On June 18, 2024, a significant shift occurred in Thailand’s approach to methamphetamine possession that we at Thailand Bail would like to highlight. The Public Health Minister, Somsak Thepsuthin, announced a new regulation reducing the permissible amount for personal use to just one pill of methamphetamine or 20 milligrams of crystal meth (“ice”). This change aims to combat the rampant drug problem in Thailand by focusing on rehabilitation over prosecution, but also tightening the criteria to qualify for rehabilitation.
Key Changes in Regulation
Under the new rule, possessing more than one meth pill or 20 milligrams of crystal meth will lead to criminal charges rather than a chance for rehabilitation.
If you have been blacklisted in Thailand because of a marijuana case, then this article is for you. The blacklist in Thailand is a little-known area of Thailand’s criminal and immigration laws, especially now that there were significant changes made in 2021-2022. The decriminalizing of marijuana (also known as pot, ganja, or cannabis) in Thailand has made news across the globe, and for good reason. As many of you reading this article know, even simple possession of marijuana in Thailand leads to being blacklisted for 100 years (in most cases). Many of you who received and retained the paperwork from your marijuana case in Thailand would have noticed being classed according to Section 12(7). Section 12(7) is a catch-all classification for those who are persona non grata in Thailand. This includes foreigners who have had marijuana cases in Thailand.
This latest post from the lawyers at Thailand Bail focuses on yet another new drug law in Thailand. If you have not yet read about the Narcotics Act of 2021 (2564), then we suggest you read this previous post, which you can find here. However, this post today is about the brand new law that was enacted just yesterday on 09 June 2022 in regards to marijuana, also known as ganja. Thousands of drug suspects have been released from Thailand’s prisons because of this new law, and your friend or family member’s case may also benefit.
As some of you may know, there is a new drug law in Thailand. The new Narcotics Act of 2564 (2021) was passed and came into force last month in December 2021. The new drug law in Thailand is a benefit for many people in prison in Thailand for drug cases. One of the best aspects of the new Thai drug law is that it provides opportunities for much lower sentences compared to the previous sentences given for drug cases. For example, given the very low limit of 0.375 grams for the charge of possession with intent to sell of a class 1 narcotic, many defendants in drug cases in Thailand were
FROM DEATH SENTENCE TO DISMISSAL OF ALL CHARGES: THAI SUPREME COURT RULES ON LUKE COOK AND TYLER GERARD NARCOTICS CASE
The case has been completely dismissed by the Supreme Court after 19 months of consideration since the death penalty verdict from the Court of Appeals. The defendants, Australian Luke Joshua Cook and American Tyler Gerard (AKA Tyler Joseph Fulton Sheen Gerard), after almost 4 years and 6 years behind bars respectively, are out of prison, out of Thailand, and back home. We believe this is a major win for our firm, for our clients, and for Thailand’s legal system.
We have included some facts about the case below:
Mr. Luke Joshua Cook and Mr. Tyler Gerard were both originally arrested for this case in December 2017. It has been almost 4 years since then. On 09 November 2018, the Court of First Instance (Rayong Provincial Court) read the verdict, sentencing both defendants to death. The decision was appealed, and the verdict was read by the Court of Appeals, Region 2, on 26 February 2020 and 19 March 2020 for Mr. Luke Joshua Cook and Mr. Tyler Gerard respectively. The death penalty was upheld for both defendants.
Our law firm Thailand Bail then represented both Mr. Luke Joshua Cook and Mr. Tyler Gerard in the Supreme Court appeal against the death penalty they received from the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeals. We started working on the appeal to the Supreme Court after the death penalty verdict was given in February and March 2020.
On 14 September 2021, 19 months after the verdict from the Court of Appeals, we represented both defendants in the judgment day hearing based on our appeal to the Supreme Court.
The judgment on 14 September 2021 was a complete dismissal of all charges, which were importation with intent to sell and possession with intent to sell of a significant quantity of a class 1 narcotic – crystal methamphetamine.
We assisted with their swift deportation, and both Mr. Luke Cook and Mr. Tyler Gerard are now back in their respective home countries – Australia and the United States of America.
Should you have further inquiries about this case, we are happy to provide additional information by email at info@thailandbail.com
Today, 24 August 2020, Thailand Bail’s lawyers and international case managers are extremely happy to announce that after 16 months of case preparation and trial, the Criminal Court in Bangkok agreed with us, pronouncing our client “not guilty” (yok-fong) of all charges related to a massive 3.9 metric tonnes of methamphetamine precursor drugs exported from Bangkok to Sydney. Today’s judgment was a yok-fong judgment, which is the absolute best judgment a defendant can receive in a criminal case in Thailand. Facing the Court of First Instance’s stringent criteria for delivering a yok-fong judgment, the judges in this case examined the evidence and witnesses and ruled that our client was innocent. Our client
Our Thailand Lawyer Case Study series continues today with a brief analysis of the case of Amelia “Amy” Jacobs, a defendant in a drug case in Thailand. Amy is a half-Thai, half-Caucasian celebrity from Thailand who was arrested with her boyfriend on suspicion of dealing in class 1 narcotics. This Thailand lawyer case study will show how Amy managed to avoid prison time, even if it ended up meaning she cannot return to Thailand for most of the rest of her life. Her lawyer
A recent change in the way that Thai drug police get rewarded for their work will be realised at the end of May 2020, according to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB). These changes will provide more reward money to Thai police officers who are working on drug cases. These new changes will be enacted on 31 May 2020. The new rewards structure could potentially mean significant pay-outs for drug cases in Thailand. We have detailed the updates below, based on the % reward and what needs to be done for the police to collect said reward.
In today’s Thailand Bail news posting, we focus on one of the most famous Thai cases of the past year – Benz Racing. Benz Racing, formally known as Akarakit Worarojcharoendet, was just freed on bail, after beating a charge related to drug trafficking but being convicted of money laundering. Benz Racing got eight (8) years for money laundering, which was on the more severe end of the possible ten (10) years in prison for the charge of money laundering. Had Benz Racing been convicted of supporting drug trafficking, he would have likely gotten twenty (20) years in prison, as did his two co-defendants in this case. The case was even more challenging, considering the infamous Laotian drug trafficker Xaysana was involved in the case, with Benz Racing allegedly laundering proceeds from the sale of drugs from Xaysana’s drug empire. The reason Read more
On 28 September 2017, Thailand Bail’s lawyers got the result we have been fighting for during the last 16 months – a not guilty verdict for a huge 394,200 ya-ba pill drug case in the Bangkok Criminal Court. This is a landmark decision, since the death penalty was an option for the judges in this case. There were 8 defendants, and less than half of them had their cases dismissed, and this included our client. The other 5 defendants got the death penalty, reduced to life in prison. Thailand Bail has been defending clients in drug cases for many years, and have won a large percentage of the drug cases we take on. Bail was denied for our client, since the amount of drugs was so high, so it was not easy to complete our defense. However, after 16 months of work, we got the positive result we fought for. Our clients are extremely happy, as Read more
