Caught With Cannabis In Thailand

[Maizefarmer]

So what going to happen to the OP?

Well, I would not have paid the solicitor Baht60K, because I don't believe its going to make dot differance in a case like this quite frankly - and all the Thai's I have spoken to about this over the last few days were a little taken back when I told them that a solictor had been paid 60k to represent an expat for been caught smoking a joint.

Of course this is now easy to say and shake ones head over it, but in the heat of moment and perhaps not having 20plus years of experiance living here, one would feel somewhat threatened, if not indeed scared been caught in a situation like that.

First things first - you will not be blacklisted. So relax about that. Absolutely no chance you are going to be blacklisted - period.

Secondly, as a first offender you are not going to get a prison sentance for this.

Thirdly, the fact that you are an ex-pat means little to the courts - in a case like this (the cops might, and the solicitor certainly did see the oppurtunity - but the court won't - you'll be treated by his Honour the same as a Thai would be treated.

Likely outcome: dress smart and clean on the day, be respectful and polite, plead guilty and stomach the fine. You'll be given the oppurtnity to say something, if you want to you may wish to say something in mitigation (that bad accident you had years ago and how you use the stuff occassionaly for medicinal purposes), but beyond that I wouldn;t spin to much of a story - the judge heears them day in day out, and quite frnakly he a) has no interest in filling the jails up with tourists, and just wants the case out the court asap.

The fine - theres all sorts of figures - some say 50K or thereabouts. My personal feeling is as a first offender I dont beleive you'll come out much worse than 10K poorer - but lets see.

Come back and let us know.

All the best.

[mrt273nva]

Pot is illegal in Thailand however it becomes very confusing and people are sent mixed messages when they see the police toking up. It is easy to see why many people get confused as to what the rule of law is when the people that are meant to be enforcing it are the same people that are breaking the law.

I agree that it should not be illegal, however I do agree that because it is and because we are foreigners that we should respect our host country by following the rules that their society has put forth (even if the law was created because of the US led "War on Drugs").

quick edit: just to add, it is impossible to follow all the rules all the time. being aware however can increase your odds of getting away with it. For example, it is impossible for me to go slow on the roads, yet I have never had a speeding ticket in this country. I have yet to get a license as well. :-)

Edited March 15, 2009 by mrt273nva

[mahtin]

I have never had a speeding ticket in this country.

Has anybody?

200 B , end of story.

[wefearourdespot]

A good punishment would be deportation and a long-life ban to ever to set foot again in Thailand.

No judicial caning ? You are far too lenient !

Could you please tell me why smoking weed should be illegal ?

Who was he harming while smoking ?

If one day breathing was deemed illegal, would you stop breathing ?

Could you please tell me why smoking weed should be illegal ?

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/...030039&ct=1

I rest my case

From your link

Surveys of adolescents in the United States over the past 30 years have consistently shown [24] that: (1) almost all adolescents who had tried cocaine and heroin had first used alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis, in that order [25,26], (2) regular cannabis users are the most likely to use heroin and cocaine [27], and (3) the earlier the age of first cannabis use, the more likely a young person is to use other illicit drugs

Why aren't we forbidding also alcohol and tobacco then ?

And considering alcohol is served in bars, why don't we close them all ?

[wefearourdespot]

The law is what it is.

That is just a tool to enrich cops and solicitors at expenses of those who are subject to it, without any social function or moral legitimation Edited March 15, 2009 by wefearourdespot

[mattias33]

Have to say that i personally would think that any police on kohpagan would rather take half of the 60k in their pocket and let you walk on the spot. They are at the party to make money after all, not to enforce laws (wich seems to be a very secondary mission for these islands policeforces). But i guess they have to take someone in on a rare occassion to prove that they are needed and do their job. But one joint! On the fullmoonparty! The more i think of it you should have handed them some cash right on the beach and this story would most lightly have been over already.

But smoking over here, dont do it in public and possibly the dumbest thing you can ever do is drugs on the kpg fullmoon party. It is a way to easy way to end up in the monkeyhouse. Hope op gets off easy and that you learned the lesson. Good luck!

[teletiger]

" Have a nice lump in the house in plain view."

Really??....is that legal?...painful?...ethical??

Regards

[wefearourdespot]

Have to say that i personally would think that any police on kohpagan would rather take half of the 60k in their pocket and let you walk on the spot.

You really think the solicitor kept all the 60,000 for herself ? I guess her cut was just 10,000 , and remaining 50,000 were shared by the policemen involved.

[shoewah]

You are getting mixed message:

English version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5fiI8minyk

Thai version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=safeNa4-iks

Sorry to hear about your bad luck.

[devislee]

And who said crime doesn't pay?

who ever said that is by and large- completley and utterly wrong

it does pay and very well indeed

do you know that one estimate modestly reckons that only 6% of career crooks ever spend any lengh of time in jail( although how they come to this stat I hav'nt a clue)

and when they do catch any crooks, they only spend a token of their time in jail and come out far better crooks than before

moral issues aside( which are mostly all nonsense anyway), it's a great way to get to the top

and crooks love the current economic turn

[devislee]

If you don't like the laws, go somewhere else. Don't cry that the laws are not fair. They are not fair but no one here is going to change them. Making the argument that alcohol is more damaging than pot doesn't prove anything. The fact is that pot is against the law and alcohol is NOT.

why go some where else- enjoy life whilst you can here

sure, do not cry " unfair" just shout " how much.... "?

here- pay and go, its as simple as that

just bring a good amount of cash around and have a good lawyers number handy

that will work 99% of the time

[TonySoprano]

Its great to see the Thai police are arresting drug users and refusing to take bribes.... or is it that we only hate corruption when we do not benefit from it?

[scottyd]

Its great to see the Thai police are arresting drug users and refusing to take bribes.... or is it that we only hate corruption when we do not benefit from it?

AWWWW Dat's rite son! You threw it in their face! Take that hahaha YEAH BOI!

[G54]

" Have a nice lump in the house in plain view."

Really??....is that legal?...painful?...ethical??

Regards

Not painful. Slightly illegal - a slap on the wrist. Ethical - why not?

My lump, my smoke, my pain relief, my drift off into the ether

And I never did anyone any harm after a smoke. Yet I've had a few fights on nights out in the pub. Never - so far - had any aggro in Thailand on a night out.

[Lizard]

And who said crime doesn't pay?

Do the crime, serve the time!

[mattias33]

Have to say that i personally would think that any police on kohpagan would rather take half of the 60k in their pocket and let you walk on the spot.

You really think the solicitor kept all the 60,000 for herself ? I guess her cut was just 10,000 , and remaining 50,000 were shared by the policemen involved.

Well, if that´s the case, why the courtcase? Paying 50k to policemen and still going to court? Get a good lawyer for this one then. If you do get a bigger fine than 5k or a jail penalty you should sue the solicitor, hahaha.

All kidding aside. It just sounds so strange to me that you couldnt bribe them off your back. If they catch you drunkdriving or speeding or withouth a helmet, they are of your back for 400 baht and sometimes less. But if the catch you with a joint you pay 60k and dont even know if you got off? I know they have a serious attitude towards drugs over here, but still, they do have a extreme love for money over here aswell. I´ve never been in this situation myself so i´m not saying you guys are wrong. But it just sounds so unbeleivable that they couldnt be bribed on the spot for this joint. And with that kind of money involved. I guess hats off to the police for once then, huh?

[unforgiven]

Greetings all.

2 nights ago I was caught rolling a cannabis joint outside my bungalow by two police officers. i was promptly handcuffed & brought to the local station. i had no other cannabis, just enough for a joint. there was a girl sitting at the table near me who had her own bag with enough for 2/3 joints. I asked them was there any on the spot fine I could pay but they said no. At the station was a solicitor who guaranteed that for 60,000 Baht she could get me off in court next week with just having to pay a 5,000 Baht fine.

Is this likely? I have paid her the 60,000 Baht and am just waiting for her to tell me what day i have to be in court next week

Thanks

My first reaction would be any solicitor who says they can get you off in front of a judge is lying, saying that she may or may not have connections which could "smooth" things over, but wouldnt be holding my breath..

Depending on who the judge is, you may get away with a fine possible deportation, but if the judge is in a bad mood, you could end up in jail...

The fact you have used the word solicitor, I am assuming you are from the UK and you have to understand this is not the UK and its not an automatic slap on the wrist, you could get jail...

Know of one guy who was caught with 3 jabaa in the his pocket and he got 2 years jail, so think it all boils down to the judge, you may get off light, you might get jail..

Best of luck with what ever happens

I think this is right, it is gonna depend on the judge. But if it was me I would pay the solicitor the 60,000 and hope for the best also. With something like this I would not take a chance just pay the solicitor and hope that they do have connections (it would not surprise me that they do). If they do, then good, you got off with a small fine. If they don't, well, you gonna have other things to worry about I doubt you will care that you lost 60,000 Baht..

Take a chance and pay, hope for the best. I doubt it is guaranteed but really it would not surprise me if they were connected and you got off....

Over the years simalar things have happened to me.I always refuse to be arrested eat the grass and take a little beating,without evidence thai police won't proceed.Never fight back just pretend your deaf or partially paralized,just under no circumstances let them get the evidence............eat it!!!!!!!!!

[Patsycat]

Strange there just happened to be a lawyer sitting in the police station at 6 a.m on the night of a FMP. Wonder how many other people they ripped off?

[Luxius]

I too don't have much sympathy for dopers traveling through SE Asia...

Does that imply you have far more sympathy for the more common alcoholic lowlifes that populate these boards? I mean I am sorry, but a guy having a little toke while on vacation does not necessarily equate to a "doper" in my mind's eye. But then again, I have no sympathy for the hordes who married a Thai woman met in the bars, get married, and then the woman leaves the man high and dry several years later. I actually have more sympathy for this guy.

I don't.

สมน้ำหน้า (som nam naa ~ serves you right).

When you come to Thailand as an educated farang, stay here for years and make the belief you know everything, and you still don't learn the language, but only judge Thai people as being "stupid", "lazy" and "unintelligent" - well, you certainly have not understood, and probably never will understand, the fundamental core of Thai culture. You pay for those kind of mistakes.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Its great to see the Thai police are arresting drug users and refusing to take bribes.... or is it that we only hate corruption when we do not benefit from it?

Right, and the police doesn't have a deal with the lawyer to split the 60K.

Dream on.

[dbrenn]

Priceless, have you never broken the law?

Ridden a motorcycle with out a helmet?

Played cards for 10 baht?

Stolen a doughnut from Tesco Lotus?

Paid someone for sex?

Gone through a red light?

Gone over the speed limit?

Given 100 baht to a policeman?

If you can answer no to all the above, get a life.

If you want to decide which laws are more important than others, try Somalia

Here here. Normally it is the people who pretend to be holier than thou who are the worst offenders themselves ..... Toty MPs and Catholic priests come to mind

I think there is a word for it - Projection. Those who are guilty of a character flaw deny it, but robustly vilify others who have the same flaw, to convince themselves that they are perfect.

We have all done things that we have regretted. Let's show a little sympathy. My feeling is that the judge will view the OP as young and misguided and show a lenient hand. It's obvious that the OP is not a dealer, and is sorry for what he did, and the judge will likely see it that way too.

[Pakeha]

there was a girl sitting at the table near me who had her own bag with enough for 2/3 joints.

Thanks

What happened to the girl? Did she get arrested too?

Did the police actually stroll into your resort? That sounds odd. I thought the resort owners ensured this didn't happen.

Let us know how the court case goes.

Good luck!

[t.s]

Well you confessed the errors of your ways, and hopefully you won't be made an example of - a good mate of mine who is a notorious weed addict. I put the fear of god in him before he went - told him not to even consider it because this is serious business and you could do hard time for slightest offense doing drugs. Luckily he listened and switched his vice to alcohol while he was in country.

that couldn't have been pretty.

a comment on the entire thread:

i love listening to "waiting to die" crowd discuss their archaiac views on drugs and crime.

to the OP, you are being done big time 40k is closer to the norm for this offense.

There wqas a sweep this full moon, and many locals ran into problems as well. i believe that this is not the work of KPG or Samui police but of external forces. Chaloklam had 2 arrests the day before the moon, and one was a very well established local (thai) who received no warning.

the arresting officers were not local.

lots of folks keeping their gear in the jungle.

Edited March 16, 2009 by t.s

[mattias33]

A Bangkok policeman i occassionaly have a drink with, told me that the newly examined policemen go to the islands to do some weeks of practise. They then want to catch some crime to raise their degree. I dont know if this is true, but it would off course be one reason why they would rather turn you in than take bribes.

It is quite an amazing country, were somebody can actually take bribes even if you are going to court! Not even the court is fair and square then? Even there its corruption and money talks? What if the op in this case gets a real penalty, like jail, would he then be able to tell the story about the solicitor? We are living in the wild west for sure!

[Groongthep]

I too don't have much sympathy for dopers traveling through SE Asia...

Does that imply you have far more sympathy for the more common alcoholic lowlifes that populate these boards? I mean I am sorry, but a guy having a little toke while on vacation does not necessarily equate to a "doper" in my mind's eye. But then again, I have no sympathy for the hordes who married a Thai woman met in the bars, get married, and then the woman leaves the man high and dry several years later. I actually have more sympathy for this guy.

I agree that it is unfair to classify any person who occasionally smokes cannabis as a "doper" but just what does it have to do with alcohol anyway? It seems to me that they are two separate issues. The OP gets caught with pot and asks for advice about what his legal options are and then we get all these posts on the pitfalls and/or benefits of pot vs alcohol and vice versa. Completely off topic. As they say in Thai "mai giow" or ไม่เกี่วย which means "it's unrelated".

If I might quote GuestHouse from another of the many other threads we have had on this topic:

I'm not sure, but it seems that cannabis use gives rise to an inability to discuss the negative aspects of the weed without launching into a discussion of the negative aspects of alcohol.

If we can disscuss cannabis without discussing alcohol we might get an understanding of the topic under discusion rather than wandering off into what ought to be the basis of another thread.

[Maizefarmer]

I too don't have much sympathy for dopers traveling through SE Asia...

Does that imply you have far more sympathy for the more common alcoholic lowlifes that populate these boards? I mean I am sorry, but a guy having a little toke while on vacation does not necessarily equate to a "doper" in my mind's eye. But then again, I have no sympathy for the hordes who married a Thai woman met in the bars, get married, and then the woman leaves the man high and dry several years later. I actually have more sympathy for this guy.

I don't.

สมน้ำหน้า (som nam naa ~ serves you right).

When you come to Thailand as an educated farang, stay here for years and make the belief you know everything, and you still don't learn the language, but only judge Thai people as being "stupid", "lazy" and "unintelligent" - well, you certainly have not understood, and probably never will understand, the fundamental core of Thai culture. You pay for those kind of mistakes.

Well said .........

[t.s]

I too don't have much sympathy for dopers traveling through SE Asia...

Does that imply you have far more sympathy for the more common alcoholic lowlifes that populate these boards? I mean I am sorry, but a guy having a little toke while on vacation does not necessarily equate to a "doper" in my mind's eye. But then again, I have no sympathy for the hordes who married a Thai woman met in the bars, get married, and then the woman leaves the man high and dry several years later. I actually have more sympathy for this guy.

I don't.

สมน้ำหน้า (som nam naa ~ serves you right).

When you come to Thailand as an educated farang, stay here for years and make the belief you know everything, and you still don't learn the language, but only judge Thai people as being "stupid", "lazy" and "unintelligent" - well, you certainly have not understood, and probably never will understand, the fundamental core of Thai culture. You pay for those kind of mistakes.

Well said .........

except for the fact it has nothing to do with the op.

[henryalleman]

A good punishment would be deportation and a long-life ban to ever to set foot again in Thailand.

No judicial caning ? You are far too lenient !

Could you please tell me why smoking weed should be illegal ?

Who was he harming while smoking ?

If one day breathing was deemed illegal, would you stop breathing ?

Could you please tell me why smoking weed should be illegal ?

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/...030039&ct=1

I rest my case

From your link

Surveys of adolescents in the United States over the past 30 years have consistently shown [24] that: (1) almost all adolescents who had tried cocaine and heroin had first used alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis, in that order [25,26], (2) regular cannabis users are the most likely to use heroin and cocaine [27], and (3) the earlier the age of first cannabis use, the more likely a young person is to use other illicit drugs

Why aren't we forbidding also alcohol and tobacco then ?

And considering alcohol is served in bars, why don't we close them all ?

But only a very tiny percentage of the beer drinkers and cigarette smokers became users of weed, cocaine and heroine. And I forgot something very important..... they all have been drinking coffee also.LOL

Edited March 16, 2009 by henryalleman

[aussiejosh]

Could you please tell me why smoking weed should be illegal ?

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/...030039&ct=1

From the article: "As a rule of thumb, adolescents who use cannabis more than weekly probably increase their risk of experiencing psychotic symptoms and developing psychosis if they are vulnerable"

As psychosis is a "loss of contact with reality" watching television should also be illegal.

True, my brother had this problem, he is a nut job now. It can have some seriously bad reactions with certain types of people... but so can any substance... at least this one doesn't kill. Unlike that evil peanut butter.

Thais make the laws in Thailand.

They say weed is illegal and booze is OK.

Hem and haw all you like, but thems is the facts. Twist and contort away, but mj is a crime and booze ain't.

"Which is objectively more harmful? Obviously the alcoholic."

Obviously that's your opinion.

Just look at drink driving statistics. How many people have smashed their car into another killing people while high? Your likely to go too slow, and yes there will be a few, but no where near as many as alcohol, even in Amsterdam...

[britmaveric]

Dunno why you are all going on about what is worse alcohol or drugs. The only one thing you need to know is: harsh penalties for doing drugs in thailand full stop. Only a fool will do so in Thailand.