Bangkok Prisons

[TheAceFace]

ever visited any inmates in there?

The reason why I am asking is because I was watching a documentry on BBC world which shown fellow farangs in these places. There is a certain person there whom is from the same town as me.

I was wondering if anybody has some information on how to contact the inmates to offer some moral support and give them some gifts to help them in there?

Has any other people visited anybody?

Thanks for your time

TAF

[Nordlys]

I think you are referring to Bang Kwang maximum security prison and I think this site tells how to get in touch with/visit a prisoner. You can take BTS to Saphan Taksin station and take Chaophraya Express boat north bound (upstream) to its last stop in Nonthaburi. Heard the prison is within walking distance from there (5 - 10min walk). That is very thoughtful of you BTW.

http://www.bangkwang.net/

[The Dan Sai Kid]

ever visited any inmates in there?

The reason why I am asking is because I was watching a documentry on BBC world which shown fellow farangs in these places. There is a certain person there whom is from the same town as me.

I was wondering if anybody has some information on how to contact the inmates to offer some moral support and give them some gifts to help them in there?

Has any other people visited anybody?

Thanks for your time

TAF

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I visited a Scottish Guy in Bang Kwang a few years ago. His name and details were on a guesthouse notice board on the Khao San Road.

You can take a river bus up to where the prison is. You go with your passport to a covered area outside the prison, you tell them who you are visiting and they take your details and tell you to wait.

When I went it was contact month - in september (if I remember correctly) - and you meet at tables outside. Because of this it was very busy, we got to speak for about 20 minutes. I can't even remember the guy's name now.

To be honest I shouldn't have gone, I felt like I was visiting someone in a zoo and had just gone for a gawk. But if you do go bring some cigarettes and magazines.

[Nordlys]

Also here.

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

[TheAceFace]

Cheers guy's.

Thanks very much.

I know they have done wrong but I suppose a vist and some gifts would go along way especially given the enviorment they are in.

TAF

[thai3]

Cheers guy's.

Thanks very much.

I know they have done wrong but I suppose a vist and some gifts would go along way especially given the enviorment they are in.

TAF

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't understand why people want to do this, so what if they have the same name. What's he in for? drugs, or kiddie ######ing? why visit people like that? Compassion is the usual excuse for this trip which has almost become a tourist stop off. If that's the motive then there are plenty of deserving thai people who could do with some, and innocent ones at that, before wasting time and money on falang idiots in prison. Why not visit an orphanage or aids ward with some gifts instead? -peter

[Bangkokbutcher]

Why not visit an orphanage or aids ward with some gifts instead? -peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Much more beneficial imho

[chownah]

Yeah, visiting convicts is stupid....they are worse than animals. We should all send them hate mail....this will impress them with the error of their ways and help them to reform. The more inhumanely we treat them the more likely that they will start to act like decent people.....That's why I kick children and feed them shietty food...it helps to bring out the humanity in them....the same should be done for convicts. When they get out of jail we should shun them and bar them from all educational institutions and make it really hard for them to get even the worst jobs. This will help to reform them and make them into good citizens.

Just in case anyone might take this seriously let me just say that I'm being sarcastic and if you agree with the above then I suggest you do a self check for your humanity.

[minbari73]

Cheers guy's.

Thanks very much.

I know they have done wrong but I suppose a vist and some gifts would go along way especially given the enviorment they are in.

TAF

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't understand why people want to do this, so what if they have the same name. What's he in for? drugs, or kiddie ######ing? why visit people like that? Compassion is the usual excuse for this trip which has almost become a tourist stop off. If that's the motive then there are plenty of deserving thai people who could do with some, and innocent ones at that, before wasting time and money on falang idiots in prison. Why not visit an orphanage or aids ward with some gifts instead? -peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

oh yes there can't possibly be any innocent people in Thai s h i t hole jails can there?

[Neeranam]

I don't understand why people want to do this, so what if they have the same name. What's he in for? drugs, or kiddie ######ing? why visit people like that?Compassion is the usual excuse for this trip which has almost become a tourist stop off. If that's the motive then there are plenty of deserving thai people who could do with some, and innocent ones at that, before wasting time and money on falang idiots in prison. Why not visit an orphanage or aids ward with some gifts instead? -peter

Interesting attitude. I used to work, and live on Sanambin Nam road, for 2 years, the road that the famous prison is on. I met many many really nice people, who were visiting convicts. Many of the farang in there, as well as Thais are innocent.

If your son or daughter was imprisoned in a foreign jail(even guilty), would you not ask people from your country to visit them? Would you visit them yourself? Christ, of course I would. &lt;deleted&gt; happens. To think that you are so much better than people in prisons or their families is rather #######. To suggest it is for tourism is a bit off, IMO. My opinion on convicts is that some are plain bad but others are very sick, including some paeds. I try to look on all sick people in the same way, and wish they get better. To be honest, I would rather be a orphan with HIV, than be in Bangkwang for life(innocent ot guilty).

Many Thai people visit prisoners for matters to do with their understanding of "karma".

Many foreigners whom I met, who came up the river in a boat, were good Christian folks. Did they enjoy the trip? Sure. Why not mix compassion with tourism, it's a nice ride up the river to Nontaburi.

[Kerryd]

oh yes there can't possibly be any innocent  people in Thai s h i t hole jails can there?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sure if you ask them, they will all tell you that they are innocent.

They were just set up by the system, they are mis-understood victims of society. It wasn't their 10kgs of coke found in their bags, the customs guys must have planted it.

It wasn't really them in those kiddie porn pics and videos, someone must have faked those thousands of pics.

Honest, it was a one-armed man that killed my g/f ! (The Fugitive).

(like that Canadian guy who spent hours confessing to an undercover cop about how he killed his g/f, washed her, wrapped her in a clean white sheet, and buried her in a recently dug grave.

He thought he was talking to some big crime boss.

After giving a very detailed account of his crime (secretly video-taped) they arrested him. He was shocked when he realized he'd been confessing to a cop, and, of course, he entered a plea of NOT GUILTY when charged !

If you want to do something humanitarian, there was another thread about the women's prison needing panties, as the government only gives them enough to supply each girl with 2 pair a year.

Edited June 21, 2005 by Kerryd

[The Dan Sai Kid]

One other thing the guy that I visited told me was when I asked him if he could transfer to a British Prison. He told me he could, but it was widely considered that life in a Thai prison was much easier than life in British prisons. Many of them didn't want to be among hardened criminals in the UK.

Sounds strange, but I swear this is what he said.

[Khutan]

ever visited any inmates in there?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, At the IDC and also at Klong-Pai Central Prison. Klong-Pai is out near Chock-Chai.

I also had an acquaintence who did hard time in a Military Prison in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regeime. He got repatriated back to Australia, and after only 10 months inside he still suffers from the "Special Treatment"

[corkscrew]

I don't understand why people want to do this, so what if they have the same name. What's he in for? drugs, or kiddie ######ing? why visit people like that?Compassion is the usual excuse for this trip which has almost become a tourist stop off. If that's the motive then there are plenty of deserving thai people who could do with some, and innocent ones at that, before wasting time and money on falang idiots in prison. Why not visit an orphanage or aids ward with some gifts instead? -peter

Interesting attitude. I used to work, and live on Sanambin Nam road, for 2 years, the road that the famous prison is on. I met many many really nice people, who were visiting convicts. Many of the farang in there, as well as Thais are innocent.

If your son or daughter was imprisoned in a foreign jail(even guilty), would you not ask people from your country to visit them? Would you visit them yourself? Christ, of course I would. &lt;deleted&gt; happens. To think that you are so much better than people in prisons or their families is rather #######. To suggest it is for tourism is a bit off, IMO. My opinion on convicts is that some are plain bad but others are very sick, including some paeds. I try to look on all sick people in the same way, and wish they get better. To be honest, I would rather be a orphan with HIV, than be in Bangkwang for life(innocent ot guilty).

Many Thai people visit prisoners for matters to do with their understanding of "karma".

Many foreigners whom I met, who came up the river in a boat, were good Christian folks. Did they enjoy the trip? Sure. Why not mix compassion with tourism, it's a nice ride up the river to Nontaburi.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

For an interesting history of Bangkok prisons visit:

http://www.corkscrew-balloon.com/misc/prison/

[minbari73]

oh yes there can't possibly be any innocent  people in Thai s h i t hole jails can there?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sure if you ask them, they will all tell you that they are innocent.

They were just set up by the system, they are mis-understood victims of society. It wasn't their 10kgs of coke found in their bags, the customs guys must have planted it.

It wasn't really them in those kiddie porn pics and videos, someone must have faked those thousands of pics.

Honest, it was a one-armed man that killed my g/f ! (The Fugitive).

(like that Canadian guy who spent hours confessing to an undercover cop about how he killed his g/f, washed her, wrapped her in a clean white sheet, and buried her in a recently dug grave.

He thought he was talking to some big crime boss.

After giving a very detailed account of his crime (secretly video-taped) they arrested him. He was shocked when he realized he'd been confessing to a cop, and, of course, he entered a plea of NOT GUILTY when charged !

If you want to do something humanitarian, there was another thread about the women's prison needing panties, as the government only gives them enough to supply each girl with 2 pair a year.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So a few inmates are actually innocent, some *say* they are innocent and the rest are guilty. What has this got to do with visiting a human being in a h e l lhole?

Gee thanks for the Fugitive reference I would never have got it without the contents of your brackets. Rather poor really, seeing he was innocent and the one-armed man actually did do it.

The reason the British guy wanted to stay in a Thai prison was because he is waiting for another Royal Amnesty. If he went back to the UK under a prisoner exchange he would have to spend the remainder of sentence in jail, whatever it was 80 million years or something ridiculous. Was he innocent or guilty? I don't really care.

You hard hearted B a s t a r d s make me sick. The original poster wanted to do something nice for someone and you pounce on him. The suggestions of going to an orphanage were good, he should do that also if it makes him feel better about himself

[samran]

One other thing the guy that I visited told me was when I asked him if he could transfer to a British Prison.  He told me he could, but it was widely considered that life in a Thai prison was much easier than life in British prisons.  Many of them didn't want to be among hardened criminals in the UK.

Sounds strange, but I swear this is what he said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah,

I saw an interview with a British woman who was transferred back to the UK to complete her sentence. She said the same thing. He comment was that while the conditions were tough in Thailand, it wasn’t a soulless place. She wished that she didn’t get transferred back, as the ‘nicer’ UK prisons are much harder to serve time in as the general population and prison staff were more hardened.

Food for thought.

[frenchFARANGbkk]

If somebody want to help and visit and orphanage, you can go there in BKK:

1. "Ban Rajvithi" where little girls stay

http://www.rajvithihome.org/banraj_eng.html

2. "Ban dek-on phyathai" where you will see babies there.

http://www.phyathaibabieshome.com/

You can bring and give what you want (no cigarettes please ;-) ) and have some time with the kids.

[Sophon]

To be honest I shouldn't have gone, I felt like I was visiting someone in a zoo and had just gone for a gawk.  But if you do go bring some cigarettes and magazines.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I saw a programme on television recently about the life of a couple of farang inmates in a thai prison. They felt the same as you, only seen from their perspective they were the animals in the zoo. I really didn't get the impression that they appreciated the visits from people they didn't know, it sounded like they would much rather be left alone, instead of being a tourist attraction. Hearing people talk about their visit to Chiang Mai or Phuket can be hard for someone sentenced to life in prison.

I'm sure the motives of the original poster was good, but keep in mind that the visit might not be welcome. I don't know if there is any way to find out in advance, which inmates might welcome such a visit.

Sophon

Edited June 21, 2005 by Sophon

[daleyboy]

I am surprised no one has mentinoned the book forget you had a daughter by Sandra Gregory.

Its basically about a British girl who had run out of money and wanted to get back to the uk so agreed to smuggle some heroin for her boyfriend.

Needless to say she got caught before she even got to the plane and got sent to lard yao prison

This is a true story and should be read by anyone wanting to visit a Thai prison.

For those of you that have posted let em rot why should you visit them they are scum, you should all take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourselves have i never made a mistake in life. Granted i agree that some of them should be there but everyone should have some compassion, thats what makes us differnt from animals.

Just my opionion

Edited June 21, 2005 by daleyboy

[sua yai]

On the subject of what to take an inmate, consider, among other things, postage stamps. They're treated as currency inside.

[maerim]

I am surprised no one has mentinoned the book forget you had a daughter by Sandra Gregory

Try this real food for thought especially the travel restrictions.

From a Bangkok cell to Oxford finals ...

Jailed heroin smuggler Sandra Gregory has put her life back on course

Lorna Martin

Sunday June 12, 2005

The Observer

Had she not been shown clemency by the King of Thailand, Sandra Gregory would still be behind bars, known simply as prisoner 228/36. She'd have served half her 25-year sentence and would be preparing to lodge papers for a parole hearing later this year. Instead, the convicted heroin smuggler has just completed a geography degree at Oxford.

On a sweltering day in the university's gothic exam hall, Gregory, with thousands of other undergraduates, pinned a red carnation to her gown as a symbol of finals day and wrote her 15th essay of the week. It was also her birthday.

'There had been such an intense build-up to this,' she said. 'I'd worked so hard because I wanted to prove I belonged at Oxford, that they were right to offer me a place.'

But as Gregory is beginning to discover, it's not easy to start afresh when your past includes years spent inside. 'I've applied for several jobs, but keep getting rejections. Here I am at 40 with no pension plan, no job, no children and a £15,000 student loan. It's a bit worrying.'

Gregory is not seeking sympathy. She has always acknowledged the 'embarrassing, shameful and stupid' mistakes she made. Nor is she plagued with a victim mentality. She feels that she can blame no one but herself. But she does, and many prison reformers agree with her, feel slightly hard done by because her conviction will never be 'spent'.

This means she is treated the same way as murderers and sex offenders. She is banned for life from working with children, so any hopes she might have had to train as a geography teacher had to be shelved immediately.

She also faces extensive travel restrictions - so many that, she said, it's too depressing to think about - and had to forego several field trips during her course.

But with the kind of optimism that must come from losing nearly 10 years of your life, Gregory refuses to dwell on what she can't do.

'Of course, I kick myself about the travel and the CV, but I can't go through the rest of my life kicking myself for a mistake I made in the past. I've got to make the best of it. I've learned what's important in life.'

When Gregory left Britain for Bangkok in 1990, she was the naive, 25-year-old daughter of Doreen, a nurse, and Stan, an engineer.

As a child in Kent she enjoyed all the trappings of a middle-class upbringing, with weekly riding lessons and ballet classes. But she rebelled against it, leaving school with no qualifications, moving to West Yorkshire where she set up her own antiques business.

At the end of 1990, when business was slow, she decided to take an eight-week holiday to Thailand. She fell in love with the country, found a job as a teacher and ended up staying for two years.

Whilst there she met a man with a heroin addiction, she was recovering from an illness, had run out of money and was feeling desperately homesick. He offered her £1,000 to smuggle 89g of heroin out of the country.

She knew to accept would be illegal and foolish and risky, but, in a moment of madness she agreed to hide the drugs.

They were both arrested and Gregory found herself facing the death penalty, which was subsequently reduced to a 25-year sentence. The addict, who denied knowing her, escaped conviction.

Gregory served nearly five years in the infamous Thai prison known as the Bangkok Hilton before being transferred to the maximum security wing at Durham prison in 1998.

When she was released in July 2000 she decided on a whim to apply to study at Harris Manchester college, Oxford, though she never expected to win a place.

'I just wanted to be able to say I had applied,' she said. 'I thought it would be a good experience - an interesting contrast with my usual interviews with probation officers - and I didn't take it at all seriously. If I had, I'd have been so nervous I wouldn't have got in.'

Such was her blasé attitude that when asked the standard questions: what did she want to do after graduation, she told them she wanted to save the world, of course. And why she had applied to Oxford? Because, she replied, she assumed they would offer her a good education.

She was offered a place. However, she found the adjustment to life outside more difficult than she'd imagined and decided to defer for one year. She spent that period writing a book about her experience, which has sold 30,000 copies and been translated into 13 languages.

When she finally started her course in October 2002, she was immediately struck by the similarities between life at Oxford and prison. 'At Oxford, I lived in a small room with a sink, a bed and a desk. Okay, the door could open from the inside, but in many ways it reminded me of my cell.'

It was, however, the emotional similarities that were more profound. Just a few weeks before her finals, two dons were walking towards her in the grounds. Her instinct was to stop, step aside, turn her eyes to the ground and wait for them to pass. 'I had to stop myself, remind myself that I didn't need to do that.'

Next month, Gregory will find out whether she's succeeded in achieving her dream, an upper second degree. Then later in the year, will attend her graduation ceremony. 'I wasn't planning to go because I'm not into all the pomp and ceremony,' she said. 'But when I told my dad his lip trembled. For the first time in my life I thought I was going to see my father cry.'

As for the future, she has become a woman on a mission: to leave the lightest footprint possible on mother earth's soil. And to persuade some of the populace to do likewise. She would love a job in the media or public relations, raising awareness of environmental issues.

'If only someone would give me a chance,' she said, acknowledging the desperation in her voice.

There are those who have expressed resentment about Gregory's early release, about her decision to write a book, even Oxford's decision to offer her a place was criticised by some sections of the press.

'It hurts when all people can see is Sandra Gregory the drug smuggler. I hope now people can see beyond the crime.'

[JimsKnight]

One other thing the guy that I visited told me was when I asked him if he could transfer to a British Prison.  He told me he could, but it was widely considered that life in a Thai prison was much easier than life in British prisons.  Many of them didn't want to be among hardened criminals in the UK.

Sounds strange, but I swear this is what he said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

According to one expat:

Thats because of the British/Thai Foreign office arrangement;

if you get transfered to british nick you still serve the full sentence, the way some convicts see it is that if stay in the thai nick you have the chance of getting a kings pardon.

American, French, Canadian etc often get released straight away but not in Good old Blighty

[duke69]

If somebody want to help and visit and orphanage, you can go there in BKK:

1.  "Ban Rajvithi" where little girls stay

http://www.rajvithihome.org/banraj_eng.html

2. "Ban dek-on phyathai" where you will see babies there.

http://www.phyathaibabieshome.com/

You can bring and give what you want (no cigarettes please ;-) ) and have some time  with the kids.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

have some time withe the kids...... that's great

thanks

Michael J. from Neverland, Ca

[mpdkorat]

One other thing the guy that I visited told me was when I asked him if he could transfer to a British Prison.  He told me he could, but it was widely considered that life in a Thai prison was much easier than life in British prisons.  Many of them didn't want to be among hardened criminals in the UK.

Sounds strange, but I swear this is what he said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah,

I saw an interview with a British woman who was transferred back to the UK to complete her sentence. She said the same thing. He comment was that while the conditions were tough in Thailand, it wasn’t a soulless place. She wished that she didn’t get transferred back, as the ‘nicer’ UK prisons are much harder to serve time in as the general population and prison staff were more hardened.

Food for thought.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is what I have been led to believe too.

Hard for a nice young backpacker serving time for having heroin in his bag to give his cell mates a blow job. Having said that horses for courses........ I can just see the old lag serving time for robbery in Wormwood Scrubs welcoming the new inmate from Thailand. “So you think the Bangkok Hilton was tough then, get your lips around this hansom man”

[bdenner]

Firstly, I do agree “do the crime then do the time” but I do not agree with negative attitude in some of the posts on this thread.

I ferried TW and the extended family to visit a cousin in the Female Prison near Bueng Kan, she was in her 4th year of a 5 year term for possession. At the time I had no intentions of going into the visitors building, just wait outside.

We did not know the prison was closed to visitors on Sundays but after an animated discussion between a guard and the family he agreed to the visit if I showed him my passport and give him a few Baht for disrupting his routine. Apparently the family used me as their key saying, “This farang had travelled a long way to see the woman and the visit was of my doing” So I had to go in!

The building consisted of a row of seats fronting onto a meter high wall, a cap of about 3 meters to another similar wall where the prisoner sat behind. I could see into the main compound where women were tending gardens. She appeared to be well clothed, fed and watered and of pretty high spirits after all the crying stopped. The guard turned a blind eye when the children climbed over the wall and went over to hug her and he only did a quick inspection of the food parcels etc. before handing them to her.

All in all a moving experience and I’m glad I went in.

She has been out now for 2 years leading a straight life, hopefully she won’t re-offend and has learnt her lesson.

[mpdkorat]

I am surprised no one has mentinoned the book forget you had a daughter by Sandra Gregory

'If only someone would give me a chance,' she said, acknowledging the desperation in her voice.

There are those who have expressed resentment about Gregory's early release, about her decision to write a book, even Oxford's decision to offer her a place was criticised by some sections of the press.

'It hurts when all people can see is Sandra Gregory the drug smuggler. I hope now people can see beyond the crime.'

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good for her. I'm sure I would have written a book, bought a small guest house on the proceeds, calling it the Cell Block and spent the rest of my life selling carrot juice to sympathetic travelers.

Well done Sandra!

[soi lurker]

There is no weakness in showing compassion for another human being no matter what they have done......all sorts of mistakes are made in life....some make bigger mistakes than others

[soi lurker]

some good has come from this thread.........good post

[maerim]

Good for her. I'm sure I would have written a book, bought a small guest house on the proceeds, calling it the Cell Block and spent the rest of my life selling carrot juice to sympathetic travelers.

Well done Sandra!

I have no idea how much in royalties she recieved from her book but if as you say she will open a guest house on the proceeds it will be a small one and she will be sorely restricted as to wher she can open it.

As a convicted drug smuggler the list of countries open to her a very small, from what I read the conviction is for life and will never be "spent".

Perhaps she could open a guest house in Skegness?

[mpdkorat]

Good for her. I'm sure I would have written a book, bought a small guest house on the proceeds, calling it the Cell Block and spent the rest of my life selling carrot juice to sympathetic travelers.

Well done Sandra!

I have no idea how much in royalties she recieved from her book but if as you say she will open a guest house on the proceeds it will be a small one and she will be sorely restricted as to wher she can open it.

As a convicted drug smuggler the list of countries open to her a very small, from what I read the conviction is for life and will never be "spent".

Perhaps she could open a guest house in Skegness?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually I meant I would have opened a guest house if I had been the one caught. But as I do not smuggle heroin I will never have the chance.

It's not that difficult to travel too. The States, Australia might be a problem, but most other places you just lie about your convictions. Pattaya is full of people with colorful backgrounds.