A FEMALE TOURIST FROM FRANCE WAS IMPRISONED IN A THAI PRISON FOR SMOKING

A French tourist who came to vacation in Phuket, instead of the sea and sunny beaches, spent almost a week in jail for smoking electronic cigarettes.

In Thailand since 2014, the law prohibits smoking, including e-cigarettes, on the beaches of Mae Pim in Rayong, Patong and Laem Sing in Phuket, Pattaya in Chonburi province, Bo Phut in Samui, Tha Vasukri in Pattani and some others, as well as in many hotels.

A tourist was walking with an e-cigarette on Karon beach. She was approached by four Thai police officers, demanding to pay a fine of 40,000 baht (1,132 euros). She refused, after which she was arrested.

The woman said her passport was taken from her at the police station and a bribe was demanded. She was then transferred to Bangkok prison, where she stayed for four days and three nights.

"There were 60 women in a small room," the Frenchwoman told reporters from Le Parisien. - The temperature was about 40 degrees of heat. Food was thrown through the bars, like in medieval dungeons. Drinking water was in old paint buckets."

The Frenchwoman who returned home after her liberation, previously unaware of such "draconian" laws, decided never to travel to that country again.