TB in Phuket Jail

[xylophone]

Some guidance needed here by anyone familiar with procedures and protocol in Thailand.

A lovely lady friend of mine who is hard-working and runs a little business in Patong is in a bit of a quandary as regards her son. He is now spending time in prison because he got involved with the "wrong crowd" a few months ago and although in the grand scheme of things it wasn't too serious, he appears to have been treated quite heavy handedly and given two years in prison.

I know the boy and have met him on many occasions and he is certainly not someone you would call a delinquent or "bad boy", however he did something wrong and now he has to pay for it and his mother accepts that, although the sentence does seem a bit harsh.

That is the background, however she visits him just about daily and his health is suffering and he is now coughing up blood and looking decidedly unwell. I suggested to her that this could be a sign of TB and she said that she knew this because there were many others in the jail with TB, with one young man dying just a few days ago of it.

Obviously I was very angry and suggested that she demand her son be taken to the hospital, and despite pushing for this, she was told to butt out as the authorities said they would treat their inmates how they liked, and anyway they did occasionally have a doctor visit the inmates. However this doctor has not been to the prison for over three weeks and she is terribly worried that her son is getting worse and nothing is being done about it.

I would love to be able to help, however another farang friend accompanied her to the prison and he was told in no uncertain terms to get lost.

Does anyone have any idea of a course of action I could take which may get some results – – anyone with any contacts who may be able to help?

Thanks in advance.

[NamKangMan]

The only thing I could suggest is some money exchange hands to allow a visit from a doctor and/or the medicine to get to him.

TB is highly contagious. If he has it, you can bet many more inmates have it as well.

Edited September 21, 2013 by NamKangMan

[xylophone]

The only thing I could suggest is some money exchange hands to allow a visit from a doctor and/or the medicine to get to him.

TB is highly contagious. If he has it, you can bet many more inmates have it as well.

Thanks NKM.............I did suggest this to his mother, however she has said that she finds herself unable to get to anyone in authority in the jail in order to try and effect this? I am prepared to give her a few thousand baht to make this happen, but to no avail as yet.

As I said in my original post, his mother visits him frequently (just about daily I think) and she has said that there are many others suffering from TB in the jail. I fear for his future, as does his mother, hence this post.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply and I will broach this subject again with her.

[NamKangMan]

The only thing I could suggest is some money exchange hands to allow a visit from a doctor and/or the medicine to get to him.

TB is highly contagious. If he has it, you can bet many more inmates have it as well.

Thanks NKM.............I did suggest this to his mother, however she has said that she finds herself unable to get to anyone in authority in the jail in order to try and effect this? I am prepared to give her a few thousand baht to make this happen, but to no avail as yet.

As I said in my original post, his mother visits him frequently (just about daily I think) and she has said that there are many others suffering from TB in the jail. I fear for his future, as does his mother, hence this post.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply and I will broach this subject again with her.

Get the mother to ask her son, on her next visit, how it can be done. Maybe it can be organised, from the inside. After all, he is in direct contact with those in authority, and also other inmates, that may already have an "arrangement" in place with certain corrupt guards.

[jocko]

Could she sneak a Doctor in as a family friend?

[Somtamnication]

Go to the Phuket Ombudsman, or Red Cross. Let them go through the channels.

[hansgruber]

TB is the least of his worries. Far worse diseases fester in there.

[phuketrichard]

thai jails money will open the door for a private visit from a Dr.

hopefully he will get thru it but 2 years ......

[MacChine]

No better indicator of the true Thai way than to look at the jails. They spent oodles of money building a health center in Bang Jo which has sat idle for about 4 years, except for airport vans parked at the onsite staff housing, and which has had several landscaping jobs to replace dead plants.

As rotten as it gets. I have no respect whatsoever for this nation. One giant lie. Tell the world

.

[stevenl]

No better indicator of the true Thai way than to look at the jails. They spent oodles of money building a health center in Bang Jo which has sat idle for about 4 years, except for airport vans parked at the onsite staff housing, and which has had several landscaping jobs to replace dead plants.

As rotten as it gets. I have no respect whatsoever for this nation. One giant lie. Tell the world

.

Bang Jo idle?

[phitsanulokjohn]

Oh dear, i'm extremely sorry to hear the plight of your lady friend and especially her son.The lady seems a decent enough person and must be worried sick.Other than the ideas already put forth,I am unusually at a total loss as to offer you advice.

Are there no limits to the depths some human beings(if indeed you can call them that)will stoop to.

They need to be reminded of the Thai saying''FAR ME DAR''

My thoughts and prayers are with both of them,and God willing this nasty episode can reach a satisfactory conclusion.I wish everyone concerned all the very best.

[Valentine]

It is fairly tragic that jail terms in Thailand, no matter how long or short, could virtually be a death sentence unless one has money/connections.

[madmitch]

I really don't know but could it be worth contacting Amnesty International?

Is this a breach of human rights?

[NamKangMan]

I really don't know but could it be worth contacting Amnesty International?

Is this a breach of human rights?

I was under the impresion the Amnesty International organisation was to do with political prisoners.

I would think a section of the United Nations deals with human rights.

[Phuket electrician]

Sadly another sob story, if you can't do the time don't do the crime. Phuket prison looks worse than hell, pity any convict ending up there. And it seems no deterrent at all. What's the solution?

[Somtamnication]

Sadly another sob story, if you can't do the time don't do the crime. Phuket prison looks worse than hell, pity any convict ending up there. And it seems no deterrent at all. What's the solution?

Sigh. Another holier-than-though tv member. The op is asking for help, not asking for some evangelical epiphany.

I repeat, the Red Cross is your best bet, as they visit the jail often, on behalf of relatives.

[xylophone]

Many thanks for the replies and useful suggestions and I will follow up on them when I visit his mother tomorrow.

FYI, she seemed near to despair when I saw her a few days ago and because of this seemed to dismiss any help I offered. However the suggestions are good and will surely give her new hope when I discuss how we/she can implement them.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to help, and out of respect for this, I will report back on progress.

[Somtamnication]

Best of luck.

[NamKangMan]

Sadly another sob story, if you can't do the time don't do the crime. Phuket prison looks worse than hell, pity any convict ending up there. And it seems no deterrent at all. What's the solution?

He was given a 2 year sentence - not a death sentence.

He has a right to medical attention.

To the OP, is is too late for an appeal to be lodge and bail granted pending the appeal hearing?

Edited September 23, 2013 by NamKangMan

[xylophone]

Sadly another sob story, if you can't do the time don't do the crime. Phuket prison looks worse than hell, pity any convict ending up there. And it seems no deterrent at all. What's the solution?

He was given a 2 year sentence - not a death sentence.

He has a right to medical attention.

To the OP, is is too late for an appeal to be lodge and bail granted pending the appeal hearing?

Not sure about that NKM so will ask his mother.

Thanks again for your help.

[MacChine]

Legalize drugs, treat addicts as patients not criminals , as 80% of the inmates are in for drug violations

Sadly another sob story, if you can't do the time don't do the crime. Phuket prison looks worse than hell, pity any convict ending up there. And it seems no deterrent at all. What's the solution?

[MacChine]

A Regional Health Center is what the sign says. Been unused since the day it was built.

No better indicator of the true Thai way than to look at the jails. They spent oodles of money building a health center in Bang Jo which has sat idle for about 4 years, except for airport vans parked at the onsite staff housing, and which has had several landscaping jobs to replace dead plants.

As rotten as it gets. I have no respect whatsoever for this nation. One giant lie. Tell the world

.

Bang Jo idle?

[stevenl]

Thanks, but now I must admit I really don't understand your post.

But never mind,let's not distract from the OP.

[xylophone]

As promised, an update on my original post..............

I have spoken to the boy's mother on a few occasions, putting forward some of the suggestions most helpfully given by the posters here and although they have been gratefully accepted, her urgency in this matter seems to have waned somewhat.

I think it's because she said that her son had stopped coughing and the blood had stopped, so she believes everything will be okay, therefore no hurry and no problem?! I tried to explain that just because these particular symptoms had stopped it did not mean to say that the disease had gone, and quite possibly it was still working away doing its worst.

There was one small breakthrough and it was something mentioned by NamKangMan, inasmuch as she had managed to contact an inmate who seems to be on some sort of "probation" who has agreed that he will smuggle some drugs back into the jail if necessary, although I tried to explain that tests needed to be done first in order to ascertain what drugs were needed.

Although she seems quite satisfied with the recent events, to be honest I am still frustrated because it is not as it should be, however I have to learn to hold back because there is nothing you can do when Thais have made up their mind what they will or won't do. It's almost, in my opinion, a fatalistic outlook and one which I found with my ex TGF when her brother was sick a couple of years ago.

Let me explain; the golf ball sized lump on her brothers neck had gotten larger despite visits to the local Patong hospital and the issuing of iodine tablets on a weekly basis. When it became the size of a tennis ball and was interfering with his speech and eating, so much so that although already thin, he lost quite a bit of weight, I asked what was being done about it and she replied that he was still going to Patong hospital.

Becoming quite concerned I asked what was going to happen if it just grew, and she replied that she didn't know as "nobody could know what was going to happen in the future". She took for granted that Patong hospital was either right or wrong and that was it. If they were wrong he was going to die and that is what his future would hold. I found this frustrating and immediately got him into Bangkok Phuket hospital for a biopsy, and he turned out to have a benign tumour which would have grown and eventually killed him if it wasn't operated on.

My ex said the family couldn't afford an operation therefore they were going to have "to see what the future held" for him! Anyway to cut a long story short, I paid for the operation because I just could not think about letting someone whom I knew die for the sake of spending $5000 or thereabouts.

He is now cured and lives a normal life with no apparent downsides to the operation.

My point is that I was frustrated with the "Thai attitude" towards "letting things be/let the future take care of itself/no one knows what the future will hold" mentality with my ex, and I guess I am the same with my lady friend as regards her son, although I will continue to help her wherever possible and try not to get too involved. She has help from a farang "relative" so perhaps I should take a step back now.

Thank you most sincerely for your suggestions, they will be kept for future use if needed.

[transam]

Blimey, when I saw that heading I thought theblether was having more bad luck....... .........

[harrry]

Blimey, when I saw that heading I thought theblether was having more bad luck....... .........

Yes....he is having a bad time...but so is the person in the jail...and though he may well deserve jail he does not deserve that.

[grumpyoldman]

Hoping that Aldhouse moron gets it.