BANGKOK — Thai immigration authorities have categorically denied allegations made by a British teenager who claimed she was tortured and forced to smuggle drugs from Thailand, showing airport surveillance footage that contradicts her testimony.
Police Lieutenant General Choengron Rimpadee, Commissioner of Immigration Bureau 2, responded on July 2 to international media reports about Ms. Bella May Culley, a 19-year-old British suspect facing drug trafficking charges in Georgia. Culley had told a Tbilisi court that she was coerced into carrying drugs from Thailand and made accusations against Thai officials’ conduct.
“There is absolutely no factual basis to her claims,” Lt. Gen. Choengron stated, presenting CCTV footage showing Culley walking normally through passport control at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
According to Thai immigration records, the British suspect departed Thailand on May 10, 2025, at 7:00 a.m. via Air Arabia flight G9822 to Sharjah, UAE, with the aircraft departing at 8:55 a.m.
CCTV footage review revealed that Culley passed through the automated passport control (ABC) channel normally, without requesting any assistance from officials. “There is no evidence whatsoever that any immigration or police officers forced or threatened the suspect to smuggle drugs out of the country,” Lt. Gen. Choengron emphasized.
The immigration chief believes the British woman’s allegations are intended to mitigate her sentence. Thai authorities will now register her in the immigration system as a prohibited person due to credible evidence of involvement in drug trafficking activities.
Lt. Gen. Choengron noted that airport immigration prioritizes supporting the interception of travelers who violate laws in all forms, both arrivals and departures, in coordination with relevant agencies including Customs and the Office of Narcotics Control Board. Since the beginning of this year, authorities have supported 10 drug seizure arrests in cooperation with outbound customs.
Background from Georgian Court Proceedings:
According to British media reports, Bella Culley appeared at Tbilisi City Court on July 1 pleading not guilty to charges of possessing and trafficking large quantities of illegal drugs. She showed the court a scar on her wrist allegedly inflicted in Thailand before being given a suitcase containing drugs, which was seized at Tbilisi airport.
Culley claimed she was unaware of the suitcase’s contents, with her lawyers arguing it was “impossible” she committed the crime and that she had been set up by unknown individuals in Thailand.
The university student, who was studying to become a nurse, had arrived in Thailand from the Philippines before disappearing on May 10, leaving family members without contact.
“I didn’t want to do this. I was forced by torture. I just wanted to travel,” Culley told the court, adding that she was “clean” with nothing detected in blood tests.
Her lawyer, Malkhaz Salakaia, claimed she was threatened with a hot iron to force her compliance and that when she approached a policeman for help, he was allegedly part of the criminal group.
Culley was detained for 52 days while prosecutors investigated the origins of 12kg of marijuana and 2kg of hashish found in her travel bag. Judge Lela Kalichenko denied bail, with the next hearing scheduled for July 10.
____________
