The telephone rang at half past five in the morning. The duty officer told me the two British subjects were hiding in the police station, would I go and find out what it was all about. To me it seemed a funny place to hide.

I collected Peter and Ruth and brought them home for breakfast. He told me that they had come to Chiang Mai looking for jobs teaching English. A month ago the owner of the guesthouse where they were staying, burst into their room, accompanied by four policemen. They searched the room and 'found' a packet of heroin. Peter was handcuffed, hit and told that unless he paid (B1,500 or 15,000) he would go to prison for many years. He paid.

Apparently by chance one of the policemen came back to the guesthouse some weeks later and Peter managed to get his identity number. He reported this to the central police station. Later he was told that the four policemen had been detained and he was asked to go to an identity parade. He did not recognise any of them.

At this point I went to call the Australian drug officer who happened to live next door. He was still in bed but promised to come immediately.

Peter continued his story and said that a few days later a man came to see him inviting him to go to a wat and meet the guesthouse owner. He offered to return the B15,000. Peter demanded, and incredibly got, B30,000.

Yesterday a Sergeant Nat (well known to be crooked said the Australian), became involved and introduced Peter to Sam a notorious bar owner and some others who threatened to beat him up. He promptly took refuge in the police station and called the Embassy.

He was due to go to court to testify that he did not recognise any of the people in the identity parade this afternoon. We advised him not to go but to leave the country immediately. I booked them on the next flight to Bangkok under false names and told them to go straight to the Embassy.

The Daily Express covered their story under the banner headline:

Teacher flees crooked Thai - Briton's secret escape after he exposes extortion racket

A British teacher has fled Thailand in fear of his life.British Embassy officials smuggled Peter M. and his girlfriend under false names and identity papers as police moved in to pick them up. "I don't think I have ever been quite so scared in my life. I was going to give evidence about this racket, but the simple truth is that, had we hung around, we would not now be alive..."

This was a rather twisted story that certainly grew out of all proportion by the time it appeared in the newspapers, but clearly something pretty nasty was going on - there always is where drugs are concerned.