THAILAND'S King Bhumibol Adulyadej has turned down an appeal for a pardon by former South African beauty queen Vanessa Goosen, who has been in a Bangkok jail for seven years for drug smuggling.

Goosen, now 28, was arrested during a 1994 trip to Bangkok when she was found with 2.7kg of heroin hidden in hollowed-out books.

This week, her lawyer, Mpumelelo "Bond" Nyoka, received a copy of a fax sent by the Thai foreign ministry to the SA embassy in Thailand last month, informing officials that Goosen's request for a royal pardon had been considered by the king and rejected on September 24. - Michael Schmidt