Pandemic A(H1N1) Hits Bang Kwang Central Prison

[sriracha john]

Is it in anyones best interest for us to continue this discussion?

I'd be in favor of closing the thread until corroboration of the situation is found... given the source is limited to an unnamed incarcerated prisoner's email.

[edwinclapham]

Well some people do go to jail for accidents, or wrong place wrong time.

Not from intentional acts, just back luck or bad friends.

Who would wish those unfortunates death for bad luck twice?

I think this is a very good question for this prisoner to ask, and UK should address it.

thank christ for someone with a brain and a heart! OK in the usual state of affairs a prisoner is meant to have committed a crime. I know for a fact there are one or two that I know of who are innocent! thats beside the point, drugs, crime, (forget the murderers or paeds), they are someone kids, stupid and crazy yes, but they are still human beings. I can hear many of you muttering under your breath,.remember the relatives suffer as much as the prisoner, and instead of sitting behind your beer bellies, giving command signals for the next tinnie to your slave, why not do something useful and go and visit or support one of these "sons or daughters" eh! or are you too grand ? Edited August 5, 2009 by edwinclapham

[Lost_in_Los]

While doing some research on Bang Kwang today stumbled across a website today titled I am a prisoner in the Bangkok Hilton.

The site seems to be produced on behalf of someone named Gary Jones who claims to be a 58 year old computer consultant imprisoned in Bang Kwang. There are three articles on the blog about A(H1N1) inside the prison. The latest post on August 15, 2009 says:

A journalist picked up on the posting and used it as the basis of an article. This article has since appeared on many sites around the world and many people have read it. A link to what I think is the original ...

The first I knew about this was when I oversaw an email sent from Kate Dufall at the FCO to Gail Bailey, the spokeswoman of the British Womans Group which had been sent to one of the Britons here in Bang Kwang.

The email dated the 3rd of August was demanding to know who blew the whistle on the H1N1 spread here in Bang Kwang Prison.

However, on Thursday (6th Aug 09), much to everyone's surprise, face masks were handed out for free to both the D2 death row inmates (341 occupants in D2) and the non-death row inmates (399) such as myself. It was immediately apparent to many of us that something of a major "moment" had occurred that had uncharacteristically forced the D.O.C. to become concerned about the risk we inmates were being exposed to from the H1N1 virus.

By Friday (7th Aug 09), when I was shown the Bailey/Dufall emails, I started to get a very firm idea that it was the above mentioned article that had most probably caused the D.O.C. to reverse a long held policy of leaving the countries 300,000 – 350,000 inmates population openly susceptible to contracting life threatening illnesses.

This opinion was further underscored at 15:30 when we non-death row inmates were returned to our cells. Each of us had to (willingly on our part) submit to having our temperature taken before being allowed to enter the cell-block building.

There can be no doubt whatsoever that it is solely due to the article and its readership that we have suddenly achieved a modicum of protection from this virulent scourge.

I and others within the Prison system here in Thailand, owe a debt of thanks to this Journalist who had the courage to post the article and in the process has probably saved many lives.

Thank you Sir, we all appreciate it.

Dr Gary Graeme Jones

From having read through thei thread I can't help but feel there are more than a few people who have posted comments attacking the author of the original story that owe him an apology - as well as a few foreign prisoners and their families who owe him a thank you as well.

It will be interesting to see if those with the loud mouths and over eager pens are a quick to congratulate him and ThaiVisa on breaking this story.

[sriracha john]

While doing some research on Bang Kwang today stumbled across a website today titled I am a prisoner in the Bangkok Hilton.

The site seems to be produced on behalf of someone named Gary Jones who claims to be a 58 year old computer consultant imprisoned in Bang Kwang.

From having read through thei thread I can't help but feel there are more than a few people who have posted comments attacking the author of the original story that owe him an apology

It will be interesting to see if those with the loud mouths and over eager pens are a quick to congratulate him and ThaiVisa on breaking this story.

So then, we've had the OP....

Pandemic A(H1N1) active inside Bang Kwang Central Prison

By John Le Fevre

BANGKOK: -- A British national in Thailand’s infamous Bang Kwang Central Prison has written to the charity Prisoners Abroad asking if it or the British Embassy in Bangkok has plans to pay for the flu treatment drug Tamiflu (also sold under the generic name oseltamivir), for jailed Brits in Thailand.

According to the prisoner, who requested his name not be divulged, as of July 13 two prisoners and one prison guard had died from the pandemic A(H1N1) virus, originally termed swine flu, with at least one other guard at that time “seriously ill” in hospital.

The author says he believes

An unnamed prisoner, without corroboration, is now a source of news AND an "author"??

but it's now been backed up by yet another incarcerated prisoner, a convicted heroin trafficker...

Hi,

A friend of mine, Gary Graeme Jones, 56, is a British prisoner serving 25 years in Bang Kwang for trafficking heroin.

I remember a time when the News Clippings Forum contained articles that was actually written by non-imprisoned journalists working for accredited news agencies...

oh well, the good ol' days have seemed to pass.

Edited August 16, 2009 by sriracha john

[Scott]

Did anybody really think that a contagious illness wasn't going to hit the prison? Did anyone really think the gov't was going to do something about it unless the story was picked up by someone? Does anyone think the Nation and the BKK Post care?

I think we've seen enough questioning of sources and some of it is pretty lame. Because someone is a convicted heroin trafficker doesn't mean his report has to be completely discounted (only verified).

Basically because some posters don't like the story, they attempt to destroy the sources, from the journalist on down.

[sriracha john]

I think we've seen enough questioning of sources and some of it is pretty lame. Because someone is a convicted heroin trafficker doesn't mean his report has to be completely discounted (only verified).

which brings us back to square one... as that "verified" aspect is what people have been asking for with the OP... except now, we are looking to have verification of someone who supposedly verified the OP.

Basically because some posters don't like the story, they attempt to destroy the sources, from the journalist on down.

Who would dislike the story itself? Are we to believe there are pro-swine flu members?

The "sources" have destroyed the reliability factor themselves... as the two sources we have been provided are both incarcerated felons (one named and the other unnamed, one on a blog and one in an anonymous email). That, to me, is "lame" as far as the news credibility is concerned.

Edited August 17, 2009 by sriracha john

[Scott]

I think there is a second way of determining the verification. The story is published by on testimony that some people consider to less than credible. Has there been a statement from the prison denying this allegation?

Sometimes that speaks loudly.

[Plus]

It's all confusing.

Gary Jones' site claims that masks were handed out as a reaction to the story but the story claims there was a policy to provide masks already, with farangs being charged 100 baht.

More importantly - is there pandemic at Bang Kwang prison or not? The article title "Pandemic A(H1N1) active.." is ambiguius - is pandemic a description of the virus or description of what's going on inside the prison?

Any real news organisation would have editors and sub-editors to double check the wording. Is it on oversight by Thai Visa News or by John? Or is it intentional?

[photojourn]

Pandemic (H1N1) or pandemic A(H1N1) is the official name for the virus as ascribed to it by the worlds peak medical body, the World Health Organization - not influenza, not flu 2009, not swine flu or anything else.

As for sriracha john, go out and buy a dictionary before opening your big mouth. Last week you couldn't differentiate between a minus sign and a hyphen and now this load of tripe. The word author refers to the person who wrote the letter.

You seem to have significant problems with understanding basic English.

My journalism coach was perfectly correct all those years ago when he said "when you sit down to write a story consider that the average mentality of your reader is that of a six-year-old". You do his words proud.

Edited August 17, 2009 by photojourn

[sriracha john]

Pandemic (H1N1) or pandemic A(H1N1) is the official name for the virus as ascribed to it by the worlds peak medical body, the World Health Organization - not influenza, not flu 2009, not swine flu or anything else.

As for sriracha john, go out and buy a dictionary before opening your big mouth. Last week you couldn't differentiate between a minus sign and a hyphen and now this load of tripe. The word author refers to the person who wrote the letter.

You seem to have significant problems with understanding basic English.

My journalism coach was perfectly correct all those years ago when he said "when you sit down to write a story consider that the average mentality of your reader is that of a six-year-old". You do his words proud.

Putting your name-calling and flaming aside for a moment, I understand ascribing "author" to mean the writer of a letter... it's just that I'm surprised this "letter" is an uncorroborated email from an unnamed, convicted, incarcerated felon and that it is now considered a suitable source for news.

Still, it's good to get some feedback finally on this thread. Now then, if we could only have something more to validate this news besides the blogging words of an imprisoned heroin trafficker.

Edited August 17, 2009 by sriracha john

[Mario2008]

Discuss the news, not the source. Any more comments about the source will be deleted without further notice.

[Plus]

Pandemic (H1N1) or pandemic A(H1N1) is the official name for the virus as ascribed to it by the worlds peak medical body, the World Health Organization - not influenza, not flu 2009, not swine flu or anything else.

Generally speaking "pandemic" is a status level, not a name of a virus, but what do we, six year olds, know?

What's the status inside the prison? Is there really an "outbreak" or is it just a couple of isolated cases? Is the virus simply "active", or has it really "hit"?

The headline goes for the maximum impact.

[LaoPo]

What's the status inside the prison? Is there really an "outbreak" or is it just a couple of isolated cases? Is the virus simply "active", or has it really "hit"?

The headline goes for the maximum impact.

How would "we" know if the official authorities don't speak out (enough) about it ?

How would "a couple of isolated cases" in any Thai prison be isolated ? There's not much to be isolated in prisons where prisoners have to sleep and live with so many in small cells..is there ?

At least the Americans do publish about prison A(H1N1) outbreaks......

"The swine flu outbreak at the prison near San Rafael, Calif., has resulted in nearly 50 percent of the site's 5,153 inmates living in quarantine."

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/07/09/H1N...29891247157398/

If the A(H1N1) is able to strike a prison in the US isn't it just a matter of time before it really hits any Thai prison? The prison guards will start to talk about it and report when the first deadly casualties will occur but I hope I'm wrong.

LaoPo

[Plus]

Lao Po, do you mean to say there isn't really an outbreak in this prison because it hasn't been reported anywhere outside this single article?

The "author" says that two people died already - how many people must be infected for two fatalities? Two hundred, judging by average death rate?

It all comes down to the credibility of the source. It's a bloody headache trying to figure out which part of the story could be true, which has some ground in reality and which is total <deleted>. Not with my six year old intellegence anyway. The story has changed many hands before it reached the board, too. Inmates aren't allowed to send e-mails, are they? Somebody did it for him. Not to mention the gossip nature of inside prison communication, it could have been corrupted beyond recognition even before it reached the "author".

[LaoPo]

Lao Po, do you mean to say there isn't really an outbreak in this prison because it hasn't been reported anywhere outside this single article?

The "author" says that two people died already - how many people must be infected for two fatalities? Two hundred, judging by average death rate?

It all comes down to the credibility of the source. It's a bloody headache trying to figure out which part of the story could be true, which has some ground in reality and which is total <deleted>. Not with my six year old intellegence anyway. The story has changed many hands before it reached the board, too. Inmates aren't allowed to send e-mails, are they? Somebody did it for him. Not to mention the gossip nature of inside prison communication, it could have been corrupted beyond recognition even before it reached the "author".

Both you and I were asking rhetorical questions.....

Personally, I would welcome prisoners (or prison guards) speaking out, one way or another, knowing that Thai authorities are reluctant to bring out news from "inside" whether an outbreak of A(H1N1) or other bad news. And, the word "reluctant" is soft language....

After all, who would care for a criminal if he/she would die in prison of the A(H1N1) ? Especially if such a prisoner is an "unknown" Thai from a poor family without the means and know-how to question the prison authorities .....

In case of the death of a Farang, Thai authorities HAVE TO inform an Embassy.....

Thai prisons aren't exactly famous for their humanitarian conditions.

LaoPo