Some very good news for prisoners in Thailand was just announced today. After the 1st Thailand prisoner amnesty was enacted in July 2021, a 2nd amnesty has been made official to commemorate the birthday of His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great. This has been published in the Royal Gazette of Thailand on 05 December 2021. This is very welcome news for the many prisoners in Thailand who are eligible for the amnesty. It is estimated that over 100,000 prisoners will receive some sort of benefit from this recent amnesty. It could also mean that some prisoners in Thailand will have just received the 1st Thailand prisoner amnesty’s benefits, and will now receive a 2nd round of reductions. Thailand Bail estimates that several thousand prisoners in Thai prisons in Bangkok will have their sentences reduced or be released from prison immediately.
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
As Thailand Bail wrote about in the previous news post on the amnesty for prisoners in Thailand (July 2021) we can confirm that prisoners who were eligible under this amnesty are no starting to be released. For example, the first group of prisoners, including foreign prisoners and Thai prisoners, were released at the end of August as part of the first group. All prisoners in the Thai prison system must go through a 2-week training course before being released.
After much speculation and rumour, the latest amnesty for prisoners in Thailand has been announced. Coinciding with the birthday of His Majesty, as well as the Asahna Bucha Buddhist holiday, the official announcement has just been made, which is the subject of this Thailand Bail news article. This news will come as a relief to prisoners in Bangkok, Pattaya, Chonburi, Koh Samui, Phuket, and the rest of Thailand. The announcement
As Thailand Bail has been reporting on the COVID-19 situation in Thailand and how it affects the prisons and courts in Thailand, we are now updating the situation as of July 2021. Since many people are affected by the postponements, video conferencing, witness availability, prison visitation, and many other aspects, Thailand Bail’s lawyers and staff would like to provide a clear update on the COVID-19 situation here in Thailand. One of the latest updates that we can share is that a major prison in Bangkok has now re-opened for lawyers’ / solicitors’ visitation. The Bangkok Remand Prison has
Thailand’s Supreme Court has been in the news recently due to a change in a ruling from previous court rulings from the Court of Appeals and the Court of First Instance. This Thailand Bail news article, written in June 2021, will briefly review the Thai Supreme Court’s decision, so that this can be applied to your case if you are considering an appeal. It should be noted that many people hesitate to lodge appeals at the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court level, as they do not think that the ruling will change. We have seen Thai court rulings change significantly from court to court, so
Following the Thailand Bail COVID-19 update in April 2021, we have provided another update here since a lot has happened in the last few weeks. One of the biggest updates to the COVID-19 situation in Thailand is the revelation that around 3,000 inmates are positive for the coronavirus. The majority of these infected inmates in Thai prison are in the Women’s Correctional Institute (known as Bangkok Women’s Prison, next to Klong Prem Central Prison) and the Bangkok Remand Prison.
Preamble: It is important to note that the examples below are real examples of foreigners having been blacklisted from Thailand. However, many may read this and say that “someone they know” was not blacklisted for the same offense. Thus is the duality of the legal system of Thailand, and to be fair, many other countries around the world. There are thousands of laws that are enforced most of the time. So, just because you did not get blacklisted for one of these offenses does not mean that others were not. As always, read the relevant laws of the Kingdom of Thailand.
As COVID-19 continues to cause disruptions in the daily lives of people in Thailand, it has also (again) caused potential delays for the courts and prisons in Thailand. Currently, we are in the middle of the Songkran (Thai New Year) holiday. However, we have reached out to our contacts at various courts in Bangkok, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, and elsewhere for comment on the situation. At this time, Thailand Bail has been advised that the Courts of Justice has made an announcement encouraging each court to consider further postponements to cases.
Thailand Bail has been helping defendants get legal again with the case visa (also known by some as a defendant’s visa, justice visa, or visa extension for the purposes of having a criminal case in Thailand) for many years. This post is an update on the case visa situation in Thailand in 2021. Many of the clients we are engaged to support already have other lawyers who just do not know much about visas in Thailand. Many other lawyers have made the mistake of letting people’s visas go on overstay. This is dangerous since the police will typically bring a new charge of overstay against the defendant.
