Canadian arrested for illegal work, ecstasy possession in Koh Pha Ngan

Police arrested a Canadian man after he was found working illegally as a masseur and in possession of ecstasy for sale on Koh Pha Ngan, an island in the southern province of Surat Thani.

Tourist Police and Immigration Police officers arrested the 48 year old Canadian, Ky Uwe Jablonowski, at a Thai traditional massage shop in Koh Pha Ngan yesterday, September 5. He was discovered working without a permit in a prohibited profession, namely as a masseur.

During a search, officers found ecstasy in three ziplock bags in the pocket of his trousers, with a total weight of 0.15 grammes.

The Canadian admitted to possessing and using the drug but denied selling it to others. However, police were not convinced by his claim, as they discovered conversations between Jablonowski and his clients on his mobile phone.

As a result of his actions, Jablonowski faces two charges:

• Section 8(1) of the Emergency Decree on Foreigners’ Working Management: working without a work permit or outside the scope of his authorised work. The penalty is a fine ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 baht, deportation, and a two-year ban on applying for a work permit.
• Section 145 of the Narcotics Control Act: possession of a Category 1 drug for sale. The penalty is imprisonment for two to 20 years and a fine of 200,000 to 2 million baht.

In a related report, another foreign national, an Israeli woman named Libby Rosenfeld Cohen, was arrested in a drug case last month. She was found offering ecstasy to foreign visitors on the island and was living a luxurious lifestyle funded by the profits from her illegal activities.

Similarly, in Phuket, police arrested a leading British drug dealer at a restaurant in the province on Monday, September 3, after receiving an alert from the UK that the suspect had fled life imprisonment in the country and was hiding in Thailand.

Three weeks ago, a South Korean man was arrested in Pattaya for entering Thailand illegally and smuggling drugs into the country.