Thailand vows review after release of 85-year-old drug trafficker sparks backlash

Thailand’s justice minister has ordered a review of pardon rules after public criticism over the release of an 85-year-old man convicted of drug trafficking who served less than a decade of a life sentence.

What happened

According to IOL, Laota Saenlee was arrested by undercover officers in 2016 for selling crystal meth in the Golden Triangle region, an area where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet that has long been associated with prolific illicit drug production.

Thailand’s corrections department said Laota was released from a maximum-security prison north of Bangkok on Friday after a series of royal pardons reduced his life sentence to below the nearly 10 years he served. The department said he was freed because of his age and good behaviour and that local authorities would monitor him after his release.

Public and official reaction

According to IOL, the release drew widespread condemnation on social media. Rewat Klinkesorn, a former narcotics police chief who once investigated Laota, told local media he was “shocked that a major drugs dealer was released so early” and said: “The corrections department should improve their regulations. He should not be classified as a good inmate because he is a major drugs dealer.”

Justice Minister Rutthapon Naowarat told reporters he had ordered the corrections department to clarify the facts related to Laota’s pardon and release. “The officials followed the (pardon) criteria but there are some flaws in the criteria,” Rutthapon said, adding that a review was underway, according to IOL.

Background on Laota Saenlee

According to IOL, Laota, who is from the Lisu ethnic minority, was a former anti-communist guerrilla who later became involved in drug running and has been linked to powerful Myanmar drug kingpins. Before his 2017 conviction he had been detained multiple times without charges sticking.

IOL reports that Laota joined China’s anti-communist Kuomintang as a child soldier and later fought for Thailand against communist insurgents in the 1970s in exchange for sanctuary, according to a 2011 Bangkok Post interview. He is widely thought to have had ties to Khun Sa, a Myanmar-based rebel leader who died in 2007.

Region context

According to IOL, organised crime groups in the Golden Triangle move an estimated tens of billions of dollars worth of heroin, methamphetamine and ketamine annually from the region.

What officials say will happen next

Rutthapon’s order requires the corrections department to clarify the facts around Laota’s pardons and review the pardon criteria, according to IOL. The corrections department said local authorities would monitor Laota following his release.

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