Incarceration Of Non-Thais In Thai Prisons

[EvilPenevil]

Does anyone know an authoritative source for the number of non-Thais held in Thai prisons? I'm looking for statistics from a Thai government ministry or department; a report from a reputable international organization; or published academic research.

Here is the breakdown I got from a former official in a Thai ministry who is now studying in a post-graduate program at a U.S. university, He did it from memory, so I'm not sure how accurate it is. He said there are roughly 6,500 non-Thais incarcerated or detained in Thai prison.

4,000 are Burmese

1,200 are other Asians (mostly citizens of Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, China, India and Nepal, with a sprinkling from other Asian countries as well as Hong Kong)

700 are Africans (mostly Nigerians)

250 are Russians, East Europeans and citizens of Soviet successor states

200 are Western farang (West Europeans, U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand).

100 are Iranians

50 are from South America

That's 6,500 in total. This is one man's estimate and if anyone has better figures or a better breakdown, please post them or a link to them. The only official data I could find online is a chart on the Thai Department of Corrections Web site and it is related to prisoner repatriation:

http://www.correct.go.th/eng/transfer.html

What's striking about these figures is the over-representation of Nigerians. West Africans (not just Nigerians) account for less than 0.5% of all visitors to LOS, but they make up more than 50% of the those incarcerated and repatriated. This is extraordinary by any metric, but the explanation is simple, though. Nigerian and other West African gangs target Thailand because it is much easier for them to get visas for Thailand than Europe or North America.

To repeat, I'd like to find official statistics relating to incarceration of non-Thais in Thai prisoners. I sincerely hope there are no racist or Nigeria-bashing responses to this thread.

Thanks for any assistance.

Evil

[dddave]

Authoritative??...I don't know, but this site has a lot of info on Thai Prisons.

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

Looking forward to mid=March!

[EvilPenevil]

Authoritative??...I don't know, but this site has a lot of info on Thai Prisons.

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

Looking forward to mid=March!

It's a prisoner advocacy site that does indeed have a lot of good information, but not much in the way of statistics. There is apparently very little hard available on this subject, but I've put in a request through official channels. I'm not optimistic about getting an answer back, but know knows, maybe I'll get lucky.

Anyway, see you in about 10 days!

Evil

[Flatouthruthefog]

<br />

<br />Authoritative??...I don't know, but this site has a lot of info on Thai Prisons.<br /><br /><a href='http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/prisoners-thailand.html' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.phaseloop...s-thailand.html</a><br /><br />Looking forward to mid=March!<br />

<br /><br />It's a prisoner advocacy site that does indeed have a lot of good information, but not much in the way of statistics.  There is apparently very little hard available on this subject, but I've put in a request through official channels.  I'm not optimistic about getting an answer back, but know knows, maybe I'll get lucky.<br /><br />Anyway, see you in about 10 days!<br /><br />Evil<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I wish you very good luck with your "official channels".

If they consist of foreign Embassies or Consulates in Thailand, you may get some response and - maybe - facts. If not, please don't hold your breath.

UK folk have 'Prisoners Abroad', an organisation (and website) dedicated to helping Brits behind bars all over the world. Whatever we think about convicted criminals, we should applaud this charity for their humanitarian aid. Here in Thailand, too.

The very large number of Africans in foreign(western)jails all over the world reflects the fact that so many are used as 'mules' by the drug barons. If they get through with their shipments, fine. If not, they stay in jail forever because they have no communications and no money and their own (African) governments couldn't give a toss about them.

Many are women and I am told they make up most of the inhabitants of London's big women's jail, Holloway. It's a tragedy.

Anyone with any sympathy for western inmates in Thai jails might like to contact 'Citylife' magazine, Chiang Mai, which has featured several people 'inside' over the years.

[stander]

<br />

<br />Authoritative??...I don't know, but this site has a lot of info on Thai Prisons.<br /><br /><a href='http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/prisoners-thailand.html' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.phaseloop...s-thailand.html</a><br /><br />Looking forward to mid=March!<br />

<br /><br />It's a prisoner advocacy site that does indeed have a lot of good information, but not much in the way of statistics. There is apparently very little hard available on this subject, but I've put in a request through official channels. I'm not optimistic about getting an answer back, but know knows, maybe I'll get lucky.<br /><br />Anyway, see you in about 10 days!<br /><br />Evil<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I wish you very good luck with your "official channels".

If they consist of foreign Embassies or Consulates in Thailand, you may get some response and - maybe - facts. If not, please don't hold your breath.

UK folk have 'Prisoners Abroad', an organisation (and website) dedicated to helping Brits behind bars all over the world. Whatever we think about convicted criminals, we should applaud this charity for their humanitarian aid. Here in Thailand, too.

The very large number of Africans in foreign(western)jails all over the world reflects the fact that so many are used as 'mules' by the drug barons. If they get through with their shipments, fine. If not, they stay in jail forever because they have no communications and no money and their own (African) governments couldn't give a toss about them.

Many are women and I am told they make up most of the inhabitants of London's big women's jail, Holloway. It's a tragedy.

Anyone with any sympathy for western inmates in Thai jails might like to contact 'Citylife' magazine, Chiang Mai, which has featured several people 'inside' over the years.

No sympathy here for any of these so called mules, if you are going to do the crime then be prepared to the time

[mstribling]

The problem with a lot of the export mules is their unsuspecting. Catch the Ethiopian airlines flight to Addis and you'll see countless bags of clothes and such to be taken to Africa for resale.

Smugglers are always planting items in unsuspecting peoples bags.

It's not really cut and dry.

[EvilPenevil]

I wish you very good luck with your "official channels".

If they consist of foreign Embassies or Consulates in Thailand, you may get some response and - maybe - facts. If not, please don't hold your breath.

Believe me, I'm not holding my breath. But one of the attaches at the Thai Embassy in D.C. has been quite helpful in pointing me in the right direction in terms of the appropriate Thai authorities. Whether those authorities will be responsive or not remains to be seen. If I were betting, my money would be on "not responsive/\.

The very large number of Africans in foreign(western)jails all over the world reflects the fact that so many are used as 'mules' by the drug barons. If they get through with their shipments, fine. If not, they stay in jail forever because they have no communications and no money and their own (African) governments couldn't give a toss about them.

Many are women and I am told they make up most of the inhabitants of London's big women's jail, Holloway. It's a tragedy.

I agree that the South American drug cartels and some of the Chinese have hired Africans as mules, but there are West African gangs behind these operations. Some are made up of the remnants of the former Liberian and Sierra Leone militias, the ones who used to hack off arms, They've given the area around Suk Soi 3-5 a very unpleasant edge. The arm choppers are dangerous and should be avoided,

Evil

[Thongkorn]

<br />

<br />Authoritative??...I don't know, but this site has a lot of info on Thai Prisons.<br /><br /><a href='http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/prisoners-thailand.html' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.phaseloop...s-thailand.html</a><br /><br />Looking forward to mid=March!<br />

<br /><br />It's a prisoner advocacy site that does indeed have a lot of good information, but not much in the way of statistics. There is apparently very little hard available on this subject, but I've put in a request through official channels. I'm not optimistic about getting an answer back, but know knows, maybe I'll get lucky.<br /><br />Anyway, see you in about 10 days!<br /><br />Evil<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I wish you very good luck with your "official channels".

If they consist of foreign Embassies or Consulates in Thailand, you may get some response and - maybe - facts. If not, please don't hold your breath.

UK folk have 'Prisoners Abroad', an organisation (and website) dedicated to helping Brits behind bars all over the world. Whatever we think about convicted criminals, we should applaud this charity for their humanitarian aid. Here in Thailand, too.

The very large number of Africans in foreign(western)jails all over the world reflects the fact that so many are used as 'mules' by the drug barons. If they get through with their shipments, fine. If not, they stay in jail forever because they have no communications and no money and their own (African) governments couldn't give a toss about them.

Many are women and I am told they make up most of the inhabitants of London's big women's jail, Holloway. It's a tragedy.

Anyone with any sympathy for western inmates in Thai jails might like to contact 'Citylife' magazine, Chiang Mai, which has featured several people 'inside' over the years.

No sympathy here for any of these so called mules, if you are going to do the crime then be prepared to the time

So The Gun held to your familys head does not count then . How do you make a Judgment without knowing all the facts.

[stander]

No sympathy here for any of these so called mules, if you are going to do the crime then be prepared to the time

So The Gun held to your familys head does not count then . How do you make a Judgment without knowing all the facts.

I am not judging, they have already been convicted so they must do the time, it’s quite simple.