Alleged drug kingpin "Lao Tao" and son ordered held 12 days

[rooster59]

Alleged drug kingpin "Lao Tao" and son ordered held 12 days

 

Image: Manager

 

BANGKOK:-- The central criminal court in Bangkok has ordered an alleged drug kingpin called Lao Tao and his son held for twelve days.

 

Lao Tao Saen Li, 76,  was arrested on Tuesday after a big sting operation at a gas station in northern Chang Mai.

 

Officers of the drugs suppression police had set up a deal to buy 20 kilos of amphetamines for 11 million baht.

 

Lao Tao's son Wijan Saenli, 40 was also arrested. He is the ex-kamnam of Na Thon district. Wijan and Baramee Barameekeukoonsap, 37 were also ordered held for twelve days as police gather further evidence against the alleged drug family and associates.

 

Lao Tao was the subject of a sting operation back in September but managed to escape. He will also be charged in relation to that.

 

Two other members of the gang have also been arrested for Ya Ba.

 

Lao Tao is alleged to have been referred to as "King of Drugs" in the Na Thon area and is an associate of Shan drug lord Khun Sa, reporters understand.

 

He has been arrested before but managed to escape justice and prosecutors will hope that this time they will be able to make the charges stick.

 

Source: Manager

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-10-16

[halloween]

Suspect this will have the least number of posts for an drug dealer thread, absent the "always the little fish", "why didn't they follow him", "didn't pay enough to police", "never the top guys",etc.

[ratcatcher]

Its good to see he's not forgotten his toothbrush and toothpaste.

[Johpa]

His name is Lao Ta or Laota.  He, or I should say his family,  is a powerful figure in tambon Mae Ai,  Amphoe Fang.  That includes Thaton, not Na Thon.  I've known him for decades through my wife who is friends with his older children who are her age.  This is not the first time he has been arrested.  The US DEA was always after him.  Laota himself is getting a bit old, a bit physically feeble even. He has been hanging out in his eponymous coffee shop below the Lisu village known as Baan Laota, about 10km up from the bridge over the Kok River in Thaton. I doubt he " is (currently) an associate of Shan drug lord Khun Sa" as only the most uninformed and gullible reporters would understand.  Perhaps the same reporters who could make so many mistakes in the report and also omit that if Laota is guilty of anything then so too are decades of officials from Thaton down to Fang and beyond.

[Gainsbourg]

Moreover since khun sa died in 2007... ?

[ratcatcher]

1 hour ago, Gainsbourg said:

Moreover since khun sa died in 2007... ?

You don't expect reporters to be aware of the fact that Khun Sa died nearly 9 years ago, do you?

[gdgbb]

3 hours ago, Johpa said:

His name is Lao Ta or Laota.  He, or I should say his family,  is a powerful figure in tambon Mae Ai,  Amphoe Fang.  That includes Thaton, not Na Thon.  I've known him for decades through my wife who is friends with his older children who are her age.  This is not the first time he has been arrested.  The US DEA was always after him.  Laota himself is getting a bit old, a bit physically feeble even. He has been hanging out in his eponymous coffee shop below the Lisu village known as Baan Laota, about 10km up from the bridge over the Kok River in Thaton. I doubt he " is (currently) an associate of Shan drug lord Khun Sa" as only the most uninformed and gullible reporters would understand.  Perhaps the same reporters who could make so many mistakes in the report and also omit that if Laota is guilty of anything then so too are decades of officials from Thaton down to Fang and beyond.

So many mistakes made by the reporter?   You mean one mistake, surely, and that could have been an error in translation, '...is an associate of...' instead of '...was...'?

 

Perhaps when they have evidence the police will be able to prosecute the anonymous others that your hearsay mentions.

[licka]

76 year old drug lord, escaped from the police in September

How ??

Did he have the same wheel chair Rowan Atkinson used in Johnny English 

He looks like he may have trouble remembering who he is 

[Gainsbourg]

I recommend (to the critical people on this very forum) to read the books by B Lintner to find out the various roles of influential people/parties (once) at the very base of the drug trade and support of drug trade. The role of RTA for starters (emoticon drinking cup of coffee vanished sinc site update)...

[Gainsbourg]

2 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

You don't expect reporters to be aware of the fact that Khun Sa died nearly 9 years ago, do you?

 

I met this Thai "reporter" once. Asked him a few crucial questions about Burma (the neighboring country known as Bpama). His answers were "hilarious"... Of course he was an authority on Laab and Som Dtam! "WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!!"

[worgeordie]

"Lao Tao was the subject of a sting operation back in September but managed to escape" !!

Looks like he has a job walking, let alone escape,if he "escapes" this time it will be a bit

more of a coincidence 

regards worgeordie

[Lungstib]

The village in question, Huay San, commonly known as Baan Lao Ta, is about 14kms from the Tha Ton bridge. The whole neighbourhood has known for 30 years how this village makes its money but as time has gone by they have proved to be adept at avoiding capture. The army tried a big raid about a year ago, a 3am sweep with many armed men and vehicles (maybe thats the Sept raid mentioned), but found only a few unregistered guns. It is assumed the payoff list is very large and expensive but must be worth it. The village could be renamed Fortuner Fortress, those cars just keep on pouring out of the place delivering Lisu villagers to the shops and bars where they are renown for high spending. Young girls who have never had a job park their Fortuner at the hairdressers and spend their day in leisure. The kids have the best m'bikes the women gold jewellery. They have no obvious or tangible source of income which leaves everyone assuming they are in the 'pharmaceutical distribution business'. All around are villagers with similar circumstances, far more money than they can account for. Corn, Lynchee, Lamyai, Cassava and coffee do not produce the wealth we see all around Tha Ton, Wawee and Mae Salong. I doubt Lao Ta himself was caught with drugs in his possession, he would delegate that to others, but he will be responsible as headman. He's not the fool he looks in the photo.

[Johpa]

1 hour ago, Lungstib said:

 I doubt Lao Ta himself was caught with drugs in his possession, he would delegate that to others, but he will be responsible as headman. He's not the fool he looks in the photo.

 

Indeed Laota is no fool and his mind was still sharp the last time I spoke to him.  His complaint was his eyesight

 

And I want to correct myself having made my post past my bedtime.  The amphoe is Mae Ai and the thambon is Thaton.  In the past it was a pretty raucous region.  Below is a pic of the former kamnaan, Kamnaan Seng, from the Shan village of Mok Jam, who was brutally murdered some 25 years ago over a rumored land dispute. The guy who sold ice cream from the back of his bicycle was murdered up in Baan Linchee, a Wa village further up the road towards Mae Salong, and a teacher from Muang Ngaam, a Karen village almost adjacent to Laota's village, was mysteriously murdered in Baan Tamakeng, the village with the local market before Laota's village.  It was, in the past, not a neighborhood where you wanted to get on the wrong side of people.  That being said, these days I find Thaton and a stay along the river to be a delightful getaway for a few days.

 

 

[Johpa]

8 hours ago, gdgbb said:

So many mistakes made by the reporter?   You mean one mistake, surely, and that could have been an error in translation, '...is an associate of...' instead of '...was...'?

 

Perhaps when they have evidence the police will be able to prosecute the anonymous others that your hearsay mentions.

 

Uh, I pointed out at least three mistakes and failed to correct the spelling of Laota's son's name, which is more correctly spelled Wichian. And then I corrected an error of my own in a later post.  So yes, in my opinion the reporter made far too many mistakes for such a short report. But you are free to disagree with that opinion.

 

As for hearsay, I did not begin to list the decades of hearsay involving Laota. such as the fate of his brother, and in fact did not mention any hearsay, only stated that if the allegations against Laota are true then they must be true against others as Laota did not live in a vacuum. 

[Gainsbourg]

50% of wealth (as well as infrastructure) up north is made through illicit activities. Drugs. Contraband. Intelligence. Etc etc. I love borderland stories. Also because it's also a tale of ethnic minorities taking the piss with arrogant/ignorant thai. The thaiification of hill tribes and shan, kariang, wa etc has 2 sides.... 

[Johpa]

4 hours ago, Gainsbourg said:

Also because it's also a tale of ethnic minorities taking the piss with arrogant/ignorant thai. The thaiification of hill tribes and shan, kariang, wa etc has 2 sides.... 

 

Laota, the headman of a Lisu village, like his associate the late Khun Sa, head of the Shan, were both KMT Chinese. It is the Chinese more than the role models for Kipling who have a knack for taking the piss out of the Thais and other regional ethnic groups and installing themselves as ruling elites.

[mike324]

Many of thailands provincial / district / chiefs or heads are heavily involved in drugs, the on in Nakornpathom is rumored to use garbage trucks to transport drugs, but he is so influential and well connected that police aren't able to catch him red handed yet. He is always one step ahead.