Phuket mother caught in drug run

PHUKET: Three children are spending Mother’s Day without their mom today after she was caught at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint trying to smuggle 2,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills onto the island by wrapping them in sanitary napkins.

Phuket native Chamaiporn Khiewkaew, 30, with friend Chanjira Boonmark, also 30, riding pillion were stopped and searched by checkpoint police yesterday after the officers noticed that the pair had passed through the checkpoint northbound only 10 minutes earlier.

In the compartment under the seat officers found two sanitary napkins tied together and wrapped in a white towel.

Ms Chamaiporn told the police the napkins had been soiled, but fearless the officers braved the risk only to find the offending ya bah pills inside.

But while police were counting the pills, Ms Chamaiporn fainted and was rushed by officers to Takuatung Hospital.

After she regained consciousness, Ms Chamaiporn related her tale of financial woe and how she was raising three children, all studying Mathayom 1-3 (junior high school).

She explained that she picked up the drugs in Phang Nga and was on her way to deliver them to dealers in Phuket because she needed money to feed her kids.

Her husband is in Phuket Provincial Prison serving sentences for two drugs charges, one involving 47 pills and the other 100 pills, she said.

Her companion Ms Chanjira claimed she knew nothing of the drugs and that the only reason she was on the bike was to keep Ms Chamaiporn company during the trip.

Ms Chamaiporn’s children are attending a Mother’s Day celebration at school in Phuket today.

The officers have contacted Ms Chamaiporn’s relatives to ensure the children are taken care of.

— Atchaa Khamlo