News Forum - Thai stuntman kidnapped in drug smuggling ring in Myanmar

[Thaiger]

The mother of a famous Thai stuntman coach has appealed to the police to bring her kidnapped son home from Myanmar after he got caught up in a drug smuggling ring. Thai stuntman trainer, Ramai “Dan” Moripunt, is locked up in a Burmese prison after being accused of drug trafficking with two Thai friends. The 40 year old travelled from Laos to Myanmar on January 4, with one friend named Chai, from Tachileik town in the Shan State of Myanmar, and another one called A, who lived in Laos, on the pretence of meeting a Burmese movie investor. Dan arrived […]

The story Thai stuntman kidnapped in drug smuggling ring in Myanmar as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

[Fanta]

36 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

they all got arrested by the Burmese army, accused of swindling 24 million baht from the army’s leader to buy drugs

The moral of the story - never try to rip your dealer off when he is also an army general? 

[perceblue]

He wasn`t kidnapped, he was arrest and imprisoned on drug charges.

Me thinks there is a slight difference here.

Anyway, for what I`ve read, many Thais that visit Myanmar are there on some kind of dodgy business.

[Highlandman]

1 hour ago, perceblue said:

He wasn`t kidnapped, he was arrest and imprisoned on drug charges.

Me thinks there is a slight difference here.

Anyway, for what I`ve read, many Thais that visit Myanmar are there on some kind of dodgy business.

Well considering Myanmar is closed right now, it has to be dodgy. This man illegally entered Myanmar from Laos, which has no official border crossing open. The Lao-Myanmar Friendship Bridge has never opened for general traffic, since it's completion in 2015 and 3rd country foreigners, such as Thai nationals, have never been allowed to use it.

Moreover, he traveled to Myanmar on January 4, which was at a time when ALL land borders in the region were still closed. Even to this day, ALL Burmese land borders remain closed, with only a few open to freight.

Being asked to enter a country illegally, dodging quarantine rules, this guy could have found himself imprisoned for years just on that charge alone.

I would have thought with Thais' willingness to wear masks and get vaccinated and until relatively recently being required to quarantine upon arriving in the country, they'd know better than to cross into another country illegally. That has dodgy written all over it.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Highlandman

[Highlandman]

What a foolish person. Firstly, how did he get to Laos? Laos on January 4th had just opened 2 days earlier to vaccinated tourists who at the time were required to be quarantined for 48 hours at a hotel upon entering the country, which was only possible via Wattay Airport in Vientiane and the 1st Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge at Thanaleng (opposite Nong Khai). They had to undertake one PCR test before being released and then were ONLY allowed to travel in Vientiane capital, Vientiane and Luang Prabang provinces.

The only way this Thai could have legally been present in Bokeo or Luang Nam Tha provinces (the two provinces sharing a border with Myanmar) would have been

1) if he was stuck in Laos since the country closed it's borders on Mar 20, 2020 OR

2) he was able to enter the country via repatriation flights or by land with permission from the Lao authorities as a work permit holding foreign national and then undertake a 14 day quarantine (prior to January 2, 2022) or 48 hours (since Jan 2, 2022). Upon completion of the quarantine period, foreign nationals who were vaccinated could travel between provinces at the time.

Therefore, I suspect he probably entered Laos illegally.

Of course, like I mentioned above, he definitely entered Myanmar illegally, which has never had a legal border crossing for foreign nationals, between Laos and Myanmar. The only legal border crossing points, a river port near Xieng Kok and the bridge which has largely replaced it, is for the use of Burmese and Lao traders on day trips ONLY. Thais can't use it, nor can farang, except with special permission and of course not at all during Covid times.

Moreover, the borders were still sealed shut back on January 4, 2022 all across the region. It wasn't until the beginning of April that any land borders really started opening and to this day, ALL land borders that Myanmar shares with its neighbors remain shuttered, except for a few that are open for commercial traffic.

Therefore, while I feel for his plight, I can't express much sympathy when he was illegally crossing borders and dodging quarantine rules that rest of us plebs have had to comply with and knowingly got himself into a dodgy situation. No legitimate employer excepts you to illegally cross a border with no visa, risking years in jail just for that offense alone, in one of the world's most authoritarian regions.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Highlandman

[Highlandman]

2 hours ago, Fanta said:

The moral of the story - never try to rip your dealer off when he is also an army general? 

He did everything wrong, from trying to rip off his dealer to illegally crossing the border.