Uk Documentary - Bang Kwang Prison

[siamsam]

There's a Documentary going out on UK Tv next week - Quote media tv guide- 'After 2 years of negotiations This World was finally allowed inside Thailands notorious, never-before-filmed Bang Kwang Prison, aka The Bangkok Hilton. The reality proves stranger than fiction. Manchester born Michael Connell, jailed for 99 years for drug smuggling, says, " Even David Beckham couldn't get me out of here." Politicians might like to ponder the implicatons of that' Should be interesting. B/boy.

[Mango-Guy]

That's odd because I saw a documentary on "Bangkok Hilton Prison" a few years ago.

I don't think it's interesting as it perpetuates the international image of Thailand as poor inhumane country. Why don't we have a documentary on Brixton Prison and show it to the Americans, and see if that boosts the UK's standing in the world.

[chanchao]

Right.

Just like documentaries on the nightlife, I rarely see things on Thai prisons that make sense, and most leave me wondering about the honesty, integrity or even intellect of the makers.

God what a non-topic to choose for a documentary!! If the dude didn't want to spend 99 years (or more likely until the next Royal amnesty) in jail, maybe he should have thought of that before smuggling drugs.

Cheers,

Chanchap

[stroll]

I like to see the documentary. I suspect Brixton prison would stand as more appropiate for maintaining human dignity. I don't know, I'd like to see this as well.

A (not very close) friend of mine died in a Thai prison, due to neglect of her medical needs and possibly beatings by either the wards or other inmates. Whereas anybody contemplating illegal activities should be aware of the consequences, modern societies have the obligation to maintain their 'Correctional Institutions' in a fashion which doesn't remind of a medieval dungeon.

This is not to say I welcome a film with a distorted agenda, but I would like to be informed in more detail about prison life without spending time there. From an outside visitor's perspective, having to buy food for inmates that gets stolen if not eaten within 10 minutes, and somebody dying because she couldn't get her medicine hasn't left the best impression on me.

[Darlek]

That's odd because I saw a documentary on "Bangkok Hilton Prison" a few years ago.

I don't think it's interesting as it perpetuates the international image of Thailand as poor inhumane country. Why don't we have a documentary on Brixton Prison and show it to the Americans, and see if that boosts the UK's standing in the world.

yes there have been other small programmes before .

sandra gregory was filmed in there plus other detainees on drugs charges

[MadFrankie]

aye, wouldnt mind seeing it myself aswell.. Anyone in the UK fancy making a .avi of it?

[mbkudu]

Pelican Bay prison in Washington state, in the US is known as the most dangerous prison in the world. If you're going in as a first time offender of a serious crime, you'll most likely be killed. Only the hardest of criminals make it in there.

[TypicalAnonym]

Pelican Bay prison in Washington state, in the US is known as the most dangerous prison in the world. If you're going in as a first time offender of a serious crime, you'll most likely be killed. Only the hardest of criminals make it in there.

Pelican Bay is in California, not Washington.

[mbkudu]

Sorry, I might be getting it mixed up with another American country club.

Cresent City, California; my mistake.

[possom]

bang kwang may be inhumane ,and create a bad image for LOS,but at least they had a trial ! unlike the people locked up in guantanamo bay and american run prisons in afghanistan . if you break the laws here you know the consequences ,and theyre harsh ,but at least you will get a trial

[camerata]

if you break the laws here you know the consequences ,and theyre harsh ,but at least you will get a trial

There are 3,000 recently deceased alleged drug traffickers who might disagree with you.

[12call]

http://www.correct.go.th/statis.htm

[The Gentleman Scamp]

I'll ask Louise to video it.

[bigchang]

when and where is this programm on?

thanks BC

[Mahdi]

Pelican Bay prison in Washington state, in the US is known as the most dangerous prison in the world.

What? The most notorious prison in the entire world was documented by Amnesty Int'l many years ago back in the 70's. That prison was Lura Mancha (spelling?) in Peru. Basically an insane asylum but you get put in there BEFORE you go insane.

And Pelican Bay isn't any more dangerous than Sunday school. If you want to talk about dangerous US prisons, without a doubt, Walpole State Penitentiary in Walpole Massachusetts is right there at or near the very top as the life expectancy of a newcomer is less than a week..

[siamsam]

The Documentary is on Thurs 22nd July (Today), BBC2 9pm. The name of the Docu. is "This World".

[dj nix]

BBC Bang Kwang Doc - "Brit TV Show"

After viewing the program I feel it only showed merely a small proportion of real life in the prison? I guess the shameful western fools who tried to take their ideas of drug trafficing and crime from their 'lax western ideas are paying their price and let the Kingdom of Thailand be a lesson global. At least some places in the world have justice intact, with crime in the UK its a shame the British Government are looking after the guilty rather than the victims of crime, the criminal seems to be looked after pretty well in comparison to their victims here in my sold out country. A classic BBC/British Governmental production?

[medicinebox]

The monk had some valid points.

Drug dealing is mass murder, and worse than a person who takes one life.

Drug dealers are an enemy of the country, and Kingdoms have killed enemys to protect their Country, in wars over milleniums.

I would say life imprisonment or the death penalty is an occupational hazard of any drug dealer who knows the consiquences. Like the old saying, "if you cant do the time, don't do the crime"

But deary me, what a shithole to cop it in....

[john b good]

Why do people come running and make comments such as "it won't do the image of Thailand any good" or words to that effect.

Providing it's without over dramatisation or sensationalism whats wrong with the truth being shown to the world?

Admittedly whilst no country is perfect, some are less perfect than others.

This being the case then so be it.

Hiding the facts ain't gonna change anything.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Hopefully it might deter a few people from sinning.

[Mango-Guy]

Saw the documentary and was actually pleasantly surprised. It did not look that bad - let's face it, it IS a prison - and the guards looked a ###### of a lot more reasonable than you would find in some UK/US prisons. Certainly much nicer than the portrayal of Bangkok Hilton in the eponymus film.

[Mango-Guy]

...oh yeah, and had to laugh when the Mancunian moron who got 99 years for trying to smuggle in 3000 ecstasy (value £50,000) explained, WITHOUT A SHRED OF IRONY that he "like, needed to earn some money for the airfair, coz like, Thailand's far an all". he should get another 20 years tacked on for crimes of stupidity!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

...oh yeah, and had to laugh when the Mancunian moron who got 99 years for trying to smuggle in 3000 ecstasy (value £50,000) explained, WITHOUT A SHRED OF IRONY that he "like, needed to earn some money for the airfair, coz like, Thailand's far an all". he should get another 20 years tacked on for crimes of stupidity!

He'll be getting pretty old by the time they let him out.

[Davidcharles]

As an ex-Documentary Director, I thought it looked a bit scrappy visually.

( Loved the question "Would you like to go home?" asked of a guy in solitary!)

Otherwise, although a bit amateurish, it was an honest piece, I thought, and it ought to deter some 'fools' from trying to drug deal, in LOS......ok, ok, I did say it ought to.

Glad to see how meticulous they were, in ascertaining that they had just executed the right person. Laudable that eh?

As for the inhuman conditions, well it is a Thai Prison after all.

Many Thais live in inhuman conditions, OUTSIDE Prison, do they not

Made me feel quite uneasy, about the fairness of the sentencing though..........

But then, who ever expected the Law, in LOS, to be FAIR?

[rabyar]

Made me feel quite uneasy, about the fairness of the sentencing though..........

I agree...........

This isn't justice to me, whilst I think we are too soft on punishment in the UK, the sentence given to Michael Connell is so over the top it makes any law a complete farce.

The guy did a dumb thing that's for sure, but we loose sight of the fact that not everybody knows about everything. Sure ignorance is no excuse you say, but many of these things weren’t around a few years ago. I didn't know what 'Yaba' was until last night and I also didn't know how harsh Thailand drug laws were. I wouldn't smuggle xtc abroad, but then they weren’t around when I was 19! But I can't say hand on heart that there hasn't been some points in my life where I wouldn't have been tempted to have done the same thing, if the opportunity had presented itself. In fact it scares me to think how invincible I thought I was when I was younger. Not to mention the very feeling is exacerbated if your using the drug itself. The sadness was the injustice of the sentence; 10 years in that place would have been punishment enough for anyone. I thought the whole point of Law, Order and Justice was to create stability, turn that into a circus and you loose the very point you were trying to make. I hope and pray for the guy that the sentence will be reduced at some point and that he (and the Thailand Government for that matter) will admit to making a bad mistake.

[andyinkat]

I was very impressed with the doc - very informative, balanced and not at all sensationalised.

The overriding message any viewer should take form it is, 'forchissakes, don't get involved with trafficking drugs!', and if you're a Brit don't get involved in ANYTHING illegal in Thailand.

But nobody here has yet picked up on the most cringemaking element of the doc - those bleedin' tourist visitors! 'He's a nice guy and I know he's innocent - he told me." Aaarrghh!!! I bet they 'do' the hill tribe villages too.

[stiab3]

The thing about the Mancunian guy is that I feel sorry for him cause he seemed a little on the daft side. I mean for someone smuggling 3000 xtc tablets he sure didn't take much effort to conceal them.

And then he got 99 years for pleading guilty instead of the death penalty? I guess he has hope that at some point the British government may intravene. Cause 99 years in that place seems worse than death to me.

He's been there 6 months with 98 and a half more years to go!

But all in all the prison didn't seem to bad . . .

They had a tv station and access to televisions to watch it,

The atmosphere seemed quite relaxed . . .

The question I always wonder about?

If everyone calls this hotel the Bangkok Hilton, does Hilton actually have a hotel in Bangkok and what is it called?

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be the Bangkok Hilton cause of the association . ..

s3

[mbkudu]

The monk had some valid points.

Drug dealing is mass murder, and worse than a person who takes one life.

Drug dealers are an enemy of the country, and Kingdoms have killed enemys to protect their Country, in wars over milleniums.

I would say life imprisonment or the death penalty is an occupational hazard of any drug dealer who knows the consiquences. Like the old saying, "if you cant do the time, don't do the crime"

But deary me, what a shithole to cop it in....

This may be so, so are governments who deal drugs mass murderers? I would have to say yes. Will those in government positions dealing drugs ever end up in prisons in the US, the UK or anywhere else? No, don't think so.

[chonabot]

The monk had some valid points.

Drug dealing is mass murder, and worse than a person who takes one life.

Drug dealers are an enemy of the country, and Kingdoms have killed enemys to protect their Country, in wars over milleniums.

I would say life imprisonment or the death penalty is an occupational hazard of any drug dealer who knows the consiquences. Like the old saying, "if you cant do the time, don't do the crime"

But deary me, what a shithole to cop it in....

This may be so, so are governments who deal drugs mass murderers? I would have to say yes. Will those in government positions dealing drugs ever end up in prisons in the US, the UK or anywhere else? No, don't think so.

Which Governements would top that list?

[mbkudu]

Hmm....I'd have to say Myanmar is number one, then maybe the US (especially during the 1980s). Don't want to get too off course now do we gentlemen?