Vaping ‘ordeal’ in Thailand

A French woman who was in Phuket, Thailand, for a family holiday in January found herself in court and later deported, thousands of euro poorer, because of an incident involving a vaping device.

According to a story by Tanyaluk Sakoot for thephuketnews.com, Cecilia Cornu, 31, was caught by police in the resort area of Karon holding an e-cigarette [the picture that accompanied the story seemed to show a heat-not-burn device] on January 30. She had been on a scooter with her fiancée, as her parents and brother followed behind.

Cornu alleged she was stopped by four police officers who snatched the e-cigarette and demanded B40,000 [an allegation that was denied by the police], which she refused to pay.

She was then arrested and taken to Karon Police Station where, she alleged, officers tried to bully her into paying a bribe.

Cornu was charged, her passport confiscated, and a trial date set for February 11. Her return flight was scheduled for the following day.

She posted bail of B100,000 and was released the same day pending trial.

On February 11, Cornu attended Phuket Provincial Court where she was convicted for the offence [presumably of being in possession of a vaping device] and fined B827 (€23).

She was then sent to the Phuket Immigration facility prior to being transferred to Bangkok for deportation.

She said that in Bangkok she spent four days and three nights in a prison cell shared with 60 other women in dire conditions, which included sleeping on a hard, dirty floor with no sheets or mattresses.

Cornu claims the ordeal cost her about €8,000 euros (B286,000) in legal fees and travel expenses.