Banged up: Thai prison nightmare exposed by British tourist

[wombat]

12 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Sorry, but I think that there is rather more to this than meets the eye!

A BiB,

relation husband or boyfriend would be my guess.

[Expat Tom]

Visit "transparency.org" and check out where Thailand is ranked in the "world corruption index". 

I'll save you the effort ...Thailand is ranked 114 th most corrupt country in the world but don't take my word for it.

Check it out yourself. transparenct.org 

I am working on my 2025 exit plan from the land of smiles. BYW, the reason the Russians feel so at home in 

Thailand is that Russia is ranked 141 st on the world corruption index. 

[Mr Meeseeks]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

Bitter from his ordeal, he declared he would never return to Thailand. He criticised the system as a “cash-making scheme” for the government, claiming that tourism, the backbone of Thailand’s economy, exploits foreigners through such detentions.

 

He's got them sussed. 

[watchcat]

12 hours ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Best not to upset these Thai women.

 

Best to avoid the hookers altogether

[suzannegoh]

"His Thai adventure began with hope and ambition in April of the previous year, as he planned to settle and start a business. However, his dreams crumbled in November..."

 

Conditions like that are inexcusable but if he entered Thailand 19 months earlier with the intention of "settling" in Thailand and wasn't a retiree or a millionaire, it seems more likely that he never had a proper visa than that that he overstayed by a "few" days.

[herfiehandbag]

12 hours ago, Andre0720 said:

In January 1945, with the Soviet army approaching, Nazi officials ordered the camp abandoned and sent an estimated 60,000 prisoners on a forced march to other locations. When the Soviets entered Auschwitz, they found thousands of emaciated detainees and piles of corpses left behind.

 

And even today, the Germans are still ashamed of what they did to people.  Yes, they were people just like them.

And now they treat their prisoners in a humane way. Afraid that anyone would remind them of these events.

"Do not do to others what you would not want done to you” is a fundamental principle of fairness and empathy known as the Golden Rule. It means that you should treat others with the same kindness and respect that you would like to be treated with." Also the same way to define 'being civilized'.

If anyone here would agree to see his son or daughter treated the way this guy was treated, for a fault that would not even make eyebrows raise, well that would mean that this person disagrees with Confucius, and would celebrate this life lesson taught to one of his children.

Shame on you....

 

Well said; although judging by the number of "confused emojis" many here are somewhat lacking in empathy.

 

I absolutely agree with your sentiments. These conditions are appalling, and gloating over them is shameful. My point is that I doubt he has been banged up in such savage conditions for a couple of days overstay.

[Andre0720]

"Police, alerted to his visa status, arrested him and dragged him to court, claiming he had overstayed by a few days. "

 

I would hope that if one would ask a kid what to do when a person has overstayed his permission to stay in a country by a few days, as allowed by an 'immigration officer'. 

 

I would love to see this kid answer: "Well this guy has done nothing wrong really, so I would send that immigration officer to talk to him, and to see if he could quickly grant an additional permission to stay".

 

Kids do think normally.... Let's hope so....

[Stiddle Mump]

3 minutes ago, watchcat said:

 

Best to avoid the hookers altogether

Bank on the money there Sir.

 

Avoid ladyboys too. Avoid doing dodgy things if you are on overstay.

[Ironmike]

This is a load of rubbish Thai law is strick on over stay but they allow 30 days and a 20,000 baht fine so this guy is lieing also the only way you might get a phone inside is through a guard which costs money, no way you smuggle it in they strip check you and go through everything looking for cash, I would say this ahole must of mouthed off to the wrong person and ended up being given a lesson that he won't forget, just a waste of air go home to mommy and cry. 

[dallen52]

Thai prison is like a living death sentence. 

To be avoided.

 

[Stiddle Mump]

22 minutes ago, Expat Tom said:

Visit "transparency.org" and check out where Thailand is ranked in the "world corruption index". 

I'll save you the effort ...Thailand is ranked 114 th most corrupt country in the world but don't take my word for it.

Check it out yourself. transparenct.org 

I am working on my 2025 exit plan from the land of smiles. BYW, the reason the Russians feel so at home in 

Thailand is that Russia is ranked 141 st on the world corruption index. 

So who is number one? I'll take an educated guess; the USA.

[daveAustin]

13 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Probably in the minority, but IMHO, that's exactly how prison should be.  Punishment, not the comfy stay like in the USA.

 

 

Until you find yourself in there too for some trivial reason, right. 

[J Branche]

Recap.

 

Immigrant Foreigner fails to check Immigration requirements, fails to make alerts for important dates in his phones free Calendar that can be synched with tablet, computer automatically.

 

Foreigner fails to check maybe every week when he must visit Immigration or leave.

 

If you are here legally, have Proof of Immigration documents on Phone, chances are if you get in minor fight you are treated like Thai culture (Say sorry, say you will work better to prevent this next time, maybe pay small fine)

 

Minor fighting is part of Thai Culture.

[proton]

2 hours ago, PeeJayEm said:

Read before you comment and with your attitude I hope you get to experience it sometime yourself.

 

We all know it has always been the case that if arrested on overstay you get sent to the detention centre, but if you go to the airport it's a 500 baht a day fine. He was not treated any differently or more harshly than anyone else and deserved to be in there, not let off. I will never be on over stay so wont be following him in there.

[proton]

5 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

Until you find yourself in there too for some trivial reason, right. 

 

Breaking immigration law is trivial at home, this is Thailand where it's not.

[shackleton]

Well that would send out a clear message on overstaying your visa 

But how many normal tourists would be aware of the penalties involved they would have their holiday and return to their country after enjoying their stay  in Thailand 

[newbee2022]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

Picture courtesy of The Daily Mail

 

by Bob Scott 

A British tourist revealed the grim conditions banged up abroad in a Thai prison and issued a chilling warning to fellow travellers about the reality of being detained abroad.

 

The 29 year old former soldier, who wished to remain anonymous, endured a 15-day ordeal in two police cells and a Bangkok deportation centre after overstaying his visa, a blunder he deeply regrets.

“The only way I can describe it is hell.”

 

Held with 130 other people in a stifling room devoid of ventilation, he added, “We could only go out for an hour a week.”

The grim picture didn’t end there. Guards would distribute food in trays washed on the filthy bathroom floor using cold water.

 

“Everywhere I stayed was infested with fire ants and cockroaches. The rubbish just piled up in a corner.”

 

Pictures courtesy of The Daily Mail

His Thai adventure began with hope and ambition in April of the previous year, as he planned to settle and start a business. However, his dreams crumbled in November when a spat with an ex landed him in hot water in Pattaya.

Police, alerted to his visa status, arrested him and dragged him to court, claiming he had overstayed by a few days.

 

“The police were very violent. Two officers ambushed me in a public toilet and beat me. They threw me onto the flatbed of a truck and cuffed me to the side.”

 

Dazed and disoriented, the British man suspected he suffered a concussion and was left in the dark about his fate until Russian cellmates enlightened him about the process.

 

“They lent me money to pay my court fine, otherwise, it would have been much worse.”

 

Packed into a cramped police cell measuring six-by-four feet alongside eight other inmates, he resorted to bribery to make life fractionally more bearable.

 

The prisoners jostled for space and struggled to rest, with no room to lie down properly.

 

“There was a pregnant girl from Laos who was really struggling, always crying with her head on the floor. It was horrible, especially as another cell, the same size, was packed with 13 people.”

 

After eight gruelling days in Pattaya, he was moved to Bangkok’s deportation centre, where behaviour worsened. Sharing four grim toilets with 130 detainees, they relied on a bucket of cold water for cleaning and bathing.

 

Weekends granted an hour of fresh air in a roofless, barred area, barely a respite.

 

“A guy sold pot noodles in one corner. That’s all I’d eat.”

 

 

His mother fought tooth and nail with the British embassy to secure his release, eventually getting him flown home. It cost 500 baht (£11.94) per night for his stay at the deportation centre, plus airfare.

 

Remarkably, the British tourist managed to smuggle a phone inside, hidden in baby wipes, to capture the conditions, the Daily Mail reported.

 

“Once you’re locked in, you have zero contact and no way to access money. Someone outside must fight for you. I’m fortunate I sneaked my phone inside and my mum contacted the embassy, otherwise, I’d still be stuck there.”

His experience served as a stark warning to travellers.

 

“Don’t risk overstaying your visa thinking it’s just a small fine. It’s not worth becoming a victim of this.”

 

 

Bitter from his ordeal, he declared he would never return to Thailand. He criticised the system as a “cash-making scheme” for the government, claiming that tourism, the backbone of Thailand’s economy, exploits foreigners through such detentions.

 

The former soldier’s ordeal serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of visa lapses and the stark realities lurking behind Thailand’s tourist veneer, urging cautious adherence to immigration laws to avoid a similar nightmare.

 

 

 

Source: The Thaiger 

-- 2025-01-20

 

 

It's heartbreaking that Thai prison didn't fulfill his expectations of a comfortable extended stay in Thailand.

[BerndD]

13 hours ago, Denim said:

Ich fühle mich betrogen. Ich bin seit 40 Jahren hier, aber mir ist noch nie etwas so Aufregendes passiert.

40 years overstay?

[spidermike007]

A completely ridiculous response to an overstay. Total over reach. And since Thailand is being appointed to the international human rights council of the UN, perhaps they can start demonstrating some consideration for the rights of individuals. 

[kwak250]

I understand it looks a nightmare but i have overstayed a few times many years ago and only had to pay a small fine
Never beaten in a public toilet and handcuffed to the back of a pick up truck

He said all he was eating was pot noodles but looks like you can buy lots of other snacks and drinks ,saying that without money might be difficult.

 

Looks like the ex has some police in her family.

 

Probably more to the story than we see here.

[stevenrossvanduyn]

In New Zealand we do get a lot of repeat offenders. If prison was made like what you get here in Thailand you have far less repeat offenders. Prison is for punishment and not for 3 meals a day tv in the room and 2 to each cell.

Bugger off the  civil libertarians as they bunch of idiots. Also  i like to add the death penalty needs to be introduced  as we have a Aussie who killed over 50 people and is  costing the tax payer over 1 million dollars a year to have in prison.

[garzhe]

14 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Probably in the minority, but IMHO, that's exactly how prison should be.  Punishment, not the comfy stay like in the USA.

 

 

Its not a prison its an immigration detention center.  They have the same in the airport, bang up people who they don't want to let in until someone  gets them  a ticket to fly out.

[stupidfarang]

There are many storys on Youtube about life in a Thai jail from people who have been locked up for many years, what he experinced was mild to can happen. He overstayed and paid the price and now he complains, it is a good deterant to not break the law

[KhunLA]

12 minutes ago, garzhe said:

Its not a prison its an immigration detention center.  They have the same in the airport, bang up people who they don't want to let in until someone  gets them  a ticket to fly out.

detention - prison

 

call it what you want, you can't leave 

4 hours ago, Moonfire said:

The punishment is being away from family and friends and unable to do what you want. Anything less than how a normal human being should be treated is wrong. Somehow, many think being confined and tortured should go hand in hand; sad for those folks. 

tortured ? 

[KhunLA]

14 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Probably in the minority, but IMHO, that's exactly how prison should be.  Punishment, not the comfy stay like in the USA.

Maybe I'm not in the minority 

 

1+1+2+14=18

12

2 ... I'm here all week, don't forget to top your waitress

[Grumpy one]

Have the Thai police no shame.

Call Green Peace, there appears to be a beached whale on the floor,  

[FritsSikkink]

14 hours ago, PomPolo said:

 

There's yer problem!

The problem is that he overstayed his visa. Another problem would be that he was on the wrong visa to start a business.

[fredwiggy]

14 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Probably in the minority, but IMHO, that's exactly how prison should be.  Punishment, not the comfy stay like in the USA.

 

 

Have you ever stayed in prison in the US? I've had friends stay there, sleeping in rooms with no air, stifling, cheap blankets. Not what you'd think. Of course more hospitable than here, but not a bed of roses.

[Hummin]

14 hours ago, tgw said:

 

I agree to some extent, but not for people whose only "crime" was to overstay a visa by some days.

 

The conditions of detention in Norway and some other countries are disgusting.

Interesting, would you care to share some information about Norwegian detention center? 

[fredwiggy]

26 minutes ago, stevenrossvanduyn said:

In New Zealand we do get a lot of repeat offenders. If prison was made like what you get here in Thailand you have far less repeat offenders. Prison is for punishment and not for 3 meals a day tv in the room and 2 to each cell.

Bugger off the  civil libertarians as they bunch of idiots. Also  i like to add the death penalty needs to be introduced  as we have a Aussie who killed over 50 people and is  costing the tax payer over 1 million dollars a year to have in prison.

The problem there is that some who have minor offenses are put in with monsters. Being locked up and not enjoying freedom is a hard thing. It doesn't have to be inhumane.