Often, the first question people ask us after getting charged with a drug offense is whether they will be going to jail.

Every case is different, of course, but in Thailand the chances are high that you will go to jail depending on the charge. From a short period of time to a long time i.e., 1 month – 99 years.

In many cases, which may be yours, you feel you are not guilty of the charges, we will defend you to ensure your legal and human rights and to provide a very good defense to prove your innocence.

However, in Thailand, if you plead guilty to a drug charge you will receive between 1 month probation to 10 years in jail.

If, however, you plead not guilty and then found guilty you, most likely, will receive a sentence of between 10 to 99 years or even the death penalty.

Let us get rid of the myth, bribing the judge and court officers just does not happen. The cases are too serious, if this can happen why are there thousands of foreigners in Thai jails?

If you feel the arrest was wrongly carried out. Four or more police officers will swear in court they did arrest you correctly and it will be your word against theirs.

The laws you have broken in Thailand for possession of illegal drugs are under the Narcotic Regulation B.E. 2522 Act.

• Drugs manufacturing (heroin, methamphetamine or LSD) resulting in death sentence
• Any conviction of possession with intent to distribute of heroin, methamphetamine or LSD is a 4 years to death sentence
• Conviction of possession of marijuana is imposed in excess of the 5 years maximum
• Heroin
  • less than 3g conviction 4 years – 15 years imprisoned
  • 3g to 20g conviction 4 years to life imprisoned
  • 20g or more conviction life imprisoned to death sentence
• Marijuana
  • less than 5kg conviction 5 years maximum
  • 5kg to 10kg conviction 2 – 10 years imprisoned
  • 10kg or more conviction 2-15 years imprisoned
• Amphetamine
  • less than 1.5g conviction 4 years – 15 years imprisoned
  • 1.5g to 20g conviction 4 years to life imprisoned
  • 20g or more conviction life imprisoned to death sentence

For use of the following substances;

1) Heroin, diacetylmorphine – a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. It can be used legally as an analgesic (a painkiller)

2) Cocaine, a stimulant extract of naturally-occuring plant substances, as the hydrochloride salt. Legally used as an anesthetic.

3) Crack, a solid, smokable form of cocaine in its purest form

4) Crystal Meth (Ice), methamphetamine, a stimulant related to amphetamines. Addiction typically occurs when a person begins to use the drug as a stimulant, for its powerful enhancing effects on sex, mood and energy, alertness and ability to concentrate, and weight loss and appetite suppression, among its other psychological and physical effects. Legal use includes the treatment of Narcolepsy.

5) Amphetamine, a stimulant known to produce increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.

6) Ecstasy, a type of illicit street tablet containing one or more different psychoactive drugs sold on the black market and intended for recreational uses.

7) Marijuana, the leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant.

Depending on whether you were just in possession, trafficking or manufacturing, of one or more of the above drugs will determine how serious the charges will be.

One area of similarity is law, especially policy on drug suppression and jurisprudence. Yet the enforcement and penalties used by the two nations tell a different tale.

The most obvious difference in drug laws is the death penalty. In Thailand, possession of category one drugs "for the purpose of disposal" carries the death penalty, although this has not been used since 2004. The Narcotics Act is vague about category one drugs, simply stating "dangerous drugs such as Heroin".

Rehabilitation counselling is also mandatory in Thailand for all categories of drugs, so even a weed smoker would have to attend a course.

In the UK, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment. This is usually reserved for those who carry "class A" drugs with intent to supply. The Home Office is clearer about what drugs are class A: Ecstasy, LSD, heroin, cocaine, crack, magic mushrooms, amphetamines (if prepared for injection). Amphetamines have just been upgraded from class B to class A . I'd be grateful to anyone who can tell me what this drug is graded as in Thailand?

Thailand uses its regular police to fight narcotics traffickers but it has a special office - The Office of Narcotics Control Board - to do so. It also has a money laundering agency (AMLO). To my knowledge the UK has no dedicated office with the exception of Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. (The UK utilises the Home Office for most of its anti money laundering measures)

Thailand's Narcotics Act specifies that a "competent official" ( defined as "any official appointed by the minister for execution of the act", so therefore all police officers I guess) has the right to question, detain, search the premises , search the person, and seize any drugs or any "properties used to commit an offence" when dealing with a drugs suspect. The law also stipulates the officer must act in "good faith", give his reasons for suspicion and record the event.

The UK law is remarkably similar. The 2005 Drugs Act gives police power to question, search and detain suspected drug dealers, though the PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence) act is clearer about the duties and responsibilities of the officer and also the conditions of the detention area.

Secondly, due to its proximity to the Golden Triangle and to ethnic resistance groups that supply drugs for weapon funds, Thailand has a greater volume of drug trafficking around its shores. The availability of drugs may be greater, but the frequency of raids and swift punishments is also greater.

Thailand has no Police Complaints Commission or anything similar to the UK version. There have been frequent calls for more control or accountability of the police and attempts at reform have been frequent. However, these efforts have always been heavily resisted. Three scholars at Thailand's top university once published a popular analysis of Thailand's illegal economy and stated "The police are unlikely to suppress activities with which they are heavily involved" (Phongpaichit, Piriyarangsan, Treerat, 1998)

It's hard to make a statistical comparison of drugs related arrests in Thailand and the UK. The best I can tell you is that in Thailand, the number of drugs related arrests was 215,209 in 2002 , 102407 in 2003 and 58,853 in 2004.

The most up to date figures I can acquire for the UK put the figure at 134,101 for 1999 and 124,345 for 2000.

No doubt the figure for 2002 and the sudden drop in 2003 and 2004 in Thailand jumped out at you. There is a reason for this: War on Drugs.

Thailand's war on drugs

In 2003 then PM Thaksin Shiniwat instigated the war on drugs. Thaksin claimed to be doing this in response to a speech from His Majesty The King who called for a solution to the methamphetimine problem that had been plaguing Thailand.

Thaksin cut a fantastic speech announcing the campaign as he explained clearly and forcefully that whoever was dealing with drugs, where ever the were, they must be dealt with. He repeatedly explained that funds and resources would be available to eradicate drugs in all districts. The speech was inspiring.

Then the hell began. Over the next three months , two thousand people died. Concerns about the police force were already widespread, now that same force was told to produce results or face the consequences. Suddenly, hundreds of alleged small time drugs dealers were shot dead, each time with a small packet of amphetamine found on their person. The police almost unerringly announced it was "silence killings" meaning one dealer shooting another dealer to prevent grassing.

The scariest thing about the war on drugs was the strength and vitriol behind some of the public speeches concerning the war on drugs and its heavy death toll.

It's difficult for me to write too much about this. See here for more.

Yaba, the 'crazy medicine' of East Asia

19 May 2008 - Yaba, or 'crazy medicine' in Thai, is a tablet form of methamphetamine, and a very powerful stimulant. Introduced to East Asia during World War II to enhance soldiers' performance, methamphetamine has become increasingly popular in East Asia, particularly among young people. Yaba is now the main form of methamphetamine abused in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia as well as Viet Nam and Myanmar, where it is typically manufactured.

Mixed with caffeine and usually 30 per cent methamphetamine, the drug is a central nervous system stimulant. Although it comes in a pill form, yaba is usually crushed and smoked. Users get an intense 'burst' of energy, followed by increased activity, decreased appetite and a general sense of well-being. Once the effects wear off, the user 'crashes' and experiences prolonged periods of sleep and depression.

Like other forms of methamphetamine, long-term abuse of yaba can produce strong dependence. Users develop tolerance and require increasing amounts of the drug to feel the same effects. Excessive doses can result in convulsions, seizures and death from respiratory failure, stroke or heart failure. The drug can trigger aggressive and violent behaviour, and psychiatric disorders have also been associated with its use.

Traditionally used by occupational workers such as truck drivers, the use of yaba in East Asia shifted into youth culture about 10 years ago. Starting in Thailand and spreading into Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam, yaba consumers in the region are now estimated in the millions. Recently, the drug has been spreading toward the Indian subcontinent; in 2007, a record 1,200,000 yaba tablets were confiscated in Bangladesh where there is a potentially very large market. 

The development and spread of yaba in the region has been opportunistic. As UNODC expert Jeremy Douglas explains, "it is a drug that is cheap to manufacture and cheap to purchase. You introduce it somewhere and develop a market fairly quickly because it is cheap and highly addictive." With one tablet costing as little as US$ 1 in Cambodia to US$ 5 in Bangkok, the drug is very easy to produce if in possession of the necessary precursor materials. "You can have labs producing 10,000 tablets per hour hidden anywhere", he adds.

Unlike geographically confined, crop-based drugs, such as opium in Afghanistan, synthetic drugs like yaba can be produced anywhere in the world where there are weaknesses in law enforcement and in precursor chemical regulations. The portable and clandestine nature of production also makes it difficult to monitor and assess the situation systematically. "At the moment the information base is quite fractured", says Douglas. "In some parts of the world, we know it is there - we just don't know the extent to which it is."

To help address the issue, UNODC is launching the Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analysis, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme. Set up in hotspots and key priority regions of the world, SMART teams will assess data and information, thus enabling countries to strategically plan prevention and law enforcement responses. 

Cannabis
Bongo/Ganja/Grass/Marijuana/Pot/Thai sticks

Cannabis is a tobacco-like greenish or brownish material made up of the dried flowering tops and leaves of the cannabis (hemp) plant. Cannabis resin or "hash" is the dried black or brown secretion of the flowering tops of the cannabis plant, which is made into a powder or pressed into slabs or cakes. Cannabis oil or "hash oil" is cannabis resin in liquid form. Cannabis is by far the most cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug.

How is it taken?

All forms of cannabis are usually smoked. Cannabis resin and oil can also be ingested orally or brewed in tea.