Consul visits Thai on death row
The Thai consul general in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday visited a 23-year-old Thai student sentenced to death for drug trafficking, Foreign Ministry spokesman Damrong Kraikruan said.
On June 26, Preeyanuch Phuttharaksa was sentenced to death after being arrested at Saigon airport last October for trying to smuggle 3,000 grams of methamphetamine hidden in her luggage from Benin, West Africa, to Vietnam. She confessed to having been paid Bt50,000 by a Nigerian drug gang to bring the drugs into Vietnam.
Damrong said the diplomat’s visit was the first allowed by the Vietnamese government since the court verdict. Under Vietnamese law, a convicted prisoner cannot be visited until 30 days after the verdict, but the Thai side was allowed diplomatic leniency in this particular case.
Preeyanuch was informed that her parents want her to appeal, Damrong said, adding that she would have the final say on this. If she decides to appeal, the process would take several months. If the Supreme Court upholds the death sentence, she could still petition the Vietnamese president for mercy.
