Drug fugitive Lisa Marie Smith 'found'

Melbourne woman Lisa Marie Smith, who fled Thailand in 1996 while on bail for drugs charges, has reportedly been found in Dublin.

The Irish Sun reports that Smith was found working at Hippety's cafe in Temple Bar.

The paper says she was running the cafe under her real name.

The fugitive had been at the centre of global search after being arrested at Bangkok Airport at the age of 20 with a backpack full of drugs as she was about to board a flight to Tokyo.

She was accused of smuggling 4kg of cannabis resin and 565 amphetamine tablets.

Ms Smith, whose father Terry Smith was then chief executive of National Mutual Asia in Hong Kong, fled Thailand after bail of 1.5 million baht ($A75,000) was posted.

Smith's case created intense interest in Australia and the UK since she was listed on Interpol's top 10 wanted list in 1998.

She faced up to 20 years in jail however the Sun reports that Ireland does not have an extradition treaty with Thailand and that it will not want to turn her over to a country under martial law.