One of two tourists charged with vandalism for spray painting graffiti on an ancient red-brick wall in northern Thailand is from Grande Prairie, Alta.
Tara Schneider told CBC News in an interview Friday that she received a frantic phone call from her daughter.
“Mom, I’m in trouble,” she said her daughter told her. “I spray painted an ancient wall and I’m going to prison. And I’m scared.”
Brittney Schneider and Lee Furlong, who is from the U.K., were arrested Thursday at a guest house in the northern city of Chiang Mai, local Thai police said.
Closed-circuit TV footage shows two people spray-painting a wall near the Tha Phae Gate, the main entrance to the city’s old town.
Schneider and Furlong are both 23, and face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, said police.
“I just told her, ‘What’s done is done,’ ” said Tara Schneider. “She made a mistake. This is out of character for her.”
Bail money has been sent to Thailand so her daughter can be released from jail on Monday, Schneider said. After that, her daughter will have to remain in Thailand until her trial, which could be in two months, she said.
“She has to face it. She’s sorry for what she done. But I said stay strong and breathe and go through it.”
Schneider said she asked her daughter why she did what she did.
“She said she’s ashamed of herself,” Schneider said. “It was an act of being intoxicated.”
Tara Schneider said Canadian officials told her there is nothing they can do to change local laws in Thailand.
She said she plans to fly to Thailand to support her daughter while she awaits trial.
In addition to 10 years in jail, police said, the young tourists could face fines of up to one million baht, or $40,035 Cdn.