Calm down, everyone. Now, while I may be poking fun at the dynamic duo in their present situation and this smells of “a paltry subterfuge of an anonymous signature” (Robert Smith Surtees), let us be levelheaded and try to be fair to them. Let’s assume for a moment that they are totally innocent of any con job and did what they had to do because they had limited options. From this perspective and within this premise, this could be what happened. (I’ve included some comments -directly following each point; remember, this is not what actually happened but merely postulation on my part.):

Sighting of three creatures (when was that?) near river. – A genuine case?
Chow, who had been doing research on JH, was alerted and he started investigations. – He was just another BF enthusiast.
Footprints were presented to Chow. – Some real, some fake?
Out of the blue, guy approached Chow, claiming to have photos of JH. – Did Chow have previous dealings with this guy?
Chow’s only fault was trusting this guy, but he still wasn’t 100% certain. – I think Chow truly was conned since he even considered the possibility of the photos being real.
Chow decided to find more hard evidence to support the photos, but prematurely announced the existence of the photos. – I remember asking Chow if he’d mind letting everyone know about the photos and he confidently gave an affirmative reply.
After the initial hoo-ha, Chow realised that he might have made the wrong move, since he himself wasn’t 100% sure of the photos’ veracity. He quickly set out to gather more facts about the photos’ origin. Sean Ang’s opinion was sought, but, unfortunately, due to lack of exposure to state-of-the-art special effects technology and movie magic, he too was conned. – I’m sure both men now realise how easily fooled they were.
Having said that, they still wanted to be absolutely sure, so they put up a website to get some opinions from more learned and worldly-wise individuals. – I think this was a good move (and a bold one), although many see it negatively. The only problem was that they didn’t even allow any experienced individual from the movie or media industry to examine the photos before showing them to the Sultan, MB, etc.
Meanwhile, Chow continued his gung-ho expeditions into the jungle to try to redeem himself. – This I truly believe he did. There is no doubt in my mind that this man truly believes in the existence of these creatures and this didn’t start with the revelation of the photos’ existence. It began decades before.
When the photos were proven to be fake, Chow and Ang had to answer to the cryptozoology community. They did not apologize for the whole fracas created since the photo claim because they didn’t see themselves at fault, but were victims themselves. – Perhaps, if they would admit to being gullible, that might just calm the CZ community.
The rest is history.
Perhaps we shouldn’t pounce on any new development that springs forth from that region just because of this unfortunate episode. This is, after all, cryptozoology, where Mothmen, Dover Demons and El Chupacabra dwell. Where is the fun and adventure if we didn’t allow any speculation?

Cheers,

Peter Loh