Random drug testing in Patong lead to several arrests

[webfact]

PHUKET: Random drug testing in Patong lead to several arrests
Saran Mitrarat


Wallop 'Ja' Thammachart, 30, was found in possession of 0.3 grams of ya ice.

PHUKET: -- Three people were arrested yesterday (November 6) after testing positive for crystal methamphetamine during random drug tests.

Following the order by Patong police superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan, officers carried out drug tests in various locations around Patong.

First target: police tested the urine of the staff at Avista Hideaway Resort and Spa. A total of 11 staffs tested positive for drugs.

“The results will be sent to a forensic lab to confirm if have been using drugs,” said Lt Col Sutthichai Thianpho.

Second target: police inspected the staff headquarters at Good Night Hotel. One suspect named by police as Wallop 'Ja' Thammachart, 30, was found in possession of 0.3 grams of ya ice.

“He was charged with possession of a Category 1 drug” he added. “After questioning Wallop, police realised there were others involved they would need to question.”

Third target: police headed to a house on Sasippee Rd after being tipped off by Wallop. Two suspects were found in possession of ya ice.

“Nikorn 'Em' Sawasdee, 24, was found with two plastic bags containing 0.4 grams of ya ice. Namfon Yomkote, 24, was found with a plastic bag containing 0.4 grams as well,” he noted.

Namfon was charged with possession of a Category 1 drug, while Nikorn was charged with possession of a Category 1 drug with intent to sell.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/random-drug-testing-in-phuket-lead-to-several-arrests-49533.php


-- Phuket News 2014-11-07

[ExPratt]

Wallop sounds like bit of bubble

[steelepulse]

Sounds like the Avista was having a good party. 11 staff members seems pretty high!

[Briggsy]

I think we can take it that these establishments didn't pay their fees on time. I very much doubt the selection of testing venues was "random". How about testing the AOT drivers at Phuket Airport? No, I didn't think so.

[ExPratt]

I wonder what they mean by "Staff" young ladies working in there perhaps

[uel1968]

Mmmm yes

[ClutchClark]

Sounds like the Avista was having a good party. 11 staff members seems pretty high!

Not quite the Hideaway they thought.

[NamKangMan]

Sounds like the Avista was having a good party. 11 staff members seems pretty high!

You would have to think that one, or more, of the 11 staff members, were in management.

Otherwise, wouldn't you fired staff showing up for work under the influence of drugs?

[Yahooka]

"0,3,0,4 and 0,4 grams of ya ice"...........A big victory in The War on Drugs !!

[gyrosman]

Finally a good idea to drug test personell in resort areas as everyone knows as the workers need money for this addictive drug which raises the threat for problems aganist tourist. I have in the pass put my cash, travellers checks and passport in the hotel lock boxes assuming they were safe. So, here arrives tourist with a fistful of 1000 baht bills paying at the swimming pool bar, restaurant, tuk-tuks, so, we as tourist should learn also to be aware of the problem in resort areas and use common sense.

I learnt many years ago always use small bills, leave the watch at home and if you really don't need the BlackBerry use a cheap phone for local use. Your life is not worth flashing valuables in public here.

I like to see them drug test the overnight bus drivers and heavy haulers drivers at night check points. These guys are not coffee drinkers to stay awake but yet they drive 12-15 hours on the night runs. If the country is really serious to curb a drug problem then test people. We do it in the work place and military in the US and people who want those good jobs are clean especially when it comes to public safety.

[Spock]

Wallop sounds like bit of bubble

Nothing worse than a squealer who is all too keen to make sure he has a ready made friendship network in jail. Though in Wallop's case, those he lagged on may be more inclined to wallop Wallop than welcome his familiar face in their cell.

[Deli]

Can one buy (urine) drug tests in the pharmacy ?

[KED]

Finally a good idea to drug test personell in resort areas as everyone knows as the workers need money for this addictive drug which raises the threat for problems aganist tourist. I have in the pass put my cash, travellers checks and passport in the hotel lock boxes assuming they were safe. So, here arrives tourist with a fistful of 1000 baht bills paying at the swimming pool bar, restaurant, tuk-tuks, so, we as tourist should learn also to be aware of the problem in resort areas and use common sense.

I learnt many years ago always use small bills, leave the watch at home and if you really don't need the BlackBerry use a cheap phone for local use. Your life is not worth flashing valuables in public here.

I like to see them drug test the overnight bus drivers and heavy haulers drivers at night check points. These guys are not coffee drinkers to stay awake but yet they drive 12-15 hours on the night runs. If the country is really serious to curb a drug problem then test people. We do it in the work place and military in the US and people who want those good jobs are clean especially when it comes to public safety.

well, if they are going to the hotel anyway - let them drug test the tourists staying there as well and arrest them also if they test positive for drugs - really seems like a witch hunt.....do the poice and military also go through random drug tests also? I just feel like the working class are being singled out and the affluent are above the law.

I do not use drugs, but I think if anyone's life is held up to a microscope - we all have some indiscretions which we would like to stay private. Big Brother is indeed watching.

[ClutchClark]

Finally a good idea to drug test personell in resort areas as everyone knows as the workers need money for this addictive drug which raises the threat for problems aganist tourist. I have in the pass put my cash, travellers checks and passport in the hotel lock boxes assuming they were safe. So, here arrives tourist with a fistful of 1000 baht bills paying at the swimming pool bar, restaurant, tuk-tuks, so, we as tourist should learn also to be aware of the problem in resort areas and use common sense.

I learnt many years ago always use small bills, leave the watch at home and if you really don't need the BlackBerry use a cheap phone for local use. Your life is not worth flashing valuables in public here.

I like to see them drug test the overnight bus drivers and heavy haulers drivers at night check points. These guys are not coffee drinkers to stay awake but yet they drive 12-15 hours on the night runs. If the country is really serious to curb a drug problem then test people. We do it in the work place and military in the US and people who want those good jobs are clean especially when it comes to public safety.

well, if they are going to the hotel anyway - let them drug test the tourists staying there as well and arrest them also if they test positive for drugs - really seems like a witch hunt.....do the poice and military also go through random drug tests also? I just feel like the working class are being singled out and the affluent are above the law.

I do not use drugs, but I think if anyone's life is held up to a microscope - we all have some indiscretions which we would like to stay private. Big Brother is indeed watching.

Drugs are illegal.

Have to start somewhere so I would just as soon they start with people who have interaction with farang.

Mini-van drivers, hotel workers, etc, seem lime a great place to start.

Simple as that.

[KED]

Finally a good idea to drug test personell in resort areas as everyone knows as the workers need money for this addictive drug which raises the threat for problems aganist tourist. I have in the pass put my cash, travellers checks and passport in the hotel lock boxes assuming they were safe. So, here arrives tourist with a fistful of 1000 baht bills paying at the swimming pool bar, restaurant, tuk-tuks, so, we as tourist should learn also to be aware of the problem in resort areas and use common sense.

I learnt many years ago always use small bills, leave the watch at home and if you really don't need the BlackBerry use a cheap phone for local use. Your life is not worth flashing valuables in public here.

I like to see them drug test the overnight bus drivers and heavy haulers drivers at night check points. These guys are not coffee drinkers to stay awake but yet they drive 12-15 hours on the night runs. If the country is really serious to curb a drug problem then test people. We do it in the work place and military in the US and people who want those good jobs are clean especially when it comes to public safety.

well, if they are going to the hotel anyway - let them drug test the tourists staying there as well and arrest them also if they test positive for drugs - really seems like a witch hunt.....do the poice and military also go through random drug tests also? I just feel like the working class are being singled out and the affluent are above the law.

I do not use drugs, but I think if anyone's life is held up to a microscope - we all have some indiscretions which we would like to stay private. Big Brother is indeed watching.

Drugs are illegal.

Have to start somewhere so I would just as soon they start with people who have interaction with farang.

Mini-van drivers, hotel workers, etc, seem lime a great place to start.

Simple as that.

I guess I am more infavor of decriminalizing drug use - I also find it hypocritical that prostitution is also illegal but I don't see raids on go-go bars - so where is the line drawn?

[ClutchClark]

Finally a good idea to drug test personell in resort areas as everyone knows as the workers need money for this addictive drug which raises the threat for problems aganist tourist. I have in the pass put my cash, travellers checks and passport in the hotel lock boxes assuming they were safe. So, here arrives tourist with a fistful of 1000 baht bills paying at the swimming pool bar, restaurant, tuk-tuks, so, we as tourist should learn also to be aware of the problem in resort areas and use common sense.

I learnt many years ago always use small bills, leave the watch at home and if you really don't need the BlackBerry use a cheap phone for local use. Your life is not worth flashing valuables in public here.

I like to see them drug test the overnight bus drivers and heavy haulers drivers at night check points. These guys are not coffee drinkers to stay awake but yet they drive 12-15 hours on the night runs. If the country is really serious to curb a drug problem then test people. We do it in the work place and military in the US and people who want those good jobs are clean especially when it comes to public safety.

well, if they are going to the hotel anyway - let them drug test the tourists staying there as well and arrest them also if they test positive for drugs - really seems like a witch hunt.....do the poice and military also go through random drug tests also? I just feel like the working class are being singled out and the affluent are above the law.

I do not use drugs, but I think if anyone's life is held up to a microscope - we all have some indiscretions which we would like to stay private. Big Brother is indeed watching.

Drugs are illegal.

Have to start somewhere so I would just as soon they start with people who have interaction with farang.

Mini-van drivers, hotel workers, etc, seem lime a great place to start.

Simple as that.

I guess I am more infavor of decriminalizing drug use - I also find it hypocritical that prostitution is also illegal but I don't see raids on go-go bars - so where is the line drawn?

Are you able to compare/contrast the negatives & positives of yaba use against prostitution?

Both to the individual as well as the society as a whole?

It doesn't sound like.

[Pinothippy]

sounds like a waste of police resources to me

[Mudcrab]

Finally a good idea to drug test personell in resort areas as everyone knows as the workers need money for this addictive drug which raises the threat for problems aganist tourist. I have in the pass put my cash, travellers checks and passport in the hotel lock boxes assuming they were safe. So, here arrives tourist with a fistful of 1000 baht bills paying at the swimming pool bar, restaurant, tuk-tuks, so, we as tourist should learn also to be aware of the problem in resort areas and use common sense.

I learnt many years ago always use small bills, leave the watch at home and if you really don't need the BlackBerry use a cheap phone for local use. Your life is not worth flashing valuables in public here.

I like to see them drug test the overnight bus drivers and heavy haulers drivers at night check points. These guys are not coffee drinkers to stay awake but yet they drive 12-15 hours on the night runs. If the country is really serious to curb a drug problem then test people. We do it in the work place and military in the US and people who want those good jobs are clean especially when it comes to public safety.

What's a Blackberry?

Can I play an 8 track on it?

[KED]

ClutchClark, on 08 Nov 2014

Are you able to compare/contrast the negatives & positives of yaba use against prostitution?
Both to the individual as well as the society as a whole?

It doesn't sound like.

================================================================================================

So, the laws against private drug use should be enforced because it is a worse crime than prostitution? The point is both are illegal so why should the police not enforce alll laws equally? And my second point is that EVEYONE should be subject to random drug tests - police and miliatary and tourists - ANYONE who breaks the law should be prosecuted equally.

Edited November 8, 2014 by KED

[ClutchClark]

ClutchClark, on 08 Nov 2014

Are you able to compare/contrast the negatives & positives of yaba use against prostitution?

Both to the individual as well as the society as a whole?

It doesn't sound like.

================================================================================================

So, the laws against private drug use should be enforced because it is a worse crime than prostitution? The point is both are illegal so why should the police not enforce alll laws equally? And my second point is that EVEYONE should be subject to random drug tests - police and miliatary and tourists - ANYONE who breaks the law should be prosecuted equally.

I get the feeling it would not be efficient use of my time to respond in detail.

Cheers

[The manic]

The amounts involved are tiny. This kind of action is just oppression. The Hi Sos and their families remain untouched. A disgrace!

[Thai at Heart]

Shows how prevelant drug use is.

11 in one resort. How many employees tested? 30? 40?

[ClutchClark]

The amounts involved are tiny. This kind of action is just oppression. The Hi Sos and their families remain untouched. A disgrace!

Apparently you don't realize that you catch the little fish and they rat out the slightly bigger fish and so on and so on.

[The manic]

The amounts involved are tiny. This kind of action is just oppression. The Hi Sos and their families remain untouched. A disgrace!

Apparently you don't realize that you catch the little fish and they rat out the slightly bigger fish and so on and so on.

That is a naive and simplistic view that is wrong. If it were the case then the issue would have been settled decades ago, since the Nixonian war on drugs started. Quite simply the police war on drugs is a war on the people-usually the poorest and most vulnerable people and their families. The false war is conducted by cynical opportunists. The only war on drugs that is valid involves education, freedom of thought and the establishment of a just society where people to not resort to daily intoxication to escape their grim reality.

[ClutchClark]

The amounts involved are tiny. This kind of action is just oppression. The Hi Sos and their families remain untouched. A disgrace!

Apparently you don't realize that you catch the little fish and they rat out the slightly bigger fish and so on and so on.

That is a naive and simplistic view that is wrong. If it were the case then the issue would have been settled decades ago, since the Nixonian war on drugs started. Quite simply the police war on drugs is a war on the people-usually the poorest and most vulnerable people and their families. The false war is conducted by cynical opportunists. The only war on drugs that is valid involves education, freedom of thought and the establishment of a just society where people to not resort to daily intoxication to escape their grim reality.

Wow, my view may be simplistic but atleast its not a make-believe utopia like the one you present.

"Education, freedom of thought, a just society"...and a huge assumption that the reason people do drugs is "to escape their grim reality".

Meanwhile back in reality, the small fish caught at this hotel are providing names of their suppliers. You see, laws are created by society to protect the public interest. Society has determined that drugs are a negative influence on society. People who choose to do drugs do so knowingly that they are breaking the law and make the conscious choice to accept the risk. That risk includes numerous health concerns as well as arrest.

[The manic]

Sure many people do drugs for fun and pleasure. That is their right. Leave them alone. Nobody is forcing you. But I will be dammed if I am supposed to feel foolish for believing in education and freedom of thought. What's the matter with you? You need a good dose of acid to enhance your world view.

[lust]

So, take people from their jobs and arrest them for drugs. Great, way to break up families. Obviously they are doing their jobs just fine if they are still employed so why not leave them alone? The Thai police should mind their own business if nobody is being hurt.

[ClutchClark]

Sure many people do drugs for fun and pleasure. That is their right. Leave them alone. Nobody is forcing you. But I will be dammed if I am supposed to feel foolish for believing in education and freedom of thought. What's the matter with you? You need a good dose of acid to enhance your world view.

Are you high right now?

Nothing wrong with dreaming about education and freedom of thought...but right now its a dream when applied to societies drug problems in the context you previously suggested.

[ClutchClark]

So, take people from their jobs and arrest them for drugs. Great, way to break up families. Obviously they are doing their jobs just fine if they are still employed so why not leave them alone? The Thai police should mind their own business if nobody is being hurt.

The police are not breaking up families. The parents that are choosing to break the law are choosing drugs over their family unit...its called personal responsibility.

The reason they might still be employed is because a friend or relative is their boss or that their boss is another drug user. The fact they are employed is not a foregone conclusion they are properly performing their job duties.

You are also making a broad assumption they are not hurting anybody by their being on drugs. They are, after all, likely operating motorvehicles on public roadways and for all we know the reason this hotel was chosen is because guests were having items stolen. It is not reasonable to assume that their drug use is not hurting anybody. For instance, every Baht spent on drugs is less spent on their kids.

Lastly, and perhaps the most comical part of your post is telling police to mind their own business.

Arresting people who are breaking the law and enforcing the law IS EXACTLY their Business ;-)

[The manic]

So, take people from their jobs and arrest them for drugs. Great, way to break up families. Obviously they are doing their jobs just fine if they are still employed so why not leave them alone? The Thai police should mind their own business if nobody is being hurt.

The police are not breaking up families. The parents that are choosing to break the law are choosing drugs over their family unit...its called personal responsibility.

The reason they might still be employed is because a friend or relative is their boss or that their boss is another drug user. The fact they are employed is not a foregone conclusion they are properly performing their job duties.

You are also making a broad assumption they are not hurting anybody by their being on drugs. They are, after all, likely operating motorvehicles on public roadways and for all we know the reason this hotel was chosen is because guests were having items stolen. It is not reasonable to assume that their drug use is not hurting anybody. For instance, every Baht spent on drugs is less spent on their kids.

Lastly, and perhaps the most comical part of your post is telling police to mind their own business.

Arresting people who are breaking the law and enforcing the law IS EXACTLY their Business ;-)

Depends on the law and the integrity of the legal system they support. The current war on drugs is a war on the people carried out by gangsters in uniforms hiding behinds the robes of state and Thailand going against all civilised international reforms.