Help: Thai Innocent In Jail...

[Dominik]

Hi... a bit of a strange request for help here... A sad story.

I have been living many years in Thailand and still have many friends there. I now live back in Europe. Last week my Thai family alerted me about the fact that a very good friend of ours has been jailed innocent.

His name is Pat, and he is only 26 years old. An honest sincere hard working Thai in Bangkok. Never harmed anybody or did anything wrong in his life.

As many Thai people who live and work in Bangkok do, he shared his room with a friend.

This friend had hidden 2000 tablets of some kind of drugs inside his room. Pat did not know anything about this. Last week the police came to check his room. Pat was alone at home and did not suspect anything. To his surprise the police found the tablets in his friends stuff. He explained that they were not his, but the police did not believe this and they arrested him. So far I can understand the action of the police.

Later the police arrested the friend, and this guy was honest enough to make a statement that Pat indeed did not know anything about the tablets.

Still the police did not find this reason to release Pat. This I can not understand! Yesterday they told him he will go to jail for about 25 years! And he is only 26!

We are desparate to help him. Pat is like family of ours. Yesterday my Thai partner went to visit him in jail and told me he was chained and could not even lift up his face to look up. This is terrible!

Does anybody knows how we can help this young man? Is there any lawyer who can help us in this matter? I am in Europe and do not have the possibility to travel to Thailand now. Nor do I have large budgets to pay expensive lawyers.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dominik

[thaimee]

A sad story. We are desparate to help him. Pat is like family of ours. Yesterday my Thai partner went to visit him in jail and told me he was chained and could not even lift up his face to look up. This is terrible!

What sort of restraints do Thai police have on said criminals that the criminal element aren't able to move their heads freely? Sounds 2 bloody barbaric!!

Is this part of the story true, if so, it's changed my already negative view of human right's in the Kingdom. Yes, this is a horrible story!! Sure?

Thaimee.

[Up2U]

I would suggest that there is little or nothing that can be done.

This person was the (presumably) registered occupant of an apartment where a considerable quantity of drugs were found. Unless he had only moved in in the previous few days, he will be found guilty - in almost any country.

[Eggy]

How come that every single person in custody in Thailand is innocent???

Wake up people.

[chonabot]

Eggy , the fact that his flatmate admitted guilt should count for his innocence, No?

[elsie]

I am not 100% certain if your "Pat" is the former singer. From the local news here, Pat admitted he has even used drugs himself. He has known this friend (HK man) for years. And this HK man was a drug dealer. To make a long story short, when the fame faded, no more work, no more money, and Pat decided to sell drugs. The police have been after his girlfriend as well, as they've got evidences she's been probably involved too.

I've just read from the paper today, that a few years ago, Pat, his girlfriend and their friends beated and stabbed a security guard at their apartment to death. This case is still in the court.

[Eggy]

Chonabot, if my girlfriend said that her best friend was Brittany Spears would that make it true??

They may have been in business together, "Pat" may be lying to Dominik, the whole thing could be cooked up to extract some baht from the falaang!!

[Dominik]

Thank you already for so many replies.

I would like to say that the person who suggest that this is the "Pat" in the newspaper is very wrong. "Pat" is a very common nickname.

Pat does not have a girlfriend (he is gay btw), and does not know any person from Hong-Kong. He only has a Japanese friend who visit him from time to time but they do not live together.

Nor did he ever do anything wrong such as stabbing people or was he ever convicted. He has a good job in a hotel. As far as we know he is one of the most sincere and honest persons I know, and the fact that this happens to him makes me feel teribble.

I would not post this message if I doubted him in any way. Nor would my partner who knows him since childhood doubt him.

The other person on this forum is right: they keep him in jail because the room is rented on his name and therefore they say he is guilty. The fact that the roommate confessed and declared Pat knew nothing does not seems to change this.

For the question about the conditions in the prison: I do not know if the story is completely right. I got this from my Thai partner who went to visit him in jail. The exact Thai-English words over the phone were: "he was chained, and needed to carry a thing all the time, he could not lift his head up to look in my eyes". I will ask in my next phonecall some more details about this, because maybe I interpreted this wrong.

Another thing also bothers me: the roommate declared that the bag contained 2000 tablets. The police report mentions 1300 tablets... Either the roommate was cheated upon, or some way 700 tablets dissapeared after the police took them. I presume it will be the first.

In my opinion the declaration of the roommate must be some starting point to get him out.

Thanks,

Dominik

[OxfordWill]

I have cross posted this to soc.culture.thai where I know of at least one lawyer who reads it.

Good luck.

[OxfordWill]

What's your email, Dominik?

[hkthai]

Chonabot, if my girlfriend said that her best friend was Brittany Spears would that make it true??

They may have been in business together, "Pat" may be lying to Dominik, the whole thing could be cooked up to extract some baht from the falaang!!

Ohhh....now I understand

The reliable scheming Thais plotting to rip off the unsuspecting farang again..

[Khun Larry]

Last week my Thai family alerted me about the fact that a very good friend of ours has been jailed innocent.

This friend had hidden 2000 tablets of some kind of drugs inside his room. Pat did not know anything about this.

One thing you can do is to not let on he knows any farangs. I can't see that helping.

Unfortunately, his defense is very common. Almost every drug story I have read about has an innocent victim.

[Khun Larry]

Ohhh....now I understand

The reliable scheming Thais plotting to rip off the unsuspecting farang again..

What do you mean reliable scheming? One or the other, which is it?

[wolf5370]

At least they didn't shoot him!

If I read this right, it's just that he, Pat, has been arrested. If that is so, then it is simply the police doing their job. They have to arrest him to as the drugs were found on the premises and there is intent to sell/supply. As cohabitater, it is likely that he at least knew that his room-mate was dealing.

It is for the courts to decide.

For all ther police know, your friend may be the ring leader, and the one caught just trying to shield him.

He has to get a lawyer - a good one. He may well get off through lack of evidence especially if the other guy keeps to his "he knew nothing" story. Help him out with lawyer costs if you wish, but keep it Thai all the way - let his family find a good lawyer.

[sbk]

I doubt he has had a trial already, unless he has plead guilty that is. Of course, with some of the 'enticements' Thai police use to get people to confess it is not unlikely. Anyway, it can take months, even years, for a case to come to trial, sounds like he needs bail made first. I am sure that police are just threatening him with 25 years, I sincerely doubt he has been sentenced already. He needs a lawyer, I don't know what they charge here but it is bound to be quite a bit less than Europe. A good lawyer can get him bailed, and could also possibly get the charges dropped. Perhaps your partner can find one?

[Dominik]

Hi everybody!

Thank you for so many answers. To answer some of your questions:

1. Both the persons are arrested, not only Pat.

2. You can contact me at [email protected]

3. He is not been sentenced yet. It is the police who is saying that he will probably be convicted and get 25 years. Some people say he might get out after 10 to 15 years. This is no comfort however.

Some of you reacted in disbelief that this person could be innocent. I did not post this topic on the forum to receive any judgement on this. Only to receive some tips as some of you also did.

Wether Pat is guilty or not we can not determine on this forum. My partner, Pat, and our family believe in his innocence however.

[sonthaya]

Dominik, it's a sad story, but I don't think anyone can help him, it's in the hands of the police, and they would not tolerate interferrence from outside.

[Nam Kao]

Dominik, has your girlfreind asked you to send money to her to help out Pat?

also:

Have any family owned buffaloes suddenly fallen ill?

Has her mother fallen ill with a deadly disease only cured by 1000 baht bills

used as bandages?

Hows the father ??

[tuky]

Dominik, has your girlfreind asked you to send money to her to help out Pat?

also:

Have any family owned buffaloes suddenly fallen ill?

Has her mother fallen ill with a deadly disease only cured by 1000 baht bills

used as bandages?

Hows the father ??

hmmmm

There are several lawyers on this site Dominik.

Can you law type guys make yourselves known to Dominik perhaps via PM or if you like in this thread?

[Nam Kao]

Sounds like he's getting scammed, same game, neat story though

[Dominik]

Dear Nam Kao,

Your remarks sound more like an insult to me then a helpfull suggestion. They hurt me and my family very much.

I suppose they are well intended, so I forgive you. Mai pen rai ;-)

If you read my originall post carefully you can see that I have lived for years in Thailand. So I do know about these practices. These things indeed happen, but far less then you think so.

And to answer your question: no Thai person ever asked money from me. The contrary is true: In my last 6 months in Thailand I had a problem to access my bank account in Europe and my Thai partner and family took care of me during all these months without ever asking anything in return.

I have studied Thai culture better then some Thais ever do. I spent all of my time in Thailand only with Thai people. I succesfully performed cross-culltural management trainings for foreign people wishing to do business with Thai people to make them understand the way to work together with Thai people. So I do believe that I know a bit about the "way of the Thais".

Pat never asked for help. Nobody ever did. When my partner told me I took action myself. At this moment Pat does not even know I am trying to help, and I want to keep it this way. As some other post here suggested: better that I stay invisible in the background. My Thai partner is still in Thailand now for another month and I use this channel to assist indirectly.

I still have many Thai friends. Some of them are executives of big companies, others are sales people, managers, police officers,... Others are farmers, have a shop, drive a taxi, or work in a bar. I like them all, and none of them ever tried to take advantage of me or asked me for money.

I guess it all depends on how you behave yourself.

You receive what you give.

I think it is a sad thing that some people on this forum here react in the way they do. They do not know me, my partner or Pat. Still they judge us. How would these people feel if one of their best friends would be in Pat's situation and people would react like that? What if it would be a family member of them? Or even their child? Would these reactions not hurt a lot?

Would they not try anything to help their friend or relative?

And what if they themselves would be in Pat's situation? Would they not be glad that there is still somebody outside that wants to help them? Somebody that shows unconditional love and does not judge them? Somebody to give them hope?

To these people I can only say: the next time, try not to jugde before you know some facts! Or even better: never judge at all even if you know the facts! You will have a much more happy life!

Have a nice day!

[NedKelly]

Some very cynical people here. Lets give the benefit of the doubt and assume the story is legit. What does one do ?

Not sure about this but you might try Amnesty International !

His family here should goaround and get a portfolio of personal references from anyone who knows the guy to say that he never uses drugs or sold drugs etc. Also that all these people support his innocence. You could also get themto sign a petition supporting a reasonable approach to this by the authorities.

Ok ok before anyone decides that what I have said is a bunch of <deleted>.........put a sock in it ok !!

[maerim]

Did Pat ever work for the Thai post office delivering mail?

[ChiangMaiThai]

Everybody who is deciding on this guy's innocence or guilt is a fuc$ing idiot. You know nothing. You have no facts. The issue is how a farang friend can help a Thai friend in a situation like this. I think the best thing would be assistance in finding a good Thai lawyer, whether that be through research or through monetary means.

[hkthai]

I still have many Thai friends. Some of them are executives of big companies, others are sales people, managers, police officers,... Others are farmers, have a shop, drive a taxi, or work in a bar. I like them all, and none of them ever tried to take advantage of me or asked me for money.

I think it is a sad thing that some people on this forum here react in the way they do. They do not know me, my partner or Pat. Still they judge us. How would these people feel if one of their best friends would be in Pat's situation and people would react like that? What if it would be a family member of them? Or even their child? Would these reactions not hurt a lot?

To these people I can only say: the next time, try not to jugde before you know some facts! Or even better: never judge at all even if you know the facts! You will have a much more happy life!

Dominik

You say you have friends who are police officer. Depending on his ranking and how close of a relationship you have with that police officer, I would approach him for "advice". He will not jeopardized his own career but certainly can recommend or even lay some ground works in assisting your friend if in his view your friend may be innocent (and for some police, it doesn't matter the idea of innocence or guilty). BTW, I wouldn't approach him unless you are very close to him and recognized the concept of "boon khun" if he does and can help you.

Yes there are a lot of cynics who will view this as another scam to rip off the farang. Having said that there are also many good and informative posts here.

[ThaiPauly]

Dominik, has your girlfreind asked you to send money to her to help out Pat?

also:

Have any family owned buffaloes suddenly fallen ill?

Has her mother fallen ill with a deadly disease only cured by 1000 baht bills

used as bandages?

Hows the father ??

Uneccassary, you ######. this is a life or death situation near enough, how can ou trivialise it in such a way, hope you never fall foul of the law my freind, dont expect any hep. Tosser

[Khun ?]

Would a simple drug test prove if he was at least a user or not. Most drugs can be detected for quite a while. Blood test or hair sample. Get a lawyer to request one ASAP if at all possible it would maybe work in his favor with what his room mate stated.

[stroll]

If a friend stashed 2000 pills in my room, I think I'd know about it.

I am tempted to say 'som nam na'.

On second thoughts, things like this happen a lot, if you are associated with a dealer, you are assumed to be at least a user.

On a practical note, it sounds like you already have connections within police and other authoritative circles. Use these to solve the issue, redeem your friend before it even reaches court.

If he is in constraints, (a cannon ball connected with bars or chains to the ankles), he will already be in prison rather than in the police station, the place to enquire about what he is up for would be the office at Sanam Luang, there will be an official file there now, find out if bail may be paid to release him temporarily, forget the police who arrested him for the moment, what they think is not important at this stage.

I am not a lawyer, speaking from experience helping a Thai friend.

[ajahnlau]

The old in the wrong place,time situation. Sounds like it's gonna get down to some cash parting or he's off for a few years. If you really want to help just start sending cash,even thou it may be a few dollars it will help. Feel sorry for anyone who really is innocent and have to do a stretch because of a supposed friend's antics. Only the poor go to jail here.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Would a simple drug test prove if he was at least a user or not. Most drugs can be detected for quite a while. Blood test or hair sample. Get a lawyer to request one ASAP if at all possible it would maybe work in his favor with what his room mate stated.

Get a lawyer is sound advice. The quicker the better.