Two Thai drug traffickers sentenced to death and the other two given life

[webfact]

Two drug traffickers sentenced to death and the other two given life



BANGKOK: Two people were condemned to death and the other two were given life imprisonment after they were found guilty by the Criminal Court of having in their possession 600,000 methamphetamine (ya ba) tablets for sale.

The four convicts who are all natives of Chiang Mai were identified as Samran Saenluang, 49; Pongsapak Ruangkitsuwan, 43; Somys Laomee, 44; and Nopporn Panasrisomboon, 24. All were initially sentenced to death but the death sentence for Somyos and Nopporn were commuted to life due to their confession which was deemed useful.

The four men drove two pick-up trucks from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai with the huge haul of methamphetamines hidden in of the two vehicles. The drugs were supposed to be delivered to a dealer in Chiang Mai.

Anti-narcotic agents and police set up a roadblock on the Prao-Wiang Papao highway to look out for the two vehicles. When they showed up, the officials then asked for a search which uncovered the ya ba in one pickup truck.

The officials said that the first vehicle in which Samran and Pongsapak were travelling acted as a scout car to look out for police.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/two-drug-traffickers-sentenced-death-two-given-life/


-- Thai PBS 2014-07-16

[clockman]

But these are but mere pawns! Follow the money. It is being laundered somewhere?

[UbonRatch]

I don't know what's worse... peddling drugs or raping and murdering a young girl.

Let's see what the various outcomes are, comparatively.

[dcutman]

But these are but mere pawns! Follow the money. It is being laundered somewhere?

Follow what money? Surely it is being laundered, but where and by whom?

[trainman34014]

Scout car pair didn't do too well then eh; couldn't even spot a roadblock !

[dcutman]

Scout car pair didn't do too well then eh; couldn't even spot a roadblock !

The way Thai drive, no doubt the cargo truck was only 20 cm from the scout truck back bumper. Most drug mules aren't the sharpest pencils in the box.

[ChrisY1]

Convictions and sentencing are all good and great for the RPT PR image......but as previously mentioned, these guys are delivery boys......

There are big Thai bosses managing these people.....obviously very wealthy people to be able to buy such a large stock.

[UbonRatch]

Convictions and sentencing are all good and great for the RPT PR image......but as previously mentioned, these guys are delivery boys......

There are big Thai bosses managing these people.....obviously very wealthy people to be able to buy such a large stock.

Not necessarily Thai neither.

Sino is an operative word...

Edited July 16, 2014 by UbonRatch

[a99az]

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I don't know what's worse... peddling drugs or raping and murdering a young girl.

Let's see what the various outcomes are, comparatively.

That is an interesting comment, but usually if it's about making large sums of money outside of the system the punishment is very hard compared to say murder. From this I deduce that the state feels more threatened by tax avoidance than just about anything else.

[xminator]

The death penalty is a barbaric dark age punishment that should be abolished in any country wanting to be modern.

[pistachios]

Sad thing is that even if thousands of drivers are apprehended and sentenced to death, the real traffickers will ALWAYS find a poor dude to perform the transportation task. Especially in this mai pen rai country, the risk of being caught, jailed for life or even killed weights nothing compared to an easy 20 or 40k bath done in a day for many people.

[Pib]

In appeals the sentences will be most likely reduced....probably out of prison in 10 to 15 years for all of them.

[ginjag]

Convictions and sentencing are all good and great for the RPT PR image......but as previously mentioned, these guys are delivery boys......

There are big Thai bosses managing these people.....obviously very wealthy people to be able to buy such a large stock.

Who are the ones on the top 2 rungs of the ladder ??? if the convicted ones squealed, would further enquiries be made ??

[thesetat2013]

It sounds like a setup. The police were waiting the 2 trucks and stopped them both? If the dealers are willing to sacrifice this large lot to the police in advance then how many other trucks with larger lots got through? Surely they were tipped to both trucks for a reason and it wasnt to stop the flow of yaba.

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[FangFerang]

Top dogs are never prosecuted here. Never have been. Never will be. Top dogs are old money here-- at least three generations wealthy with strong military ties.. Everyone else is a sacrificial lamb on the fires of expediency....

[ginjag]

Top dogs are never prosecuted here. Never have been. Never will be. Top dogs are old money here-- at least three generations wealthy with strong military ties.. Everyone else is a sacrificial lamb on the fires of expediency....

Good post apart from the added biased bit about the military. If you have to mention wealth leave it up to the imagination.

[peecee]

But these are but mere pawns! Follow the money. It is being laundered somewhere?

Following the Pickup's to their destination would have been a better idea!

[peecee]

The death penalty is a barbaric dark age punishment that should be abolished in any country wanting to be modern.

The many lives destroyed by drug's are the consequence of lenient drug laws, I'd just like to one day see Mr Big-shot on the table!

[ChrisY1]

Convictions and sentencing are all good and great for the RPT PR image......but as previously mentioned, these guys are delivery boys......

There are big Thai bosses managing these people.....obviously very wealthy people to be able to buy such a large stock.

Who are the ones on the top 2 rungs of the ladder ??? if the convicted ones squealed, would further enquiries be made ??

Most likely not.. we all know that!....otherwise, we would have seen the bigs in the game fronting to court already.

[Tony Aparichio]

The death penalty is a barbaric dark age punishment that should be abolished in any country wanting to be modern.

Except of course for the lowlife cockroach that gets your daughter addicted & changes her from the beautiful child she once was into....... or anyones daughter, or son for that matter.....

Bad Tony

If its my family I will perform the much needed killing myself...

[surangw]

I hope they were interrogated with no regard for their well being first and gave up lots of useful info.

[Noi657]

The death penalty is a barbaric dark age punishment that should be abolished in any country wanting to be modern.

I'd rather have the death penalty than spending life in a Thai prison!

[Chris Lawrence]

Don't the Burma drug lords control this type of work and employment that helps their cause with the fight against the Burmese Government.

Personally I don't agree with the death penalty, and as mentioned in other posts I believe the real culprits may never get caught.

[lostsoul49]

Scout car pair didn't do too well then eh; couldn't even spot a roadblock !

Yup, and the most insane thing is that they were travelling together instead of the scout car being say 3 miles ahead of the mule vehicle so they could quickly phone them on a mobile to stash the drugs somewhere en route.

Thainess.

[englishoak]

Top dogs are never prosecuted here. Never have been. Never will be. Top dogs are old money here-- at least three generations wealthy with strong military ties.. Everyone else is a sacrificial lamb on the fires of expediency....

Good post apart from the added biased bit about the military. If you have to mention wealth leave it up to the imagination.

Happens to be true tho gin, Its what happens when families are big, 7th son of a seventh son and all that means someone is nearly always linked in by blood or weddings and ergo connections

Like it or not the top of the tree here are mostly all connected in some way.

[Richan]

Reading this thread makes me wondering why we at all care about commenting!

As I read it, we all hate Thailand and would prefer it to be like GB, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Scandinavia and all those dreadful places! If it was like we wished, it would be a different, very different country. As it is we love this country, and those of us, that do not, are absolutely free to leave.

[nisakiman]

The death penalty is a barbaric dark age punishment that should be abolished in any country wanting to be modern.

The many lives destroyed by drug's are the consequence of lenient drug laws, I'd just like to one day see Mr Big-shot on the table!

"The many lives destroyed by drug's are the consequence of lenient drug laws..."

There, fixed that for you.

[impulse]

Interesting that the guys in the truck with the drugs seemed to get lighter sentence than the guys with no drugs in their vehicle.

Since their confessions got them the leniency(?), I would wonder if maybe they pointed their finger at some perfectly innocent guys in a nearby vehicle as their lookouts. Who, of course, didn't fess up- because they were just driving down the road.

Or maybe the mules were cheesed off at the lookouts for not doing their job very well and happily gave them up to kill 2 birds with one stone- retribution and saving their own bacon.

In any case, I'm skeptical when I read about 2 guys driving a vehicle -with nothing in it- getting the death penalty. We'll probably never know the real story.

Edited July 16, 2014 by impulse

[Tokay]

Now if they can just start giving tourist visa runners the death penalty, they will be making progress.

Said every grumpy old man on Thai Visa.

[ezzra]

But these are but mere pawns! Follow the money. It is being laundered somewhere?

If you eliminate enough pawns the king and queen will be left alone and exposed ripe

for the taking....