KALASIN, May 16 (TNA) – A mushroom-picking couple has been freed from prison on a royal pardon to mark His Majesty the King’s coronation.
Udom Sirisorn and Daeng Sirisorn are among 238 inmates at the Kalasin provincial prison, released in the second round of the royal pardon, granted by His Majesty the King.
Their case was put into the limelight in 2010 when they were arrested for involvement in illegal logging in Dong Ranang national forest reserve in Kalasin.
They claimed that they had gone to the forest reserve only to collect mushrooms, so local media dubbed them “mushroom couple”.
However, according to the police investigation, the two villagers were involved in illegal logging.
They were finally handed down reduced sentence to five years each by the Supreme Court and were ordered to pay 2.5 million baht in damages under the Promotion and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act, B.E. 2535.
They served about two-year jail terms before their release today and were earlier due to be released next year, based on their good behavior. (TNA)
