Foreign manager of Koh Phangan hostel faces deportation for cannabis possession

[webfact]

Foreign manager of Koh Phangan hostel faces deportation for cannabis possession

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

A Lebanese man who is the manager of a guesthouse on Koh Phangan has been arrested for drug offences.

 

Salem Rose, who manages the Wanderlust Hostel in Baan Tai village, was arrested on Tuesday.

 

During the raid, police and local officials asked Mr Salem to produce his work permit, which he did.

 

However, when police said they wanted to carry out a further search of the premises, Mr Salem refused and became uncooperative, Thairath reported

 

Military officials were then called and access to the premises was gained.

 

A search of Mr Salem’s living quarters found 11 grams of cannabis and other drug paraphernalia.

 

Mr Salem claimed the cannabis was for personal use but police allege that he sold it to tourists who stayed at the hostel.

 

Officials also say that that hostel was operating without the correct permits.

 

Mr Salem has been charged with possession and supply of a category 5 narcotic.

 

Officials said that he faces having his work permit revoked and being deported from Thailand.

 

The raid on The Wanderlust comes as officials have launched a crackdown on illegal activity on the island, made famous for its Full Moon Party.

 

Recent months has seen a rise in drug arrests, as well as action taken against hostels which officials have said may be operating illegally.

 

Thairath reports that after complaints from local business owners, 37 businesses on the island are currently being investigated by police for operating illegally.

 

In January, a Dutch man and Italian man were arrested and charged for operating a hotel without the proper licenses and for carrying out work prohibited to foreigners.

 

Meanwhile, officials also ordered six hostels, one of which was The Wonderlust, to close due to operating illegally.

 

Source; Thai Rath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-02-15

[richard_smith237]

It seems that someone with the right connections didn't want this Guest House competing with theirs !!

 

No Search Warrant was offered by the Police who simply circumnavigated the law and called up their Military colleagues to force the search... Surely this is not legal and any evidence found is also not legal/permissible?

 

Disappointed they found a little bit of Marijuana. In the absence of this damning evidence I wonder how long they would have searched until they found a Pack of Playing Cards or a Dart-board etc... something, anything....  

 

This does seem somewhat whiffy...  I wonder how many neighbouring Thai run companies openly selling this stuff?

[steven100]

hmmmm .....  seems like he stood on someone's toes ...  !!   

[Get Real]

Good! Get rid of the junkie or pusher. What ever he might be. He break the law and should be deported or jailed. Gives more room for the real people that wants to do things the right way.

[Annunaki]

5 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Good! Get rid of the junkie or pusher. What ever he might be. He break the law and should be deported or jailed. Gives more room for the real people that wants to do things the right way.

 

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

[colinneil]

 He must have upset a local dealer, or he forgot his monthly brown envelope

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

Good! Get rid of the junkie or pusher. What ever he might be. He break the law and should be deported or jailed. Gives more room for the real people that wants to do things the right way.

He is neither a junkie or pusher. Do you think everyone on the island plays by the same rules? Do you think Thais and foreigners have the same playing field in business? Do you think the police are law abiding?  Do you even know what 11 grams of cannibis is???  Who really are your made up "real people that wants to do things the right way"? Do you think if they exist they may have to pay bribes to police to even exist? 

[Lupatria]

He should have applied for the job as a product tester for the planned cannabis plantations of the government.

[crazykopite]

Closing down hostels has a knock on effect for all local business the little Thai restaurants or shops in the nearby vicinity where these hotels must now be feeling the loss of business. Soon there will be a lot of businesses being closed down which in the end will result in an increase in theft / robberies because people need a means of surviving all this is not good for such a small island .

[chrisinth]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

During the raid, police and local officials asked Mr Salem to produce his work permit, which he did.

Drug charges aside, it begs to ask how he got a WP issued if the business is deemed illegal? One of the reasons for all the accompanying paperwork when applying is to validate the company is legal so the work permit is issued.

[Tchooptip]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

It seems that someone with the right connections didn't want this Guest House competing with theirs !!

 

No Search Warrant was offered by the Police who simply circumnavigated the law and called up their Military colleagues to force the search... Surely this is not legal and any evidence found is also not legal/permissible?

 

Disappointed they found a little bit of Marijuana. In the absence of this damning evidence I wonder how long they would have searched until they found a Pack of Playing Cards or a Dart-board etc... something, anything....  

 

This does seem somewhat whiffy...  I wonder how many neighbouring Thai run companies openly selling this stuff?

I agree with you but I am sorry and will add, "one more reason not to play with any kind of unlawful substance if someone is not Thai,"  call it unfair if you like, but every expat should be clever and prudent enough to stay away from any dope even the soft ones like cannabis! This man played, he lost that's all!

[dotpoom]

Don't understand  the many posts supporting this hostel? If it was not opperating legally should it not be closed or forced to get legal. Thete must be others who are opperating legally despite what the cynics say.

[lingyai]

21 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

Closing down hostels has a knock on effect for all local business the little Thai restaurants or shops in the nearby vicinity where these hotels must now be feeling the loss of business. Soon there will be a lot of businesses being closed down which in the end will result in an increase in theft / robberies because people need a means of surviving all this is not good for such a small island .

 

Depends on occupancy rates. Most hostels are in the same general area. Others will just get more business, meaning more people employed. 

[miamiman123]

Why was he not charged and jailed? Is that not a violation of the law? Deportation but no jail time? 

[miamiman123]

What country is he from? 

[cyberfarang]

A foreign manager of a begpacker house who had A WORK PERMIT!

 

This has to be a first.

[Green Acres]

3 hours ago, Get Real said:

Good! Get rid of the junkie or pusher. What ever he might be. He break the law and should be deported or jailed. Gives more room for the real people that wants to do things the right way.

Hilarious! Ganja junkie? So what's it really like to be living in the 1950's? It must be super keen to be a REAL person...

[frank0424]

3 hours ago, Annunaki said:

 

Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

That quote should be applied to just about every comment on Thai Visa

[Guitar God]

3 hours ago, Get Real said:

Good! Get rid of the junkie or pusher. What ever he might be. He break the law and should be deported or jailed. Gives more room for the real people that wants to do things the right way.

Funny funny shit. "Marijuana junkie".?

He probably should have stuck with the safe drugs, like alcohol, right. 

[monspencer]

8 minutes ago, miamiman123 said:

What country is he from? 

 

Read the first line of the OP 

[Nice Boyd]

3 hours ago, Get Real said:

Good! Get rid of the junkie or pusher. What ever he might be. He break the law and should be deported or jailed. Gives more room for the real people that wants to do things the right way.

Now go get back to ur alcohol and Pharma pills

[Easy Come Easy Go]

3 hours ago, Get Real said:

Good! Get rid of the junkie or pusher. What ever he might be. He break the law and should be deported or jailed. Gives more room for the real people that wants to do things the right way.

Man, that weed has me cracked out of my mind dude. I have the shakes and steal people's wallets to get more! lol.. Go to your local and sip on your poison mate 

[whaleboneman]

24 minutes ago, miamiman123 said:

What country is he from? 

Lebanese man is probably from Lebanon. If you need help understanding other parts of the story, don't hesitate to ask. We are only here to help. (well obviously not all of us)

[spidermike007]

Deported for possessing less than half an ounce of ganga. What a waste of time on the part of the local authorities. What fools. Why such apparent foolishness? It is well known that the use of ganga is regulated by the police on the southern islands. My guess, is that he was asked for the usual 200,000 baht, and he was unwilling, or unable to come up with the normal payoff. Fortunes are made from ganga arrests in Phangan, Dark Tao, and on Samui. 

[SymS]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Military officials were then called

Is that the standard practice for the police to call the military to search for business premises?
Why couldn't they do it themselves?

[Juan B Tong]

11 grams is about 4 or 5 good joints worth.

 

This tarnished the reputation of Thailand you know!

 

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, Get Real said:

Good! Get rid of the junkie or pusher. What ever he might be. He break the law and should be deported or jailed. Gives more room for the real people that wants to do things the right way.

 

What absolute inane dribble. Calling a pot smoker a junkie. There seems to be some very basic misunderstanding here. Or maybe you are Saudi? Or Jeff Sessions? What gives here? Why such a fabulous degree of ignorance? 

[diehard60]

you let this trash in now deal with it

[kcpattaya]

When will they raid Koh Samui "The Cocaine Island"?

[hobz]

Wonderful, now if they could only tackle some real problems