English teacher at international school in Bangkok arrested after organic marijuana farm raided

[Jonathan Fairfield]

English teacher arrested after organic marijuana farm raided

By Jessada Chantharak 
The Nation

 

 

A 46-year-old English language teacher, who was allegedly operating an organic marijuana farm and selling it online, was arrested on Friday after a raid on a four-storey building on Din Daeng Road in Bangkok's Phayathai district.

National police deputy commissioner Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan said that on the third floor of the building, officers found five litres of cannabis oil, 50 plastic pots and 10 sacks of soil, some equipment to extract hashish using heat from two gas tanks, and 50 litres of liquid fertiliser in the indoor greenhouse equipped with lights. 

 

Police extended the arrests of members of a marijuana-dealing gang last July to identify and locate Joseph Sodsaikij, an English language teacher at an international school. Sodsaikij's alleged operation has been up and running for two to three years, Chalermkiat said.

 

Chalermkiat said that the suspect would import marijuana seeds from other countries to grow 300 to 400 plants at a time in Thailand. It took four months for the plants to be ready for harvest, and then process into organic marijuana products for distribution. The organic marijuana fetched higher prices than other products on the Thai black market.

 

The raided building is located only 400 meters from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) headquarters. Chalermkiat said the suspect's strategy might have been that "the most dangerous place is the safest place", but he would have been caught eventually. 

The teacher was initially charged for having marijuana in his possession within intent to sell illegally. 

 

The 10am raid was also led by Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) chief Pol Lt-General Chinnaphat Sarasin, and ONCB Narcotics Analysis and Technical Service Institute director Kanyanan Kongpatnitiroj.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30361612

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-01-04

 

[observer90210]

another pesky individual, stealing jobs that are reserved only for thai cops !!

Edited January 4, 2019 by observer90210

[colinneil]

Poor sod somebody grassed on him.

[ThreeEyedRaven]

I hate people who take drugs.

Especially the police and customs. 

[darksidedog]

I had thought from the headline it was an English person being arrested rather than an English teacher, whose nationality still remains a mystery. He definitely had some balls though, running this operation just round the corner from Narcotics Suppression HQ, and got away with it for 2-3 years apparently.

[from the home of CC]

43 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

 

The raided building is located only 400 meters from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) headquarters. Chalermkiat said the suspect's strategy might have been that "the most dangerous place is the safest place"

 

I doubt they had that chess move mapped out...

[hangdonger]

that's the end of his teaching career in Thailand.

[BestB]

It’s been said millions of times but why do people put themselves in such a position in a country where any kind of drugs puts you behind bars for a long time.

 

be it in uk or au or alike, most likely a huge fine or no more than 12 months in jail where as here, looking at 3-5 years at least 

[notasmartassknowitallfarag]

If he is a teacher in an International School he should be on an expat salary which is sufficient to live on. No need to be dealing drugs. But I suspect they mean.....english teacher. 

[kmj]

According to the news on channel 3 he is mixed race Thai and American 

[Justgrazing]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

officers found five litres of cannabis oil, 50 plastic pots and 10 sacks of soil, some equipment to extract hashish using heat from two gas tanks, and 50 litres of liquid fertiliser in the indoor greenhouse equipped with lights. 

5 ltrs of oil .! That's over a gallon .. Are they sure they've got that right as that's a huge amount of oil to press out .. And whilst they don't state the gas used to combine hashish out of it if he was using propane that can be extremely dangerous to work with in the proximity of the lamps as High pressure Sodium or Metal Halide lamps produce terrific amounts of heat particularly in closed area's .. And why make hash out of it when dried and correctly manicured green or bud fetches a higher price than hash and is less work to produce .. 

[NanLaew]

29 minutes ago, hangdonger said:

that's the end of his teaching career in Thailand.

Big loss. Yuge.

[bluesofa]

37 minutes ago, hangdonger said:

that's the end of his teaching career in Thailand.

Well at least he ended it on a high.

[Cadbury]

No big deal. He should be commended for his initiative in preparing for the legalisation of medicinal marijuana. 

[MRDave]

Looking on the bright side. This is going to give a big boost to the English skills of Thai prison inmates, for the next 20 or 40 years.

[anon537687643]

Works at an international school and needs to do this? What a pathetic individual


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 hours ago, observer90210 said:

another pesky individual, stealing jobs that are reserved only for thai cops !!

 

The key to any successful Thai business plan is to obviously eliminate any competition.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't heard of any plans by the Thai government and their various minions to do organic. They seem to definitely prefer pesticides, and lots of them!

 

[NCC1701A]

3 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

5 ltrs of oil .! That's over a gallon .. Are they sure they've got that right as that's a huge amount of oil to press out .. And whilst they don't state the gas used to combine hashish out of it if he was using propane that can be extremely dangerous to work with in the proximity of the lamps as High pressure Sodium or Metal Halide lamps produce terrific amounts of heat particularly in closed area's .. And why make hash out of it when dried and correctly manicured green or bud fetches a higher price than hash and is less work to produce .. 

have you blown your house up yet? sounds like a episode of breaking bad.

[Justgrazing]

41 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

have you blown your house up yet? sounds like a episode of breaking bad.

No I haven't but know of someone who demolished their kitchen extension trying to boil off butane gas that is used to extract oil from bud's that are packed into a glass vial with a small hole at one end then Butane gas ( a lot ) is forced through under pressure passing through the Bud's and exiting the other end carrying the oil from the buds .. The dangerous ( really dangerous ) part comes from having to " boil " of the Butane to be left with oil that then solidifies into a toffee like substance called " shatter " and is done by placing the bowl into which the the Butane and oil have drained into a pot of water that is brought to the boil ( electric hotplate is best under no circumstances should a naked flame or gas cooker be used ) .. It is at this point that you best leave the room because if it goes off it will go like a bomb .. as my mate found out .. The inevitable questioning by the Poleese and Fire service followed fairly swiftly .. If you get it right Shatter is what you're left with .. Get it wrong and you're house is quite often wrecked .. 

Edit .. The O P details on this is sparse but the fact that gas is mentioned makes me wonder if he was using a similar process particularly the bit at the end about it being highly valued on the Thai market as Shatter is considerably more expensive than just Bud' because of the danger in producing it .. 

Edited January 4, 2019 by Justgrazing
Edit

[MARK74]

24 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

No I haven't but know of someone who demolished their kitchen extension trying to boil off butane gas that is used to extract oil from bud's that are packed into a glass vial with a small hole at one end then Butane gas ( a lot ) is forced through under pressure passing through the Bud's and exiting the other end carrying the oil from the buds .. The dangerous ( really dangerous ) part comes from having to " boil " of the Butane to be left with oil that then solidifies into a toffee like substance called " shatter " and is done by placing the bowl into which the the Butane and oil have drained into a pot of water that is brought to the boil ( electric hotplate is best under no circumstances should a naked flame or gas cooker be used ) .. It is at this point that you best leave the room because if it goes off it will go like a bomb .. as my mate found out .. The inevitable questioning by the Poleese and Fire service followed fairly swiftly .. If you get it right Shatter is what you're left with .. Get it wrong and you're house is quite often wrecked .. 

Edit .. The O P details on this is sparse but the fact that gas is mentioned makes me wonder if he was using a similar process particularly the bit at the end about it being highly valued on the Thai market as Shatter is considerably more expensive than just Bud' because of the danger in producing it .. 

your 'mate' eh? ????

[Justgrazing]

14 minutes ago, MARK74 said:

your 'mate' eh? ????

Indeed my mate .. I'm a far too good upstanding member of the community to be engaged in such activities .. ????

[balo]

He is not a foreigner but a Thai citizen according to local Thai news. 

 

[MARK74]

7 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Indeed my mate .. I'm a far too good upstanding member of the community to be engaged in such activities .. ????

good of your mate to give you such an in depth explanation of how it all works.

BTW, I hope you got a good deal on your new extension, i mean your mate ????

[1337markus]

14 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I had thought from the headline it was an English person being arrested rather than an English teacher, whose nationality still remains a mystery. He definitely had some balls though, running this operation just round the corner from Narcotics Suppression HQ, and got away with it for 2-3 years apparently.

I agree with you the reporting is pathetic.

Police extended the arrests of members of a marijuana-dealing gang last July to identify and locate Joseph Sodsaikij, an English language teacher at an international school. Sodsaikij's alleged operation has been up and running for two to three years, Chalermkiat said 

 

The name looks more Polish but that woudnt grab peoples attention whereas English speaking person does.

[UPDEHSOI]

14 hours ago, colinneil said:

Poor sod somebody grassed on him.

With GROANNNNNING statements like this, you're off and running in the lead for P.O.T.Y. again next year. ( I'm votin' fer ya )

[hobz]

14 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

5 ltrs of oil .! That's over a gallon .. Are they sure they've got that right as that's a huge amount of oil to press out .. And whilst they don't state the gas used to combine hashish out of it if he was using propane that can be extremely dangerous to work with in the proximity of the lamps as High pressure Sodium or Metal Halide lamps produce terrific amounts of heat particularly in closed area's .. And why make hash out of it when dried and correctly manicured green or bud fetches a higher price than hash and is less work to produce .. 

Some growers take the buds and sell them. Everything else (stems, leaves, trimmings) is turned into oil or hash. Not sure if this is what's going on here, the amount of oil you get from stems and leaves is not enough for 5 litre unless it's been accumulated over many harvests

[bristolgeoff]

No more Thailand and teaching  the Bangkok Hilton for him now.who did u upset was it the competition .

[hobobo]

No wonder that the standard of English among Thais is so low, if the teachers spend more time on organic marijuana cultivation than teaching the wonders of the English language in the classroom.

[Burma Bill]

16 hours ago, hangdonger said:

that's the end of his teaching career in Thailand.

Yes indeed. It's all gone to pot for him!!

[gamini]

15 hours ago, kmj said:

According to the news on channel 3 he is mixed race Thai and American 

why are people on this forum so obsessed with peoples race when they commit some crime? What difference does it make?