Prison Stories

[Star Dust]

Keep up the posting Stardust. Don't worry about the <vulgarity removed>, every thread has them.

lol, you mean the poop heads, right?

[fauxie]

crap for brains?

[shaggy1969]

A great thread and well written.

Thank you stardust for taking the time and effort to share your experiences........

even if only helps one person avoid what you went through.it will of been worth the time and effort !!!

[Bluenose BKK]

I have a friend who spent some time in the IDC and he was a big lad,if young.He came out after not long,severely shaken with a nice black eye.I haven't spoken to him at length about it,only on Facebook.
His girlfriend was pregnant at the time and he was blacklisted for 99 years so she went to England to have the baby and they're living there now as a family.
I've seen him post on Facebook 'If I knew then what I know now...'!

[fauxie]

The 99 year blacklist is just arbitrary though. For most (the UK Embassy tell me) you just have to wait 2 or 3 years then ask to come back. They may say no and so you wait a year and ask again. Normally within 5 years most can return. I know of one Englishman caught at the airport with heroin who was blacklisted, but managed to return after a wait of 9 years.

I'd be crestfallen if I were blacklisted. Thankfully right now it looks like I've dodged a bullet by being deported just for visa overstay. The British Embassy and others have told me it's done with, I was deported for visa overstay, so it's a moot point now that I did time on a drug charge. Lawd, I hope that really is true!

[KarenBravo]

I think you have clearly crossed a line here. You are making personal insults to the OP, where all he has done is write down his experiences for us to read and comment on. When is it right that you then insult him calling him "drama queen".

I know your not going to, but be a man and apologise and move on.

Thanks for the offer an apology, but it really isn't necessary.

I, unlike others, do not wish to air my dirty laundry on a public forum. It's called choice. I will tell you I was in cell #5.

Please explain how two other posters who have actually been in IDC back me up and say that it isn't that bad, yet, there is not a single poster other than the OP that says it's Hell?

I stand by every word I've posted.

I'll now leave this thread and leave it to the drama queens and their acolytes.

Edited March 15, 2013 by KarenBravo

[muythai2013]

did you say you had 60.000BHT in your underwear, and it was taken from you.

At the time of your arrest or however it played out were you wandering around with that much cash in your pocket.

[simple1]

crap for brains?

What do you mean - arranging for your wife to bring a mobile phone and cash whilst in (police cells?) prior to awaiting transfer for deportation; why would you expose your wife to the risk of arrest? Being knowledgeable about Thai defamation/slander laws land & keep on posting details of his illegal activities upon return to Thailand or intent to return? Bravado & not caring about consequences. Sorry but you really have to question who has "crap for brains"

Edited March 16, 2013 by simple1

[espinoza]

First of all you have to learn to spell Isaan.

[cooked]

Ha ha there is no correct way of spelling Esann, there is a correct way of spelling 'pedant' though.

[lazeeboy]

Having stayed in samui prison albeit only 3 nights whats being written is spot on ,as for the state of living conditions its not too bad ,apart from the open showers and toilets where 400 other imates can watch you from any point of the prison makes having a poo very difficult even when eating the 3 day old food served to you ....

[AlHeyward]

First post here, hi all. There is an element of drama to the story but I'm sure he was there. Yeah, s**t happens, my friend. Sure there are few rights for prisoners in Thailand but thats up to the Thai justice system because we are in Thailand! When in foreign countries we can't behave like we are at home. In most of these stories there usually is the part about how angry the writer got with the Thai official. Epic fail. Then the story is downhill from there on. "They do stuff different in Thailand!" But there is a big difference how Farangs are treated today regarding immigration issues, especially since 9/11. We no longer are granted multiple tourist visas or held in high regard just because we are Farangs or treated with the same respect at border crossings due to the increased demand for security and screening of ALL foreigners. Security used to be pretty lax and smiley immigration and police officers would be the norm. There was not as much pressure on Thai officials to perform years ago.

With the influx of tourists who book their dream holiday on line, get picked up from the airport in a limo and whisked off to their hotels without reading any information about the cultural do's and donts or about the penalties for crimes in Thailand can expect a shock it they are caught breaking the law. The huge increase of bad behaviour by foreigners in Thailand since the Lonely Planet packing traveller days is in part a result of the Internet age where everything is at our fingertips and the glossy information is sanitised for the sheeple. Dont be lazy.Get educated on your destination before you travel!!

IDC is a breeze compared to most if the Thai prisons.

How's Darren Tom?

[Star Dust]

First post here, hi all. There is an element of drama to the story but I'm sure he was there. Yeah, s**t happens, my friend. Sure there are few rights for prisoners in Thailand but thats up to the Thai justice system because we are in Thailand! When in foreign countries we can't behave like we are at home. In most of these stories there usually is the part about how angry the writer got with the Thai official. Epic fail. Then the story is downhill from there on. "They do stuff different in Thailand!" But there is a big difference how Farangs are treated today regarding immigration issues, especially since 9/11. We no longer are granted multiple tourist visas or held in high regard just because we are Farangs or treated with the same respect at border crossings due to the increased demand for security and screening of ALL foreigners. Security used to be pretty lax and smiley immigration and police officers would be the norm. There was not as much pressure on Thai officials to perform years ago.

With the influx of tourists who book their dream holiday on line, get picked up from the airport in a limo and whisked off to their hotels without reading any information about the cultural do's and donts or about the penalties for crimes in Thailand can expect a shock it they are caught breaking the law. The huge increase of bad behaviour by foreigners in Thailand since the Lonely Planet packing traveller days is in part a result of the Internet age where everything is at our fingertips and the glossy information is sanitised for the sheeple. Dont be lazy.Get educated on your destination before you travel!!

IDC is a breeze compared to most if the Thai prisons.

How's Darren Tom?

Last I've had word from Darren a couple of month ago. He's still top of his class in Muay Thai. I've sent a letter down to Kho Samui about 2 weeks ago, but still awaiting a response. I'm trying to track down the whereabouts(which prison) of Tim Oliver Korbel, the German, who got done for cooking ICE. I guess Bang Kwang, but can't be sure. A week before my release there was a rumor going around prison that all foreign prisoners already sentenced were going to be sent to BKK. I don't think Darren was, because he was still on appeal. Not sure, though. Haven't heard of Jimmy as well. He was really skinny when I got out.

[Star Dust]

Having stayed in samui prison albeit only 3 nights whats being written is spot on ,as for the state of living conditions its not too bad ,apart from the open showers and toilets where 400 other imates can watch you from any point of the prison makes having a poo very difficult even when eating the 3 day old food served to you ....

Were you there after Feb. 2012, and if so, did you see Jimmy? He's British, tall and skinny, likes to study Thai.

[Star Dust]

First post here, hi all. There is an element of drama to the story but I'm sure he was there. Yeah, s**t happens, my friend. Sure there are few rights for prisoners in Thailand but thats up to the Thai justice system because we are in Thailand! When in foreign countries we can't behave like we are at home. In most of these stories there usually is the part about how angry the writer got with the Thai official. Epic fail. Then the story is downhill from there on. "They do stuff different in Thailand!" But there is a big difference how Farangs are treated today regarding immigration issues, especially since 9/11. We no longer are granted multiple tourist visas or held in high regard just because we are Farangs or treated with the same respect at border crossings due to the increased demand for security and screening of ALL foreigners. Security used to be pretty lax and smiley immigration and police officers would be the norm. There was not as much pressure on Thai officials to perform years ago.

With the influx of tourists who book their dream holiday on line, get picked up from the airport in a limo and whisked off to their hotels without reading any information about the cultural do's and donts or about the penalties for crimes in Thailand can expect a shock it they are caught breaking the law. The huge increase of bad behaviour by foreigners in Thailand since the Lonely Planet packing traveller days is in part a result of the Internet age where everything is at our fingertips and the glossy information is sanitised for the sheeple. Dont be lazy.Get educated on your destination before you travel!!

IDC is a breeze compared to most if the Thai prisons.

How's Darren Tom?

IDC wasn't hell for me. But it is for those who have to stay there for a long time.

[Star Dust]

crap for brains?

What do you mean - arranging for your wife to bring a mobile phone and cash whilst in (police cells?) prior to awaiting transfer for deportation; why would you expose your wife to the risk of arrest? Being knowledgeable about Thai defamation/slander laws land & keep on posting details of his illegal activities upon return to Thailand or intent to return? Bravado & not caring about consequences. Sorry but you really have to question who has "crap for brains"

On Kho Samui? No. My wife wasn't in any danger. Quite the opposite. She always came with my son, and the police even let me out of the cell to hold my son. (sometimes) And of course the police new that she brought me my cash in. They actually recommended it. They said I'm gonna need it in IDC. But about the phone of course they had no idea. The Bophut police station was ok, compared to Surathani, and Ranong. I could purchase what I wanted using a motorbike taxi driver. He even recharged the phone battery when needed.

The Thais smuggeled in much worse things than I did.

[Star Dust]

did you say you had 60.000BHT in your underwear, and it was taken from you.

At the time of your arrest or however it played out were you wandering around with that much cash in your pocket.

Yes, it was taken from me on arrival in IDC. But they gave it back. They offered to keep it safe for me. It's like an Prison Account. I declined to do so. I preferd to have it on me.

And no. At the time of my arrest I had just 2 or maybe 300 Baht.

[Star Dust]

I think you have clearly crossed a line here. You are making personal insults to the OP, where all he has done is write down his experiences for us to read and comment on. When is it right that you then insult him calling him "drama queen".

I know your not going to, but be a man and apologise and move on.

Thanks for the offer an apology, but it really isn't necessary.

I, unlike others, do not wish to air my dirty laundry on a public forum. It's called choice. I will tell you I was in cell #5.

Please explain how two other posters who have actually been in IDC back me up and say that it isn't that bad, yet, there is not a single poster other than the OP that says it's Hell?

I stand by every word I've posted.

I'll now leave this thread and leave it to the drama queens and their acolytes.

Suit yourself, no offence taken. People, I guess, have different views about their experiences with IDC, depending on how long they had to stay there, or depending in what situation they were in.

I rather stand alone with my opinion, then group up with peoples opinions that reveal nothing but arrogance.

I stand by every word I've posted as well, and the people who could back me up are unfortunately still in IDC today.

[yoslim]

Thanks for sharing Star Dust, I will now think twice before hoping on my motorbike after a few drinks, better to pay 40 baht mb taxi for a ride home than end up in IDC because a thai crashes into you

[AlHeyward]

I got out of Samui Jan 2011. The worst place for me was 9 days at Surat on the way to IDC. That place was filthy with just one small dish of watery rice per day and tap water to drink.

[DiamondKing]

Interesting story. Well told, too.

And yes, prison books set in Asia do have a history of selling well.

If you can knock up a reasonable manuscript of 50k words plus PM me and I can point you in the right direction to get it published.

Glad to hear you are back with your family in Isaan.

Best of luck with recording the story.

GFL.

The way to publish a book these days is Kindle on Amazon you can upload the book in digital form and people can buy it off Kindle or Amazon will orint the book for you and send it out to the buyer and you get 70% of the selling price.

Kindle sells more books now than all stores in the USA put together and they make it easy and affordable for ANYONE to become a published author

[Bluenose BKK]

Reading some of these posts makes me wonder if our immigration & visa systems really benefit the Thais longer term or deliver short term gain for long term pain. Seems easier for me to go live elsewhere - like Spore or HKG - than try to change this country. Leave Thailand to the high-class farang we see posting on this site and come visit for one week each year.

Cambodia,Philippines,Vietnam,take your pick.All much,much easier to do business in than Thailand!The comment about high-class people certainly doesn't ring true for tourism,look no further than Phuket for the perfect example of killing the golden goose!

All the European and high-spending American tourists have left a long time ago due to all the ripoffs,what they're left with now is cheaper and cheaper tourists friom Russia and China turning up!They don't go on tours outside of their tour party,don't utilise locally-owned restaurants or even bars,they just stay in their rooms and head for 7/11 to stock up on noodles and beer/vodka!

Hopefull it'll get worse and worse unitl the whole smelly dump that is Phuket sinks below the waves like a modern-day Atlantis!

[Bluenose BKK]

I think you have clearly crossed a line here. You are making personal insults to the OP, where all he has done is write down his experiences for us to read and comment on. When is it right that you then insult him calling him "drama queen".

I know your not going to, but be a man and apologise and move on.

Thanks for the offer an apology, but it really isn't necessary.

I, unlike others, do not wish to air my dirty laundry on a public forum. It's called choice. I will tell you I was in cell #5.

Please explain how two other posters who have actually been in IDC back me up and say that it isn't that bad, yet, there is not a single poster other than the OP that says it's Hell?

I stand by every word I've posted.

I'll now leave this thread and leave it to the drama queens and their acolytes.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

[Bluenose BKK]

I got out of Samui Jan 2011. The worst place for me was 9 days at Surat on the way to IDC. That place was filthy with just one small dish of watery rice per day and tap water to drink.

Luxury for a TEFLer in Thailand!

[yoslim]

Also if OP is still around, how much compensation money was being asked to settle the accident outside of court ? I wonder if the time spent in jail was worth it in hindsight

[Star Dust]

Also if OP is still around, how much compensation money was being asked to settle the accident outside of court ? I wonder if the time spent in jail was worth it in hindsight

350.000 Baht.

[Star Dust]

I got out of Samui Jan 2011. The worst place for me was 9 days at Surat on the way to IDC. That place was filthy with just one small dish of watery rice per day and tap water to drink.

31 days I have been in that filth hole. they waited until there were enough Burmese, so it was worth the drive. Ranong was dirty as well, and weird. Been there 5 days.

[AlHeyward]

I got out of Samui Jan 2011. The worst place for me was 9 days at Surat on the way to IDC. That place was filthy with just one small dish of watery rice per day and tap water to drink.

31 days I have been in that filth hole. they waited until there were enough Burmese, so it was worth the drive. Ranong was dirty as well, and weird. Been there 5 days.

Monkey house madness part 1 .......... Feb 2011

The Thai prison experience is not to be recommended. Although the Samui monkey house is quite new and small with about 300 guys and 200 girls it didn't take the savages long to make it dirty. So It's just a new, dirty, hot little remand prison. They transfer people away to other less salubrious institutions; Nakon sii Thammarat or Bangkok who get more than 10 years, which is supposed to get rid of the rif-raf, so the place is heaving with violent offenders and others with heavy sentences for hard drugs waiting to be transferred. There were about 30 lady boys sporting shaved heads, botox buttocks and big breasts Not much violence considering the mix of people. A few punch-ups here and there among the population. All in all it was plain boring for me. I read lots of books.

The food was absolute crap. About half of the inmates had regular visits and they'd get at least some edible food brought in every week but otherwise it was pork fat in a horrible curry or fish head soup or plain rice soup sometimes with a side order of peanuts! Wow. then we'd get chicken things in a curry.... sometimes bones and feet. But if you had money you could buy stale cookies and drinks from the prison shop and order overpriced Thai food from "outside" which was made by the wives of the guards and to be honest wasn't much improvement on the prison sludge.

The guards seemed to leave the Farangs alone probably because they couldn't communicate in English but they'd beat the crap out of the Thais if they did something wrong like fighting, stealing or trying to smuggle cigarettes in to the room. They were especially hard on the Burmese inmates. One of the guards the farangs had nick-named "Scary" would dish out novel punishments like having to roll in the dirt and sharp stones from one side of the yard to the other and back again ...for 5 or 6 hours! The guard would stand over them with a big stick in one hand and a bottle of water in the other to pour on them to make them nice and sticky. There were lots of variations on that punishment. Sometimes they would have to piggy back someone around the yard for hours or we saw one guy do 1000 squats. Thats with hands on hips and squatting then standing up and down 1000 times counting each squat out loud. He couldn't walk for 3 days afterwards. Another sadistic one was getting the prisoner to climb up the chain link fence a metre or so and then just hang on to the wire with fingers and toes for a couple of hours chanting "I will not lie to the boss guard" ouch! Other times they would just beat them. Make 'em lay on their stomachs and beat them on the back with a big piece of wood. .Lovely.

There were between 15-20 farang in there, mostly for drugs. Heavy sentences for "ice"- a Kiwi is doing 12 years for 4 grams, a Nigerian got the death penalty commuted to 50 years for 50gm, a Turkish guy got 3 years for 0.4gm, a Thai guy got 1 year for stealing a chicken!, and a Burmese was doing 18 months for cutting a tree down (under the orders of his Thai boss but the Burmese was the one holding the chainsaw).... 2 years for rape, 7 years for rape, 8 years for murdering a Thai, 1 year for murdering a Burmese! Lots of murderers on Samui. You would never know to look at them or talk to them.... one young Thai guy about 25 who had a very quiet personality and was polite and friendly was a hit-man and he had killed 7 people. But you'd never know just talking to him. Scary shit really. .... as you can see the sentencing is not very consistent.

They would let us out at 6.30 in the morning and back inside the rooms at 4pm. We had to line up and be counted 5 times per day. We we permited a TV and DVD player in the room which got well used but the guards would turn them off at 9pm ... but not the lights!!!. Lights on all night, sleep on the hard tiled floor with a couple of folded blankets for a matress. Most of the time it was very cramped sleeping arrangements; It was impossible to roll over to change your sleeping position, you would have to "shuffle" getting kicked in the face by someone next to you was the norm as was waking up with numb limbs... To make more space we would tie blankets together and string them up like hammocks to make room on the floor. It was tight with 18 people but sometimes we had 23 or 24. Dunno how we did id it. During the day we would just sit at our little table and read or play checkers or talk. I usually buried my head in a book. I must have read 200 books but can hardly remember any of 'em.

There was one thing the native population liked to do that I could never get my head around was the practise of mutilating ones penis - the purpose eludes me as I could see no point in such disfigurement even in the name of art, especially where the mutilations were performed without anaesthetic and in the most unhygienic of circumstances, the ensuing scarring of tissue that I would assume would lead to at least some damage to the fine nerve endings we have in our nether regions. There seemed to be several styles preferred requiring a variety of masochistic methods to complete the process.

On one of the first days of my stay one of the Thai captives said "hey, what are you in for and take a look at this...." and proceeded to show me something in his pants that I guess used to be his dick. It was now a festered lumpy thing with what looked like a dead flower hanging on the end. I said "&lt;deleted&gt; is that?" he said "I got 13" ... 13 what? ...."13 beads"- "Oh I see" I said. So without having to look too closely and with further explanation I was able to ascertain this idiot had inserted 13 glass beads under the skin of the shaft of his penis and in addition he had sliced the foreskin to make it look like a flower. The glass beads were supposed to be in a uniform pattern but obviously had moved and many were clustered together. Somewhat dazed I went to consult the long termer farangs who I was sure would be able to shed some light on this bizarre practise.

I had managed to receive a jar of Vegemite that was left in the fridge of the bungalow I used to live in that a Thai friend brought to me on a visit a few days before. The guard checking the items delivered by visitors had obviously been asleep or had been distracted by her smile and had not noticed the Vegemite was in a glass jar. Such things as tin cans and glass containers are forbidden as the savages might attempt suicide with broken glass or worse; fashion beads out of the broken pieces of glass and insert them under the skin of their dicks! One of the farangs said I could sell the empty Vegemite jar for 2 packs of cigarettes. I said "Wow" cos that sounded like a good deal for an empty glass jar. The guys explained to me the savages would then break the jar and spend hours grinding down the pieces of broken jar on a rough piece of concrete into smooth oval beads. Then they could slice their dicks open with the blade from a blunt disposable razor and insert the beads under the skin . I said "but WHY?" One of the more educated farangs said the practise has it's roots in ancient tribal customs and another said his mate in Germany had a bead surgically inserted on the top of his penis so his girlfriend might gain some extra stimulation. Ah ha! Indeed I had seen something like this on a porn movie once ... or twice. "But this guy had 13 beads, and had his foreskin sliced to make it look like a flower" I said. The farangs said "Yes we know and we don't know why, this is Thailand Al" I couldn't imagine Thai guys doing this to enhance their girlfriend's sexual pleasure. I started to think that maybe this was why Thai girls would tell farangs they didn't like Thai guys. What, with penises that looked like a durian with the sharp bits rounded off it's not a pretty sight. The farangs told me there is a guy sporting 24 beads and he believes it to be a Samui prison record. Someone asked me if I had seen the dick on Nong sitting over there, beckoning him over. "Not yet, but it looks like I'm going to" I said. Nong has had his penis enlarged by injecting a large quantity of Vaseline petroleum jelly under his dick skin. Where they got the very large hypodermic needle from is a mystery but I was later to witness briefly the injecting process while I was innocently brushing my teeth in the bathroom. Of course after the jelly is injected it settles at the knob end in a large bulbous mass. Nong's dick looked like a large pear hanging between his legs. Ugly

[Chittychangchang]

A friend of mine spent 4 weeks in a 1m x 1.5m concrete hole with no ventilation,toilet,bedding,naked with two junkys on cold turkey. The cell was covered in excrement, no water and one stale bread roll a day. No communication and no reason for the incarceration then went to court and was released. The judge said" you was fourtunate it could have been a lot longer".Admittedly this was not Thailand but Spain 20 years ago!

Puts foriegn prisons in perspective.

Edited March 16, 2013 by Chittychangchang

[Bluenose BKK]

A friend of mine spent 4 weeks in a 1m x 1.5m concrete hole with no ventilation,toilet,bedding,naked with two junkys on cold turkey. The cell was covered in excrement, no water and one stale bread roll a day. No communication and no reason for the incarceration then went to court and was released. The judge said" you was fourtunate it could have been a lot longer".Admittedly this was not Thailand but Spain 20 years ago!

Puts foriegn prisons in perspective.

Strange but I believe I can still smell the excrement!