By Oluwakemi Kindness
Thailand’s justice minister has ordered a review of pardon criteria following public outrage over the release of an 85-year-old drug trafficker who served less than a decade of a life sentence.
Laota Saenlee, a former anti-communist guerrilla linked to powerful Myanmar drug networks, was released from a maximum-security prison north of Bangkok on Friday.
He was arrested by undercover officers in 2016 for selling crystal methamphetamine in the Golden Triangle, the drug-producing region where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.
Laota was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, a series of royal pardons reduced his sentence to less than the nearly 10 years he had served.
Thailand’s corrections department said his release was based on his age and good behaviour. Authorities also said he would be monitored after his release.
The decision has triggered widespread criticism, with a former narcotics police chief who investigated Laota saying he was shocked that a major drug dealer had been released so early.
Justice Minister Rutthapon Naowarat said officials had followed the existing pardon criteria but acknowledged that the rules contained flaws.
He has ordered the corrections department to clarify the circumstances surrounding Laota’s pardon and release.
The government is now reviewing the criteria to determine whether changes are needed, particularly in cases involving major drug offenders.
Laota’s history dates back decades. Before his 2017 conviction, he had been detained several times, although authorities were unable to secure lasting convictions.
He reportedly joined the Chinese Kuomintang as a child soldier before later fighting communist insurgents in Thailand in the 1970s in exchange for sanctuary.
Laota has also been widely linked to Khun Sa, the Myanmar-based rebel leader and notorious drug trafficker who died in 2007.
The Golden Triangle remains a major centre for illicit drug production and trafficking, with organised crime groups moving huge quantities of heroin, methamphetamine and ketamine from the region each year.
