Thai law enforcement authorities on Friday, 19 March 2004. Computers and administrative files were removed. Except for our female bookkeeper and and Douglas (who was at an outside meeting), everyone who was in the office at the time was detained. Virtually all of the items removed from our offices were returned later in the day.

Following a sensational news conference staged by Thai immigration police on Saturday morning, 20 March, six Thai newspapers published separate accounts of the incident. All of these stories included sweeping inaccuracies and some were filled with total fabrications. The stories claimed that a variety of very serious charges had been filed. In actuality, no charges had yet been brought against anyone at the time of the news conference.

Later on Saturday, some allegedly-obscene items were found in the home of our director Robert, who was later charged with "cooperating in the trade of obscene materials." A management trainee was charged with a work permit violation, which was quickly resolved. Our partner John was also taken into custody for a work permit technicality (which was later dropped) but was subsequently charged along with Robert.

We do not believe that there is any evidence to implicate John in any crime whatsoever and that he will be absolved of any wrongdoing in court.

We have not seen any of the alleged evidence against Robert, so we can not comment or speculate. However, we believe that the raid on our company was entirely due to an investigation of charges against Robert, which originated at the Australian embassy in Bangkok, and that the other members of our corporate family  were unfortunately swept up into this inquiry. (Robert is a former high-ranking Australian diplomat who has lived in Southeast Asia for almost 25 years.) Both Robert and John remain in custody.

Robert has resigned from all positions he held within the company. Purple Dragon has neither been accused of nor charged with any crime whatsoever. We are open for business as usual and there has been no interruption in customer service. Our customer data remains under lock and key. Future reservations are not in jeopardy.

Those who know us personally or have been our customers know that offering positive alternatives to sex tourism is the very foundation of our business. We are not now nor have we ever been involved in prostitution, the production or distribution of pornography, or in the exploitation of children in any way. Although other companies have been tempted to use sex to attract customers, we have deliberately kept our standards high and our hands clean. Everyone knows that. To suggest that Purple Dragon has behaved in any way that is unethical or morally irresponsible is simply untrue.

Show Your Support

We are preparing to defend our license to operate a travel business in Thailand. If you believe we are a reputable, responsible business that is not involved in any way in sex tourism, we would be grateful to receive a letter of support from you. Feel free to include comments about our reputation, our service or the operation of our business that you feel is especially important or helpful for tourism regulators to know.

Please address your letter to the "Tourism Authority of Thailand." You can fax it to one of the numbers below or scan your letter and send it to us as an email attachment. (Your email address will not be shown with your letter.) You need not give your full name and address if you do not want to, although this would be helpful. At a minimum, however, give your first name, the initial of your surname, and the city where you live, such as: "Peter J., Sydney, Australia."

Legal Costs

Quite a few of our friends have asked if they could help us offset some of the enormous legal costs we are facing. We are humbled by these expressions of generosity from friends in Thailand and abroad. We are small business trying to build community and set positive examples for gay people in Asia as well as in our own industry, so we have practically no resources to fight what is happening to us. If you are able to help, please contact  xxx  for more information. We will be happy to give a credit towards future travel in consideration of "gifts" over US$100.

We are extremely grateful for the many supportive emails and offers of help we have already received from our friends around the world. We thank you for your prayers and your encouragement during this difficult time. We want you to know that we do not plan to give up easily.

By the way, we appealed to the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), of which we are a member. They turned their backs on us with the flippant comment that 'we do not get involved in that sort of thing.' Shame on you, IGLTA.

Subsequent stories: YawningBread.org

Copyright © 2001-2004, Spice Trade Travel Limited. All rights reserved.
Photos courtesy of Crystal Cruises and Above & Beyond Tours.