From sinister to minister: politician's drug trafficking jail time revealed
By Michael Ruffles and Michael Evans
September 9, 2019 — 5.00am

When the newly appointed minister fronted the cameras in July, he explained away questions about a criminal past in Sydney, saying he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was 1993 and he had just landed in the Harbour City. He had been at his friend’s Bondi hotel room for only a few minutes when police swarmed, and, he says, he knew nothing about the drugs they were dealing.

A newly appointed senior Thai government minister who has played down the extent of his criminal past spent four years in a Sydney jail in the 1990s after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import 3kg of heroin.

It was only a few months later, in his version, that he was set free.

However, the Herald and The Age can reveal that a newly appointed senior member of Thailand’s ruling party spent four years in a Sydney jail in the 1990s for his role in trafficking 3.2 kilograms of heroin into Australia. He was deported on his release from Parklea prison.

Thammanat Prompao, a key ally of top generals and an enforcer in the coalition cabinet, was a young soldier known as Manat Bophlom when he pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court to conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of heroin with a street value of up to $4.1 million.

When reports of a previous conviction surfaced in the Thai media in July, days before he was sworn in as a minister, Thammanat downplayed its significance, saying he was found guilty of a “minor offence”.
Full article: https://www.smh.com.au/national/from-si ... 52opz.html

Coincidences.
Coincidences everywhere.

Too lazy to search for the right meme, but i can think of a Woody showing them to Buzz.

noice!

No surprises. You could still buy No4 Thai heroin in Canberra long after all the other major markets in Australia had been taken back by Vietnamese brokered No3 rock. - well into the 1990's.

(source; Thai embassy)

Latest news/revelations.
This was not a one-time personal get rich quick scheme.
He was working on behalf the Calabrian Societe Onorata, Australia's predominant "mafia" org.
He was also charged with the murder of an academic in Thailand in 1998. Three years in gaol before acquittal.

"Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday backed the minister, dismissing the revelations of a heroin trafficking conviction as a "small issue"." (tuesday)

https://www.smh.com.au/national/ex-con- ... 52qow.html
Ex-con cabinet minister changes story over Sydney jail time
Under pressure over revelations in the Herald and The Age that he spent four years in a Sydney jail for conspiracy to import 3.2kg of heroin, government enforcer Thammanat Prompao told the Thai Parliament he spent eight months in lock-up but the rest of the four years in “state-sponsored accommodation” as a witness.

It seems the AFP and DFAT and Home Affairs (australian) are doing their best to cover his arse too.
They go out of their way to ensure completely innocent drug mules get 23 years in a cambodian gaol - but always protecting the interests of any foreign politician/ foreign investor/Oz Big-Biz criminals.



l

With a conviction for murder and a conviction for heroin trafficking, the gentleman is particularly well suited for Thai politics. He has the full support of the general who staged a coup and no doubt the support of the defence minister that owns 25 luxury watches. It is the peasants that get caught picking mushrooms in national forests that are the real criminals in this country. After serving two years of their five-year sentence, received a royal pardon. Thailand is all about second chances.

Anthony's Weiner wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 6:18 am ... and no doubt the support of the defence minister that owns 25 luxury watches.
It is the peasants that get caught picking mushrooms in national forests

No mushrooms here..

...two wives and seven children, a wealth of about $ 42 million, a car park including Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Tesla and Mercedes along with 12 Hermes and 13 Chanel handbags, luxury watches and Buddhist amulets.
The 54-year-old's second wife, the 24-year-old beauty contest Thanaporn, followed him on the campaign trail.

Full biography here.
https://vaaju.com/aus/the-politicians-j ... -revealed/

PS, charge was rape and murder of gay academic, but he was eventually acquitted with big insider help.
Charming fellow.

^^^
PS, he would have picked up the gay rape habit during his four year stint in a Sydney gaol.
For sure.

LOSG - Land of Shit-Eating Grins.

The guy made a youthful mistake, did his time and paid his debt to society. As a reformed ex-con, he would like to have the opportunity to serve in the government that is helping Thailand return to demokrazy and progress.

We should let the matter go and get back to the fascinating thread about what Yong had for lunch last Wednesday.