Backlash Over Release of 85-Year-Old Drug Trafficker in Thailand

Thailand’s Justice Minister has ordered a review of the country’s pardon criteria following widespread criticism over the release of an 85-year-old convicted drug trafficker who served less than 10 years of a life sentence.

Laota Saenlee, a former anti-communist guerrilla who later became involved in drug trafficking, was arrested by undercover officers in 2016 for selling crystal methamphetamine in the Golden Triangle, a notorious drug-producing region where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.

He was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, Thailand’s Corrections Department said he was released from a maximum-security prison near Bangkok on Friday after a series of royal pardons reduced his sentence.

Officials said Laota qualified for the release because of his advanced age and good behaviour while in prison. Authorities added that he would be monitored following his release.

The decision has sparked strong public criticism, with some former law enforcement officials questioning why a major drug offender was considered eligible for early release.

Rewat Klinkesorn, a former narcotics police chief who was involved in investigating Laota, said he was shocked by the decision and called for the corrections system to strengthen its regulations.

Justice Minister Rutthapon Naowarat said on Tuesday that he had directed the Corrections Department to provide clarification on the circumstances surrounding Laota’s pardon and release.

“The officials followed the pardon criteria, but there are some flaws in the criteria,” the minister said, adding that a review was already underway.

Laota, who belongs to the Lisu ethnic minority, reportedly joined China’s anti-communist Kuomintang as a child soldier before later fighting communist insurgents in Thailand during the 1970s.

He has also been linked to Khun Sa, a notorious Myanmar-based rebel leader and drug trafficker who died in 2007.

The Golden Triangle has long been associated with large-scale production and trafficking of heroin, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs, with organised criminal groups operating across the region.

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