Please Help

[Gregmc]

I really need some help for my best friend who has been given a 6 year 3 month prison sentence.

He has been in Prachuap prison for 4 months. Needless to say It's not a good place. 

There is massive overcrowding and is quite a small prison.

The warden has advised that due to the overcrowding transfers are possible.

I'm trying to obtain information on other prisons e.g. other foreigners, facilities for exercise, possible available privileges.

If anybody knows any true information please contact me.

CHEERS 

Greg

[keithpa]

Dont pass on info to your mate about other prisons. He doesnt need that sort of info , he may worry himself to death about something that may  never happen. Ignorance is bliss.

[Gregmc]

He is determined to move. Honestly I don't know if anywhere else is better.

 

I was able to spend a few hours with him yesterday. The things that are happening in there is abhorrent. 

 

I'm just wanting to find out about other prisons so he doesn't make a poor decision.

[starky]

There's no good nicks in Thailand mate, especially a nice little prison farm especially for over anxious falangs. Overcrowded and appalling are par for the course I'm afraid.

[Halfaboy]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to contact a lawyer. They might have more insight in Thai jails than the average TV reader.

[chickenslegs]

OK, I'll ask the obvious question. A 6 year+ prison sentence is pretty severe. What did he do?

[johnnynmonic]

Maybe a prison in a small town not so near the border, and not in a popular destination province like Phuket or Chonburi (obviously).  A six year sentence?  Must have been a fair amount of drugs involved.  Good luck with the transfer.

[hawker9000]

9 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

OK, I'll ask the obvious question. A 6 year+ prison sentence is pretty severe. What did he do?

If you hadn't, I would have.  Agree - they don't hand out 6+ for just failing the blood test...    Selling?

 

 

 

[Juan B Tong]

Get new friend.  

[samsensam]

 

this organisation my be able to help

 

https://www.prisonersabroad.org.uk/

[BigC]

You need to contact your embassy they shall be very helpful with arranging vistation and letting you know the process

 

had a friend in jail for murder and they helped me big time 

[cracker1]

The decision about moving from his present prison to another will not be made by your friend but will be made by the prison director where he stays now. Most likely prisoners who have no family living near will be likely moved to places nearer where their family live.

[Gregmc]

Thank you to those who made helpfull comments.

The Swedish embassy sadly are not helping a great deal.

I will read the web address samsensam.

Again thank you guys

[mick220675]

I have been in a similar position, having a friend sentenced to 14 years in a Thai prison. He spent 6 months in a well known prison, before being moved to our local prison. 

 

The most important thing is to be close to family and friends, who can visit and bring food etc. If you or your friend have money life can be made a lot more easy.

 

I should say my friend was released after three years. 

[Stevemercer]

That is bad news.

 

He will be out in 3 years if he does not piss anyone off in the prison system. As noted above, the best you can do is to try and arrange a transfer to a prison closest to his 'support' network (if he has such a thing).

 

As you know, you can transfer money to his prison account. Having money makes all the difference in prison. 5,000 Baht a week is enough to live adequately and grease the wheels.

 

There is no point in spending money trying to grease the legal system, but being polite and friendly to prison officials will help with an early release and day to day living. 

[thaibeachlovers]

11 minutes ago, Stevemercer said:

That is bad news.

 

He will be out in 3 years if he does not piss anyone off in the prison system. As noted above, the best you can do is to try and arrange a transfer to a prison closest to his 'support' network (if he has such a thing).

 

As you know, you can transfer money to his prison account. Having money makes all the difference in prison. 5,000 Baht a week is enough to live adequately and grease the wheels.

 

There is no point in spending money trying to grease the legal system, but being polite and friendly to prison officials will help with an early release and day to day living. 

I know little about Thai prisons, but what I do understand is that having money available to buy food is critical in surviving.

If the OP really wants to help his friend, that should, IMO, be the way to help, regardless of whatever prison he is in.

Turning up occasionally to show support would undoubtedly help as well.

 

I think I'd last about a week if I was put in a Thai jail. Not a pleasant prospect for any of us.

[cyberfarang]

32 minutes ago, Gregmc said:

Thank you to those who made helpfull comments.

The Swedish embassy sadly are not helping a great deal.

I will read the web address samsensam.

Again thank you guys

Do you think prisons are like hotels that have 3, 4 and 5 star accommodations? What crime did your friend commit that earned him over 6 years jail time? Maybe he deserves to be in there. For example, if it involves pedophilia or drug dealing I`d have no sympathy at all. It may be possible for your friend to serve the rest of his sentence in a Swedish jail, could be worth making inquires with the Swedish authorities.

[steven100]

If any are in for drugs ....  they deserve to stay.

No sympathy for drug pushers, users, sellers etc ....      scum.

 

not saying your friend is ...  but 6+yrs is a while    ??

[steven100]

We cannot give advice unless we know the circumstances .....  

 

[thaibeachlovers]

3 minutes ago, steven100 said:

We cannot give advice unless we know the circumstances .....  

 

However, you could just answer the OP.

[swissbie]

48 minutes ago, Stevemercer said:

That is bad news.

 

He will be out in 3 years if he does not piss anyone off in the prison system. As noted above, the best you can do is to try and arrange a transfer to a prison closest to his 'support' network (if he has such a thing).

 

As you know, you can transfer money to his prison account. Having money makes all the difference in prison. 5,000 Baht a week is enough to live adequately and grease the wheels.

 

There is no point in spending money trying to grease the legal system, but being polite and friendly to prison officials will help with an early release and day to day living. 

5'000 Baht a week? Be aware what this amount of money does in a Thai prison. Two of our nieces are in prison, we give them 1000 Baht each per month plus some extras when there are open visiting hours (food and stuff). Even for this little amount of money they got attacked by other inmates who don't get anything at all. Moral support by visiting is very important, even if it is for years.

[grollies]

4 hours ago, johnnynmonic said:

Maybe a prison in a small town not so near the border, and not in a popular destination province like Phuket or Chonburi

What? Chon Buri prison is a popular destination? 

[Iamemjay]

What farangs call overcrowding in prisons is normal for Thais. Think of it - They hire a hotel room and 20 will sleep there, all lying on the floor using towels as pillows. That's normal, so 20 in a "cell" with just a thin mat to sleep on is not unusual. Your friend will not find any better than this.

 

The best he can hope for is transfer to a location where "outside" family/friend support is available, because without this he will be in bad shape. They need money to supplement the meagre food offerings and for toiletries/undies etc etc.

 

However, the 5000B a week already mentioned in another post is nothing short of ridiculous. We visit a relative and give him 3000B a month, plus we buy supplies from the prison store for him when we visit every 6 weeks or so. He says this keeps him in good supply and he actually works out to keep his weight under control. He also studies, plays football daily and works in the prison woodworking shop where he has learned valuable skills. (He earns money from the sales of his products there, but this will not be available to him until his release.)

 

Your friend will make life a lot easier for himself by bending to their militaristic discipline and also doing these types of things. A very visible priviledge system operates in Thai prisons based on an inmate's willingness to participate in such activities and their level of cooperativeness, not so much under-the-table-payments as has been suggested. Our relative's sentence (25 years - first time yaba mule) has recently been reduced to 8 years based on his rating at second top of their 5 point scale (Top level attracts a full pardon).  He was publicly presented with a special certificate by the Prison Governor and does not even have to wear the prison pyjamas - he wears very nice shorts, t-shirt, joggers and cap and is part of a team which goes "outside" on prison-sponsored building projects in the community. All this and not one under-the-table Baht has changed hands.

 

If you want more info please feel free to contact me privately.

[keeniau96]

Stevemercer gives very good advice, all points. Had wife's relative in for 20, Songkla then transferred to Phuket. Both were not overly bad but the family visit and a bit of money very important.

[grollies]

27 minutes ago, swissbie said:

5'000 Baht a week? Be aware what this amount of money does in a Thai prison. Two of our nieces are in prison, we give them 1000 Baht each per month plus some extras when there are open visiting hours (food and stuff). Even for this little amount of money they got attacked by other inmates who don't get anything at all. Moral support by visiting is very important, even if it is for years.

Spot on, our nephew is in for 3 years. We're hoping for maybe an amnesty in the upcoming coronation, but 3 years is 3 years. Can't take food in (he Islam) but can order and pay for it from the prison. B1,000 per month also. 

 

The prison he's in offers no education programmes, incentives, has no sports facilities. He is sick and medical provision is non-existant, hasn't seen the prison doctor in two weeks. He's in Ayuttaya prison, drugs conviction and is katoey. God help him.....

[jimmyaaa]

1 hour ago, cyberfarang said:

Do you think prisons are like hotels that have 3, 4 and 5 star accommodations? What crime did your friend commit that earned him over 6 years jail time? Maybe he deserves to be in there. For example, if it involves pedophilia or drug dealing I`d have no sympathy at all. It may be possible for your friend to serve the rest of his sentence in a Swedish jail, could be worth making inquires with the Swedish authorities.

priceless...of course some prisons are better than others , impossible to be completely identical and equal....as far as you not having 'no sympathy' im sure the guy in prison and the o.p. wont lose any sleep over it . After all , hes already been sentenced once , right ?  hats off to the op for making the effort to help his friend. Life changing stuff and could make all the difference

[Mansell]

If you want a good farang lawyer who would charge around 1,500 baht for an hour consultation, contact me off line for his info. You can even do it via Skype if need be. It might be good to see what his options are about moving prisons etc.

[cyberfarang]

54 minutes ago, jimmyaaa said:

priceless...of course some prisons are better than others , impossible to be completely identical and equal....as far as you not having 'no sympathy' im sure the guy in prison and the o.p. wont lose any sleep over it . After all , hes already been sentenced once , right ?  hats off to the op for making the effort to help his friend. Life changing stuff and could make all the difference

Criminals are sent to prison for a reason, to be punished. If prisons were to become desirable accommodations, then they would not be deterrents against committing crimes. If they can`t tolerate the time, then don`t commit crime. What`s so difficult about that to understand?

[Gregmc]

Steve can i chat with u a littleplease mate. 

At prachuap prison I can't take him anything but letters and books. No food nothing.

Thanks Steve. He has 10k in the bank account which is the max allowable. He is allowed 300baht a day to spend 

I'm very thankful for your ideas

[khunken]

34 minutes ago, cyberfarang said:

Criminals are sent to prison for a reason, to be punished. If prisons were to become desirable accommodations, then they would not be deterrents against committing crimes. If they can`t tolerate the time, then don`t commit crime. What`s so difficult about that to understand?

Apart from a cliche and ignorance about prisons, a poster is asking for some little help and all you can do is post completely unhelpful bile.

 

Prisons are supposed to help prisoners change their criminal activities when they are released as well a punish them. It helps, as Lamemjay posts above, to request for a move to another prison nearer a support network or individual. It sounds to me that the prison mentioned by the Op is worse than most and I would say Klong Prem in Bangkok - for example - is somewhat better as I have experience of visiting a prisoner there.