Thai Court Extradites Ex-Politician to U.S. to Face Drug Trafficking Charges : Asia: Suspect accused of smuggling 45 tons of marijuana into California allegedly once operated out of Beverly Hills mansion. His lawyers will appeal.

In a precedent-setting decision, a Thai criminal court ruled Monday that a former politician who once operated out of a Beverly Hills mansion should be extradited to the United States to stand trial on charges of smuggling 45 tons of marijuana into California.

Lawyers for Thanong Siriprichapong immediately announced that they will appeal the decision, which experts said marked the first time a Thai national has ever been ordered extradited to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.

Thanong was a senior member of the Chart Thai (Thai Nation) political party until his forced resignation last year. The court’s decision was handed down only two weeks after Chart Thai won national elections and formed Thailand’s new government.

The court’s decision was seen as a major victory for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which has long maintained that Thailand is a major conduit for narcotics shipments to the United States, in part because of official connivance in the trafficking.

Besides Thanong, three other leaders of Chart Thai have been denied visas to visit the United States because of allegations of involvement in the narcotics trade, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok. The controversy has blocked deputy party leader Watana Asavahame, one of the three denied visas, from being appointed Interior minister, the Cabinet post in charge of the police.

Known in Los Angeles as Thai Tony, Thanong was accused in a sealed federal indictment handed down in 1991 and made public last year of having smuggled 45 tons of “Thai stick” marijuana into the United States between 1973 and 1987. The U.S. government seized Thanong’s Beverly Hills home and a Mercedes-Benz on the grounds that they were purchased with the illegal profits of his narcotics business. The U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco said 10 other major narcotics defendants already have been convicted in the case.

Perhaps as important as Thanong’s case, the court’s decision, if left standing on appeal, will open the door to more extradition requests by the United States. One Thai official said there are 20 other cases that could be immediately affected by the decision.

Until this decision, Thai nationals have been protected by a 1929 law from being extradited to second countries to stand trial on criminal charges. But the Thai government in power in January asked the attorney general to allow the courts to decide the issue and bowed out.

The United States and Thailand agreed to an extradition treaty that allows for each other’s nationals to be extradited provided that the charges are legal offenses in both countries and they are not crimes of a political nature.

When the government decided to allow extradition of Thanong, it was headed by Chuan Leekpai, whose Democrat Party is the primary adversary of the Chart Thai group. A number of Thai commentators accused Chuan of taking political advantage of the legal case.

But Prasong Soonsiri, a former foreign minister in Chuan’s government, said that 10 active Chart Thai members and seven former members of the party were named by the DEA as being involved in the narcotics trade.

One of them was Narong Wongwan, who was expected to be named prime minister in 1993 until details of his alleged involvement in the narcotics trade were disclosed by the United States. Narong lost his seat in Parliament in the July 2 elections, in part, it is believed, because of the publicity about his alleged drug connections.