Kratom and e-cigarette vendors arrsted after girl’s lung damage
Police arrested two Thai vendors selling e-cigarettes and kratom drinks outside a school in the Isaan province of Buriram after a 12 year old schoolgirl was found to have suffered severe lung damage from nearly two years of vaping and kratom consumption.
The school, located in the Satuek district of Buriram, rushed the 12 year old girl to hospital after she vomited and experienced difficulty breathing. Doctors informed her family and the media that she had been vaping for almost two years, resulting in nearly 100% damage to her lungs.
In addition to vaping, the girl had reportedly been consuming kratom drinks since she was 11 years old, drinking approximately 1,500 millilitres daily. Two of her friends were also found to have engaged in the same behaviour.
Matichon reported that a 15 year old school girl in the same district previously died from e-cigarettes and eight others were hospitalised due to the same practices.
The case raised questions about how the young girls had accessed the illegal vapes and kratom drinks. Further investigation revealed that a shop selling these products was outside the school.
Yesterday, on February 20, officers from Satuek Police Station raided the shop, which was secretly operating out of a rented room. Two individuals were found at the premises: an 84 year old woman named Lao and a 27 year old Thai man named Darawit.
During the raid, police discovered three e-cigarettes, 41 bottles of kratom drinks, two bottles of cough medicine, and an illegal firearm. The cough medicine was suspected to have been mixed with the kratom drinks.
The two suspects admitted to selling kratom drinks and e-cigarettes to customers in the area without enforcing any age restrictions. They confessed that students from the school had purchased products from them.
The two face four charges including:
- Section 50 of the Food Act: producing kratom drinks for sale. The penalty is imprisonment from six months to two years and a 5,000 to 20,000 baht fine.
- Section 12 of the Medicine Act: selling prescription drugs without permission. The penalty is imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to 10,000 baht.
- Section 244 of the Customs Act: importing or exporting prohibited goods (e-cigarettes) into the country. The penalty is imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to 500,000 baht, or both.
- Section 7 of the Act on Firearms, Ammunition, Explosive, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearm: possessing a gun without permission. The punishment will be imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both.
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