Thai woman jailed in Taiwan over smuggled cannabis fights stalled deportation
Araya Pramprom, a Thai woman, is serving a reduced sentence in a Taiwan prison over a cannabis smuggling case, and her Taiwanese boyfriend has publicly asked Thai and Taiwanese agencies to complete her deportation because of her heart condition. Each side says it is waiting for the other's paperwork, leaving her in a Taiwanese prison.
A Taiwanese man posted a public appeal through the popular Facebook page
Drama-addict asking for help for his Thai girlfriend, Araya Pramprom, who he
said was held in a Taiwan prison in poor health and facing delayed paperwork.[1]Araya was arrested for smuggling cannabis into Taiwan, and during the
investigation she cooperated fully with Taiwanese police, giving information
that helped them arrest the entire drug trafficking network.[1]
A Taiwan court then reduced her sentence under Article 66, a Criminal Code
provision that allows a lighter penalty for a suspect who helps investigators,
and she had served about five months at the time of the appeal.[1]
Her boyfriend said she had served enough time for deportation to begin, but
confusion over paperwork between agencies in the two countries had halted
progress.[1]Thai authorities said they must wait for approval documents from
Taiwan, while Taiwanese authorities said they need approval documents from
Thailand first, leaving the case in a deadlock.[1]
Her underlying heart condition worried her boyfriend most, after she began
experiencing severe symptoms including fatigue and panting inside the prison,
and he urged the agencies to speed up deportation so she could receive medical
treatment in Thailand.[1]Initial reports indicated coordination with the
Mirror Foundation, a Thai charity that helps people detained or stranded abroad,
but those involved were still awaiting clear instructions from government
agencies.[1]
RTI reported that Taiwanese aviation police and Taipei customs found cannabis
hidden in check-in baggage in an X-ray check at Taiwan Taoyuan International
Airport in early June 2025: a Thai tourist carried 26 parcels weighing 15.039 kg
in total, which was reported to the Taoyuan City prosecutors.[2]That
traveller was a 27-year-old woman who had flown from Bangkok, and police said
they believed a trafficking ring recruited her to carry the drugs in on a
tourist visa, though she claimed she was only carrying a friend’s belongings for
no payment.[2]The Taoyuan City prosecutors charged her in mid-August 2025
under Taiwan’s Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act, an offence carrying life
imprisonment or at least 10 years in prison.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The Thaiger accounts give no date for the sentence or for her arrest; 25 December 2025 is the publication date and is used as the incident date.
The article does not give her prison term, the court that sentenced her or how much Article 66 reduced the sentence.
Neither Thaiger account gives the weight of cannabis in her case; RTI's September 2025 report on the Taoyuan arrest gives 26 parcels and 15.039 kg, and the link between the two accounts rests on the shared facts of a Thai woman, cannabis smuggled by air into Taiwan, prosecution there and the court stage.
RTI describes the traveller as a 27-year-old who flew from Bangkok, but does not name her, so the identification with Araya Pramprom is an inference, not stated by any source.
The Thaiger English and Thai pieces are the same outlet and the Thai one largely translates the English; no independent reporting of the sentence or the deportation stalemate was found.
The prison holding her in Taiwan, the Taiwanese agencies handling the deportation and any medical records of her heart condition are not reported.
Whether her deportation has since been completed is not reported.
The text gives a weight ("15.039 kg") but the figures have no kg_seized; check whether it belongs there.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Thaiger: The same account in Thai says she joined the smuggling operation after a wrong turn and decided to cooperate fully with Taiwanese police, which led to the arrest of the gang and her sentence reduction.
Taichung police stopped a diversified taxi at a drink-driving and drug-driving checkpoint on 10 November 2026 and restrained a 23-year-old passenger who tried to run into oncoming traffic. Officers seized cannabis vape cartridges and other contraband and transferred the case to prosecutors.
Liu Weijian (Toyz), deported from Taiwan on 3 November 2026 after parole in a 4-year-2-month cannabis-selling sentence, appeared publicly for the first time on a Hong Kong livestream on 6 November with his wife, entertainer 篠崎泫. He said his own channel would resume once livestreaming equipment in Hong Kong was set up.
An 18-year-old man was caught at Kaohsiung International Airport with 9,037 grams of cannabis in 18 packs after flying in from Kuala Lumpur. The Kaohsiung High Court rejected his appeal and upheld his 6-year-6-month sentence for joint transport of a Category 2 drug.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 9.037 kgPrison 6 years 6 months
A Tainan court jailed a woman surnamed Tang for 10 years and six months for jointly transporting about 2.03 kg of cannabis found in a parcel from Bangkok that she had agreed to receive to obtain a NT$500,000 loan. She was arrested when she collected the parcel in May 2026 and denied knowing it held cannabis, but the court found she had foreseen the risk.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 2.03 kgPrison 10 years 6 months
