Mr. Panya, a thin and pale carpenter became very tired after installing furniture throughout the night. When his three colleagues who lived nearby walked home, he was left alone waiting for the pick-up truck from his company to bring him back to the furniture factory. He passed his time by going inside an unoccupied building to take a nap. Since the forsaken building was adjacent to a slum area in which amphetamine-taking was prevalent, and was the target of police patrolling whose mission was to stop drug trade and drive drug addicts away from unoccupied buildings.
Being tired after his hard work all night long, he was not fully conscious when he was woken by a police patrol. Moreover, he could not express himself clearly when being questioned and could not walk steadily when being instructed to move. The police suspected him of being an amphetamine addict and had him jailed. After a month in jail he was released and was informed that he was not found guilty since there was not amphetamine chemical in his urine.
CASE II: The Debate on Capital Punishment
By the end of the year 2004, 84 countries have abolished the death penalty (capital punishment). In all countries of EU members, including some U.S. states, the law of capital punishment have been completely abolished. Twelve countries abolished it for all except for war crimes. Twenty-four countries were abolitionist in practice since they had not carried out any executions for the previous 10 years or more. Seventy-six other countries and territories retained the death penalty, but not all of them passed death sentences and most did not carry out executions during the year.
Thailand is one of the 76 states that maintain death penalty (capital punishment). Nevertheless, few convicts sentenced to death have been executed annually. No death penalty have been executed since the beginning of the year 2005. In Thailand, violent murderers and major drug traffickers were sentenced to death. The Amnesty International that propagated the abolishment of capital punishment argued that capital punishment is a violation of the most fundamental human right, right to life.