Couple accused of violating Thailand’s sovereignty ‘in hiding’

[Grusa]

If the seastead is an independent country, it presumably has its own 12 mile limit. Except where it is contiguous to another country, where the limit for each country is the half-way point, in this case 6 miles. So, to not affect Thai sovereignty, it needs to be 24 miles offshore. At 12 miles, they have stolen 6!

[TPI]

11 hours ago, observer90210 said:

Not that I mean to be nasty, but his girlfriend ?!...I mean...well !....ahem!...whatever....anyhow, one could be rest assured that if he is hiding behind his girlfriend, nobody will get a glimpse of him !

Awww! Just a little bit cruel...what would he eat if he ran out of food?

[raccos21]

 Their world seems dark how to have brighter future. How long they gonna play hide and seek? They have to face the fact sooner or later.

[Bournville]

This situation is so stupid. It's such bad PR for Thailand. The government just doesn't understand how stupid and unfair some situations are... Woman arrested for having an e. Cigarette.. Drunk idiots painting on walls (not old) threatened with years of jail. But rape and murder if tourists... That's just gets forgotten about and often not solved. Killings with vehicles driven by Thai.. That's OK to.. But farangs doing silly things... Prison... Death sentence or lots of cash is the penalty. No Thailand. Enough! 

[simon43]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

A quick note,

There are no international waters off Phuket, Thai territorial waters meet the territorial waters of the Andaman islands (india), Myanmar and Indonesia. To be in true international water you would be thousands of kilometres out in the indian ocean.

I think you are confusing territorial waters with economic zone.  Territorial waters end at 12 nautical miles from shore, economic zone is 200 nautical miles.  Thailand is moaning because this seastead was within it's 200 mile economic zone.

[Grusa]

7 minutes ago, simon43 said:

I think you are confusing territorial waters with economic zone.  Territorial waters end at 12 nautical miles from shore, economic zone is 200 nautical miles.  Thailand is moaning because this seastead was within it's 200 mile economic zone.

Never let factoids stand in the way of a good court case - or a good lynching.

[e2x10]

Yeah, this is way more important than the pollution issue. They need to get right on it.

[khunpa]

Even if you paid me really good money, I would not want to stay on that thing.

 

Way too far, when you suddenly crave a toasty from 7-eleven. 

[mindfulness]

Will it end up like the ‘territorial’ land dispute with Cambodia in the international court. Sheesh ! They sure did get egg on their chins with that one, well what would one expect when it’s all a case of ‘making it up as they go along’, ‘mentally insane’. 

[mindfulness]

9 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Well, they filmed "The Bridge on the River Kwai" in Sri Lanka...

 

Not to mention the one with ‘Yul Brynner’ ‘Chow Yun-Fat’  (cough, cough).

Which begs the question, is ‘Chow Yun-Fat’ on their most wanted list. 

[Moo 2]

Put them in jail, it's the Thai way!

[Bo Lindblad]

12 hours ago, Inn Between said:

Am i the only one who's getting really tired of seeing this non-story being recycled ad nauseam? 

 

There must be at least half a dozen iterations of what's basically the same info. 

 

All these medias live from advertising

[khunpa]

10 minutes ago, Moo 2 said:

Put them in jail, it's the Thai way!

 

Some good old Attitude Adjustment followed by Death Penalty also works fine.

[asiamaster]

Last mobile signal from Tarutao Island? Just a short boat ride to Langkawi Island in Malaysia so should be in Malaysia and probably beyond by now.

[geoffbezoz]

1 minute ago, asiamaster said:

Last mobile signal from Tarutao Island? Just a short boat ride to Langkawi Island in Malaysia so should be in Malaysia and probably beyond by now.

Don't tell the Thais military buffoons, They think everywhere is part of Thailand ????

[bobthomas]

13 hours ago, MeePeeMai said:

The irony of that photo of them happily sharing a bottle of champagne (as if the future couldn't be brighter).  

 

It was a Dream. A "new age" hippie with perhaps a half Million Dollars, derived from a $2,000. Bitcoin investment, Hell bent on perpetuating his delusional reality and making Billions more by selling the endless plots in the Ocean.

[Jingthing]

29 minutes ago, asiamaster said:

Last mobile signal from Tarutao Island? Just a short boat ride to Langkawi Island in Malaysia so should be in Malaysia and probably beyond by now.

OK, so let's say he shows up in Malaysia.

Then what?

Malaysia will know he's a fleeing fugitive with no exit stamp from Thailand. They will just serve him up a laksa and say no worries? 

[bobthomas]

4 hours ago, jasonsamui55 said:

I’ve been following closely as I too am super libertarian minded and love the possibilities of the law of the sea. If he was indeed 12+ nautical miles offshore he should just stay out of Thailand and go elsewhere for the time being as it’s certainly not an extraditable offense, and save his money for bringing a case before the ICC under the international laws of the sea for either piracy or invasion of his “country”. It’s not a Thai issue at all as it is in international waters.

 

In general, the problem with all these “micro nations” is that they’re all well and good in theory but absent a bigger navy than their neighbors, they lose, as it’s still a realist world. And another thing and possibly his failing in my opinion, is he can’t have had his cake and eaten it too. If it truly was another “country” he should have gotten an exit stamp each time he left Thai sovereign waters and given himself an entry stamp in his country, and then an exit stamp when leaving his country and a re-entry stamp when arriving in Thailand again.

 

He probably should make a go fund me page and get all the libertarian seasteading bitcoin crowd to follow him. If he could get some luminaries in the bitcoin world take up his case, like CZ from Binance or John McAfee or Erik Voorkees or Kim Dotcom to take up his cause he’ll be rolling in bitcoins to use for his legal defense. He’s already got lots of press. It just needs to be seized upon and spun correctly. If Julian Assange can raise hundreds of thousands of USD worth of BTC within moments of his arrest, so can this guy. His case is an easy cause célèbre. And it seems like that has already started....

 

 

Whether it's an extraditable offense has yet to be seen because it's about precedent of which at this point there isn't one.. Additionally, any country he enters, he would theoretically be entering illegally as he never got an exit stamp from Thailand. Naturally, this can be mitigated with the proper dispersion of some coin of the realm to the indigenous authorities.

 

My guess is these Sea-steading folks will continue to buy publicity from this scenario as they attempt to find financial backing to further their cause.

 

The truly scary thought is that they find it. Already Passports are for sale legally in many countries. All of this new digital age shit is often just a cover for criminal enterprises and dissension, all of it attempting to hide under the guise of freedom.

 

[bobthomas]

4 hours ago, Lucius verus said:

He could very easily pay his way over the Thai Laos border with legit stamps for both countries.

Small money.

Law enforcement in Thailand is irrelevant for people with money.

Cops give passports back to cop killers ie . RedBull punk.

55555 Anyone giving an exit stamp to this clown will be transferred to Yala, or worse! Besides, his name is obviously in the system as a numbskull that has no Visa. You are obviously new to this.

[jasonsamui55]

16 minutes ago, bobthomas said:

Whether it's an extraditable offense hasn't has yet to be seen because it's about precedent of which at this point there isn't one.. Additionally, any country he enters, he would theoretically be entering illegally as he never got an exit stamp from Thailand. Naturally, this can be mitigated with the proper dispersion of some coin of the realm to the indigenous authorities.

 

My guess is these Sea-steading folks will continue to buy publicity from this scenario as they attempt to find financial backing to further their cause.

 

The truly scary thought is that they find it. Already Passports are for sale legally in many countries. All of this new digital age shit is often just a cover for criminal enterprises and dissension, all of it attempting to hide under the guise of freedom.

 

Thailand has lost all credibility with the international community with extradition requests. Look at big brother Thaksin and his little sister, and the Red Bull guy, and so many others. What Thailand considers illegal more often than not isn’t even worthy of a law or a mention in many other countries, and that’s why I say it’s quite unlikely to be consider an extraditable offence. 

 

As someone with multiple passports myself, I can say that very few, if any, countries he may enter next will look for an exit stamp from the previous country he exited. Thailand itself does not. I can say that for sure because I went back to my “home country” of Hong Kong where I am a permanent resident and obtained a new EU passport and then flew from HK to Thailand with a new passport and not a single stamp in it, entry or departure, and Bangkok immigration didn’t think twice about it.

 

How is it cover for criminal enterprises and dissension when someone chooses to move to a new country, or to found a new one. It’s story of human emigration for thousands of years. If you don’t like the rules in your one house, you leave and find or build a new house. They weren’t criminals on the run until this happened, just people looking for a better way or place to love, and by any interpretation of international laws still are not criminals, except for maybe immigration violations for exiting Thailand and re-entering without the proper exit and entry stamps.

[holy cow cm]

41 minutes ago, bobthomas said:

It was a Dream. A "new age" hippie with perhaps a half Million Dollars, derived from a $2,000. Bitcoin investment, Hell bent on perpetuating his delusional reality and making Billions more by selling the endless plots in the Ocean.

That picture of him with the company logo shirt on is hard evidence to incriminate him more for participation. Bummer.

[BernieOnTour]

“Their mobile phone signal identified their last known spot as Tarutao Island in Satun province,“

 

In essence this means:

- without the use of his ATIS transponder (as required by Thai naval law), they were not able to hunt down his sailing yacht 555

- Tarutao island was most likely just passed by him, when he picked up the mobile signal. The southern tip of Tarutao is just 4.2 nm away from Langkawi ... less than 1 hour with his yacht.

- Not unlikely moored in Langkawi marina now, sipping another bottle of Champagne 

[Berkshire]

10 minutes ago, jasonsamui55 said:

Thailand has lost all credibility with the international community with extradition requests. Look at big brother Thaksin and his little sister, and the Red Bull guy, and so many others. What Thailand considers illegal more often than not isn’t even worthy of a law or a mention in many other countries, and that’s why I say it’s quite unlikely to be consider an extraditable offence. 

 

As someone with multiple passports myself, I can say that very few, if any, countries he may enter next will look for an exit stamp from the previous country he exited. Thailand itself does not. I can say that for sure because I went back to my “home country” of Hong Kong where I am a permanent resident and obtained a new EU passport and then flew from HK to Thailand with a new passport and not a single stamp in it, entry or departure, and Bangkok immigration didn’t think twice about it.

 

How is it cover for criminal enterprises and dissension when someone chooses to move to a new country, or to found a new one. It’s story of human emigration for thousands of years. If you don’t like the rules in your one house, you leave and find or build a new house. They weren’t criminals on the run until happened, just people looking for a better way or place to love, and by any interpretation of international laws still arrive not criminals, except for maybe immigration violations for exiting Thailand and re-entering without the proper exit and entry stamps.

I don't know if you realize the contradiction.  You yourself with multiple passports have tried to do things legally, whereas this couple....not so much.  People are looking at this strictly as this one couple and what's the harm.  I--and the Thai gov most likely--look at it as a precedent setting moment.  What is seasteading?  Well their basic concept is to create permanent dwellings at sea outside the territory claimed by any government.  Which is to say they will not be subject to any laws of any country.  Can you imagine the possibilities?  How about a religious cult that decides to seastead and have a community complete with drugs, polygamy, underage sex, animal sacrifice, etc.  Or if ISIS decides to establish a seastead off the coast of New York City?  Or as someone else mentioned, a massive line of seasteaders that can actually cause a hazard to navigation.  People on the side of this couple really haven't thought things through.   

 

     

[JimP]

Leave it to a military junta to kill a man and woman's dream of happiness.  I cheer for this couple and scorn the blustering buffoons who think they were any kind of threat with their floating teapot at sea.  

[sambum]

16 hours ago, tifino said:

so there was all that talk about Death Penalties, yet they haven;t even created the Arrest Warrants

 

so, there was all that talk accusing them of being inside thailand's territories, yet they are now awaiting word from the AttGen office, because they're crime was committed outside of Thailand's territories

 

it's getting a bit like changing the rules during an America's Cup yacht race!

Or charging a politician with unknown crimes!

 

"However, Sawang said he could not tell at the moment which Article of the laws Thanathorn had violated."

[lemonjelly]

5 hours ago, Crash999 said:

That was their quick cover story. Nevermind the Youtube videos still up that said they were behind the venture and planned to build 20 more soon. 

Aahhh, I didn’t know about this, thanks for the heads-up

[metisdead]

A post in violation of the following has been removed:

 

8.) You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities.

 

 

A troll post and some replies have been removed. 

[StevieAus]

17 hours ago, worgeordie said:

If that is the case ,what has it got to do with Thailand

regards worgeordie

I think you will find that a number of countries have laws that allow them to take action against their citizens for crimes committed overseas Australia has prosecuted people for offenses against children committed overseas and the US brought a number of alleged terrorists who were not their citizens to the US.

In this case for what it’s worth I recall that Thailand claimed the structure was within their economic zone?

[Hoppyone]

17 hours ago, MeePeeMai said:

The irony of that photo of them happily sharing a bottle of champagne (as if the future couldn't be brighter).  

 

Celebrating,Sitting on the diving platform 

[guenter]

Too bad Thailand doesn't pursue real criminals like murders and drug dealers with as much vigor.