Thai minister Thammanat Prompao’s apparent Australian criminal past revealed

A controversial Thai cabinet minister has apparently been caught in a lie about his criminal past after Australia’s Nine media turned up evidence that he spent four years in prison in Sydney after being convicted of drug trafficking.

In July, Thammanat Prompao was sworn-in as deputy agriculture minister in Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s cabinet, and immediately sought to play down rumours about his time in Australia during the 1990s. The former army officer had acknowledged he was jailed while in Sydney but denied he had been convicted of drug trafficking.

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“I did not import, produce or deal heroin,” he said in July. “While on vacation in Sydney, I was properly cleared by immigration. But I was unfortunate to have been in the same place at the same time as some drug offenders.”

Thammanat, 54, claimed he and another Thai national were charged in 1993 with failing to report knowledge of drug dealing to police.

“I denied the charge and was jailed for eight months,” he said. “After I was released, I lived in Sydney and worked as sales manager at the largest sanitary ware chain in New South Wales for four years.

“I was later deported to Thailand because of a policy by the then Sydney mayor, who did not welcome Asians who formed groups and had no permanent residence.”

However, Australia’s Nine – which owns The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age – on Monday republished its reporting from the time indicating Thammanat in fact spent four years in prison in Sydney for his role in trafficking 3.2 kilograms of heroin into Australia. Upon his release in 1997, he was deported.

The Australian newspapers also cited court documents showing Thammanat, known as Second Lieutenant Manat, met key Thai underworld figures in Bangkok before the deal and also arranged the visa and plane tickets for a female drug courier. He was recorded saying he was present when the courier packed drugs into her luggage and later helped her transport the drugs to buyers in Bondi, a beachside suburb of Sydney.

According to those documents, he pleaded guilty in the New South Wales District Court to conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of heroin with a street value of up to US$4.1 million.

During his time in Sydney, Thammanat reportedly told police he had worked in Thailand as a bodyguard for the crown prince – who is now King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

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Once back in Thailand, Manat became Thammanat Prompao. In 1998, he was charged over the rape and murder of a gay academic. After three years in custody, he was acquitted. He has since maintained close connections with powerful military figures and cultivated political influence.

“The word ‘mafia’ in my view is not as dark as many think,” Thammanat previously told the Bangkok Post. “Mafia means someone who has connections with many people and who keeps his word.”

In August, the 54-year-old declared his assets, including wealth of about US$42 million, a fleet of luxury cars along with 12 Hermes and 13 Chanel handbags, expensive watches and Buddhist amulets. His second wife is a 24-year-old beauty pageant winner.

In July, Thammanat insisted: “I lived a normal life in Australia, in Sydney, for a full four years. You can ask the court in Sydney whether what I’m saying is true or not.”