THE AUSTRALIAN woman accused of stealing a bar mat in Patong has been denied a US visa because of her Phuket conviction.

Annice Smoel and husband Darren had been planning to take their four daughters to Disneyland to make up for her difficult time in Thailand.

But because Ms Smoel is listed as a convicted criminal, she is ineligble, the Melbourne Herald-Sun newspaper reports.

Although the 36-year-old mother did not feel she had committed the crime as charged, Ms Smoel pleaded guilty to stealing the bar mat from the Aussie Bar in Patong to speed her return home to her daughters.

After her Phuket holiday went horribly wrong, she now she has the added penalty of being denied a US visa.

Her only hope to make the trip now is if Phuket court officials rule in her favor about the seriousness of the crime, the newspaper says.

Ms Smoel received a conviction, a six-month jail term suspended for two years and a 1000 baht fine after she agreed to plead guilty to theft in exchange for her freedom.

Allegedly the victim of friends who stuffed the large beer mat into her bag as a prank, she was eventually given her passport and allowed to leave Thailand after 18 days.

At a meeting in the US embassy in Melbourne on Thursday, Ms Smoel was told her conviction for stealing rendered her ineligible for a non-immigrant US visa.

She could be barred from travelling to the US for up to seven years.

''They told me that normally you have to wait five years after a suspended sentence expires to be eligible for this type of visa,'' Ms Smoel told the Herald-Sun.

''That's seven years away, my girls will be grown up by then.''

If her conviction is for a misdemeanor charge and not a felony charge, she may win a change-of-heart.

''I've got to get all the Thai court documents translated into English and hope the charge is a misdemeanor and not a felony, but I'm not very hopeful,'' she told the newspaper.

Pressure by the Australian Government at the time led to the Smoel case being expedited, with Phuket Governor Wichai Praisa-nob paying the 1000 baht fine himself and apologising to ms Smoel for her problems.


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