Two Mon officials are protesting the arrest of two people found in possession of 1,700 Thai Baht ($1.20 USD).Mon State Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Dr. Aung Naing Oo and Amyotha Hluttaw (the House of Nationalities) Ye Township Representative U Myo Win condemned the arrest as unjust and unnecessary.
A Sub-force of assistant police in Mon State arrested a man and a woman on the main motor road in Myine Gone village in Mudon Township near a well-known reclining Buddha statue. According to the police record, the man and woman had one 500 Baht banknote, six 100 Baht banknotes, one 50 Baht banknote, and twenty-eight 20 Baht banknotes in their possession at the time of arrest. They are being tried for possession of foreign currency, in violation of Foreign Currency Management Act 42. Their criminal case number is Pa (354/2019).
Dr. Aung Naing Oo said the case was [not] serious. He believed it to be a complete overreaction, stating “The police should not try such a minor case, because it is a very small amount of foreign currency. Based on the 2015 Foreign Currency Act, the civilian has the right to hold foreign currency and can import currency from other countries within a set amount.”
He also pointed out that a citizen can hold up to $10,000 US Dollars under the World Bank rule on holding foreign currency. The amount held by the man and woman was only a small amount and did not warrant their arrest. If the amount of foreign currency was thousands and thousands of Baht, he agreed that action should be taken.
He also urged the Mon State Police Department and Mon State Legal Chief to seriously consider the geographic location of Mon State and evaluate effective ways to address legal issues within a larger context. There are many traders and migrant workers are traveling back and forth between Mon State and the Thai border.
Dr. Aung Naing Oo also said that the police force already released the two accused ‘on bail’ and they promised to reduce the punishment for both the man and woman.
U Myo Win, a MP from Ye Township from the Amyotha Hluttaw (Union Parliament) said that “while Mon State has a policy to encourage tourism business, such arrest should not occur. It can damage the State business and travel”.
U Myo Win said that it was not necessary to take action against the man and woman, because it was such a small amount of Thai currency. Everyone who travels in Mon State to the border could possess it.
He added, “there are many money exchangers in Mon State. They are also holding a lot of Thai currency. Then, the migrant workers who traveled back and forth in border area (Thailand and Myanmar) could have Thai currency. The police should not take action for those who hold small amount of Thai currency.”
