Australian smuggler dies after hashish condoms burst in Surat Thani
Australian John Paul Jones died in a Surat Thani hospital on 19 April 2008 after three of some 60 hashish-filled condoms he had swallowed burst inside him; he had been rushed to hospital on 11 April with 800 grams of hashish in his intestine.
Australian John Paul Jones died in a hospital in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, on Saturday 19 April 2008, eight days after friends rushed him there with severe stomach pains.[1]Doctors had found about 60 condoms stuffed with hashish in his intestine, three of which had burst, and recovered a total of 800 grams of hashish from him.[2][1]
Jones, a Queenslander who had been staying on Koh Phangan, known for its Full Moon parties, told no one what he had done; his friends said he had suffered stomach pain for five days and disappeared after dropping him at the hospital.[2]Police said he would be charged once his condition improved, and later filed narcotics charges while he remained in hospital.[2][1]Provincial authorities believed he had swallowed the condoms to get the hashish past pier inspectors on the way to Phangan Island.[1]
Confirmed death
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that the hospitalised man died on 19 April without naming him for privacy reasons, and said consular assistance to his family continued.[1]The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported he died of septicaemia and liver failure.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Both opened pages are forum reprints naming wire agencies as their source; the original Associated Press and Australian Associated Press pages are no longer directly available.
The first account says Jones faced a drug-trafficking charge carrying up to 20 years while the later one says possession of narcotics carrying up to five years.
The reports give his age as 50 and 51 in different accounts.
No photograph of the case with a recoverable direct image address was found in the opened sources.
Thailand's government said 12,279 cannabis shops nationwide hold licences and that inspectors will suspend the licences of those selling without prescriptions, advertising, allowing smoking on the premises or selling online, with revocation for a second offence. Sixty-six appeals against suspension or revocation orders were filed in 2026, including 31 from Bangkok and 15 from Phuket.
Administrative and public-health officers raided an unlicensed cannabis shop on Ratsada Road in Mueang Phuket on 4 November 2026, arresting the 41-year-old female owner. They seized 36 cannabis items, seven other items and 123,290 baht in cash and handed the case to Mueang Phuket police for prosecution.
Police and health officials seized 90 unlabelled cannabis-infused jellies from a shop in Soi Rong Mueang 5, Bangkok, after a Chanthaburi family fell ill after eating similar sweets. The 26-year-old employee faced controlled-herb and food-labelling allegations, while the products were sent for testing.
Immigration police and narcotics officials raided a cannabis storage and packing warehouse in Sam Wa Tawan Tok, Bangkok, on 31 October 2026, arresting 14 foreign nationals. Two Vietnamese suspects faced drug and immigration charges, while 12 other Vietnamese and Myanmar nationals were charged under immigration and work laws.
