Thailand In The Ten Most Notorious Jails In The World

[sriracha john]

Bang Kwang Prison

BBC

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Excerpt from:

The ten most notorious jails in the world

- The Times (UK) / April 28, 2008

Bang Kwang, Thailand

Tempted to take a little marijuana on your fortnight package tour of Thailand? It may be unwise unless you want to end up in the infamous “Bangkok Hotel”.

In recent years the prison's population has trebled to 7,000 and the guards are out-numbered 50-1. Every inmate there is serving more than 25 years and for the first three months of their sentence each is forced to wear leg irons.

Inside Building 10, prisoners are held in solitary confinement in pitch-black cells two metres square wearing “elephant chains” for months on end.

"Thai prisons are tough," says Director of Prisons Khun Nattee in a superfluous warning to tourists. "You don't want to be in Bangkwang."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/c...icle3832983.ece

[sriracha john]

One of the "notorious" treatments at Bang Kwang...

[vegas]

Looks like my old studio in Prakanong.

[colino]

if you want to know more click link

http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/...s-thailand.html

Edited April 29, 2008 by colino

[madjbs]

Bang Kwang looks like a walk in the park compared to some of the other ones on there. Also, good to see they have Guantanamo Bay listed.

[burman]

^ Exactly what I thought on both counts.

[polecat]

I guess Insein Prison in Rangoon must have improved.

[Ulysses G.]

One of the "notorious" treatments at Bang Kwang...

I'm sorry, but no human being could do this to another human being for any reason at all - especially in the heat of Thailand. What difference is there between the authorities and the "criminals"?

[siam-i-am]

One of the "notorious" treatments at Bang Kwang...

I'm sorry, but no human being could do this to another human being for any reason at all - especially in the heat of Thailand. What difference is there between the authorities and the "criminals"?

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

[Heng]

Only 3rd?

Underachievers.

[YoungFarang13]

Bang Kwang looks like a walk in the park compared to some of the other ones on there. Also, good to see they have Guantanamo Bay listed.

yeah, i would much rather be in any african prison than an American prison where I have not recieved a trial...

seriously, guant being on the list is completely silly and pandering.

Edited April 29, 2008 by YoungFarang13

[JetsetBkk]

...It may be unwise unless you want to end up in the infamous “Bangkok Hotel”...

I think they meant to write "Bangkok Hilton".

[lazeeboy]

if you dont do anything wrong you wont end up in there ,its that easy

[tourleadersi]

One of the "notorious" treatments at Bang Kwang...

I'm sorry, but no human being could do this to another human being for any reason at all - especially in the heat of Thailand. What difference is there between the authorities and the "criminals"?

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

It is often difficult to walk the line between being a tough and a humane imprisoner. If you can't do the time... is exactly right, but treating prisoners in such a way surely lowers soceity to their level, eliminating any hope of rehabilitation? I am not a bleeding heart liberal, I believe in strong punishment for crimes, and also happen to feel that perhaps victims rights nowadays are of less of a concern than those of the criminals. A ridiculous state of affairs. But to cage a man/woman in such a manner really serves no purpose than to torture another human being. The fact that that human being is a criminal and perhaps lower down on the evolutionary scale indicates that they need more help catching up than being abused yet further.

They really should consider using a slightly bigger box in future, say 8 foot? Ooops...

Seriously, dont be soft on criminals, but don't torture them and then release them back into society like some enraged Spanish bull.

[Kerryd]

Only 3rd?

Underachievers.

I think they are just leaving room for improvement (or is that room for more inmates) ?

[jackspratt]

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

if you dont do anything wrong you wont end up in there ,its that easy

How trite!

I wonder how many others share your obvious confidence in the veracity of the Thai legal system.

[think_too_mut]

if you dont do anything wrong you wont end up in there ,its that easy

Exactly, that's how Asia works (stallinist regimes too) when it comes to prisons.

The most advanced of all Asian countries, Japan, has 99.99% of people arrested - convicted and sent to prison or charged in some other (harsh) way.

Asian prisons, once a person is delivered to them, have no , not even nominally, any mandate to stage or do any "correction" services.

In Thailand, a man who syphoned 100K baht at road toll booth was convicted to 40 (forty) years in jail.

He made no physical harm to anyone and had served only 1 year, after the appeals and His Majesty's granted him an amnesty.

In all fairness, that's just about what one gets for the same thing in farangland.

Did the Thai prison provide him with a library and Internet access as The Hague prison provides for war criminals?

Edited April 29, 2008 by think_too_mut

[koheesti]

Also, good to see they have Guantanamo Bay listed.

Camp Delta (Gitmo) is "notorious" as far as the press & "left" are concerned but the conditions are soooo much better than the others on the list that I am absolutely certain that 100% of the prisoners in the the other nine and a majority of the prison guards/staff would consider it a dream fulfilled to be transfered to Gitmo.

The article's criticism of Gitmo consists of one prisoner being forced to wear a blindfold & handcuffs (why not list all the reported incidents of "torture"? Hmmm) while the other prisons have...

* over-crowding,

* disease,

* starvation,

* rats, lice

* sewer-flooded,

* prisoners "beaten with truncheons, iron bars, chains and clubs.", "250 prisoners have been recorded sharing five mattresses",

* "Reports of the violent demise of prisoners includes being cut up into small pieces with an axe, being roped and then dragged to death or just being savagely beaten with metal pipes",

* "Prisoners would stuff their clothes in the cracks in their cells to keep the rats out and most of the mattresses were full of lice and bigger insects"If you read the article and pay attention you'll see that it's ridiculous to include CD on the list.

On the flip side, I guarantee the inmates at Gitmo don't want to be sent home to a prison instead. Remember Abu Ghraib? When the Americans turned over control to the Iraqis prisoners were screaming to go with the Americans. But, yeah, the evil Americans are still monsters I'll give you that.

[Ulysses G.]

if you dont do anything wrong you wont end up in there ,its that easy

jackspratt Posted Yesterday, 2008-04-29 22:02:56

How trite!

I wonder how many others share your obvious confidence in the veracity of the Thai legal system.

There are a lot of prisoners who are eventually found innocent of crimes that they have served many years for in the Western prison system. There are many more who serve the time for crimes that they didn't commit. I'm pretty sure that the situation is much, much worse here.

Being locked in a tiny, broiling box with no light, no company and not enough air for months at a time is too strong a punishment for almost any crime, but when you realize that a good number of these poor souls were set up by the police or just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I don't see how anyone can condone this type of torture, no matter how safe from bad luck, you, yourself feel.

Edited April 30, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[kmart]

The poor bastards who end up in places like Bang Kwang are just that; "poor". They are usually guilty of the heinous crime of having no money / not enough money to pay their way out.