Vic: US travel ban over bar mat theft
12 Jun 2009 12:30 AM
MELBOURNE, June 12 AAP - A Melbourne woman convicted of stealing a bar mat in Thailand says she cannot take her children on a dream holiday to Disneyland because the US government has refused her visa application.
Annice Smoel plans to take her four daughters to Disneyland to make up for the distress they suffered during her 18-day detention in Thailand but the US embassy says her conviction means she is ineligible for a tourist visa.
Smoel was given a six-month suspended sentence and a small fine for theft in return for a guilty plea.
She said her daughters, aged 6 to 12, would be "absolutely devastated".
"They've been having nightmares and coming into mum's bed at night since I got back. It would have been the perfect way to take their minds off all of what's happened," she told the Herald Sun newspaper.
Smoel said US authorities may reconsider if the wording of her charge makes it a misdemeanour and not a felony.
"I've got to get all the Thai court documents translated into English and hope the charge is a misdemeanour and not a felony, but I'm not very hopeful," she said.
A US embassy spokesman said it did not comment on specific cases.
