Maidenhead Owl

You're not Pat, the guy I got talking to on the train back from WBA last week, are you? If you aren't then there's at least 1 more Wednesdayite in Southampton...! Failing that you could also join the London Owls - we have a few members who're SE rather than London itself & you'd have some company if you're on the train via London.

Alan Burgess from the London Owls, just catching up on posts. To answer some points raised: - this counts as a 'static protest' so you're allowed to demonstrate but you have to inform the police & answer quite a detailed questionnaire they send (if you move it's a 'march' & that's a whole different ball game). Something I never knew before we did this. - the police approved but said we had to provide stewards in high viz at a ratio of c.1:10 protestors & stand where we did outside Imperial College & opposite the Embassy. Having previously scouted the area 10 days before I understand why they said that. - Clive Betts MP had written to the Ambassador & mentioned the protest as part of his letter. I'd also formally notified the Embassy through their website. On the day 2 of us arrived early & asked the Embassy staff if they'd agree to someone coming out onto the step to receive our letter & be photographed, which they did. - a police sergeant & officer attended & both were brilliant - MTPO is certainly a character but hey, the guy gave up a whole day, travelled nearly 400 miles, supported the protest, harmed no-one & made his point in a way that's amused & entertained many. He deserves a major doff of the cap afaic Finally, I'd like to say a huge, massive 'Thank you' to those who attended, & those who've supported us. And finally, finally, I'd like to say: Dejphon Chansiri Get Out of Our Club

And here's one of meself

My favourite photo!

That's iced the cake afaic. I'm hopeful there may be more to follow.

That's me!! I can't find it when I looked again I think it's been deleted. I was hoping there'd be another one but seems like we're referring to the same (now deleted) post.

I've contacted the Bangkok Post & a couple of other Thai media outlets. Would you mind to send me the contacts you've used please & especially the one where he bit. Send me a PM please if you don't mind: WhatsApp - 07850 713054 or email - by955@outlook.com Thank you

I've messaged some Thai media contacts that I've been given so you never know.

Clive Betts is writing to the Ambassador & we'll follow that up - haven't decided yet whether that'll be a letter a day or two before the protest or something to hand-in on the day. Clive has been very supportive & helpful & I've asked him to guide us on the 'correct' way to do stuff like this. The Trust have previously written & we'll all know what's in each others letters to keep the messages aligned. We did consider handouts / leaflets but decided against it because most of then end up as litter!

To address some of the discussion points – firstly this wasn’t conceived as a mass protest on the scale of other events & for a number of reasons. We wanted to look at something where we as London Owls could ‘do our bit’, & also something that played into both our London location & the concern we all share as Wednesday fans about Chansiri’s antics. So, the founding anniversary date of 4th Sept plus the Thai Embassy being in London & therefore a chance to embarrass him in front of his compatriots seemed too good a chance to miss, & maybe something a bit different that captures people’s imagination. Also, the location of the Thai Embassy has to be considered – I’m not sure a couple of thousand Wednesday fans assembling in a genteel square in one of London’s nicer areas that also houses several other Embassies, on our way to Millwall, is very practical!! So, we were looking at something that would be lower in numbers but hopefully still have an impact. We’ve now had an article in The Star that you’ve seen & I’m hoping there’ll be more to follow both from The Star & elsewhere. We’re also working closely with the Supporters Trust to make sure we’re aligned with the wider protests (which we’ve been participating in as well). One of our members is a retired sports journalist, it was his contacts who got us The Star article & he’s going to be pushing this on 5Live & TalkSport contacts to see if we can get some airtime there. Alex Miller from The Star has been in touch he’s asked for permission to travel down & report on the day & if he doesn’t get the cost signed off, we’re going to keep in touch anyway to make sure he’s got some stuff to use. We’ve also got some Thai media contacts which I’ll be getting in touch with & Clive Betts has promised to help us as well. So, I think we are getting some traction & making some impact. We chose the timing because the Embassy closes at 5pm; given that most of us live in London or the southeast & many of us work in central London a 4pm start gives many of our members a chance to maybe bunk off work a bit earlier rather than having to use up half a day’s leave. Of course, as others have now started to indicate they’ll be travelling to join in – which is VERY welcome & thank you – that’s become less of a factor, but it was a part of our original thinking & explains the timing. Finally, we have had a very early discussion with the Supporters Trust about a possible protest at the Charlton game which would be more of a mass event & one where we’d likely get a lot of support from them as well given their own history. That’s still at a very early stage it’s a thought rather than a plan right now but if it does happen that will be in addition to our 4th Sept protest not instead of. So in summary, yes, a few London Owls & friends standing in front of an Embassy with a couple of banners & a van driving round the square with some images on isn’t going to change the world, or even have Chansiri phoning his lawyer on 5th Sept pleading to sell immediately & at any price but we can only do what we can & we hope it will make a small contribution to a much larger series of events that will eventually get him out before he destroys us. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for bearing with it & I’ll end by asking a favour please. Word is getting out on social media & there seems to be a few messages flying around that people plan to attend which is great & thank you for your support. I'm only on Facebook, not X, Insta or Tik Tok. I do want to keep a tab on numbers so my favour is that for those who’ve posted on here they plan to attend please contact me so I can add you to the WhatsApp group & if anyone comes across any such posts on social media, would you mind asking them to get in touch with me please so they can be added to the WhatsApp group. This will help keep the comms consistent & give us an idea of likely numbers. I've made a little jpeg calling card, which is attached & should be self-explanatory. Really appreciate if you could use this to point people towards me & make sure we get as many people planning to attend as possible onto the WhatsApp group. Thank you

The London Owls are organising a protest against Dejphon Chansiri’s disastrous ownership of our club outside the Thai Embassy on 4th Sept at 4-5pm. The date is an auspicious one as it marks the day on which our club was founded in 1867 & we’ve chosen 4-5pm as the time because the Embassy closes at 5pm & by starting an hour before that it perhaps gives supporters who work in London a chance to leave work a bit earlier rather than having to take time off. Please try to wear a Wednesday shirt or top if that’s possible – but we do appreciate that some people won’t have either the time or the option to change out of working clothes so that’s fine if you can’t. Our aim is to contribute to the growing protests against Chansiri’s calamitous tenure, to ‘do our bit’ as London Owls & to embarrass him in front of his compatriots. The story has been reported now in The Bangkok Post & Mr. Chansiri has responded with his usual message about wanting to sell the club - his response is total bs but the fact he felt a need to respond at least shows he’s feeling some heat. Our protest is being co-ordinated with the Supporters Trust, this ensures that we’re aligned with the wider protests that are happening & they have provided valuable support & suggestions. The embassy is at 29-30 Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London SW7 5JB. It’s about a 10-minute walk from Gloucester Road tube station or 27 & 70 buses stop nearby. If you are in London but can't make the 4pm start you're very welcome to join as soon as you can get there, the more the merrier. Finally, if you do know of others who are planning to join the protest but aren’t on this group could you please give them my contact details (shown below) & urge them to join the group & read this pinned post – this makes it much easier to ensure there’s consistent communication as we approach 4th Sept & it gives us a rough idea of likely numbers. Thank you Alan Burgess Phone / WhatsApp: 07850 713054 by955@outlook.com

Good afternoon, This is Alan Burgess from the London Owls. I’m one of the people helping to organise our protest outside the Thai Embassy on 4th Sept. I haven’t previously been on OwlsTalk so I’ve just caught up on the chat here. I’ll apologise in advance for what’s going to be a couple of lengthy posts. In the first one I’m going to cut & paste a statement about the intention of the protest & the logistics which I hope will give some background & in the second one I’ll try to address some of the points that have been made on this thread.