Indonesian engineer busted at Suvarnabhumi with 15m baht of crystal meth

[ChoakMyDee]

I find it very hard to believe that he was carrying 15 million Baht worth of meth. Surely they inflated the price to make headlines?!

[wooloomooloo]

However I feel that it does not matter why someone is put to death or who decides it is right, it is vengeance not justice.

It's simpler than that. If you're caught smuggling in a country that exercises the death penalty then it's law.

[Mole]

They've calculated the street value at 3500bt/g which should be about right nowadays.

However, what you find on the streets are usually never full gram (many includes the weight of bag which is about 0.2) and also cut as well.

4.3 kg may turn into a lot more depending on it's original purity and how much they're planning to cut it.

So 15 million is about right.

I doubt the traffickers would be selling it at retail price directly on the streets themselves. They're probably selling it in bulk, which should be around 1000/g. My guess is that they probably bought it at 500/g in India, so 2 million in profit is good enough for them to transport it.

I find it very hard to believe that he was carrying 15 million Baht worth of meth. Surely they inflated the price to make headlines?!

Edited July 26, 2013 by Mole

[Bluespunk]

However I feel that it does not matter why someone is put to death or who decides it is right, it is vengeance not justice.

It's simpler than that. If you're caught smuggling in a country that exercises the death penalty then it's law.

It might be legal but it is still not justice. Murder by the state is still murder.

[boomerangutang]

Off your high horse there tonto...

End of the day, alcohol is a controlled legal substance. Methamphetamine's, canabis and the million and one variants of opium are not.

End of story. You want to change the play book? Petition your legislative member of parliament / House of Representatives / Senator whatever.

Preaching your AA play book to a group of keyboard warriors is about as useful as a corkscrew on a screw cap.

Surprised you didn't mention that other legal drug that is also responsible for millions of deaths...

Now excuse me while I go back to sipping my cognac and smoking my cuban cigar...

Are you saying that all laws make sense? What about criminalizing people for growing a plant that can't get you high, but is good for making rope (hemp)? You can sip cognac, I don't mind. But I also don't mind your neighbor listening to jazz with headphones on, while smoking a little doobie. That neighbor, if caught by authorities, can get a big fine, and slammed in jail.

I find it very hard to believe that he was carrying 15 million Baht worth of meth. Surely they inflated the price to make headlines?!

That's part of the game: Authorities always hyper-inflate the value of drugs seized. It makes it look like they're doing a better job than they are. If the value was anywhere near that much, the cops themselves would take the contraband and sell it (which they do sometimes).

Edited July 26, 2013 by boomerangutang

[GrantSmith]

Are you saying that all laws make sense? What about criminalizing people for growing a plant that can't get you high, but is good for making rope (hemp)? You can sip cognac, I don't mind. But I also don't mind your neighbor listening to jazz with headphones on, while smoking a little doobie. That neighbor, if caught by authorities, can get a big fine, and slammed in jail.

I'm not sure you're getting the whole point of this. We're not discussing whether or not the laws of the land make sense, whether I agree with them or not is also irrelevant.

Smoking weed in Thailand is ILLEGAL i.e Forbidden by law or statute.

Drinking Sang Som 'til the cows come home is LEGAL i.e permitted by law.

That, at the end of the day is the end of the story.

Should you get caught doing something illegal, then yes, you should be faced with the consequences. If that's going for a stint in the big house, then so be it.

Yes in farangland, smoking a little bit of weed will most likely land you with a stern talking to from the BiB. But we're not in farangland anymore toto, you play by the rules of the land you're residing in.

[ChoakMyDee]

The death penalty should be applied.

Would you also advocate death penalty for purveyors of drugs, at least as dangerous: death penalty for top management at Seagrams? Absolut? Chivas? Johnny Walker? How much harm has been fueled by hard liquor - compared to speed? Not long ago, an Australian tourist woman was stabbed in the heart in southern Thailand. The perpetrator: a guy who was desperate for beer money.

this is what meth does. you want every bar girl in Thailand to look like this?

http://www.facesofmeth.us/main.htm

Faces of Meth� 2005 F4 300 DPI.jpg

How 'bout dig up some 'before and after' photos of alcoholics, while you're at it. Or better than that, before and after pics of car smash victims of drunk drivers. How many car crashes get caused by meth-heads compared to drunks? Even less (essentially zero) car wrecks are caused by pot-heads, and pot is an illegal drug in Thailand - which can get big fines and get thrown in the slammer.

Off your high horse there tonto...

End of the day, alcohol is a controlled legal substance. Methamphetamine's, canabis and the million and one variants of opium are not.

End of story. You want to change the play book? Petition your legislative member of parliament / House of Representatives / Senator whatever.

Preaching your AA play book to a group of keyboard warriors is about as useful as a corkscrew on a screw cap.

Surprised you didn't mention that other legal drug that is also responsible for millions of deaths...

Now excuse me while I go back to sipping my cognac and smoking my cuban cigar...

We're conditioned to believe that alcohol is OK because it's legal and taxed by the state but there are so many problems caused by alcohol it's insane that it is legal and other drugs aren't. Alcohol fuels rapes, domestic violence, car accidents, early death etc. etc. yet I've never seen someone stoned on marijuana getting the least bit violent. I'm not saying any drug should be legal but if you can't see the fact that choosing alcohol as the legal drug is ludicrous then you have the brain of a neanderthal. If you need convincing just look at any downtown city at bar closing time and witness the lunatics flood the streets or go to any hospital emergency room and see the amount of injuries where alcohol was involved. Why do we need alcohol or any drug in society? Is reality so difficult that we're willing to risk killing so many people to keep such a dangerous drug legal? I think in a couple centuries people will look back and laugh at how primitive we are now with our love affair with alcohol.

[boomerangutang]

I agree with the above post by Choakmydee - up to the point where he wonders whether we....'need alcohol or any drug in society?" Mind altering drugs have been with our species since we split from Chimps and Bonobos, 700k years ago. We don't need rec. drugs like we need oxygen, but they're an ingrained part of being human, similar to capuchin monkeys which will bite a millipede, not to eat it, but to force it to exude a yellowish liquid which gets the monkeys stoned.

Let's decriminalize all drugs, and then deal with people on an individual basis via counseling, etc. If they abuse the drug and harm themselves or others, then, as a society, we'll attempt to ameliorate that, but not throw them in the slammer or kill them. legalization is not a perfect solution (nothing is), but it's miles better than the current 'war on drugs' which criminalizes millions of innocents, enriches cartel bosses, ensures dangerous quality drugs and dirty needles on the streets, and ensures that purveyors of the only legal recreational drug (alcohol) continue to make billions/year.

It's no surprise that the people who make and enforce ridiculous drug laws are often imbibers of that one most harmful drug (alcohol). The recent #1 drug enforcer in Thailand is an alcoholic, by Zeus. The American, Mr. Anslinger, who was instrumental in making hemp illegal (a plant which never got anyone stoned) in the US, was himself a opiate needle junkie (and best buddies with alcohol drinking J. Edgar Hoover). Look it up if you don't believe me.

[ableguy]

Never trust a guy with a Louis Vuitton bag!

Or wearing tights,