News Forum - ‘Travellers’ caught smuggling cocaine worth millions of baht to Phuket and Bangkok

[Thaiger]

The big bad international criminals Thai police warned of earlier this month have made their way to Bangkok and Phuket. Four ‘travellers’ were caught smuggling cocaine worth millions of baht into Phuket and Bangkok in the past 2 weeks. A South African man allegedly smuggled in 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, worth 4.5 million baht, to Phuket International Airport. Meanwhile, 3 suspects arriving at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport from Brazil were found with 15.7 kilograms of Cocaine, 47 million baht. There are no reports of the suspects in each incident being connected. Customs Department director Chaiyut Kumkun said yesterday that the 29 […]

The story ‘Travellers’ caught smuggling cocaine worth millions of baht to Phuket and Bangkok as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Cabra]

All worthy of a life sentence behind bars. Does make one wonder just how much weight gets through

[Guest1]

  On 6/18/2022 at 8:17 AM, Cabra said:

All worthy of a life sentence behind bars. Does make one wonder just how much weight gets through

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Not sure if it was in the BBC, but you can expect for every 1 caught, another 2 or 3 (in the same plane) making it trough.

The one is the bait, the others, if not too stupidly nervous, are of the radar.

[Soidog]

I’m struck by the headline use of the word “Travellers”. Is this a clumsy attempt to control the urge to use the word “foreigners”?  Dear headline writer, if you are struggling, can I suggest the use of the word “People”?  You see, South Africans and Brazilians are all “People”, just like Thais. Thanks.

[Guest1]

  On 6/19/2022 at 6:17 AM, Soidog said:

I’m struck by the headline use of the word “Travellers”. Is this a clumsy attempt to control the urge to use the word “foreigners”?  Dear headline writer, if you are struggling, can I suggest the use of the word “People”?  You see, South Africans and Brazilians are all “People”, just like Thais. Thanks.

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No, that might be the "urge", to prevent the word "Th.. mules"

They called the "south african man", but "suspects arriving at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport from Brazil" is not saying Brazilians!

[Fanta]

  On 6/19/2022 at 6:17 AM, Soidog said:

I’m struck by the headline use of the word “Travellers”. Is this a clumsy attempt to control the urge to use the word “foreigners”?  Dear headline writer, if you are struggling, can I suggest the use of the word “People”?  You see, South Africans and Brazilians are all “People”, just like Thais. Thanks.

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Tourists smuggle drugs. - much better for all the wrong reasons. 

[Soidog]

  On 6/19/2022 at 6:40 AM, Guest1 said:

No, that might be the "urge", to prevent the word "Th.. mules"

They called the "south african man", but "suspects arriving at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport from Brazil" is not saying Brazilians!

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Yes that could well be the case then. The word “People” would have worked nonetheless. It simply defies belief that in 2022 these kind of unnecessary headlines still appear. 
 

I know some people reading this will disagree and find nothing wrong with it. To be clear, I also have no issue when identifying a foreigner in the headline is key to the story. For example “British man arrested on international arrest warrant”. However, headlines like the one today of “Foreigners body found floating off Phuket” is just unnecessary. Do the headline writers think that if it simply said “Man’s body found floating off Phuket” it would be less of a read? 
 

Anyway. Off to more productive issues of the day……

[dbrenn]

  On 6/18/2022 at 9:15 AM, Guest1 said:

Not sure if it was in the BBC, but you can expect for every 1 caught, another 2 or 3 (in the same plane) making it trough.

The one is the bait, the others, if not too stupidly nervous, are of the radar.

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It's conceivable that the drug barons and police work together - the police have to show an arrest here and there, and have limited ability to investigate, so the drug barons feed them a sacrificial lamb every now and then, along with lots of cash. 

[Venusianhart]

  On 6/18/2022 at 8:17 AM, Cabra said:

All worthy of a life sentence behind bars. Does make one wonder just how much weight gets through

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Why do you believe suggling something that is arbitrarily illegal is worthy of life in jail?

Cocaine is not the problem. Prohibition created the cartels, not the drugs. 

Adults deserve to choose what they ingest without state interference.

Legalize, and the problem becomes managable, just like drink and alcohol addiction are managable.

No one drug is worse than another, thats unscientific nonsense. Propaganda. 

Each adult reacts differently, those who dont like it or are allergic, can abstain.

Nobody needs a nanny. Rash behavoiur has consequences enough.

Edited June 19, 2022 by Venusianhart

[Scribble]

  On 6/19/2022 at 6:48 AM, Soidog said:

headlines like the one today of “Foreigners body found floating off Phuket” is just unnecessary. Do the headline writers think that if it simply said “Man’s body found floating off Phuket” it would be less of a read

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When I saw the 'Travellers' headline I thought it was going to be Irish caravan folk.

But "foreigners" body found floating off Phuket is definitely more 'interesting' than "man's" body... on an English language news site mainly read by foreigners.

[Soidog]

  On 6/19/2022 at 10:04 AM, Scribble said:

When I saw the 'Travellers' headline I thought it was going to be Irish caravan folk.

But "foreigners" body found floating off Phuket is definitely more 'interesting' than "man's" body... on an English language news site mainly read by foreigners.

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Yes I thought about travellers. Then I realised if such a thing existed in Thailand they wouldn’t hold back and simply call them Scum or some equally derogatory term. 
 

As for the “foreigners body” found being more interesting. I’m assuming you didn’t like the “Thai woman dies while scuba diving” headline then. A real turn off. 

[Cabra]

  On 6/19/2022 at 9:39 AM, Venusianhart said:

Cocaine is not the problem

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It's not the answer either. We're not talking about natives chewing coca leaves. Even Bolivia knows processed cocaine is a problem. 

[Scribble]

  On 6/19/2022 at 10:51 AM, Soidog said:

As for the “foreigners body” found being more interesting. I’m assuming you didn’t like the “Thai woman dies while scuba diving” headline then. A real turn off. 

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I didn't see it but no, why would I have been turned off by that? Unlike you I have no problems with nationality / foreigner / Thai person, being in the headline.

[astro]

  On 6/19/2022 at 6:48 AM, Soidog said:

I know some people reading this will disagree and find nothing wrong with it. To be clear, I also have no issue when identifying a foreigner in the headline is key to the story. For example “British man arrested on international arrest warrant”. However, headlines like the one today of “Foreigners body found floating off Phuket” is just unnecessary. Do the headline writers think that if it simply said “Man’s body found floating off Phuket” it would be less of a read? 

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It is also unnecessary to specify "British man", it could easily prejudice readers against British men.

Would it be less of a read if it said "Person arrested on international arrest warrant”?

  On 6/19/2022 at 9:39 AM, Venusianhart said:

No one drug is worse than another, thats unscientific nonsense. Propaganda. 

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Not true: there are considerable differences in effects on physical and mental health, habit-forming etc.

[Venusianhart]

  On 6/19/2022 at 10:59 AM, Cabra said:

It's not the answer either. We're not talking about natives chewing coca leaves. Even Bolivia knows processed cocaine is a problem. 

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Even wine aficionados like me know alcohol is a problem, not an answer -but what would happen if we had global prohibition, do you think alcohol would go away, or would that cause the incarceration of thousands of otherwise law-abiding drinkers (which elsewhere you risibly seem to think is a deterrent to utter desperados) not to mention cartel wars over deadly poisonous firewater too?

Please respond when you've read something other than the mainstream media and government funded propaganda "health" sites about drugs and don't forget to google the LEOs like Neil Woods who've seen the futility of your drug crusade first hand.

[Venusianhart]

  On 6/19/2022 at 12:37 PM, astro said:

It is also unnecessary to specify "British man", it could easily prejudice readers against British men.

Would it be less of a read if it said "Person arrested on international arrest warrant”?

Not true: there are considerable differences in effects on physical and mental health, habit-forming etc.

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You're conflating drug dependency with drug use. I stand by my assertion that addiction to anything is borne out of the psychology of the user, not the drug.

Every single person who has ever been given morphine post-surgery, and left hospital to never have a flicker of craving for heroin after discharge is my evidence. What is yours? The so called opiate crisis fails to accept those who fell victim, were always psychologically predisposed anyway, it does not absolve the criminality of providers, but it typically, like so many narratives today (love/hate between USA and the Saudis) tells only half the story.

[Cabra]

  On 6/19/2022 at 12:55 PM, Venusianhart said:

Even wine aficionados like me know alcohol is a problem, not an answer -but what would happen if we had global prohibition, do you think alcohol would go away, or would that cause the incarceration of thousands of otherwise law-abiding drinkers (which elsewhere you risibly seem to think is a deterrent to utter desperados) not to mention cartel wars over deadly poisonous firewater too?

Please respond when you've read something other than the mainstream media and government funded propaganda "health" sites about drugs and don't forget to google the LEOs like Neil Woods who've seen the futility of your drug crusade first hand.

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The US tried alcohol prohibition, and understandably, it failed miserably. Would never suggest going there again. I do believe all humans have addictive personalities (on some level), and everyone has their own unique choices on how they fill those addictions. Be it Pokemon cards, sex, alcohol, tobaccos or other substances (cocaine, herion, etc ). Decriminalization is a step in the right direction. Weed, psychedelic mushrooms and other naturally occurring substance being at the top of the list for decriminalization. Yes! But making all matter of manufactured or designer drugs (GHB, MDMA, fentanyl) available for everyone to self medicate is not going to help anyone. People find ways to abuse whatever they get their hands on, while not seek help for the underlying addictive disorder. Some substances are just too dangerous to leave people to their own devices. Sorry, that's my belief. Do I think we can help those with adduction be decriminalizing, yes. Do I think some things are too dangerous to decriminalize, yes. 

[astro]

  On 6/19/2022 at 1:07 PM, Venusianhart said:

You're conflating drug dependency with drug use. I stand by my assertion that addiction to anything is borne out of the psychology of the user, not the drug.

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No, I am not, read again.

Dependency is just one of several markers to assess how much "Worse" (your word) one drug is than another.

I agree that users mindset play an important part in dependency, another are physical withdrawal symptoms after extended use.

  On 6/19/2022 at 1:07 PM, Venusianhart said:

Every single person who has ever been given morphine post-surgery, and left hospital to never have a flicker of craving for heroin after discharge is my evidence. What is yours?

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My evidence: The millions of heroin addicts since its invention who tried and failed to break the habit. Or are they not worth mentioning because it's solely due to their psychology?

As a rule of thumb, the longer one frequently takes a drug the more difficult to quit. So yes, after post-op treatment for acouple of weeks, it shouldn't be too difficult, after prolonged use it's a different story - see early use in the medical field.

[Soidog]

  On 6/19/2022 at 12:37 PM, astro said:

It is also unnecessary to specify "British man", it could easily prejudice readers against British men.

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Well at least I can see the link to the main body of the story. This is a man wanted by British Police. Having that in the headline at least links it to a relevant point in the main body. I’d be happy if they just drop the demeaning and collective term “foreigner” when it serves no purpose. 

[Cabra]

  On 6/19/2022 at 9:39 AM, Venusianhart said:

Why do you believe suggling something that is arbitrarily illegal is worthy of life in jail?

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Because until something more lasting is done to help people addicted to, or inclined to use, processed cocaine to better manage their affliction, the drug cartels profiting on their misery don't get a free pass. You can decriminalize demand (and we should), but you can't decriminalize unlicensed supply and expect to help addicts (if that's what you truly care about)

[DesperateOldHand]

  On 6/19/2022 at 6:17 AM, Soidog said:

I’m struck by the headline use of the word “Travellers”. Is this a clumsy attempt to control the urge to use the word “foreigners”?  Dear headline writer, if you are struggling, can I suggest the use of the word “People”?  You see, South Africans and Brazilians are all “People”, just like Thais. Thanks.

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Yet, they're still foreigners. So that's how they'll be classified.