My original post has been closed but I said I would update when the situation was resolved! 

 

he finally arrived home yesterday! Fined 2500 THB at court, 3 days in IDC (utterly horrific and inhumane - I visited him in there, he is a lucky one in that he left after 3 days, mainly because he had access to funds to book flights/ pay fees etc. others have been there for months) deported and blacklisted for life for 2.9g of weed.

 Whilst a bribe was not available at arrest (because of the army presence) it was certainly expected at every other step.... court on Monday, we get to 4pm and the case had still not been heard, we were told it would be deferred until May 9th (funnily enough the date his visa was due to expire, where he would have been charged with overstaying too) but a 7000 THB ‘payment’ to the prosecutor got the case heard by 4.30pm! A bit more cash and he was flown up to Bangkok on the same day as court and didn’t have to wait 2 weeks for transport from police custody on Samui as 2 Italian chaps he met did. He has contact info for relatives of  people in IDC who have no ability to get word to the outside world. It is a dreadful situation in there.

 

Everyone I spoke to said how much Thailand has changed since martial law came in! I wouldn’t have been able to negotiate the ‘system’ as swiftly as I did without a lawyer!

 

He definitely owes me! 

 

 

Original thread here. 

 

Glad to hear this Mum2. Now tell him to be careful with his weed. x

Your original post was Feb 24th but if I remember right that's not 2 months within the justice system because he was out on bail for most of it?

 

How much did you pay in total, from start to finish?

 

I remember in your first thread a lot of people were advocating not paying a large bribe and just letting it work its way through the system, it sounds as though that was the way to go in terms of paying the least amount of money, but perhaps not in terms of time taken - most people wouldn't want to be stuck in Thailand for 2 months without a passport.

 

Surprised to learn he is blacklisted for life, especially with such a small fine.

2 hours ago, Mum2 said:

My original post has been closed but I said I would update when the situation was resolved! 

 

he finally arrived home yesterday! Fined 2500 THB at court, 3 days in IDC (utterly horrific and inhumane - I visited him in there, he is a lucky one in that he left after 3 days, mainly because he had access to funds to book flights/ pay fees etc. others have been there for months) deported and blacklisted for life for 2.9g of weed.

 Whilst a bribe was not available at arrest (because of the army presence) it was certainly expected at every other step.... court on Monday, we get to 4pm and the case had still not been heard, we were told it would be deferred until May 9th (funnily enough the date his visa was due to expire, where he would have been charged with overstaying too)

"...deported and blacklisted for life for 2.9g of weed".

Deported and blacklisted for life for doing something he knew was illegal but he thought that it was worth the risk.    You're not condoning what he did, are you?

 

"...deferred until May 9th (funnily enough the date his visa was due to expire, where he would have been charged with overstaying too)"

That is incorrect.  There are arrangements made for arrestees' visas to be extended to accommodate the delay caused by court action as a result of criminal activity even though they cause the delay themselves by being arrested.

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

"...deported and blacklisted for life for 2.9g of weed".

Deported and blacklisted for life for doing something he knew was illegal but he thought that it was worth the risk.    You're not condoning what he did, are you?

 

"...deferred until May 9th (funnily enough the date his visa was due to expire, where he would have been charged with overstaying too)"

That is incorrect.  There are arrangements made for arrestees' visas to be extended to accommodate the delay caused by court action as a result of criminal activity even though they cause the delay themselves by being arrested.

 

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

"...deported and blacklisted for life for 2.9g of weed".

Deported and blacklisted for life for doing something he knew was illegal but he thought that it was worth the risk.    You're not condoning what he did, are you?

 

"...deferred until May 9th (funnily enough the date his visa was due to expire, where he would have been charged with overstaying too)"

That is incorrect.  There are arrangements made for arrestees' visas to be extended to accommodate the delay caused by court action as a result of criminal activity even though they cause the delay themselves by being arrested.

No I am not condoning his actions at all - I am livid with him. 

As for the 2nd point, he would have been charged with overstaying, this is now the procedure, two people he met in a similar situation did not arrange and pay for  a visa extension and were charged 20000 Thai baht for overstaying  on top of their fine for the drugs

1 hour ago, dfdgfdfdgs said:

Your original post was Feb 24th but if I remember right that's not 2 months within the justice system because he was out on bail for most of it?

 

How much did you pay in total, from start to finish?

 

I remember in your first thread a lot of people were advocating not paying a large bribe and just letting it work its way through the system, it sounds as though that was the way to go in terms of paying the least amount of money, but perhaps not in terms of time taken - most people wouldn't want to be stuck in Thailand for 2 months without a passport.

 

Surprised to learn he is blacklisted for life, especially with such a small fine.

He had no option but to follow the process but getting the process sped up cost a lot!! He was on bail for the 2 months with the 3 day IDC stay after court. 

 

All drugs convictions now for people on tourist visa result result in a life time ban. 

 

I want to reiterate in no way do I condone his actions, he deserved to go through the legal system. The issue is the legal system is trying to appear to operate in an uncorrupt way (no bribes on arrest etc.), but underneath it all corruption is rife and navigating that is terrifying! 

9 minutes ago, Mum2 said:

 

No I am not condoning his actions at all - I am livid with him. 

As for the 2nd point, he would have been charged with overstaying, this is now the procedure, two people he met in a similar situation did not arrange and pay for  a visa extension and were charged 20000 Thai baht for overstaying  on top of their fine for the drugs

Don't believe that for a minute.  If someone is arrested and detained by the police Immigration Dept has a process to cover them while they are detained as the overstay is beyond the arrestee's control if the detention passes the expiry date of their visa.  Detainees do not have to arrange and pay for those "extensions"!

1 minute ago, Just Weird said:

Don't believe that for a minute.  If someone is arrested and detained by the police Immigration Dept has a process to cover them while they are detained as the overstay is beyond the arrestee's control if the detention passes the expiry date of their visa.  Detainees do not have to arrange and pay for those "extensions"!

Believe all you want - but reality is  yes they do have to pay, and without it he would have been charged for an overstay. Things have altered significantly in the last 18 month a or so since martial law took hold. 

 

It has been a significant life lesson and he is one of the lucky ones who could pay to get it completed more quickly

1 minute ago, Mum2 said:

Believe all you want - but reality is  yes they do have to pay, and without it he would have been charged for an overstay. Things have altered significantly in the last 18 month a or so since martial law took hold. 

 

It has been a significant life lesson and he is one of the lucky ones who could pay to get it completed more quickly

He may have been told that by others but, no, the reality is that they would not be charged for overstay if they were detained by authorities.  Martial law was lifted in Thailand in April 2015.

8 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

He may have been told that by others but, no, the reality is that they would not be charged for overstay if they were detained by authorities.  Martial law was lifted in Thailand in April 2015.

Apologies I actually meant military law which replaced martial law and is seen to be more stringent than previous administrations

Thanks a bunch for the update, and glad to hear it is all resolved!

 

IDC sounds terrible...

so much fuss for a harmless weed . . . modern world is nuts

11 hours ago, leonardjones625 said:

Thanks a bunch for the update, and glad to hear it is all resolved!

 

IDC sounds terrible...

What is IDC...jail of some sort I presume ..but for those of us who have never had cause to come into contact with it it (the majority I would imagine) would have been informative.

4 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

What is IDC...jail of some sort I presume ..but for those of us who have never had cause to come into contact with it it (the majority I would imagine) would have been informative.

I am going to make a wild guess at Immigration Detention Centre.

4 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

What is IDC...jail of some sort I presume ..

Internal Death Camps

7 minutes ago, OmarZaid said:

so much fuss for a harmless weed . . . modern world is nuts

Really! if he had been in possession of prescription drugs that were far more dangerous and kill a lot more people than weed year in, year out, all would have been well, sad reflection of the world we live in!

i knew a guy living in thailand that was perpetually hassled with visas and visa runs til he had a run in with the law. arrested, a few days in a nasty police cell, then made bail. case last i heard was pending for years and as they took his passport he solved the need to do visa runs and/or pay for visas.

I think the authority should grant  exceptional visas for such cases.The accused has no means to go and extend their visas.

17 hours ago, Mum2 said:

Believe all you want - but reality is  yes they do have to pay, and without it he would have been charged for an overstay. Things have altered significantly in the last 18 month a or so since martial law took hold. 

 

It has been a significant life lesson and he is one of the lucky ones who could pay to get it completed more quickly

I hope that you really pulled his ears in a way that he understood what others went through. 

17 hours ago, Just Weird said:

He may have been told that by others but, no, the reality is that they would not be charged for overstay if they were detained by authorities.  Martial law was lifted in Thailand in April 2015.

You think, you hope, you wish, but until you've actually been there, you don't know for sure, mum2 has so show a little respect!

It all worked out in the end and you both got through it alive...what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

OP: Out of curiosity how did you select your lawyer / what was their total cost?

17 hours ago, Mum2 said:

Apologies I actually meant military law which replaced martial law and is seen to be more stringent than previous administrations

Military law did not replace martial law when the latter was lifted in Thailand!  Military law applies to those in the military.

How quickly were the embassy notified?  Did you appoint the lawyer or did he appoint himself?

(This has 'bloke in a pub' written all over it!)

41 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

You think, you hope, you wish, but until you've actually been there, you don't know for sure, mum2 has so show a little respect!

No, it's not a case of my thinking, hoping and wishing, it's a case of my knowing what happens in that situation. 

 

Mum2 has not been in that situation, neither has her son as he left before his visa expired!   She was quoting hearsay which was incorrect so keep your demands for respect to yourself.

I'm surprised that the tourist police weren't contacted, they would have at least explained the whole procedure to you beforehand, they are, in theory at least, supposed to ensure your rights although these days anything is possible.

7 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

Military law did not replace martial law when the latter was lifted in Thailand!  Military law applies to those in the military.

I guess she just meant military rule.

Would be interested to know how old your son is but the saying goes do the crime serve the time, he must of known that drugs are a no no if you travel to Thailand , the other thing is that if you are incarcerated or in hospital immigration will renew your visa there was no need to pay a back hander , lawyers are no different  than any other official if there is money to be made corruption is open in Thailand where in the Western world it’s all under the table. Your son is very lucky I know of a guy who is now serving 4 years and that’s after he paid over quarter of a million baht to get a reduced sentence he had less than 6 gm but was caught selling it

18 hours ago, Mum2 said:

He had no option but to follow the process but getting the process sped up cost a lot!! He was on bail for the 2 months with the 3 day IDC stay after court. 

 

All drugs convictions now for people on tourist visa result result in a life time ban. 

 

I want to reiterate in no way do I condone his actions, he deserved to go through the legal system. The issue is the legal system is trying to appear to operate in an uncorrupt way (no bribes on arrest etc.), but underneath it all corruption is rife and navigating that is terrifying! 

"The issue is the legal system is trying to appear to operate in an uncorrupt way (no bribes on arrest etc.), but underneath it all corruption is rife..."

Don't self-righteously complain about corruption when you chose to part of it!   You didn't have to be, that is called hypocrisy.

1 hour ago, Mickmouse1 said:

I think the authority should grant  exceptional visas for such cases.The accused has no means to go and extend their visas.

They do!