Chad Elwartowski from Michigan and his girlfriend Nadia Thepdet from Bangkok have gone into hiding after finding out they could face a death penalty for living off the shores of Thailand.Elwartowski reportedly worked as a software engineer for the US military before becoming an investor in cryptocurrency Bitcoin, along with Thepdet.The two released several videos on Youtube of their progress of building a floating home, called a seasteading, through the company “Ocean.Builders,” in which they have lived since February.The debatable location of their seasteading could mean the couple may have threatened Thailand’s sovereignty, which is punishable by death.The home was located 12 miles off the coast of Phuket, which could mean it was under Thailand’s jurisdiction, while Elwartowski insists the location was 13 miles off the coast, which would place it in international waters, thus making it legal.Ocean Builders, the company who built their home, released a statement claiming that the couple did not build the home themselves and only lived in it, meaning they were in no way involved in designing the seasteading.The couple is now hiding "in a fairly safe place," Elwartowski told AFP.Elwartowski also wrote on his Facebook page “I was free for a moment. Probably the freest person in the world. It was glorious.”The founder of the Seasteading Institute, which is a nonprofit think-tank promoting the creation of floating ocean cities, is Patri Friedman, grandson of Jewish American Nobel-prize winner Milton Friedman.Friedman related to the couple’s incident in a Facebook post in which he expressed sympathy to the couple’s plight, yet he claimed that the location of their home was located at “the Contiguous Zone, where a state has many rights, several of which seem likely to pertain here.”The idea of living off coasts and proclaiming the notion of a “Micronation,” has been done before even in Israel, as Eli and Rina Avivi lived off the Northern coast of Israel close to the border with Lebanon for half a century.Avivi’s Micronation was named “Achzivland.” Eli, the "president" of Achzivland and uncle of Israeli actor Shai Avivi, died in 2018.<doc-sep>An American man and his girlfriend are at risk of facing the death penalty after the two moved into a sea shack not too far off the coast of Thailand, according to the South China Morning Post. Chad Elwartowski and his Thai partner Supranee Thepdet — who also goes by "Nadia Summergirl" — traded their careers as Bitcoin investors for what they thought would be a simpler life in the Andaman Sea, located in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. The two moved into an oil rig-like structure approximately 14 nautical miles off the coast of the island of Phuket and lived there for several weeks before Thai authorities raided their home. Thailand's navy said the couple violated the country's sovereignty and police have charged the couple under article 119 of the Thai Criminal Code, which punishes acts that threaten a state's independence with life imprisonment or death. Elwartowski and Thepdet left their makeshift home before police arrived and are now in hiding. In a defensive Facebook post, Elwartowski claimed that he and his girlfriend were simply promoting their unique lifestyle and had nothing to do with the structure's construction. He said he had anticipated that Thai authorities would have an issue with his and Thepdet's decision to move in. "This is ridiculous," he wrote. "We lived on a floating house boat for a few weeks and now Thailand wants us killed." Elwartowski and Thepdet are followers of the "seasteading" movement, which, as the Seasteading Institute notes, encourages people to "look for cost-reducing solutions within the territorial waters of a host nation, while still remaining dedicated to the goal of obtaining political autonomy for governmental experiments." Elwartowski insisted on Facebook, however, that he and Thepdet did not mean to challenge Thailand's self-rule by moving into their controversial home. "We never had any ill intentions and I even state plainly several times that I would not want to be citizen of any seastead nation that would have me," he wrote. "We were hoping to bring tourism to Phuket with an underwater restaurant, floating hotels and medical research, tech jobs, etc." Thai authorities and officials maintain the structure was within their country's 200-mile exclusive economic zone and have revoked Elwartowski's visa. They did not specify whether they would pursue the death penalty against him and Thepdet. "I urge them to get a lawyer to fight this case," Supoj Rodruang Na Nongkhai, Phuket's deputy provincial governor, told Reuters on Friday. "Thailand will proceed with everything according to the law. We are not threatening them." The controversy comes just a few weeks after Thailand announced that those who took selfies at a popular airport beach in Phuket could also face the death penalty for distracting pilots.<doc-sep>A dream to live at sea has left an American Bitcoin investor and his Thai partner in hot water with officials in Thailand, and the two may face life in prison or death over violating the country’s sovereignty. Thai authorities raided a floating home on Thursday in the Andaman Sea belonging to Chad Elwartowski and Supranee Thepdet, known as Nadia, who sought to be pioneers in the "seasteading" movement which promotes living in international waters to be free of any nation's laws. The couple had gone into hiding earlier this week, with Elwartowski claiming Monday in a Facebook post that has since been deleted that "Thailand wants us killed." "Hunting us down to our death is just plain stupid and highlights exactly the reason someone would be willing to go out in middle of the ocean to get away from governments," he wrote. "We never had any ill intentions and I even state plainly several times that I would not want to be a citizen of any seastead nation that would have me." CANADIAN MAN DIES AFTER ZIPLINE CABLE SNAPS IN THAILAND The couple had been living part-time on a small structure they said was anchored outside Thailand's territorial waters, just over 12 nautical miles from shore. "We were hoping to bring tourism to Phuket with an underwater restaurant, floating hotels and medical research, tech jobs, etc. We had 3 wealthy entrepreneurs in the past week tell us they were coming to live in Phuket because they were excited about the project," Elwartowski wrote. A promotional video from March showed the couple toasting champagne to the future on the open water, with Elwartowski saying the home built by Ocean Builders was the first of an additional 20 homes planned. "We're looking forward to freedom-loving people to come join us out on the open ocean," he said. Instagram photos and video posted by Nadia, also known as "bitcoingirlthailand," also showed life out at sea. But Thailand's navy said the couple's outpost still endangered national sovereignty, charging them with article 119 of the Thai Criminal Code, an offense punishable by life imprisonment or death. Thai authorities revoked Elwartowski's visa on Wednesday and vowed to remove the home within a week. When they arrived at the home this week, the couple was gone. STRANDED DOG DISCOVERED PADDLING 130 MILES FROM SHORE RESCUED BY OIL RIG WORKERS In a statement released on Monday, Ocean Builders said the couple were "volunteers excited about the prospect of living free," and were "no way" involved in the design, construction, decision on where the home was located. "Chad and Nadia are safe for now but understand that Thailand is currently being run by a military dictator. There will be no trial if they are caught," the group said. "They already demonstrated that by being judge jury and executioner of the historic very first seastead." While Thailand's Navy hit the couple with the serious charges, police colonel Nikorn Somsuk told the South China Morning Post that he would have to ask the attorney general to proceed with the case since the outpost was technically in international waters. “We have not met the couple yet. We have sent investigators to their home but they were not there," he told the paper. "We don’t know what their thoughts are apart from the fact that it seems a bit extreme to want to be so isolated.” He also hinted that the couple may not face the most serious punishment, telling the South China Morning Post “as of now, there is no evidence that their actions pose a risk to Thai sovereignty”. CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP Elwartowski said in a separate Facebook post on Monday that the couple are "still safe," and that he was worried about Nadia "being driven from her home country and her family." "My biggest worry when they said they demolished it was that all I have is on the seastead. It was my home. Being a minimalist I don't have much but what I car(e) most about in all that I own is my post cards," he wrote. Elwartowski said he accumulated a "large stack" of cards from cities in 24 states across the U.S. and travel around the world. "But as long as Nadia and I are able to live through this that is all that matters to us right now," he said. "We just want to live." The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>BANGKOK (Reuters) - A senior Thai government official on Friday urged a U.S. man and a Thai woman on the run from a possible death sentence for building an off-shore “sea home” to fight the charge in court. A floating home, lived in by an American man and his Thai partner, is pictured in the Andaman Sea, off Phuket island in Thailand, April 13, 2019. Picture taken April 13, 2019. Royal Thai Navy/Handout via REUTERS The two, Chad Elwartowski and his partner Supranee Thepdet, have been accused of violating Thai sovereignty by raising a small cabin on top of a big, weighted spar in what they say are international waters, 14 nautical miles off the west-coast Thai island of Phuket. But Thailand says the structure is in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone. “I urge them to get a lawyer to fight this case,” Supoj Rodruang Na Nongkhai, the deputy provincial governor of Phuket, told Reuters. He said the two were believed to be in hiding in Thailand. They have been charged under a law on the violation of sovereignty, which stipulates punishment of life in prison or death. “Thailand will proceed with everything according to the law. We are not threatening them,” Supoj said. The pair are part of a “seasteading” movement that advocates the building of floating communities in international waters beyond the bounds of any national laws. But the Thai navy raided their home this week and authorities revoked Elwartowski’s visa and charged them. Elwartowski and Supranee were not available for comment. A group of entrepreneurs called Ocean Builders, which funded the construction of the floating home, said the two had done nothing wrong. The group said in a statement the home was in a so-called contiguous zone of 12-24 nautical miles, where very limited Thai regulations applied, and they had no intention of setting up any independent state or “micro nation”. “The two of them present neither a danger to Thai sovereignty nor the shipping routes,” the group said. An official at the U.S. embassy in Bangkok said it was providing appropriate assistance to Elwartowski, who had engaged a lawyer. In a video posted last month detailing the raising of his prototype floating home, Elwartowski said 20 more similar houses would be up for sale to forge a community. “I’m looking forward to the good rules that people create as a community, and coming up with smarter systems as opposed to the systems they have already,” he said.<doc-sep>
Thai authorities raided a floating home lived in by an American man and his Thai partner off the coast of Thailand, on April 13, 2019. (Royal Thai Navy via AP) Bitcoin Couple Could Face Death Penalty for ‘Seasteading’ Home Off Thailand Coast An American bitcoin investor and his Thai partner could face life in prison or even the death penalty for alleged violation of Thailand’s sovereignty by occupying a floating home off the country’s coast. Chad Elwartowski and Supranee Thepdet (aka Nadia Summergirl) sought to be pioneers in the “seasteading” movement, which promotes living in international waters to be free of any nation’s laws. But Thailand’s navy said Elwartowski and Thepdet posed a threat to the country’s national sovereignty, an offense punishable by life imprisonment or death. Thai authorities on April 13 raided the couple’s floating home in the Andaman Sea, about 12 nautical miles from shore. Elwartowski and Thepdet were not at the home at the time of the raid and have gone into hiding. In a Facebook post on Monday—since deleted—Elwartowski wrote, “Thailand wants us killed.” “Hunting us down to our death is just plain stupid and highlights exactly the reason someone would be willing to go out in the middle of the ocean to get away from governments,” he wrote. “We never had any ill intentions and I even state plainly several times that I would not want to be a citizen of any seastead nation that would have me.” The couple wrote on their website that the floating home is anchored outside Thailand’s territorial waters, at least 12 nautical miles off the coast of Phuket. “It’s designed to ignite an entire libertarian movement of freedom seekers gearing up to live in permanent dwellings at sea—outside of the jurisdiction of any government,” wrote Thepdet. The claim is supported by an official statement released by Ocean Builders, the company who built the couple’s floating home, officially called XLII and billed as “the first seastead.” “Our AIS beacon is still displaying our position 13 nautical miles from Thailand outside of Thailand’s territorial waters,” Ocean Builders wrote. “It is claimed by the Thai navy through their media mouth pieces that the seastead is in a shipping lane,” Ocean Builders wrote. “This makes it sound like there is heavy cargo traffic coming to Phuket. If anyone knows Phuket, they have one cargo port that gets maybe one or two cargo ships a week. They also admit that the seastead is in international waters, at least 12 nautical miles from land.” But a Thai deputy naval commander insisted the project was a threat. “This affects our national security and cannot be allowed,” Rear Adm. Wintharat Kotchaseni told Thai media on Tuesday, as cited by The Associated Press. He said the floating house also posed a safety threat to navigation if it broke loose because the area is considered a shipping lane. Thai police Col. Nikorn Somsuk told the South China Morning Post that the authorities were seeking clarification with the attorney general on how to proceed with the case since the outpost was technically in international waters. “We have not met the couple yet. We have sent investigators to their home but they were not there,” he told The Post. “We don’t know what their thoughts are apart from the fact that it seems a bit extreme to want to be so isolated.” He hinted the couple may not face the most serious punishment, telling the South China Morning Post, “As of now, there is no evidence that their actions pose a risk to Thai sovereignty.” The couple has been charged with article 119 of the Thai Criminal Code, which prohibits any acts that cause a deterioration of Thailand’s independence. ‘Excited About the Project’ “We were hoping to bring tourism to Phuket with an underwater restaurant, floating hotels, and medical research, tech jobs, etc. We had 3 wealthy entrepreneurs in the past week tell us they were coming to live in Phuket because they were excited about the project,” Elwartowski wrote on Facebook. A promotional video from March showed the couple toasting champagne on the floating home. “Ocean Builders is selling this ocean-front property at a fraction of the cost of any other place you would get oceanfront property,” Elwartowski says in the video, plugging the project as “something completely brand new.” He added the home was the first of an additional 20 homes planned. “May the seastead be a beacon to freedom lovers everywhere,” Elwartowski said in the video.