Pattaya Brit Gets 30 Years For Drug Smuggling

[wolf5370]

think he's done rather well out of it.

Not all of us can afford to stay in Thailand for the next 30 years without working.

Do they have work (or "chain") gangs in Thai prisons ? What do they do all day ?

I saw a TV Doc in BKK Hilton where there was some work - if you could get it - like working for other prisoners or guards - there was a shop in which prisoners could then buy food and semi-luxury goods (no metal files or hand gund though)

[LaoPo]

Do you have to renew your passport and do VISA-runs if you get 30 years?

LaoPo

[alexth]

think he's done rather well out of it.

Not all of us can afford to stay in Thailand for the next 30 years without working.

Do they have work (or "chain") gangs in Thai prisons ? What do they do all day ?

I saw a TV Doc in BKK Hilton where there was some work - if you could get it - like working for other prisoners or guards - there was a shop in which prisoners could then buy food and semi-luxury goods (no metal files or hand gund though)

Like you said mate, don't believe everything you see and especially don't believe everything you see on a TV Doc...they're always full of crap

[the gent]

In my earlier post I used the conditional tense. Having read some of the subsequent replies I rather think I was somewhat charitable and restrained.

Smug, petit bourgois, mean minded ######wits springs to mind as a more suitable description.

Perhaps I ought to repeat an earlier point but in terms even the most obtuse of you might comprehend. The smuggling of illicit drugs, and human trafficking for that matter, is carried out in Thailand by Thai in collusion with the Thai authorities, protected by Thai politicians. The judicial system is corrupt and connives at this illegal trade but on occasion will not shrink from legitimising itself by potting a wastrel farang such as this hapless fool to what may pass for the full rigour of the law. It is no deterrent but simply a sop to be lapped up by an unquestionning public including dozy farang who really ought to know better.

30 years for a handful of speed tabs? Just as obscene and medieval as stoning an adulteress to death or amputating a thief's hand for petty theft but cognitive thought in this forum is not a phenomenon one is likely to encounter, is it?

[britmaveric]

gent - it is what it is. You seem to have forgotten that fact. So if you mess w/drugs in SEA you are either stupid or think you won't get caught. The penalty is long prison sentences or death - you or I can whinge all we want, but won't make a difference.

[the gent]

I am well aware of the reality of the situation. The point I was seeking to make is that there is a significant coterie of idiots in this forum that actually think the punishment is merited. Not too difficult to fathom, I wouldn't have thought.

[RAZZELL]

Look's like someone's swallowed a dictionary...

[LaoPo]

Do you have to renew your passport and do VISA-runs if you get 30 years?

LaoPo

Strange...nobody has an answer to my question maybe nobody here served 30 years

LaoPo

[Prakanong2005]

Just another fool who thought that he could flout the Thai laws and escape being caught.

The severity of the sentence will be a warning to other drug pushers who wreak havock amongst the young and vulnerable by selling their poison.

I only wish you were right but I am afraid I do not share your faith.

Even just looking at recent cases since 2000 we have seen sentences of life, 99 years, 33.5 and whatever the loony with E in his tracky bottoms at Suan Luang got (40?) and these have not deterred this guy.

Those I have mentioned have only been the past couple of years - the furthest I am going back is the lifer from Rothsay who admitted smuggling diamonds and said he did not know it was drugs.

One I never heard of again was the guy in his 50's down on his luck got caught on the way to Taiwan - he had been an ###### or something in Hua Hin

[cobra]

.. In any civilized country such a sentence, preposterously disproportionate to the crime, would draw condemnation from every quarter ..

You raise some good points,

Like when Texas gave some young doper a Life Sentence for possession (he was caught carrying a few joints on his person), It took '60 Minutes" news show to bring attention and eventually reduce his sentence.

The logic is clear, it's about deterrence, thinking these over the top punishments will have an impact,

There's data that indicates it works and it doesn't work.

One thing is clear, the corollary between money and Justice, ask OJ next time you see him on the golf course ..

[lovethailandlongtime]

Im still waiting for the follow up story on these two plonkers..

Anyone heard anything??

[Kerryd]

I am well aware of the reality of the situation. The point I was seeking to make is that there is a significant coterie of idiots in this forum that actually think the punishment is merited. Not too difficult to fathom, I wouldn't have thought.

So anyone who supports stiff sentences for drug dealers is an idiot ?

Do you have a clue what you are talking about ? Do you have any idea of what yaa baa is, and what it does to people that use it ?

"Yaa baa" - an innocuous looking pink pill - has created almost a million new teenage addicts within five years."

The vast majority of patients are teenagers addicted to "yaa baa" - tiny pink pills that look like sweets and smell of chocolate or vanilla - appealing to young tastes.

But they are a form of speed, a methamphetamine, and are said to contain ephedrine, formaldehyde, caffeine and a variety of addictive agents and poisons, from heroine to cyanide.(BBC article, 28 Nov 2002)

Hmmm, is that why it's considered a Class 1 drug, just like herion ? We're not talking about Class 5 stuff like marijuana.

The BBC article had a short interview with one addict, aged 12 (got addicted when he was 11)

'At Bangkok's Thanyarak Hospital, a specialised treatment centre for addiction,' the authors report, 'the proportion of heroin addicts had decreased from 78 to 15 per cent of the total institutional population between 1996 and 2000, whereas that of yaa baa users had risen from 12 to 74 per cent for the same period.'

(www.geopium.org)

Mr Huford probably won't enjoy his next 30 years, or how ever long he actually stays in Bang Kwang.

How ever, there are probably a lot of people out there that wouldn't consider trying to smuggle drugs into Thailand now, because of stories like this.

Perhaps the gent's opinion is, if it's a farang, and he was only planning on selling this crap to other farangs, he should be treated with kid gloves and given a light sentence ?

After all, the poor guy just wanted to make a few bucks off of selling an addictive and dangerous drug to fellow tourists. Where's the harm in that ?

[Mighty Mouse]

30 years for a handful of speed tabs? Just as obscene and medieval as stoning an adulteress to death or amputating a thief's hand for petty theft but cognitive thought in this forum is not a phenomenon one is likely to encounter, is it?

For those drug smugglers in Western countries who have been caught and sentenced to monetary fines or short jail sentences, their drug smuggling activities soon continue once they serve their sentence.

The West is wrong..far too lenient.

The drug smuggling laws of Asian countries are not a deterrent to potential drug smugglers because most believe that they won't be caught......

.....BUT.......

once they ARE caught smuggling drugs in Asian countries, the full force of the law belts them over the head.

Life behind bars, death in front of firing squad, hanging.......

They now learn the errors of their ways.

If they are lucky enough not to be executed or if they are ever released from Asian prisons having served the full custodial sentence, the likelihood of them re-offending is very, very remote.

Sentencing in the West needs to be similar to sentencing in the Far East for all illegal drug matters.

[wilko]

I honestly do not get you guys.

The wretch is an easy patsy for a draconian system that continually favours the rich and advantaged over the poor and stupid. In any civilized country such a sentence, preposterously disproportionate to the crime, would draw condemnation from every quarter. But here in Thailand you mock and gloat with scarcely contained glee eager to spout sanctimonious slogans like " hey buddy, if you can't do the time don't do the crime " or " ee knew wot he wuz gettin' into" as if they were some justification for the absurd punishment.

The reality is of course the illicit drug industry in this country depends on those very people who are responsible for consigning another farang to a lifetime of misery for an offence that is trivial at worst. I don't see that as cause for your ribald cackling but more of a matter of sorrow.

Then again, you could all just be a bunch of pricks.

Hear! Hear! So if you're not a bigot, you're part of "a brigade"...if you are waiting for a "brigade" to berate you then you must be aware of how ludicrous your opinions are.

Every time there's a farrang imprisoned here, the gloaters "brigade” comes out.......it's SOOOO predictable...like a bunch of stereotype fishwives yakking over the backyard fence... Lord it must be hard to be humble when you're so perfect in every way!

[Kerryd]

Every time there's a farrang imprisoned here, the gloaters "brigade” comes out.......it's SOOOO predictable...like a bunch of stereotype fishwives yakking over the backyard fence... Lord it must be hard to be humble when you're so perfect in every way!

I may not be perfect, but I am smart enough to know that you are better off obeying the law here, than trying to flaunt it (unless you are super-rich).

How ever, there are some out there who seem to think that farangs that break the law should be treated with a kiss on the cheek and a chauferred ride back to their favourite bar. After all, where would the economy be without their money ? They should be treated like royal guests !

Every time a farang is convicted of a crime, those people come out crying about how unfair and harsh it is. The poor snookums doesn't deserve this fate ! Why are they being so cruel ? It's not civilised !

Ever heard of the 3 strike rule they have in California ? Get convicted of 3 crimes (say, grand theft auto) and thats it. Bend over and bite the pillow joy-rider, you're locked up for life.

In Hurford's case, he got 30 years. He'll probably get transferred to the UK eventually, maybe even (slim chance) get released early.

The other alternative was death, a sentence that a Thai would have probably received for the same offense.

[the gent]

KerryD strikes me as somewhat unbalanced not least because of his seeming preoccupation with sado-homo-erotic imagery with which he associates incarceration. Possibly there are issues here he is trying to resolve using crime and punishment as a metaphor. Who can tell, the mind can be a very dark place.

It is evident the polarity of views on this subject will remain given the extremism of posts in favour of the medieval. So I shall bow out since flogging dead horses is not one of my more favourite of pursuits.

However, as a footnote, I should like to remind our american cousins of the hanging fraternity that their own president was convicted of cocaine possession. Had he faced justice today under the current repressive regime he would not have qualified for a job in the Post Office, never mind high political office. On second thoughts, perhaps that would have been no bad thing.

[Noel]

Im still waiting for the follow up story on these two plonkers..

Anyone heard anything??

Let's just say that the larger of the two walked after a few days.

The other chap is apparently still involved in ongoing discussions with his bank manager as he remains in situ living rent free...

[Noel]

KerryD strikes me

I should imagine that thought has crossed the minds of several others...

Whilst I suspect that 'the gent' is merely indulging himself in mental masturbation, perhaps he should try and absorb the following:

At the end of the day, however 'Draconian' some bleeding heart members of 'the gentry' feel the penalties for the Thai definition of drug trafficking are in the Kingdom, even Blind Benjamin and Deaf Derek would have to be fully aware of those penalties well in advance.

If the prevailing penalties were not common knowledge, then the 'Cuddle a Crayfish' club might have a point. That, however, is not the case and it probably never even occurred to the idiot in question that he would not get away with it again.

I am sure he is now feeling very, very sorry for himself: sorry he got caught…

I take no pleasure whatsoever in learning of this man's situation, but nor do I ooze sympathy.

He knew what he faced if he was caught, but he chose to do it anyway.

Now he must live with the reality of a situation that only he can be blamed for bringing about.

The point is simple: the penalties set down by the Thai are not the issue here, they are a given.

If people do not like the rules, they should go elsewhere or play another game.

[The Philosopher]

A dopey thing to do.

Lucky he didn't get the death penalty. But then again, 30 years in Thai prison will probably make him wish they had given him death.

Hmmmm, 240 yaa baa tabs at 40 baht each = 9,600 baht. I'm not positive, but I think I read in another news thread that the going rate is 300 baht per tab (on the streets in Pattaya) ?

240 x 300 = 72,000 baht, or 62,400 profit (about 915 GBPs or $1,600 US).

30 years in prison for what would have been less than 2 weeks wages for me while I was in Afghanistan.

Of course, people like this rarely think they'll ever get caught, and there seems to be more idiots like this showing up all the time.

You must be on drugs to work in Afghanistan for so little!!

[the gent]

KerryD strikes me

I should imagine that thought has crossed the minds of several others...

Whilst I suspect that 'the gent' is merely indulging himself in mental masturbation, perhaps he should try and absorb the following:

At the end of the day, however 'Draconian' some bleeding heart members of 'the gentry' feel the penalties for the Thai definition of drug trafficking are in the Kingdom, even Blind Benjamin and Deaf Derek would have to be fully aware of those penalties well in advance.

If the prevailing penalties were not common knowledge, then the 'Cuddle a Crayfish' club might have a point. That, however, is not the case and it probably never even occurred to the idiot in question that he would not get away with it again.

I am sure he is now feeling very, very sorry for himself: sorry he got caught…

I take no pleasure whatsoever in learning of this man's situation, but nor do I ooze sympathy.

He knew what he faced if he was caught, but he chose to do it anyway.

Now he must live with the reality of a situation that only he can be blamed for bringing about.

The point is simple: the penalties set down by the Thai are not the issue here, they are a given.

If people do not like the rules, they should go elsewhere or play another game.

Usually I enjoy your prose style which displays a wit so often absent in others but in this thread you have lapsed disappointingly into cliche and hackneyed phraseology. I suspect it is because you are less sure of your ground and are reluctant to get off that little hobby horse of yours.

It is abundantly clear what my argument is about. Be as disingenuous as you like, it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Mental masturbation, I should remind you, is the currency of this forum but it occurs to me that despite my earlier opinion you may well be considerably richer than I thought.

Toodle pip

[Prakanong2005]

A dopey thing to do.

Lucky he didn't get the death penalty. But then again, 30 years in Thai prison will probably make him wish they had given him death.

Hmmmm, 240 yaa baa tabs at 40 baht each = 9,600 baht. I'm not positive, but I think I read in another news thread that the going rate is 300 baht per tab (on the streets in Pattaya) ?

240 x 300 = 72,000 baht, or 62,400 profit (about 915 GBPs or $1,600 US).

30 years in prison for what would have been less than 2 weeks wages for me while I was in Afghanistan.

Of course, people like this rarely think they'll ever get caught, and there seems to be more idiots like this showing up all the time.

You must be on drugs to work in Afghanistan for so little!!

They were my thoughts exactly but did not want to point this out.

I understand a member of the armed forces would cetainly be paid less but for a private contractor???

Although having said that I am about to take a pay cut of over 50% I think - I must be mad but there are other considerations and I still will not be living as a pauper or like a Thai English Teacher

[Kerryd]

You must be on drugs to work in Afghanistan for so little!!

They were my thoughts exactly but did not want to point this out.

I understand a member of the armed forces would cetainly be paid less but for a private contractor???

Well, as I mentioned in a follow-up post, there were quite a few benefits that don't get noticed when you just look at after tax salary.

For example, KBR (subsidiary of Halliburton), pays better, but their contracts call for 12 hour days, 7 days a week. KBR employees earn about 1 1/2 days of paid vacation per month (9 days in 6 months).

We worked 6 - 8 hour days a week, and received 4 days of paid vacation per month (24 days in 6 months), plus we got an extra 4 days travel time if we were going to our "Point of Hire".

A friend of mine went to the Sudan after we finished up in Afghanistan. He's working for PAE Inc. Is getting paid about the same rate, but has to pay for his meals (and little or no choice about what you are getting), accomodations are poorer. Holiday time is less, and PAE only gives you a partial credit towards your flight home once a year (our company paid for your entire trip, twice a year)

We had the best kitchens and meals of all the NATO contingents (so good that we had problems with the other contingents always dropping in to eat at our messes). Plus a number of other lesser benefits.

Other companies may pay more, but the devil is in the details (i.e. the fine print of the contract). Plus the company was able to get away with paying less, because they had such a large pool of people volunteering for the available positions. They could afford to be picky, and stingy.

(note too that some of those other countries prefer to hire only Americans, and will often leave positions vacant rather than hiring a non-American. So our choices were limited)

[Prakanong2005]

I have a pal I see in Pattaya when he is back from Iraq and he seems to get a good bit of time off plus he is earning quite a bit.

British ex-Para working for a US Company I think it is

Even if it was my field which it most certainly is not you would not get me to Afghanistan or Iraq for a gold pig of my weight a day ;-)

My wife who is Thai seems to think "Bodyguard" is a romantic occupation but she will have to put up with me sitting behind a computer as I am failing to guard my own body never mind anyone elses - lol

[the gent]

I am well aware of the reality of the situation. The point I was seeking to make is that there is a significant coterie of idiots in this forum that actually think the punishment is merited. Not too difficult to fathom, I wouldn't have thought.

<snip>

I think you have made a mistake. The " cut them off with a rusty razor blade " thread is taking place elsewhere.

On the other hand you could be just another knuckle dragging moron. Difficult to tell really.

Edited March 21, 2006 by Jai Dee

[Kerryd]

I think you have made a mistake. The " cut them off with a rusty razor blade " thread is taking place elsewhere.

On the other hand you could be just another knuckle dragging moron. Difficult to tell really.

Do you hate everybody in general, or just the people that think criminals deserve to be in jail ?

(oh yeah, in that other thread, my suggestion was they hang him by his nuts until he falls off. I figure that would be more painful, and fitting what a serial child rapist deserves).

Then again, there are those that figure people like this should be given the old "wink-wink, nudge-nudge", and told to be a little more careful in the future, and that's it.

[the gent]

Kerrd,

I fully understand that child abuse by a homosexual will arouse strong feelings and everyone would be justified in demonstrating their revulsion.

However, that is not the topic under debate in this thread. I would have thought it obvious to anyone with the meanest of intelligence.

Perhaps it is the prospect of your next tour that is evidently unbalancing you and not your other preoccupation as I earlier surmised?

Frankly, I do not care but seeking to introduce red herrings to disguise the poverty of your arguments will not succeed.

[Joey Boy]

Your not going to answer the question?

[MP5]

Your not going to answer the question?

Which concerns me!

As a dad wherever you are there is the stranger danger education both parents should teach the kids.

To think as Kerryd pointed out some persons would brush the issue under the table is frightening!

Sick Fxxers.

[Kerryd]

Kerrd,

I fully understand that child abuse by a homosexual will arouse strong feelings and everyone would be justified in demonstrating their revulsion.

As you are (hopefully) already aware, child abuse isn't limited to homosexuals. Child abuse by anyone should be considered revulsive, and the perpetrators should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

However, that is not the topic under debate in this thread. I would have thought it obvious to anyone with the meanest of intelligence.

The original topic was about a stupid guy, getting the punishment he deserved, for committing a crime.

Instead of your pathetic attempts at insulting people, why don't you contribute to the debate ? Or is your intelligence not up to it ?

Lets see. In your first post in this thread, you claim the guy is just a patsy for for the "system", his offense is "trivial", and we could just be a bunch of pricks:

The wretch is an easy patsy for a draconian system......

.....a lifetime of misery for an offence that is trivial at worst.

Then again, you could all just be a bunch of pricks.

In your second post you decide that you were somewhat charitable and restrained, we are all a bunch of smug, petite bourgeois, mean minded (dimwits or nitwits ?), and again, you blame everything on Thailand and the Thai system. (Note that I have used the correct spelling of "petite" and "bourgeois", is that smug enough for you ?)

Having read some of the subsequent replies I rather think I was somewhat charitable and restrained.

Smug, petit bourgois, mean minded ######wits springs to mind as a more suitable description.

The smuggling of illicit drugs, and human trafficking for that matter, is carried out in Thailand by Thai in collusion with the Thai authorities, protected by Thai politicians. The judicial system is corrupt and connives at this illegal trade but on occasion will not shrink from legitimising itself by potting a wastrel farang such as this hapless fool to what may pass for the full rigour of the law.

In your third post, you have decided that anyone who agrees with this sentence this guy got is an idiot.

The point I was seeking to make is that there is a significant coterie of idiots in this forum that actually think the punishment is merited.

Wow, That is some intelligent debate.

In your 4th post, you call me "unbalanced" and go on to suggest that I may have "issues" relating to sado-homo-erotic imagery.

You then state that you are going to "bow out" of the discussion (because it seems no one agrees with your position on the matter).

Then you go off about how the current American President was (supposedly) convicted of cocaine possession.

KerryD strikes me as somewhat unbalanced not least because of his seeming preoccupation with sado-homo-erotic imagery with which he associates incarceration. Possibly there are issues here he is trying to resolve using crime and punishment as a metaphor.

So I shall bow out since flogging dead horses is not one of my more favourite of pursuits.

I should like to remind our american cousins of the hanging fraternity that their own president was convicted of cocaine possession.

Then there is your 5th post (which obviously came after you had decided to "bow out" of this discussion).

You decide that "mental masturbation" is the currency of this forum, but for a change, your insult is directed at someone else.

Mental masturbation, I should remind you, is the currency of this forum but it occurs to me that despite my earlier opinion you may well be considerably richer than I thought.

As for your 6th post (the second one after you had decided to "bow out"), you insult yet another member.

On the other hand you could be just another knuckle dragging moron. Difficult to tell really.

On to your 7th post (the third one after....yadda yadda you know the rest).

You have done little in this "debate" except postulate that the poor farang was a patsy, and the entire blame rests with the Thai authorities.

Once again, you suggest that I am "unbalanced", only this time it's possibly because I'm hoping to go back to work in Afghanistan. (Previously you suggested I was possibly "unbalanced" due to a preoccupation with sado-homo-erotic imagery).

You then accuse me of introducing "red herrings" to disguise my poor arguments ? Who was the one suggesting that the American President was convicted of cocaine possession ? Ah right, it was you !

Kerrd,

However, that is not the topic under debate in this thread. I would have thought it obvious to anyone with the meanest of intelligence.

Perhaps it is the prospect of your next tour that is evidently unbalancing you and not your other preoccupation as I earlier surmised?

Frankly, I do not care but seeking to introduce red herrings to disguise the poverty of your arguments will not succeed.

Well ? I'm still waiting for some intelligent debate. All you've managed so far is to blame Thailand, and insult most of the people that have contributed to this thread.

Did the Thai authorities force this guy to smuggle drugs ? Do you have proof that the authorities set him up ? Did they threaten him with some dire punishment if he didn't smuggle illegal Class 1 drugs into Thailand for sale to other farangs ?

Was this the only time the guy has tried smuggling stuff into Thailand ? Or is this just the first time he's been caught ?

What punishment do you think would have been more appropriate in this case ?

If you think 30 years for smuggling illegal drugs is "draconian", what do you consider having your right hand chopped off for shop-lifting ?

Well ? I'm sure there are a few people left in this thread that would like to hear your intelligent answers, or have you actually "bowed out" for real this time ?

[Mobi]

........Well ? I'm sure there are a few people left in this thread that would like to hear your intelligent answers, or have you actually "bowed out" for real this time ?

Well done mate. Absolutely brilliant.

I know this is a very serious subject, but I couldn't help chuckling at your wonderfully constructed response to 'De JENT's many riduculous posts.

He really is abit of a troll isn't he? I wonder what he gets off on?

He'll probably spew out a bit of verbal diarrhoea at me now