Update

GEORGE NEWS - After more than six years in a Thai prison, Ashley Oosthuizen (27) may soon be able to see her mother every weekday after being transferred to a larger prison in Bangkok.

For her mother, Lynn Blignaut, who has already moved to the city, the transfer brings the prospect of more regular contact while the family continues to hope for parole.

Oosthuizen was expected to arrive in Bangkok this week after being transferred from Nakhon Si Thammarat Prison, where she had been serving her sentence for drug possession.

Blignaut said her daughter had applied for the transfer. The move should allow weekday visits and a weekly call with the family. She hopes to visit Oosthuizen as early as next week.

The move could also help with the administrative processes surrounding Oosthuizen’s case. According to Blignaut, the larger prison can handle the paperwork more quickly.

The family previously expressed the hope that a transfer would allow Oosthuizen to apply for parole. George Herald reported in August that a Thai pastor and his wife had agreed to assist as local sponsors, which Blignaut said was one of the requirements for consideration.

Oosthuizen was arrested on 8 October 2020 after signing for a parcel containing drugs at the restaurant where she worked. The parcel was reportedly addressed to someone else, and she has maintained that she did not know what it contained.

Following further legal proceedings in 2025, her conviction was changed from international drug trafficking to drug possession, and her sentence was reduced to 13 years and four months. Two subsequent royal pardons brought it down to nine years and 11 months.

Oosthuizen has about three years and 10 months left to serve.

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