Two English teenagers who were caught carrying much larger amounts of heroin were freed earlier this year after serving three years following a pardon by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The steering group is being chaired by businessman Francis Cheung Nim-che, a past president of the Tsim Sha Tsui East Rotary Club.
He said: ''We are just debating whether we ought to get involved and if so, how. We are a part of an international organisation and we are looking at whether we can and should seek to mobilise our counterparts in Thailand to give a hand.'' Patricia Cahill and Karyn Smith were 17 and 19 when they were caught with 26 kilograms of heroin in July 1990. Cahill was jailed for 18 years and nine months. Smith got 25 years.
The Rotary Club of Hong Kong is part of Rotary International, which has thousands of members worldwide who raise money for charity.
Tammy's uncle, Michael Lai Chung-keung, welcomed the move but he accepted there was no guarantee of success.
He also took the opportunity to issue an emotional appeal for others to learn from his niece's lesson.
Mr Lai, 32, said drugs could ruin not only the lives of those who carried them, but the lives of relatives and friends.
He said Tammy was astonished when Customs Officers found the heroin in her luggage.
A male travelling companion admitted hiding the drug there without Tammy's knowledge. Her boyfriend also acknowledged his part in the crime.
Tammy was strongly advised by her lawyers to plead guilty. She was told that in pleading not guilty, the burden of proof would lie on her to demonstrate that she was ignorant of the presence of the drug. As it was just her word and that of her friends, any claim of innocence was unprovable.
Tammy received 15 years' jail. Her companions got 25 years each.
Now aged 22 with five years spent in jail behind her and another 10 before her, the once lively, sociable and optimistic young woman is described as depressed, listless and despairing.
''There are many other people in the prison who have been there for 15 years. She finds little to give her hope,'' said Mr Lai.
''I have encouraged her to study English and read the Bible. She goes to church now and she prays to give herself courage. She finds life otherwise is dull and relentless.'' Tammy, an only child from a broken family, was looked after by her grandparents for most of the time she was growing up. She studied at Pooi To Middle School but left at 16 to work in her mother's vegetarian restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui.
''Her grandfather died last year. We didn't know how to tell her. We knew she would take it badly. Now her grandmother wants to visit her before it is too late,'' added Mr Lai.
''Tammy was so foolish. She thought it was too clever to get mixed up in something like this but she was just a girl with no real experience. Our only hope is that the King grants her a pardon but we have heard nothing about that since applying two yearsago.
''She has been punished enough. This sort of thing happens too often to young ladies. They may think they are smart but they are naive. They should learn from Tammy's experience. So much of a young life in prison - it can't be overcome.
''This is not a single person's story. It is true for many Hong Kong girls. Tammy will be 33 when she comes out. That is not old but she will be old in spirit.'' Tammy's sentence has also cost her family dear in financial terms. Her mother, Lai Yee-ha, 41, had to sell her restaurant in order to finance visits to Tammy and to buy her essentials.
There are nine Hong Kong Chinese female prisoners on drugs charges in Bangkok's Klong Prem prison. Another of them, Michelle Tse Hoi-man, was also 17 when arrested in 1991 for possessing 2.5 kilograms of heroin. She was jailed for 121/2 years.
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