I am a Prisoner in the Bangkok Hilton

There have been a lot of messages and discussion in various locations on the web lately about parcels getting to prisoners in Thai jails. Reports that parcels had been disallowed have abounded on various places and so called official websites However, I have been regularly receiving parcels sent to me with, apart from one or two issues, all contents totally intact. The original reason given for disallowing parcels was that drugs were being smuggled into the prisons, but its probably more like the Guards and Wardens were seeing a hit in their kickbacks, as they were not selling as much to the inmates However nice it is to receive goods in the post, getting letters is just as nice. It shows that we haven't been forgotten and strangely it helps on the inside. If we can show the guards that we have friends on the outside we get some measure of protection. It frightens them a little, and the tend to lay off a bit. If you want to write have a look at http://www.foreignprisoners.com/ and ...

A typical example of the apathy that exists in here has just occured to me. Each morning I sit with a very intelligent inmate from Malaysia, George (63yrs old, Death Row) whose been here for 2 years now on a murder charge. The time I spend with George is very beneficial for me as he speaks college level English, and Ive found that prattling away in "pidgin" to others really does my brain in eventually. Besides all that, he is an ex-pat of long standing in Bangkok and he and I have several notable personalities of the local bar scene in common. However, I have just had to cut short a session with him as I was on the verge of exploding in rage. He and I were discussing and critiscising the Human Rights agencies for thier seeming lack of interetsin in Thai prison conditions. My contention is that far too many prisoners are not bothering to write to friends, family and supporters illustrating the abuses. In turn those few on the outside who are willing to campaign on our behalfs ...

Usually I can constrain my anger over most situations but what has pushed the “Big Red Button” in this instance is an utterly puerile letter I received from the UK charity Prisoners Abroad (P.A.). In missionary terms, my cup of bile runneth over. Ostensibly P.A’s role is to provide much needed services for Britons in foreign gaols. In reality things are much more devious. Upon very careful consideration, and supported by letters from a long term inmate (now ex-inmate after 17 years) to me, it becomes fairly easy to see that P.A’s function is not to support Britons in overseas jails, but rather to shield the various Embassies and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in countries where Britons are incarcerated, from having to address any of the valid issues that those Britons raise. I’ll go further. Even the much vaunted £30 per calendar month support grant paid by P.A to inmates in Thai jails does us more harm than good! Because of this grant, which is incidentally controlled by the Brit...

I am an atheist and as such I don’t take too kindly to being hassled by folks whose sole aim is to – at best- feed upon my misfortune to attempt a conversion. At worst, and there are numerous instances of this, they line their own pockets by soliciting funds from real Christians by lying to them that these funds will support prisoners welfare. My first really bad experience of these evil people was back in ’73 when I was fighting bankruptcy. I was targeted by Jehovah‘s Witnesses and instead of warding off my bankruptcy I was warding of offensive and incessant attempts to convert me. Since being in here, as with all other inmates, I’ve been the target of innumerable missionaries. Only four Christians have I had any time for; Vernon de Florey-Morris, Reul and Phoebe Lumilang and Sister Christine. Sadly, both Vernon and Christine have passed away and Reul and Phoebe have been moved to another part of Thailand by their church. The others, without fail, have all proved to be concerned with ...

These tales are some of the problems and adventures that came to John Shaw MBE from British citizens when he was Honorary British Consul in Chiang Mai from 1990 to 1995. Some stories are sad, others hilarious; have a read. They are true. Tom Tom was, by profession, an electrician. Aged twenty -eight he had worked in a shoe factory in Leicester for seven years. Bored and lovelorn he gave up his job and decided to travel the world. He meandered through Indonesia and then spent a year in Australia doing odd jobs to support himself. Now on his way home he was spending the last of his money in Thailand , first on the beaches of the south and now, for his last few days, in Chiang Mai until his money ran out. It never occurred to him that His Majesty's Government would give him free accommodation for an additional unexpected forty-two days in Chiang Mai. Tom checked into the Rim Koo Guesthouse where he was asked to share a room with an Australian who had been there for some time. This man...

Gary Graeme Jones is a prisoner in Bang Kwang Prison. The infamous Bangkok Hilton. So many people have heard of it but do not realise what a nightmare that name conjures. I have never been there, I have never been to Thailand and from what I have heard of the place I never wish to go. My partner read a book, The Angel of Bang Kwang by an American, Susan Aldous (ISBN-10: 1905379323). In this book was detailed the issues that all the prisoners have to deal with from day to day, bribery, corruption, lack of food, lack of sanitation and an unbelievable harsh regime. In this book Susan Aldous said the best way to help is to write to someone there. We picked Gary from the Foreign Prisoner Support Service (http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/pris-bangkwang.html) The website describes Bang Kwang as "a Maximum Security Prison which holds inmates who are serving more than 25 years" It also says "Overcrowding is an understatement as 20 or more inmates sleep side by side...