Ashley's Thai prison sentence reduced

Update

GEORGE NEWS - Facing the soul-destroying prospect of spending her entire life in a Thai jail, Ashley Oosthuizen (26) from George has now been given her life back.

At the very least, most of it.

Bubbly, blonde Ashley's sentence has officially been reduced from 33.4 years to 13.4 years, after the drug-related charges against her were downgraded from international drug smuggling to possession.

The glad tidings were shared by her mother, Lynn Blignaut, in a Facebook Live broadcast from Thailand on Wednesday 30 April.

With 8.7 years remaining, Ashley now also qualifies for a royal pardon, news of which could be released as early as the end of July.

However, she can only be considered for the next royal pardon if she receives her final court documents by June. Unfortunately, this can take up to seven months.

What began as an exciting adventure in Thailand turned into a five-year-long nightmare when Ashley was arrested.

Now, after years of legal battles, her family finally has reason to hope again.

Escaping death

Her arrest in October 2020 made headlines around the world. Ashley had moved to Thailand in 2018 to teach English. She was detained after accepting a package at her workplace, one that was not addressed to her and that was later found to contain MDMA. Despite no concrete evidence linking her to drug trafficking, she was initially handed the death penalty, which was later reduced to life imprisonment and then again to 33.4 years.

Her former boyfriend, Tristan Nettles, later confessed online to running a drug ring and insisted Ashley was innocent and unaware of his dealings. Ashley has always maintained her innocence.

Mother and daughter bond

Lynn relocated to Thailand in 2022 to be closer to her daughter. "Although we're incredibly grateful for the new sentence, it's a miracle in itself that 20 years were taken off. It's still been emotionally and mentally exhausting for both of us," Lynn says. "It took us a while to process before we were ready to share the news."

If Ashley's final documentation is processed in time, she may be included in the next round of royal pardons, a rare and prestigious act of clemency in Thailand. She also has the option of applying for a prison transfer, but only from 2026.

Ashley is currently held at Nakhon Si Thammarat Central Prison, where she teaches English and continues to hold on to hope.

She will have her next in-person visit with her mother on Friday 30 May.

During the Facebook Live session, Lynn appealed to the South African authorities to have Ashley extradited to serve her sentence in South Africa.

A new room

"She was recently moved from the high sentence room to another room - I still need to find out whether she has already been moved to the final room where she is supposed to be," says Lynn.

In the Thai prisons, inmates aren't allowed to choose where they sleep; they are told where to go.

"When she entered the new room, they told her she had to sleep under the TV. Then another prisoner came and asked if she wanted to swap. With that, she got a spot closer to the fan.

"She burst into tears when they said she had to move - it's a big thing for her to be moved from that room and away from the people she knows," says Lynn. At home, for her loved ones, however, the dream remains the same: to see Ashley walk free and return home to tell her side of the story.

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