UK Drug Convict Sandra Gregory Held At Bangkok Airport

[webfact]

Drug convict Sandra Gregory held at Bangkok airport

Sandra Gregory had gone back

to Thailand to "tie up loose ends"

Sandra Gregory, the Briton jailed in Thailand for drug smuggling, has been held at Bangkok airport after trying to enter the country, the BBC understands.

She was pardoned by the King of Thailand in 2000 after initially being sentenced to death in 1993.

The 44-year-old, of West Yorkshire, has texted friends in the UK to say she was refused entry to Thailand, despite having a valid visa.

She told them she expects to be deported within 48 hours.

In a text message she said: "I haven't eaten or slept for days. They're telling me I don't get to choose."

'Deeply regretted'

Gregory, of Sowerby Bridge, was caught with 86.9g of heroin inside a condom in her body at Bangkok airport in 1993.

The initial death sentence was commuted to 25 years imprisonment after she admitted the charge.

She spent four-and-a-half years in the notorious Klong Prem Prison - nicknamed the Bangkok Hilton - where she had been held in a room with 80 other women, before being transferred to a jail in Kent.

After receiving the royal pardon, she went on to gain a 2:1 honours degree in geography from Oxford University.

Friends said Gregory had gone back to Thailand to "tie up loose ends".

Friend Susan May said: "She said she loves the country despite everything that happened, and she deeply regretted what she did.

"She wanted to go back to visit friends she made in the jail and lay some ghosts to rest."

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office was unable to confirm any details.

-- BBC 2009/12/3

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[garyh]

Did she have a "loose end" on another condom to tie up?

[LawnGnome]

What a loon!

[needforspeed]

They take it out already???????

[Credo]

What a really, really unwise move on her part. It's now much more understandable how some people get caught. Not the brightest idea.

[geriatrickid]

The consul that issued that visa has some 'splainin to do. A major lapse in judgement.

Although sympathetic to her statement, <deleted> was she thinking? It was obvious someone was going to say no at some point. The Thai government, any government for that matter, doesn't want this type of visitor.

[Mario2008]

The consul that issued that visa has some 'splainin to do. A major lapse in judgement.

Although sympathetic to her statement, <deleted> was she thinking? It was obvious someone was going to say no at some point. The Thai government, any government for that matter, doesn't want this type of visitor.

Not sure if a consul has a list of evey person blacklisted.

Remember, getting a visa only means you are allowed to travel to Thailand and ask for permission to enter. It does not mean you will get that permission. The permission to enter is a seperate thing, which can be denied.

[barrybike]

a bit foolish on her behalf i think.....

[trainman34014]

The consul that issued that visa has some 'splainin to do. A major lapse in judgement.

Although sympathetic to her statement, <deleted> was she thinking? It was obvious someone was going to say no at some point. The Thai government, any government for that matter, doesn't want this type of visitor.

Not sure if a consul has a list of evey person blacklisted.

Remember, getting a visa only means you are allowed to travel to Thailand and ask for permission to enter. It does not mean you will get that permission. The permission to enter is a seperate thing, which can be denied.

Correct! Any Thai consul will take your dosh but it doesn't mean you have any rite to enter the Kingdom.

[roiethome]

In her book "Forget you had a daughter" Sandra says " One of my regrets is that I cannot return to the country that I gre to love so much"

So why did she try to return ? Running short of money and needs some more media coverage ?

[tonyrx7]

Loose ends is when she made some drug business tie/connections/contacts to better smugle drugs thru and out of the kingdom. Once a junky always a junky! Some people never learn because the craving for dugs is just too great.

[imaneggspurt]

After being found guilty ,sentenced to death then a pardon the thais must think after a short term in a uk jail then returning to thailand is taking the p1ss, im inclined to agree,.

[A. BOOZER]

Silly Moo, som nam na!

[theoldgit]

Remember, getting a visa only means you are allowed to travel to Thailand and ask for permission to enter. It does not mean you will get that permission. The permission to enter is a seperate thing, which can be denied.

Absolutly right, and it's worth remembering this when travelling to the UK, or other Western countries, with a visa.

[microslack]

What a foolish woman to try to go back after she admitted that she could not return. Let us hope that the return was not about to involve drugs again

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[dude007]

The consul that issued that visa has some 'splainin to do. A major lapse in judgement.

Although sympathetic to her statement, <deleted> was she thinking? It was obvious someone was going to say no at some point. The Thai government, any government for that matter, doesn't want this type of visitor.

Not sure if a consul has a list of evey person blacklisted.

Remember, getting a visa only means you are allowed to travel to Thailand and ask for permission to enter. It does not mean you will get that permission. The permission to enter is a seperate thing, which can be denied.

Correct! Any Thai consul will take your dosh but it doesn't mean you have any rite to enter the Kingdom.

I am not sure of that! The Consulates are supposed to issue the visa upon checking the person's identity! And that includes checking whether these persons are blacklisted or not. Every peron's application has to be checked this way, either at the Consulate itself or at the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs of the country concerned. Once the visa issued, the person has the right to travel to that destination and every aberrance from this is a reason for eyebrowsing and may question responsibilities...

Otherwise, Visa's would be no longer an issue...

[junglist]

They should have denied her Visa. Just shows how paper work ends up here in big piles next to every lost left sock.

[garyh]

Just looked at the application forms, there is no question about any past criminal convictions, for an Australian visa you have to supply this information.

[Splatter]

Obviously this woman likes having things shoved up her .......

This time she's had her head stuck up it.

Edited December 3, 2009 by Splatter

[tom21]

i think she is just after getting her name in the paper

[Credo]

The consular officer that issued that visa will be in trouble. Probably not major trouble, but trouble. This will also make it more difficult for the decent people to get a visa.

There is no use in having a blacklist if you aren't going to check it.

Why does she have a passport? Maybe there should be some restrictions on ex-cons getting passports, especially if they have been involved in crimes overseas. Maybe pre-stamped..."Not allowed to enter....."

[geriatrickid]

The consul that issued that visa has some 'splainin to do. A major lapse in judgement.

Although sympathetic to her statement, <deleted> was she thinking? It was obvious someone was going to say no at some point. The Thai government, any government for that matter, doesn't want this type of visitor.

Not sure if a consul has a list of evey person blacklisted.

Remember, getting a visa only means you are allowed to travel to Thailand and ask for permission to enter. It does not mean you will get that permission. The permission to enter is a seperate thing, which can be denied.

Yes I understand your point and I alluded to that in my 2nd part, but obviously I wasn't clear enough. Me bad.

Here's why I think someone may have screwed up;

- If a UK passport holder can get into Thailand using the 30 day visa waiver, she would have been able to drag that out to 3X30 days if she did a visa run thingie. Was her intent to stay longer, which doesn't sound right if she said she just wanted to tie up loose ends and visit some friends, or maybe,

- She was aware of Section 12, Part 6 of the Immigration Act for the Kingdom of Thailand that says someone is prohibited entry when;

Having been convicted by judgment of a Thai court or a foreign court and imprisoned, except for petty offenses or offenses committed by negligence.

Is it possible that she made an effort to address that exclusion by seeking a "visa"? Obviously, what she needed was a waiver from the Minister (which she would never have received).

It would be interesting to know what she requested and what the answer was from the consul.

[languageexpress]

Daft!

[PattayaParent]

Loose ends is when she made some drug business tie/connections/contacts to better smugle drugs thru and out of the kingdom. Once a junky always a junky! Some people never learn because the craving for dugs is just too great.

I suggest you read her book, she was not a junky, she was a 'mule'.

And I thought that she had already returned to Thailand previously, before this time.

[pontius]

i think she is just after getting her name in the paper

Agreed, in theory. Nobody's dumb enough to try such a thing for any other reason (I hope).

But was there a "now bu99er off and never come back" condition attached to her Pardon or not?

[jayjayjayjay]

Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

a few roo's short of the top paddock.

[Pib]

This Gregory lady definitely has a mental problem, specifically stupidity with a big helping of arrogance. She is surely destinted to be a nut case for the rest of her life.

Edited December 3, 2009 by Pib

[TonyBkk]

Loose ends is when she made some drug business tie/connections/contacts to better smugle drugs thru and out of the kingdom. Once a junky always a junky! Some people never learn because the craving for dugs is just too great.

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but she was never a junkie. In her book it states she had no money, she witnessed the student riots where a number of students were slaughtered and wanted to go home, then in her book she states she was tricked by some guy to carry heroin back for him, which she received a sum of cash to pay for her ticket to get home. But some tip-offs were made and she was apprehended at the airport all those years ago.

I don’t think you should mark everyone with the same stick, and it doesn’t look like you know what you’re talking about, it’s not cravings that turn people to drugs it’s the situations in their lives that turn them to them, you fix the situations you turn them away from drugs. I’m a volunteer at a Thai rehab center and I see this firsthand. ((personal attack removed - lopburi3))

[alaninkarachi]

Loose ends is when she made some drug business tie/connections/contacts to better smugle drugs thru and out of the kingdom. Once a junky always a junky! Some people never learn because the craving for dugs is just too great.

I suggest you read her book, she was not a junky, she was a 'mule'.

And I thought that she had already returned to Thailand previously, before this time.

'Mule' indeed. If you reread her book it is clear that she did partake in 'substances, though perhps not in Thaland but clearly was not adverse to them, or participating in them.

Anyway besides that, she is getting what no doubt she wanted. Publicity and I for one am stupid enought to be going along with it by writing here. Silly me.