Disabled Brit fears for his life in Thai jail

[webfact]

Disabled man from Skegness fears for his life in Thai jail


Steven Moody with his Thai bride on a previous trip.

SKEGNESS: -- “My son is in fear of his life – please help him.” This is the plea of a mum whose disabled son was thrown into a Thai jail after picking up the wrong suitcase at the airport.

Steven Moody, who was brought up in Skegness, was on a visit to his Thai bride in April when the mix-up happened that turned a romantic holiday into a nightmare.

Mum Carol Swanson said: “I am at my wits end. Steven is severely disabled after having a large brain tumour removed in 2007. The operation lasted 10 hours and he has been left with limited sight, limited hearing, blurred vision, lack of concentration, blackouts and walks with a wobble. He has also suffered from depression and struggles to cope with everyday life.

“He met and married a Thai girl who is living in Thailand and the nightmare began when he went to visit see her. There seems to have been some confusion over a suitcase – I believe he picked up the wrong one. As a result he was arrested and sent to Samut Parkan prison just outside Bangkok.

Full story: http://www.skegnessstandard.co.uk/news/local/disabled-man-from-skegness-fears-for-his-life-in-thai-jail-1-7449885

-- Skegness Standard 2016-06-28

[chuang]

Oh wrong suitcase.. LOL

[nev]

£20,000 worth of Diamonds in the wrong suitcase he took by mistake, mmmm something smells fishy.

Insurance scam by the owner of the other suitcase?.

[bristolgeoff]

if you are carry that much in diamonds then why would you put it in your suitcase.i know I would not,what was the owner of the other suitcase job.bit strange I think

[TeaMonkey]

He should be claiming for the £25,000 gold necklace that he had in his own suitcase.

[mcfish]

"When he realised his mistake he panicked and threw it away"

why would you panic? just take it back to the airport

[soihok]

Why did he throw it away?

Panic I guess. Bit of a silly thing to do.

His g/f could have just reported it / made a phone call. Makes it look like he stole it.

As for the diamonds, well, yes- it stinks.

[Alive]

Everyone fears for their life in Thai jails.

[colinneil]

Insurance scam on the part of the other suitcase owner.

Slipped police a few baht, so they do not care about justice.

He was stupid to throw away the suitcase, his so called girlfriend was acting stupid allowing him to do that.

Return it wai a couple of times, matter closed.

He has no reason to be scared in a Thai jail, as a farang other prisoners will take care of him.

[Andrew65]

Picking up the wrong bag off the carousel is easily done.

Nearly did it myself many years ago at Heathrow, it was an identical Nike dark blue holdall.

Also, who really believes that stuff about diamonds!?

[catman20]

no smoke without fire, i got a feeling we are not getting all the facts, his poor old mom sees nothing wrong with her boy. his first mistake was marring a Thai lady when he is physically and mentally not a 100%

[tx22cb]

Poor guy.

However, using the Pistorius argument doesn't work in Thailand.

And his friend who visited him complaining that "there is no air conditioning ...." wont get much sympathy from the Thai authorities.

Try to lobby to be transferred to England to serve his sentence there.

[gandalf12]

Everyone fears for their life in Thai jails.

Obviously you have experience

[clockman]

For some one with health problems, Thailand is not the place to be!

[Rob13]

Hard to believe either side. Why would you throw the suitcase away and who carries 20,000 pounds in their checked baggage?

[The stuttering parrot]

Shawshank redemption .

We are all innocent in here.

He seems to have more hang ups than the bat cave but jags a pretty Thai wife but didn't realise the baggage that comes with it!

[AlphMichaels]

This story is wrong on so many levels. Mum, why would you let your son travel to Thailand after debilitating brain surgery and clearly beset with multiple mental deficits?

"Steven is severely disabled after having a large brain tumour removed in 2007. The operation lasted 10 hours and he has been left with limited sight, limited hearing, blurred vision, lack of concentration, blackouts and walks with a wobble. He has also suffered from depression and struggles to cope with everyday life."

I won't even go into the whole marriage thing.

[happy Joe]

"I believe he picked up the wrong one"

Not me...

[WishWashMan]

Im concerned about the girl.

The operation lasted 10 hours and he has been left with limited sight, limited hearing, blurred vision, lack of concentration, blackouts and walks with a wobble. He has also suffered from depression and struggles to cope with everyday life.

She can find better. UNLESS this is Pattaya!

[wombat]

what about the other half of his baggage claim stub identifying which bag belongs to who ?.............just asking

[English 1]

He won't get much help, if any, from the British Embassy

If he had loads of money he could get out of course.

[cornishcarlos]

no smoke without fire, i got a feeling we are not getting all the facts, his poor old mom sees nothing wrong with her boy. his first mistake was marring a Thai lady when he is physically and mentally not a 100%

I married a Thai lady and now I'm not mentally 100% !!

[DLock]

So, he never got his own suitcase back, with all his clothes and personal items and gifts for his "Thai bride"?

Seems odd.

[johnno2]

have i got this correct? the thai guys (red bull heir and man who killed 2 students near ayyuthya) responsible for the death of numerous people are free and running round but a guy with physical and mental disabilities and is responsible for picking up the wrong suitcase from the airport carousel is rotting in jail? where is the UK embassy stamping its foot and screaming from the rooftops and trying to get this guy released on bail until this is sorted out? no reply required. its well known they are as weak as piss and are only concerned about the next invite to the generals dinner party and what to wear.

[Rob13]

what about the other half of his baggage claim stub identifying which bag belongs to who ?.............just asking

Egg-zactly, they could match it up with his real bag and if it looked liked the one he 'accidentally' picked up he'd have a pretty good defense; well, if he hadn't chucked the other one.

[Thaijack2014]

A man with such an abnormal health and has attacks etcetera should not be left alone! This in the first place. If he is considered able to fly to Thailand on his own, I think he also knows when he picks the right or wrong suitcase. What a story. I feel sorry for his loss of brain functions, but he should not be allowed to leave his safe home and travel alone in the world. This is a warning to all those who intend to do the same....but then again... who reads this with such a mental disorder?

[strapper1]

There must be a better way than having luggage travel down a conveyor belt. I can see how a person in a hurry could accidently pick the wrong bag!

[bananafish]

So the persons bag he lifted was on his flight? Where did that particular flight board, I'm pretty sure £20,000 worth of valuables would have to be declared on departure, no?

[Crash999]

I think we aren't getting the whole story. If his suitcase was exactly the same then it would be an easy story to explain.

And if he threw away the suitcase there must have been some CCTV and airport effort to ID him and track him down.

Of course the diamond bit isn't believable. If true the person would be in trouble with Thai customs!

[marginline]

If he returned the suit case the authorities would have found the diamonds, and he still would have been charged for stealing them.

As the diamonds would not be in that suit case by the time it was returned to the owner.

My experience has shown that In Thailand if you have a disability,no one will take pity on you however they will find your disability amusing and they will take advantage of you.

Steven Moody, will be getting bashed and raped ten times per day, and the authorities won't lift a finger to help him.

That's Thailand.

Pratet Maleang Saab,

I doubt it. Every report I read of farang in Thai jail is they pretty much left alone

Thanks for this advice mcfish. Yes; what you write is exactly what happened to a Finnish acquaintance of mine last year.

While detained in Chonburi jail, my acquaintance was taken care very well by some of the detainees who apparently had some form of seniority among the other detainees. While it was a stressful experience for my acquaintance, he was clearly moved by the kindness he received from many Thai detainees.