Phuket Justice: Rough at Times for Tourists

[StrontiumDog]

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/phuket-...ourists-13621/


Annice Smoel in 2009 outside Phuket Provincial Court: swifter justice required
Photo by phuketwan.com/file

Phuket Justice: Rough at Times for Tourists

By Alan Morison
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
News Analysis

A YOUNG AUSTRALIAN man who attempted to steal a bottle of vodka from a Phuket nightspot is being deported today, Phuketwan has learned. A Phuket court imposed a fine of 2500 baht and suspended a jail term.

The cost to the young man of his momentary lapse of judgement? Several thousand Australian dollars. And perhaps a whole lot more.

The case is one of a series in 2011 that has raised again the issue of tourist behavior and the additional penalties that come almost as a matter of course for tourists who are accused of ''holiday crimes'' on Phuket.

Still waiting to have their cases heard are two other Australians, both accused of attempted theft or theft. One man, who has admitted that he stole a pair of Rayban sunglasses at Phuket airport as he was about to catch a flight on January 5, has been obliged to remain on Phuket awaiting a court hearing ever since.

Another man, accused of trying to steal 12 bottles of alcohol from the Orchid Garden Hotel in Patong on January 8, is also still awaiting a court date.

The Thai system of justice embraces the principle of one law for all, and rightly so. However, when it comes to the penalty fitting the crime, people who do not reside in Thailand do appear to frequently suffer a great deal more.

While fair and reasonable penalties are imposed by Thai courts, ''holiday crimes'' - usually thefts or attempted thefts that are often committed on the spur of the moment and regretted almost immediately - often cost tourists and their families much, much more than a small fine.

People can and have lost their jobs, lost their housing, and had to spend hundreds of thousands of baht on lawyers, cancelled flights, and extra accommodation.

The penalty in court can amount to as little as a fine of 500 baht or 1000 baht. But the additional expenditure incurred can often be a thousand times that, or more.

Regrettably, civil servants within Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade actively restrict Australia's honorary consul on Phuket from talking to the media about this issue, except during the honorary consuls' meetings every three months.

While Australians are frequently ''holiday crime'' culprits because they tend to mix alcohol and fun abroad in much the same way they do at home, the issue of slow and expensive holiday justice applies equally to visitors from all countries.

The most notorious Phuket case involved ''beermat bandid'' and mother of three Annice Smoel, who in 2009 protested her innocence of theft but pleaded guilty so she could fly home quickly to her daughters.

Her plight brought wide media coverage in Australia and internationally to such an extent that the then Prime Minister of Australia became involved. As a result, the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand telephoned the then Governor of Phuket . . . and the case came to a conclusion within 24 hours.

None of the young men involved in the 2011 series of cases on Phuket has daughters waiting at home, so the Australian radio commentators know as ''shock jocks'' have yet to receive an irate telephone call alerting them to the plights of these young tourists.

One accused and his family, though, has reportedly spent a million baht on the extra expense involved on a case.

That's the equivalent of $33,000 dollars, and all for a moment's indiscretion on the happy holiday island of Phuket.

Extended accommodation on Phuket, relatives flying from Australia, legal fees . . . the list and the expense goes on and on.

When the case does eventually reach court, the fine is likely to be infinitesimal by comparison.

Nobody questions the fairness of the Thai system of one law for all.

Yet the important issue raised by these three cases is whether justice imposes an unfair and excessively heavy penalty on tourists for forgetting for a moment that they are visitors in another country.

Efforts to establish a special Tourist Court have failed because there is one law for all. But in some cases, fast-track justice would help to ensure that the overall penalties more accurately fit the crimes.

[BobR]

The article really does not set forth any injustice; how is a Thai treated any differently? The only real purpose of prosecuting criminals is to serve as a deterrent to others who might try the same thing, so there is no reason for Thailand to make their system convenient for foreign thieves.

Politely suggest the incidents in which an innocent person may have been set up for extortion (if any of those have occurred) are a much greater concern.

Might also add that theft cases in my home country can drag on for months, (I was an attorney) and the District Attorney there does not care if it is stressful or inconvenient for the alleged offender any more than the Thais do.

[sabang]

On one hand, they complain about having to pay the requisite 'tea money' and leave forthwith.
On the other, they complain about having to stick around and face justice. Can't win, eh?
Not exactly objects of sympathy from where I sit. Don't do the crime, & yer won't do the time.

[harrybarracuda]

The most notorious Phuket case involved ''beermat bandid'' and mother of three Annice Smoel, who in 2009 protested her innocence of theft but pleaded guilty so she could fly home quickly to her daughters.

Her plight brought wide media coverage in Australia and internationally to such an extent that the then Prime Minister of Australia became involved. As a result, the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand telephoned the then Governor of Phuket . . . and the case came to a conclusion within 24 hours.

I was slightly annoyed that this pissed up slag, who insulted just about every Thai she met, was let off so easily.

[BobR]

The most notorious Phuket case involved ''beermat bandid'' and mother of three Annice Smoel, who in 2009 protested her innocence of theft but pleaded guilty so she could fly home quickly to her daughters.

Her plight brought wide media coverage in Australia and internationally to such an extent that the then Prime Minister of Australia became involved. As a result, the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand telephoned the then Governor of Phuket . . . and the case came to a conclusion within 24 hours.

I was slightly annoyed that this pissed up slag, who insulted just about every Thai she met, was let off so easily.

You're quite right, it is not logical to reward bad or childish behavior. Of course in Australia or any western country women are always the "victim".

[Davis Knowlton]

I love the author's reasoning that because they were Aussies who were drunk on holiday, these thefts equate to "just having a bit of fun".

[nidhogg]

The Thai system of justice embraces the principle of one law for all, and rightly so. .

Sorry. Was there anything in the article after this point? - I had to stop reading as the tears in my eyes from laughing so much blurred the screen....

[billy the kid]

choked on my cornflakes and
it made my eyes water.
takein the piss again the thais
yes they know how to
squeese the last baht
out of a tourist.
justice !! doesn't exist for the tourist.
robbery !! yes that's more like it.

[nevets]

I think it is a deterant if your a theif think about what hapens when you get court , it takes a long time to get to trial and your still here the plane has gone home.

[FarangRed]

I bet they don't do it again, like stealing beer mats and bottles of vodka.

Sometimes guys I see on these forums you complain about how soft the government are back in the UK or where ever when some body does come down on them WTF,

For me good on the Thai's give them everything they deserve and dont let them back here in Thailand

[billy the kid]

a fokin beer mat an some cheap shit vodka !!!
no no tourists are being conned , scammed.

[larvidchr]

On one hand, they complain about having to pay the requisite 'tea money' and leave forthwith.
On the other, they complain about having to stick around and face justice. Can't win, eh?
Not exactly objects of sympathy from where I sit. Don't do the crime, & yer won't do the time.

With you there Mate, if you feel you have the right to play tough and rough where-ever you go, then don't fvucking whinge when you have to pay the piper, thats just so uncool

[crocodilexp]

Thai justice system faces *far* more serious issues than minor inefficiency which can keep an occasional tourist in the country awaiting trial for a month or so. The suspects generally do have the option of paying a quick (and illegal) fine to the arresting officer.

[Poo and Pee]

not that i care one satang for this aussie slag, but the truth is, ..meanwhile, thai police, litterally get away with murder..

[smeden]

why do the aussies not stay at home and steal and make trouble if you come to australia you cant come in the country if you have been to jail they dont want criminal people there they just export theyr own

[DroversDog]

why do the aussies not stay at home and steal and make trouble if you come to australia you cant come in the country if you have been to jail they dont want criminal people there they just export theyr own

They do, but it doesn't cost them a million Baht for pilfering a 50 baht bear mat.

[sabang]

these thefts equate to "just having a bit of fun".

Until they get caught of course. Then these 'funseekers' become innocent victims overnight.

[billy the kid]

a friend got robbed on kohsan rd. and the first
ting the cops wants to know is
ad he been 'drinkin'.
he said he'd had a couple of beers
the cop laughed and walked off.
av heard this crap a few times.
yet when it's a tourist who has committed some petty crime
they are made to go through a hell to satisfy the greedy authority.
and sometimes the tourist is set-up to be hammered.
as far as i can see they are all fokin mafia.
robbin the tourist every chance they get.
and worse. a lot worse.

[taffyapple]

the thai taxi drivers have been robbing tourists as long as i can remember and its got worse anyone know if one has been done.

[socal]

I have no sympathy for these losers that steal stuff in Thailand. what do they expect ?

[socal]

a friend got robbed on kohsan rd. and the first
ting the cops wants to know is
ad he been 'drinkin'.
he said he'd had a couple of beers
the cop laughed and walked off.
av heard this crap a few times.
yet when it's a tourist who has committed some petty crime
they are made to go through a hell to satisfy the greedy authority.
and sometimes the tourist is set-up to be hammered.
as far as i can see they are all fokin mafia.
robbin the tourist every chance they get.
and worse. a lot worse.

I think your friend is full of shit too.

If you cant handle outside the nanny state then don't leave the nanny state. Nobody forces you to go to Thailand.

[Bobcock]

these thefts equate to "just having a bit of fun".

Australians.....it's in their genes.....

[FarangRed]

[kingwilly]

The Thai system of justice embraces the principle of one law for all, and rightly so. .

Sorry. Was there anything in the article after this point? - I had to stop reading as the tears in my eyes from laughing so much blurred the screen....

I'm glad someone saw that.

In fact, the article mentioned it twice!

[hazz]

The author seems to be suggesting that because tourists do not live in thailand, unlike thai's, the long delays in court cases mean that tourists overall suffer much more serious consequences as a result of the court case than a thai would and that this is not fair.... which in principle is something that should be at the heart of all justice systems.

I don't think that anyone has the right to evade justice just because they are a little drunk and on holiday. but it is reasonable for tourists to receive accelerated justice, so that guilty or not they don't suffer disproportional consequences as a result of the court case. To me this seems a reasonable idea.

Fortunately I believe there is a democrat MP who was recently accused of shoplifting at HK airport and found guilty of theft or doing something illegal to the shops security guard. I imagine he can testify to the enhanced fairness of accelerated justice for tourists, given the alternative of being kept in hong kong for an extended time.