U.S.-Thai pair facing death for ’sea home’ should fight the charge: Thailand says - Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-seahome-idUSKCN1RV0KM
A floating home, lived in by an American man and his Thai partner, is pictured in the Andaman Sea, off Phuket island in Thailand, April 13, 2019. Picture taken April 13, 2019.
Royal Thai Navy/Handout via REUTERS
BANGKOK (Reuters) - A senior Thai government official on Friday urged a U.S. man and a Thai woman on the run from a possible death sentence for building an off-shore “sea home” to fight the charge in court.
The two, Chad Elwartowski and his partner Supranee Thepdet, have been accused of violating Thai sovereignty by raising a small cabin on top of a big, weighted spar in what they say are international waters, 14 nautical miles off the west-coast Thai island of Phuket.
But Thailand says the structure is in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
“I urge them to get a lawyer to fight this case,” Supoj Rodruang Na Nongkhai, the deputy provincial governor of Phuket, told Reuters.
He said the two were believed to be in hiding in Thailand.
They have been charged under a law on the violation of sovereignty, which stipulates punishment of life in prison or death.
“Thailand will proceed with everything according to the law. We are not threatening them,” Supoj said.
#EEZ_madness …