Burmese pair arrested for illegal abortions in Phuket

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Burmese pair arrested for illegal abortions in Phuket
Suthicha Sirirat


Tien Tien, left, and Sein Maung, after their arrest

PHUKET: Two Burmese nationals carrying out illegal abortions in Phuket Town were arrested at midday June 5 by Phuket Immigration, after they were busted at a hotel with a range of medical devices and equipment and confessed to carrying out abortions.

Immigration police arrested Sein Maung, 54, at the 999 Phuket hotel, Kra Road in Phuket Town, today after a decoy was set up to catch him. Also arrested was Tien Tien, a 36-year-old woman, also a Burmese national.

Sein told Immigration he was a doctor in Myanmar, but confessed he often visited Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan to carry out abortions on Burmese women.

Sein admitted that his agent found about 13 pregnant woman a day for him who wanted abortions. He charged at least B12,000 for woman who were less than five months pregnant. For those at a later stage of pregnancy, he would charge more.

Both were charged with working as unlicenced doctors in Thailand and working with no work permit. They were also charged with carrying out illegal abortions.

Article 305 of Thailand's penal code states that abortion is illegal except in cases when it is carried out by a medical practitioner in instances when it is considered that the birth will endanger the health of the mother, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. However, many doctors in Thailand refuse to carry out abortions, because of their own personal convictions.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/burmese-man-woman-arrested-for-illegal-abortions-in-phuket-46686.php


-- Phuket News 2014-06-06

[englishoak]

Isnt abortion still illegal here, period ? ( no pun intended )

[TheRascal]

Isnt abortion still illegal here, period ? ( no pun intended )

No. There are circumstances it's acceptable as quoted at the end of the document. Buddhist beliefs may stop a girl doing it however. I knew a girl who was raped and got pregnant - she wouldn't have an abortion as she said that "for Buddhists killing a baby is the worst thing you could do, the ghost of the baby would follow me forever and my next life would be very bad". Perhaps mercifully she had a miscarriage.

Article 305 of Thailand's penal code states that abortion is illegal except in cases when it is carried out by a medical practitioner in instances when it is considered that the birth will endanger the health of the mother, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. However, many doctors in Thailand refuse to carry out abortions, because of their own personal convictions.

[englishoak]

Isnt abortion still illegal here, period ? ( no pun intended )

No. There are circumstances it's acceptable as quoted at the end of the document. Buddhist beliefs may stop a girl doing it however. I knew a girl who was raped and got pregnant - she wouldn't have an abortion as she said that "for Buddhists killing a baby is the worst thing you could do, the ghost of the baby would follow me forever and my next life would be very bad". Perhaps mercifully she had a miscarriage.

Article 305 of Thailand's penal code states that abortion is illegal except in cases when it is carried out by a medical practitioner in instances when it is considered that the birth will endanger the health of the mother, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. However, many doctors in Thailand refuse to carry out abortions, because of their own personal convictions.

K thanks, in other words its still not a choice in normal pregnancies. Thought so.

[belg]

2014, grow up thailand or you want to be a hub for teenage pregnancies

[bangon04]

Just curious, is abortion illegal in Myanmar? or accepted.

[HerbalEd]

Isnt abortion still illegal here, period ? ( no pun intended )

Read the article. It spells it out very clearly.

[bronco10250]

2014, grow up thailand or you want to be a hub for teenage pregnancies

Thailand is already leading in regional comparisons, as also reported here!

[waoscar]

Just one of the things I find puzzling here is this the protect life at all cost when unborn, but don't care about their kids once they are born and grow up to be teenagers riding motorcycles without helmets, licences etc.

It is hard to understand how cheap life is respected once born but unborn must be protected at all cost.

[NamKangMan]

I wonder how many of the "patients" went on to have other medical complications, some possibly serious, due to the procedure these two were performing.

Maybe some of these women will never be able to give birth again.

Average 13 women a day - tragic story.