Holly Deane-Johns, an Australian woman who spent seven gruelling years in a Thai prison for heroin trafficking, has opened up about the appalling conditions she endured in the notorious Lardyao Women’s Correctional Institution, often dubbed the "Bangkok Hilton."

 

In 2000, Holly, then aged 29, was caught trying to mail a parcel of heroin to her family in Perth. She faced the death penalty but was instead sentenced to 31 years in the overcrowded and squalid prison.

 

Speaking on the True Crime Australia podcast with Gary Jubelin, Holly recounted the horror she faced upon arrival. “More than 100 Thai women were sitting on blankets. I asked if anyone spoke English, and one woman raised her hand.

 

 

She found me a spot to sleep, but there was literally no visible floor space,” she said. The woman instructed others to lie down, revealing a sliver of the floor about nine inches wide. “That was my bed for the next seven years.”

 

Prisoners had to bring their own essentials. “Some couldn’t afford blankets. I bought a couple and folded them to sleep on,” Holly shared.

Picture courtesy of Holly Deane-Johns via Daily Star UK
 

She detailed the primitive conditions, “In my section, there were 2,000 women and only 10 toilets in the yard. Fights over sleeping spots and washing facilities were common. As soon as the cell doors opened, it was a stampede to the trough of cold water. You had to strip naked before the doors opened, or others would pull at your clothes to slow you down.”

 

Her first shower was nearly violent. “A trustee looked like she’d hit me with a metal bar for being slow, but I made it clear I’d fight back. We later became friends, and she let me store my blankets safely.”

 

Holly faced relentless stress and frequent fights. “My first fight was with a friend, and I don’t even know what it was about. It was that crazy.”

 

Even using the toilets was traumatic. “There was no privacy. I didn’t use the toilet for a month because I was so embarrassed. Eventually, I realised I had to adapt. I decided to live like a Thai.”

 

After a long campaign, Holly was transferred to an Australian prison in 2007, where she served another five years before her release in 2012. Since then, she has authored a book titled “Holly’s Hell,” detailing her harrowing experience in the Bangkok Hilton, shedding light on the brutal reality behind its walls.

 

Picture courtesy of Holly Deane-Johns via Daily Star UK

 

-- 2024-05-16

 

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6 minutes ago, webfact said:

Even using the toilets was traumatic. “There was no privacy. I didn’t use the toilet for a month because I was so embarrassed.

So what did she use?????

The obligatory book full no doubt of self pity and exagerations

Sorry, but deserved all she got.

Well that will teach ya.  Certainly brings reality into view at an early age. 

 

Lucky she survived. What's the bet she doesn't touch the stuff now. 

 

 

I thought it wasn't allowed to make money out of a crime you committed, even writing about it yet alone on TV and Newspapers.  

When's her next trip ? 

it's a punishment, not supposed to be a walk in the park like the UK prisons. 

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

she has authored a book titled “Holly’s Hell,” 

Drug smuggler, now author. 

 

Looking for a buck. 

 

I read she also has an OnlyFans account. 

 

10 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

When's her next trip ? 

 

is she Shapelle Corby's sister   ?

trying to make money from her crime, she should be put back and the book destroyed. She deliberately tried to send drugs knowing it was highly illegal, she should not be able to make money from her crime, will be total BS trying to suck people in with all her BS, should not have let her out

38 minutes ago, bigt3116 said:

Sorry, but deserved all she got.

Don't think so. Govt locking people up and then treating them inhumanely is not how its supposed to work. Of course she should be punished but for them to allow and treat prisoners as objects is not OK.

5 minutes ago, seajae said:

trying to make money from her crime, she should be put back and the book destroyed. She deliberately tried to send drugs knowing it was highly illegal, she should not be able to make money from her crime, will be total BS trying to suck people in with all her BS, should not have let her out

plenty of people have written books after drug convictions, it's not as if she went on a mass murder rampage. it is a bit different

5 minutes ago, freeworld said:

Don't think so. Govt locking people up and then treating them inhumanely is not how its supposed to work. Of course she should be punished but for them to allow and treat prisoners as objects is not OK.

thats Thailand, the punishment is a punishment!
if in the UK (example), she'd have got 3 meals a day and a roast on sundays... pool tables and a tuck shop!

"The Damage Done" was a decent read, but once you've read one of these 'locked up in Thailand' stories you've read them all. 

 

Smuggling drugs in Thailand has to be one of the dumbest things you can do (but not quite as dumb as smuggling drugs in Indonesia).

“A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens but by how it treats its criminals.”

― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 

So yes:

The treatment of prisoners is one of the tests of civilisation of a country.

maybe now we'll get Tammant's story from his time in an Aussie prison - Tammanat's Hell!!

11 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

"The Damage Done" was a decent read, but once you've read one of these 'locked up in Thailand' stories you've read them all. 

 

Smuggling drugs in Thailand has to be one of the dumbest things you can do (but not quite as dumb as smuggling drugs in Indonesia).

Smuggling drugs anywhere is dumb, irrespective of what country it is, and when caught you should suffer the consequences of your stupidity and not expect a sunny holiday with all the trimmings. 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

In 2000, Holly, then aged 29, was caught trying to mail a parcel of heroin to her family in Perth

 

What?  Was it a Christmas present? 

 

'Happy Christmas dad I've got you 1 kg of smack, and its In the post'. 

 

1 hour ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I read she also has an OnlyFans account. 

 

 

 

Why not have one?

She's just lucky that she was arrested in Thailand.  If she had been arrested in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam or China, she would have been executed.

7 minutes ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

 

Why not have one?

 

4 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quite the in depth reply Jonny.     THANKS.

 

 

4 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

1 hour ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Even using the toilets was traumatic. “There was no privacy. I didn’t use the toilet for a month because I was so embarrassed.

So what did she use?????

She is probably exaggerating but means that she was embarrassed to have a bowel movement without privacy.

Happy to see her publish a book and get publicity. That way other young stupids will see and/or hear about it, and they will realise that there is severe punishment in Thailand (and other SEAsian countries). I am sure it 'days' before she was able to wake up and realise the truth and use the toilet, but it would have felt like a month. 

And if anyone thinks that it is not worse in the male part of of that Thailand jail - they are very much mistaken.  I have read a book and seen a few vids about that place - absolutely not worth it at all.

1 hour ago, proton said:

The obligatory book full no doubt of self pity and exagerations

Exactly.

51 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

thats Thailand, the punishment is a punishment!
if in the UK (example), she'd have got 3 meals a day and a roast on sundays... pool tables and a tuck shop!

In Thailand she got three meals a day and a tuck shop, also.

7 minutes ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quite the in depth reply Jonny.     THANKS.

 

 

 

 

You're welcome.

 

Sometimes pictures tell more than words. 

37 minutes ago, Andre0720 said:

“A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens but by how it treats its criminals.”

― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 

So yes:

The treatment of prisoners is one of the tests of civilisation of a country.

And how long ago was that written?

I don't believe the gulags have changed much either.

23 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

if anyone thinks that it is not worse in the male part of of that Thailand jail - they are very much mistaken.  I have read a book and seen a few vids about that place -

If you're going on "a book and videos", you know nothing about the conditions of Klong Prem, the facility that also houses the women's prison.    Without exception, all of them comprise over-dramatic exaggerations and lies with the only intentions being to create agitation and as much money as possible for the authors or producers.