Farang Held In Phuket Drug Bust

[unforgiven]

Hopefully they will not be back on the streets.  Lets hope that the heroin does not make it back on the street also.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They probably won't get death because they confessed, they'll get off litely with life.

[godforhire]

Hmm...

News clipping #1 says: "Police later arrested Briton Ian James Newton, 49, and his Thai wife Sungwan Newton, 38, who were waiting to receive the heroin from the

Hong Kong men at the hotel."

News clipping #2 says: "Kerry Graeme Mitchell, 49, was arrested with his Thai wife, Sangvan Newton, near the Phuket port on Friday, Lt. Gen. Wacharaphon Prasanrachakit said."

I know that translating Thai into western script sometimes give different spellings, but changing the full name AND the nationality?

"No, wasn't me. It was her other husband!"

Edited November 5, 2005 by godforhire

[cwilliam]

NICE ONE,IF GUILTY HOPE THEY GET THE CHOP !!!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They are all guilty until they prove otherwise.

[meemiathai]

Hopefully they will not be back on the streets.  Lets hope that the heroin does not make it back on the street also.

They probably won't get death because they confessed, they'll get off litely with life.

[StateSix]

Hmm...

News clipping #1 says: "Police later arrested Briton Ian James Newton, 49, and his Thai wife Sungwan Newton, 38, who were waiting to receive the heroin from the

Hong Kong men at the hotel."

News clipping #2 says: "Kerry Graeme Mitchell, 49, was arrested with his Thai wife, Sangvan Newton, near the Phuket port on Friday, Lt. Gen. Wacharaphon Prasanrachakit said."

I know that translating Thai into western script sometimes give different spellings, but changing the full name AND the nationality?

"No, wasn't me. It was her other husband!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It appears he had a false British passport in the name Ian James Newton. They probably found this and assumed that is who he was.

[StateSix]

Another bunch of victims of the stupid unrealistic hypocritical law followed by a series of cold-blooded comments followed by again pointless arguments followed by pressure of not-known-to-me source followed by closure of the thread followed by another post on people smuggling drugs followed by ........

And yes!  Let's pick rocks up and throw!  What else can we do to those bloody criminals?  What about some torturing?  What about using mercury?  What about necklacing?  .........

And people talk about human rights of terrorists. Strange, strange, .....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed that this will follow the same old arguments before being closed.

Out of interest Meemiathai, could you expand on your above comments please. Just wonder why you feel they are victims and the laws are stupid, unrealistic and hypocritical.

[cdnvic]

Meemiathai is more than likely privilaged enough not to have seen people he knows die from heroin before they reach adulthood. Those of us who have see him calling the suppliers of the poison who killed them "victims" wonder how he could be so cold blooded.

cv

[Pak Chong]

So who gets the yacht now then???

[BlackJack]

legalise the stuff and end the problem

[meemiathai]

Out of interest Meemiathai, could you expand on your above comments please. Just wonder why you feel they are victims and the laws are stupid, unrealistic and hypocritical.

I would like to. But this has been discussed to death before already and if I start again it's going to feel stupid for me.

I've had friends die of overdose but I don't feel pity for them. It's they themselves who have chosen the route. Why blame the suppliers?

Sue Marlboro for selling ciggies and jail them for life! Why not?

A 20-yr old boy's(who knows hardly anything about life and the world) life is ruined

for carrying 2 bags of plants.

[cdnvic]

I've had friends die of overdose but I don't feel pity for them.  It's they themselves who have chosen the route.

A 20-yr old boy's(who knows hardly anything about life and the world) life is ruined

for carrying 2 bags of plants.

But like you said, it's he himself who has chosen the route so why pity him?

cv

[cdnvic]

legalise the stuff and end the problem

Yeah, because bullets are legal, and nobody ever gets shot.

cv

[OxfordWill]

Well actually, bullets are not legal for most people..

[Buff-horns]

They dont have so much of this problem in Singapore because felons are executed. Thais are too soft . Hence they keep coming becuase at some time in the future they will get repatriated to their home country if they get caught. Take a tougher line on these guys who smuggle large quantities .

[meemiathai]

I've had friends die of overdose but I don't feel pity for them.  It's they themselves who have chosen the route.

A 20-yr old boy's(who knows hardly anything about life and the world) life is ruined

for carrying 2 bags of plants.

But like you said, it's he himself who has chosen the route so why pity him?

cv

Wow! you got me! Why wasn't I able to think the same?

[cdnvic]

I've had friends die of overdose but I don't feel pity for them.  It's they themselves who have chosen the route.

A 20-yr old boy's(who knows hardly anything about life and the world) life is ruined

for carrying 2 bags of plants.

But like you said, it's he himself who has chosen the route so why pity him?

cv

Wow! you got me! Why wasn't I able to think the same?

I'm sure you'll get me next time.

cv

[Maejo Man]

Thailand has some of the most draconian drug laws in Asia and scores of foreigners are on death row for drug-related convictions.

Is this true? I thought no foreigner had been executed, or indeed sentenced to death, for years.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia all impose the death penalty for drug trafficking. Thailand is lenient by comparrison! Anyone remember this pair??

Two young Australians, Brian Chambers and Kevin Barlow, were hanged in Pudu Prison on July 07, 1986 for alleged drug-trafficking 141.9 grams of heroin.

[RDN]

Unfortunately, there are plenty more like Newton in Phuket. Naming no names, or bars, of course.

[nabokov]

We shall never know, of course, what will happen to the 80-plus kilos of smack after it has been confiscated.

Perhaps it will disappear from the storage room at police headquarters. Or perhaps there will be a ceremonious burning of plastic-wrapped bricks of brown sugar . . .

[Abandon]

people keep on smuggling it because they do in fact get away with it, and make a lot of money in the process. I'd hardly say it is much more risky than rock climbing, but you make a lot more cash out of it.

So why the 'why do they do it' comments. What percentage of people do you think get caught?

[MisterFingers]

Allow me to offer my dissenting opinion to the death lovers.

Even if you think they deserve to die, it's not right for the government to put people to death. To murder a person for any reason makes the government a murderer, and takes away their credibility to say, "Killing is wrong."

And that's only if you think they deserve to die. A non-violent crime such as this, with an illegal drug that is only arbitrary.

Tobacco and alcohol have destroyed more lives than all other drugs combined, by a longshot.

It's also destroyed more innocent lives, through second hand smoke and drunk driving.

The law is so embedded in people's minds that it brainwashes them into thinking, for example, that cannibis is worse than alcohol. It takes a person capable of independant thought to rise above this.

What the Thai government is doing, murdering drug dealers, is far worse than what the drug dealers are doing. Those who disagree with this, please, take a long hard look at what you're thinking, from a different point of view.

[khall64au]

Thailand has some of the most draconian drug laws in Asia and scores of foreigners are on death row for drug-related convictions.

Is this true? I thought no foreigner had been executed, or indeed sentenced to death, for years.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia all impose the death penalty for drug trafficking. Thailand is lenient by comparrison! Anyone remember this pair??

Two young Australians, Brian Chambers and Kevin Barlow, were hanged in Pudu Prison on July 07, 1986 for alleged drug-trafficking 141.9 grams of heroin.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OR THIS ONE??????????

Chilling glimpse into Nguyen's fate

By Catharine Munro

November 6, 2005

With fears growing that Australian heroin trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen could be hanged in Singapore as early as Friday, a gruesome anti-drugs campaign by its Government is providing a rare glimpse into how authorities are planning to end his young life.

The Singaporean Government keeps a tight lid on details of its capital punishment program but, as part of its ruthless anti-drugs push, the story of "David W" reveals the chilling, clinical fate that awaits Nguyen.

"They weighed me today, not because they are worried about me putting on weight, no, not for that," the heroin trafficker writes in his journal.

"They need to know how heavy I am to calculate the length of the rope. It's very scientific. The men in the lab coats write books on how to do it right."

Lawyers don't expect to find out whether their three-year campaign to save Nguyen, 25, will be over until his mother, Kim, receives a letter advising her to make funeral arrangements.

Lex Lasry, QC, said the letter should come two weeks before the appointed date.

But others in his support group fear death could be as imminent as the end of this week, despite the pleas of the Australian Government, human rights bodies and Nguyen's family and friends.

Federal Parliament will pass a motion of "profound regret" tomorrow that the Singaporean Government will continue with his planned execution.

The motion will have support across the political spectrum. Staunch Liberal Party human rights activist Judi Moylan, from South Australia, will move the motion, which will be seconded by NSW Labor MP Julia Irwin. But such pleas have so far failed to rescue Nguyen from the gallows.

In the days leading up to his hanging, authorities are expected to give Mrs Nguyen a daily 30-minute visit, instead of the regular allowance of one 30-minute visit a week, because her son has been "banking" his visiting time.

But she will not be able to touch the son she gave birth to in a refugee camp and brought to Australia on a boat. Instead, he will sit behind a thick glass pane.

A Catholic chaplain is available to Nguyen, who converted to the faith a year ago. His last rites are expected to be formulated together, said Peter Norden, who presides at Nguyen's former primary school in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond.

The chaplain would probably consult with Nguyen about whether final rituals were conducted before or after he died, Father Norden said.

Traditionally, the executed are anointed with oil after death.

"[but] that would be something that the priest would discuss," said Father Norden, who has visited death-row prisoners around the world.

As church groups and human rights watchdog Amnesty International hold candlelight vigils across Australia, Nguyen is expected to be moved into a special cell and be allowed to choose his meals. He will be executed in secret, unlike in the US, and Mrs Nguyen will only be able to collect his body or remains hours later.

"You are advised to make the necessary funeral arrangements," the prison superintendent has written to other families of death row prisoners.

"If you are unable to do so, cremation will be carried out by the state."

Before Nguyen is hanged, authorities will prepare his noose by putting him on the scales, says a website sanctioned by Singapore's Minister of Home Affairs, which provides a rare glimpse into death row procedures.

The website, by the National Council against Drug Abuse, tells the story of David W - an inmate who was hanged five years ago for heroin trafficking. It is designed to scare teenagers away from using illegal drugs. It reveals a strategy for ensuring a quick, struggle-free death for traffickers such as Nguyen, who will be hooded just before execution.

"There are good reasons for hooding the prisoner. First, it is very important that the condemned person does not move at the last moment, just as the lever is being pulled, which could easily alter the position of the noose and thus cause them a slow death.

"The second reason is to minimise rope burns and marking of the skin." Mrs Nguyen will receive a death certificate that will note "fracture/ dislocation of the cervical spine consequent upon judicial hanging".

Mr Lasry and fellow Melbourne barrister Julian McMahon remain tight-lipped about what legal avenues are still available.

The refusal to consider further appeals followed the delivery of a petition by 100 Australian parliamentarians to Singapore to spare the Australian's life.

Source: The Sun-Herald

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/chilling-...195.html?page=2

Edited November 5, 2005 by khall64au

[johng]

Well said MisterFingers...I have to agree.

[cobra]

... people keep on smuggling it because they do in fact get away with it, and make a lot of money in the process. I'd hardly say it is much more risky than rock climbing, but you make a lot more cash out of it ...

Precisely,

A simple risk analysis would probably show that the chances of not getting caught are greater than getting caught,

If their gain is smartly invested most of them have ample money to buy their way out of serious time, knowing when they do get out their money in Swiss accts is there waiting for them. Similar to contractors in Iraq driving a fuel truck and getting $5000 a week, it's all about how much risk your comfortable with.

These guys will not get executed I assure you, probably won't even do that much time if any, heavy donations to "charities" will be made,

[bkkmadness]

... people keep on smuggling it because they do in fact get away with it, and make a lot of money in the process. I'd hardly say it is much more risky than rock climbing, but you make a lot more cash out of it ...

Precisely,

A simple risk analysis would probably show that the chances of not getting caught are greater than getting caught,

If their gain is smartly invested most of them have ample money to buy their way out of serious time, knowing when they do get out their money in Swiss accts is there waiting for them. Similar to contractors in Iraq driving a fuel truck and getting $5000 a week, it's all about how much risk your comfortable with.

These guys will not get executed I assure you, probably won't even do that much time if any, heavy donations to "charities" will be made,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent posts. Drug dealing and smuggling is just another business at the end of the day with of course business risks. Lots of people don't get caught and make fantastic amounts of cash.

[Joey Boy]

Tobacco and alcohol have destroyed more lives than all other drugs combined, by a longshot. 

If you could walk down to 7/11 and buy a bag of smack I think it would be a slightly different story?

[HedKeeQuai]

Yes, it would be a story of a world where harm minimisation is what's most important. Governments would cease to lie about substances, instead choosing to educate the public. Everyone would be free to use if they do not harm anyone but themselves.

But, this will never happen...

because drugs are BAD BAD BAD

and the people that use them should DIE DIE DIE.

[khall64au]

Yes, it would be a story of a world where harm minimisation is what's most important. Governments would cease to lie about substances, instead choosing to educate the public. Everyone would be free to use if they do not harm anyone but themselves.

But, this will never happen...

because drugs are BAD BAD BAD

and the people that use them should DIE DIE DIE.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would you be so adamant if it were your own son or daughter??????? Speaking of those with this attitude of course!

Edited November 5, 2005 by khall64au

[cdnvic]

Yes, it would be a story of a world where harm minimisation is what's most important. Governments would cease to lie about substances, instead choosing to educate the public. Everyone would be free to use if they do not harm anyone but themselves.

But, this will never happen...

because drugs are BAD BAD BAD

and the people that use them should DIE DIE DIE.

So you're saying that it's all about education? I agree. Unfortunately education only works when somebody listens.

You think people who take heroin or crack have no idea they're harmful? Or did they know and choose not to listen.?

cv

[bkkmadness]

Didn't we go through this conversation the other day? I believe it made 27 pages before it was closed.

C'mon cdnvic, you should know better, this thread will go nowhere.