Mushroom-picking couple's prison term reduced to 5 years

[pookiki]

4 minutes ago, robblok said:

If proven I am all for harsh justice.. especially the kind that cut down trees for money in a nature reserve.. However, I am not sure these guys are guilty of that.. and if guilty I am sure they are not the one in charge. But yes if guilty then a harsh punishment should be given. But Thailand is a joke sometimes rape.. 2x and your still out quite fast.. then this (if guilty) is harsh in comparison. 

What must be remembered is that the advice to plead 'guilty' is not all that unusual in Thailand because an 'innocent' plea is regarded as an affront to the power and efficacy of the police or the military.   Then, as you astutely note, there is no rational way to explain lengthy sentences for relatively minor crimes and light sentences for serious crimes.  And that doesn't even begin to address the issue of repeat offenders.  Not that Thai prisons are noted for their ability to rehabilitate.  Prison conditions in Thailand are abysmal. I truly pity the fact that people of this age will be incarcerated with hard-core felons.  

[Moonmoon]

Good on the Judge to reduce their sentences.

 

Meanwhile, rich redbull heir still has not appear for his court dates, no arrest yet for underage child prostitution ring in Mae Hong Son, triple convicted rapist was allowed to rent cab and commit rape for the third time and was only jailed 4 years each for the 2 previous convictions b4.

 

no the law is good and fair here. next.

[robblok]

1 minute ago, pookiki said:

What must be remembered is that the advice to plead 'guilty' is not all that unusual in Thailand because an 'innocent' plea is regarded as an affront to the power and efficacy of the police or the military.   Then, as you astutely note, there is no rational way to explain lengthy sentences for relatively minor crimes and light sentences for serious crimes.  And that doesn't even begin to address the issue of repeat offenders.  Not that Thai prisons are noted for their ability to rehabilitate.  Prison conditions in Thailand are abysmal. I truly pity the fact that people of this age will be incarcerated with hard-core felons.  

I agree.. that in Thailand its normal to plead guilty.. it halves your sentence. So that is a good thing. 

[happyas]

35 minutes ago, sanemax said:

It needs to be established whether they were part of the logging group, or just two people picking mushrooms who were caught up in this .

   That should be easy to establish .

Was the forest close to their home ?

Illegal loggers tend to go far from home to cut trees down

Mushroom pickers pick locally .

I have a feeling that there were illegal loggers in the forest , they all fled when the Police came , the two mushroom pickers didnt flee , because they were not part of the gang .

   The Police found the motorbike and waited for someone to pick it up , the pickers arrived back with their mushrooms and were arrested for illegal logging

  If they were part of the logging gang, they would have told the Police who the other members were .

   

   

#14 above;

 

Udom and Deang Sirisorn were convicted of encroaching on 72 rai (12 hectares) of Dong Ranang national forest, where they engaged in deforestation.

 

They cut down more than 1,000 valuable trees and illegally possessed restricted timber.

 

The couple claimed they merely collected wild mushrooms in the forest.

[pookiki]

8 minutes ago, robblok said:

I agree.. that in Thailand its normal to plead guilty.. it halves your sentence. So that is a good thing. 

It's a good thing only if you ARE guilty!!!!  Also, it skews sentencing for serious crimes or sentences for trivial matters for which it is too difficult for the poor to contest.

[robblok]

Just now, pookiki said:

Only if you ARE guilty!!!!

Yes of course (or can't prove your innocent). Or maybe not.. not sure.. i mean suppose your charged with murder but cant prove your innocence.. what do you want.. go to jail longer but innocent.. or plead guilty and be out faster ? 

[pookiki]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes of course (or can't prove your innocent). Or maybe not.. not sure.. i mean suppose your charged with murder but cant prove your innocence.. what do you want.. go to jail longer but innocent.. or plead guilty and be out faster ? 

If you can't bribe your way out of the charge, I agree -- plead guilty because the odds of prevailing on a 'innocent' plea are overwhelmingly against you -- irrespective of the evidence.  Money is the only justice.

[sanemax]

6 minutes ago, happyas said:

#14 above;

 

Udom and Deang Sirisorn were convicted of encroaching on 72 rai (12 hectares) of Dong Ranang national forest, where they engaged in deforestation.

 

They cut down more than 1,000 valuable trees and illegally possessed restricted timber.

 

The couple claimed they merely collected wild mushrooms in the forest.

Yes, but were they part of the gang that cut the trees down ?

There was a gang that escaped , they were the ones who cut those tress down

Were the mushroom pickers part of that gang, or were they just gathering mushrooms and got caught up in it ?

[sanemax]

5 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes of course (or can't prove your innocent). Or maybe not.. not sure.. i mean suppose your charged with murder but cant prove your innocence.. what do you want.. go to jail longer but innocent.. or plead guilty and be out faster ? 

Although they were not charged with "murder"

Everyone knows murder is a serious offence .

We are talking about cutting trees down , 

They were told that if they pleaded guilty, they wouldnt go to jail

[JungleBiker]

@ Robblok I thought everyone was assumed "innocent until proven guilty", not "guilty until proven innocent"..!? 

 

BTW, in the first article they are a middle-aged couple (54 and 51).

An hour later, in the second article, they are an elderly couple! 

 

My guess is the mushroom story was made up, but seeing as they were sharing a motorbike, not an SUV, I guess they were 300-baht-per-day-workers and not the fat cat making the serious money. If so, the punishment, even with the reduction, is way too heavy. 

[tomwct]

• This is what happens when your poor illiterate and have a Stupid Attorney. In Wan Nam Keo government people have stolen
• so much land to build houses and resorts on, it's incredible. No one ever goes to jail. Many Generals and Admirals have
• built beautiful mountain retreats on government forests and lands here and no one goes to jail. In Kanchanaburi, a husband and
• wife rented government forests and lands to local farmers for 20 years. They were found guilty 15 years ago, but their still
• appealing their convictions. Their both in 70-80's. They'll be dead before they go to jail and they are spending all that ill-gotten
• monies on their high life styles. So, the poor get screwed and the wealthy and powerful enjoy their Thai life to it's fullest.
• Amazing Thailand.The Judges who sentenced that couple should be ashamed of themselves They know what's going on in 
• this country. Amazing Justice System!

[robblok]

15 minutes ago, JungleBiker said:

@ Robblok I thought everyone was assumed "innocent until proven guilty", not "guilty until proven innocent"..!? 

 

BTW, in the first article they are a middle-aged couple (54 and 51).

An hour later, in the second article, they are an elderly couple! 

 

My guess is the mushroom story was made up, but seeing as they were sharing a motorbike, not an SUV, I guess they were 300-baht-per-day-workers and not the fat cat making the serious money. If so, the punishment, even with the reduction, is way too heavy. 

They are guilty by as by a court sentence ..  but we are all speculating here if they are really guilty or not... 

[pookiki]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

They are guilty by as by a court sentence ..  but we are all speculating here if they are really guilty or not... 

Speculating is a sound exercise in the Thai justice system, right?  One must not rush to judge someone guilty -- even if their lawyer told them that 'guilt' was the best option.

[TheFishman1]

Unbelievable TIT

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

In a country with rule of law there must be justice and to have justice sentences of people must be equal to what they have done wrong and must be comparable to sentences others receive. Here we have a case of two people caught logging or picking mushrooms it doesn't matter as a 15 year sentence for illegal logging is too severe and so is 5 years. But compare this to the sentence of a certain 15 year old girl with a long name that drove a vehicle without a DL and killed people. She got a suspended sentence which she appealed and had to do community service which she tried to avoid. As the Thai saying goes prisons are build for the poor.

[phantomfiddler]

Free them now, I say. Now ! Do you hear me ? NOW !!!!!

[soalbundy]

3 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Mushroom picking classified as "illegal logging". Gotta love rule-by-law.

 

Someone in the judicial system: prosecutor or judge should have nipped this in the bud, but these commoners need to be made an example of I guess.

 

Five years (from fifteen) still seems overly harsh? Were they wearing some illegal red-shirts, or in possession of the wrong type of red bowl? 

I think that they were driving a pick up instead of a Ferrari

[Sydebolle]

Well, that makes the trial of "Boss", the Red Bull grandson all the more exciting. If the same judge is in charge then Boss can get familiar with spending the next 14'961 years in jail - good luck at Bang Kwang then! 

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, robblok said:

If proven I am all for harsh justice.. especially the kind that cut down trees for money in a nature reserve.. However, I am not sure these guys are guilty of that.. and if guilty I am sure they are not the one in charge. But yes if guilty then a harsh punishment should be given. But Thailand is a joke sometimes rape.. 2x and your still out quite fast.. then this (if guilty) is harsh in comparison. 

Hey ! we are talking about mushrooms baby, real mushrooms,doesn't get much worse than that, even feeding fish, or driving over a policeman while DUI isn't that bad.

[ChakaKhan]

RAPE a tourist..pay fine and back to do it for a 3RD time perhaps..no threat

 

pick mushrooms----lock em up and throw away the key

 

a vegetable has more value than human life here--dogs too it seems

 

Well i guess thais are right when they show me how smart they are.....

 

Glad im going home in 2 weeks...this place makes me jaded and cynical

[kannot]

The only thing that should be locked up forever is the Thai stupidity they call an " in justice system"

[kannot]

2 hours ago, Moonmoon said:

Good on the Judge to reduce their sentences.

 

Meanwhile, rich redbull heir still has not appear for his court dates, no arrest yet for underage child prostitution ring in Mae Hong Son, triple convicted rapist was allowed to rent cab and commit rape for the third time and was only jailed 4 years each for the 2 previous convictions b4.

 

no the law is good and fair here. next.

dont forget the Police head in Sam Roi Yot whose  name disappeared from the charge  sheet yet was in a  photo of  illegal endangered animal species hunting.................oh  yes Thailand land of the "up yours common folk"

[MyFriend You]

3 hours ago, JohnThailandJohn said:

Police were after illegal loggers in the area and they all fled when police arrived. This couple fled too but were found because the police found their motorcycle at the scene. The couple then stated they were just there to pick mushrooms. They then say they plead guilty to the charge of illegal logging on advice of their lawyer who they say told them they would not receive any jail time if they confessed. They had also confessed when they were questioned by police but they said they thought police were questioning them about picking mushrooms not logging.

Really??   or is this tongue in cheek..............

[tso310]

Anti logging squad arrest 2 people. Looks good on the statistics. Proves what a good job they are doing.

[robblok]

45 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Hey ! we are talking about mushrooms baby, real mushrooms,doesn't get much worse than that, even feeding fish, or driving over a policeman while DUI isn't that bad.

I was talking about illegal logging.. not mushrooms., just follow the posts. 

[Denim]

More to this story than meets the eye.

 

Newspapers ( BP ) now saying that police found that the couple had 1,148 non-processed logs of teak and krayaloei trees with no official stamps in their possession.

 

Hmmmmm.........fair to say that the reporting of this case has been very patchy .

No mention of where the unprocessed logs were found ? At their home address or elsewhere ?

 

[Guitar God]

That's five years longer than killing a cop with your Ferrari. 

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

Could comment about the disparities between how the poor and rich are served 'justice', but why bother

I was going to say the same thing.. but I'd rather save my breath

just waiting to see what happens with the Mae Song elite compared to mushroom pickers !!

But I think I already know.

[seadigital]

Let the punishment fit the crime. For elderly couples everywhere who are hungry, let this be a lesson to you!

[canopy]

If you think this had anything to do with mushrooms I have a bridge to sell you because you are gullible.  After making up a fairy tale about mushrooms they eventually admitted to the actual crime they committed. The news story says: "They cut down more than 1,000 valuable trees and illegally possessed restricted timber." Sounds pretty cut and dry. Every court has found them guilty including the supreme court. It's refreshing to see the justice system step in and protect the forest from greed. This is a good step and the country needs a lot more of this.