Success Story: Death Penalty Drug Case (394,200 ya-ba pills)

On 28 September 2017, after 16 months of defense preparation, Thailand Bail got our client’s drug case dismissed!

We saved our client, a Thai woman who had been arrested along with 7 other defendants, from the death penalty. Out of the 8 defendants, only 3 had lawyers who were capable of proving that their defendant was not guilty. The other 5 defendants, one of whom was just 19 years old at the time of the arrest in 2016, got the death penalty, commuted to life in prison. Some of the defendants fought the charges and some accepted guilt. This case was a major drug / narcotics case, and it was not easy to defend, as the police seized 394,200 ya-ba (methamphetamine) pills from the car in which our client was riding. The cross-country holiday was actually a ploy for a huge drug trafficking endeavor. Thailand Bail spent months working on this case, and were able to influence the investigation for our client from the very beginning. This is a very important point – it is critically important to have a law firm like Thailand Bail work on the case from the first few weeks, if at all possible. For more details about how Thailand Bail’s lawyers won the case for our client, please read below.

 

The Best Lawyers in Thailand Are Not Afraid of Large Drug Cases

If you have had any experience searching for a good Thai lawyer or Thai solicitor, then you know that many Thai lawyers do not accept drug cases. Most of the Thai lawyers who do take on narcotics cases only seem to recommend a guilty plea in order to get a 50% reduction in sentence. For almost all criminal cases in the Bangkok Criminal Court, Phuket Provincial Court, Pattaya Provincial Court, and all other criminal courts in Thailand, defendants can get a 50% reduction in their prison term if they plead guilty. Many Thai lawyers push their clients to plead guilty and reference this as the reason why. However, this does not always make sense. Take, for example, this case. With 394,200 ya-ba pills at stake, there really is not much benefit to plead guilty because half (50%) of a death penalty is life in prison. Half (50%) of a life sentence is 50 years. Pleading guilty was not an option for our client, since it would mean a certain life sentence. The best lawyers in Thailand will not back down from fighting difficult drug cases in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, or wherever they are based. Yes, it takes months of strategy in order to successfully win a case like this. Thailand Bail’s lawyers, solicitors, and legal advisors have experience working on large drug cases. If you, your friends, or family have a drug case in Thailand, then please contact us to discuss what we can do.

 

Holiday Turns into 16 Months in Prison Waiting for Trial

Thailand Bail took this case on more than 1 year ago, when the case had just been taken by the Drug Suppression Bureau. This was a special case that involved a team of Thai drug police following the group of travelers across Thailand. They monitored all their stops and had a large collection of evidence to prove that the vehicles ridden in by the defendants were being used specifically to pick up this huge amount of drugs. After having rented the vehicles, the defendants took what seemed to be a holiday to the beach and other places, enjoying seafood and nightlife. However, when they pulled into one stop to pick up huge bags of “clothing” the holiday turned into hell. Inside these hugs bags was an enormous stash of drugs. This was not a random search by the local Royal Thai Police force. This was an operation executed professionally by the best drug police in Thailand. After being processed at the Drug Suppression Bureau in Bangkok, the defendants were sent to the notorious Klong Prem Prison in northern Bangkok / Nontaburi. The conditions are terrible, and no one wants to spend time in a Thai prison.

 

Thailand Bail’s Lawyers Developed a Strategy

The lawyers and legal experts at our firm, Thailand Bail, were the first lawyers to hold meetings with the Drug Suppression Bureau. This was the result of the foreign boyfriend of one of the defendants reaching out to us, having heard about our past successes with drug cases in Thailand. Within the first 2 weeks, we had already had important meetings with the main police officers involved in the case. We were able to explain to them the story of our defendant, and that she had no knowledge of the drugs in the bags. We brought evidence to support these points, and were able to amend some of the charge sheet / police report for the benefit of our client. This is the work of good lawyers in Thailand – your Thai lawyer must have meetings with the police in charge of the case. From the first weeks of this case, we were managing the direction of how the prosecution’s evidence ultimately looked. The work that was done in the first 84 days before the police passed the case to the prosecutor was extremely important for our client. Thailand Bail’s lawyers developed a strategy that caused us to win this case.

 

A Long Trial that Led to Winning the Case

This case, with 8 defendants, took a long time to come to trial. Bail was denied for our client, even though we applied at 1,500,000THB. Cases with this large amount of drugs are very difficult to get bail granted for. Our Thai lawyers represented our client in court for all pre-trial hearings. The trial itself was also very long, spanning several days in court. We worked on a strategy and defense plan that we knew would be successful. Our lawyers, solicitors, and legal experts made the plan a reality in the Bangkok Criminal Court, and this resulted in the judgment this month. We received hugs and genuine thank-you’s from our client and the defendant. We re-united these two people after a long and arduous legal battle. However, it was well worth it to see the smiles on everyone’s faces in court last week. Having a good Thai lawyer with the support of experience legal experts, especially those who have experience winning drug cases in Thailand, is the way to win drug cases in the Thai courts.

 

Do You Have a Drug Case in Thailand?

Thailand Bail’s Thai lawyers and international legal experts have been winning drug cases for many years. Whilst it is not possible to win every case, the drug cases we take on receive our full attention. If you have a drug case in Thailand, contact Thailand Bail to discuss it.

We are different from other law firms who only want money up-front to even discuss the case. We enjoy our work, and enjoy talking about the details of drug cases. To date, we have successfully represented foreign and Thai defendants in the Thai courts for every type of drug case. This includes Class 1 drugs like crystal methamphetamine (ya-ice), methamphetamine pills (ya-ba), LSD, heroin, and ecstasy / MDMA (ya-E), class 2 drugs like cocaine, as well as class 5 drugs like marijuana / ganja / weed. We have decades of experience managing drug cases, and will be able to give you information about your drug case in Thailand. If you have a drug case in Thailand, we know how to win your case. We are active in the Bangkok Criminal Court, Bangkok Southern Criminal Court, Pattaya Provincial Court, Samut Prakarn Provincial Court, Hua Hin Provincial Court, Koh Samui Provincial Court, Phuket Provincial Court, Chiang Mai Provincial Court, Buriram Provincial Court, and other criminal courts in Thailand. Contact Thailand Bail in order to discuss your drug case in Thailand.