A lot of people, thinking that they were going to heaven, actually came to hell. Because in other words you can not name the prisons of Thailand. Of course, in some of them the conditions of imprisonment and the attitude towards prisoners are normal. But there are few of them. For the most part, the Thai prison is the darkest place where people suffer. And often even undeservedly.
Surely some of you have seen on TV, read on the Internet or in the newspaper about the fact that a Russian tourist was arrested in Thailand and now they do not want to be deported to their homeland. Do you understand the seriousness of the situation when the legal authorities of the kingdom simply do not even give a choice? No - and that's it. Meanwhile, our fellow countrymen, as well as people of many other states, are accidentally or deservedly serving a sentence in a prison in Thailand.
Having decided to visit this “paradise”, a person, consider, with his own hand signed himself a “death sentence”. Why do Thai prisons have such a reputation? Why does the king of the state take no action if they are really so terrible? What is the matter with them, with those people who, by the definition of a Thai court, are deprived of their liberty? This article is entirely about prisons in Thailand. Photos, descriptions, comments of people who have been there, and much more - in this article.
About prisons in Thailand
A cell in a Thai prison is a crowded concrete room. There is unbearable heat during the day and very cold at night. The prisoners are shackled, and there are large chains on their feet. Very little space and constantly stinks.
Almost every province in Thailand has its own correctional institution. In total, there are about 140 prisons in the kingdom. They are designed for 150,000 people, but stay in their walls at least 250,000, or even more. It contains not only locals, but also foreigners who arrived in Thailand for various reasons and ended up imprisoned for various reasons.
To end up in a Thai prison, sometimes you don’t even need to take any action. There is no reason - they will find. To plant drugs? Not a problem. Yes, a tourist can even be imprisoned for the fact that in a friendly way he slapped a Thai on the shoulder. Moreover, they can be imprisoned for such a “terrible” act for at least two years. Later we will return to the stories of our fellow countrymen, who in all colors convey what they had to endure. When to business, and when just like that. Just because the local police wanted it so much.
Conditions of arrest
As stated above in a quote given by one of the Russian tourists, it is difficult to exist in Thai prisons. And the point is not even that the foreigners are somehow not treated like that, they don’t feed, they don’t give water, there’s not even an elementary bedding on which to sleep, etc. There are such correctional colonies on the territory of the kingdom, where conditions in principle are not very bad. The worst thing is not to understand what is happening and not to know what will happen tomorrow. Not to know when they will let you go, how long it will last, and sometimes even for what, in fact, they detained you.
Prisoners, of course, are provided with a lawyer. The problem is that both the police and these defenders practically do not speak either English, or even less so in Russian. All documents, interrogations, etc., are in Thai. If you do not understand, of course, these are your problems. No one will provide you with an interpreter.
The only thing you can hope for is the provision of a new lawyer, who will be hired by friends or acquaintances. Naturally, this is paid. But such a lawyer will be able to explain everything, and will say how much must be given to the state treasury in order for you to be released. But this is only if you have money. And you can pay off for committing a particularly serious crime, even if a person was caught over a bloodied body with an ax in his hands.
Conditions of detention
In principle, all the prisons in Thailand fit the description given in the quote. The reviews of tourists who, by unlucky coincidence, had visited the walls of correctional institutions, confirm that the conditions here are far from the minimum normal in the view of a civilized person. However, the regime and order are strictly followed. The slightest misconduct or disobedience threatens the prisoner with punishment. As one of them says, squats and push-ups are considered the most “harmless”. They can also beat with sticks on the knees and fingertips.
The food is relatively satisfactory. As can be seen from the reviews, in prisons in Thailand they give water and rice, as well as chicken and fish for a couple. True, the latest goodies are not available in all institutions. But in many, as they say, they feed with dignity - you can live. Even the supplement was not refused. Although the police and employees of the local FSIN intimidated lawyers and relatives about this point, they even extorted money so that their ward or family member would not starve to death. Well, or just not dead.
The prisoners have no connection with the outside world. Any broadcasts and dates are prohibited. Police can say anything to relatives and lawyers. But about how things really were, most often they manage to find out only when a person leaves prison. On the other hand, there are also such correctional facilities in which everything is somewhat simpler. That is, the prisoner is allowed to see a lawyer and family. Of course, for an additional fee. Everything here is at an additional cost.
You have to sleep on the floor. The chamber is a simple room with three concrete walls and a grill. Even if there is one shop in it, naturally, someone else will sleep on it. There is no toilet. In the corner of such cameras there is a kind of drain, which is washed off a couple of times a day. Therefore, it stinks terribly. There are no accessories. The only things that can be given to you are food and water. Everything else is either not provided at all, or, as you rightly guessed, for a fee.
Yes, there are such prisons in Thailand, the conditions of stay in which can be made as comfortable as possible. If your relatives or acquaintances give away about 100 dollars per month. e. Then there will be bathing accessories, and clothes, and more delicious food, and cigarettes, etc. Even the phone can be requested sometimes to make a call. Some cameras have a radio, TV. Prisoners are taken out for a walk once or twice a day. And the light is on around the clock to avoid conflicts.
About the fullness of the cameras
The "audience" is motley here, so to speak. In the same cell, people convicted of petty hooliganism, those who refused to pay fines for road accidents or expired visas, as well as bloodthirsty killers, can adjoin. For example, one of our compatriots about how they were imprisoned in Thailand said that a real maniac was sleeping next to him. He dismembered and pickled a woman. So smiling, affable, you won’t immediately say that he is a cannibal.
Convicts under various criminal articles have to coexist together for the reason that the cells are overcrowded. Due to the fact that the police "row" everyone, there is a catastrophic lack of space. Even the amnesty did not give a positive result, although, of course, to some extent, smoothed the picture as a whole.
Thailand Prison List
It is difficult to answer this question. None of the sources on the Internet provides complete information, specifically a list with the names of prisons in Thailand. However, there will be enough of two - the most crowded, most terrible and notorious in this kingdom, which are located in Bangkok:
- "Bangkwang."
- Klong Prem Central Prizon.
We’ll talk about them in more detail. By the way, if you speak English, you can find and watch a movie created by the BBC. He is entirely dedicated to these prisons. The documentary tells about all the horrors of detention in Thai prisons.
"Bangkwang"
This is perhaps the worst prison in Thailand. The men's high security colony is located in Nonthaburi Province. Bangkok is about 11.3 km away.
The correctional facility is most famous in the world under the name “Bangkok Hilton”, which was given to him after the publication of the eponymous series with Nicole Kidman in the title role. The second unwritten name for the Thai prison is the Big Tiger. It, in turn, was invented by prisoners because of the conditions of detention. The prison, as it were, eats alive those who are in it. People simply do not return from here - the last refuge in this mortal world.
The Bangkwang contains those who have been sentenced to at least 25 years of imprisonment, as well as who have a life sentence and pending execution. Many of them have been convicted of drug trafficking.
Correctional facility is considered one of the oldest in the kingdom. It was founded in 1902. For the second century now, the prison has been performing the same function - it is specially built for long-term prisoners or those sentenced to death.
Initially, the building was designed for 3-4 thousand people. But today it contains more than 8,000 prisoners. Therefore, if you are not “chosen,” then you will sleep while sitting, as the cameras are full.
"Bangkwang" is a complex divided into 13 sections by six-meter-high walls with barbed wire. The conditions here are more than harsh. They are fed once a day with rice or liquid vegetable soup. If this is not enough, you can buy it. If there is no money, earn. How? Very simple. Those who do not want to starve to death work for other prisoners.
It is interesting that many states help their fellow citizens who find themselves in Bangkwang. For example, the British and Lebanese embassies provide financial support, as well as provide them with vitamins and food. But the conditions of detention, namely the overcrowding of cells and unsanitary conditions, still turn them into "non-tenants." Prisoners often die from infectious diseases, such as cholera, malaria, hepatitis, dysentery, diphtheria, etc.
Klong Prem Central Prizon
This is also a maximum security prison, which is located in the Chatuchak district (Bangkok). It is a complex divided into several parts. Among them, in addition to the colony for men, there is a women's prison. In Thailand, it is one of the few designed to support the beautiful half of humanity. It is called "Lard Yao." Also on the territory of the complex is located the Central Correctional Institution for drug addicts - “Bambat-fizet”.
Klong Prem Central Prizon accepts prisoners whose sentence is less than 25 years. By the way, you are probably interested in where women are sentenced, whose term of serving is 25 years and above, as well as those sentenced to death. So, in this women's prison in Thailand there is a special section for such girls. Although there is evidence that some women sentenced to death or a long term of sentence are sent to Bangkwang.
Klong Prem was built as a temporary prison in 1944. She played the role of a correctional institution "for those who behave like a bandit." By 1960, it was already crowded. To unload it a bit, the government decided to create a complex, dividing the entire territory into separate units.
In this prison in Thailand, the attitude towards foreigners (and towards local residents) is not very good, especially towards women. They are generally equated here with disenfranchised creatures. Although, it is worth recognizing that, in general, the conditions of detention are slightly better than at Bangkwang. For example, they feed here twice a day, although the set of products is similar. Also allowed to see relatives, there is even a meeting room. Yes, and the cameras, albeit also crowded, but a little cleaner.
Is there a juvenile prison in Thailand?
Those who follow the news in the world must have heard in the media about a mass brawl in which one teenager died, 90 received injuries of varying severity, including quite serious ones. More than 200 volunteers and all the policemen who were there tried to separate them. The accident occurred in a juvenile colony in the province of Surat Thani in southern Thailand. Thus, there is a prison for teenagers in the kingdom, but little is known about it.
What will the king say?
You know, in Thailand there are generally very strange judgments. And it’s not even that we have a different mentality, some kind of life principles and the like. It doesn’t matter if you are Russian, American, French, German, Italian - not a single normal person has what will happen in this state.
For example, even if you did not know about this before, it is already known from the above that the death penalty is applied here. Only in the late summer of 2012 it was canceled for adolescents. The Thai authorities sincerely believe that this type of punishment does not violate international human rights standards, and therefore there is simply no reason for its abolition. And okay, when the serial killer, maniac, pedophile, in general, the one who really committed serious crimes was sentenced to death. But in Thailand in this way they can punish for anything.
All laws are approved by the king. Roughly speaking, it is completely violet to him what and how is happening in other states. If he considers that it should be so - then it will be so. If he said that this is ethical, and this is not, then so be it. And he is not interested in what the heads of other states will say. And you won’t prove anything to anyone. Here, even for the smallest offenses, a very serious punishment threatens - at least two years in a maximum security colony. A casual touch on a local resident (God forbid it will be a woman), an innocent word thrown, and even a look and a smile, if Thais do not like them, are likely to be brought to the dock.
The article provides enough photos of Thai prisons to judge the conditions of their imprisonment. A logical question is brewing - why is the head of state not taking any actions to improve this indicator? The answer is no less logical - the king thinks that everything is fine there. And why? Because the prison authorities do not want to upset the leader, and therefore says that the conditions of stay in their correctional facilities are ideal. And he is pleased. Why go and check if everything is perfect there?
On the attitude to the "pale-faced"
Racism flourishes in any Thai prison. If you are white, then you need to prepare for what you will be here, to put it mildly, not very comfortable. The attitude in Thai prisons to our compatriots, as well as to Americans and Europeans, is striking in its cruelty. White survive aggression and bullying. In the cells they are assigned the most “fragrant” place - near the gutter with sewage.
Not only local prisoners, but also employees of the penitentiary institution take part in this kind of discrimination. For example, if they give 5 liters of water to "their own", then "pale-faced" should put no more than a liter. They may “forget” to give a box for personal items or, for example, there is not enough food. There are a lot of examples.
If the prisoner decides to write a complaint to the administration, this can only aggravate the situation. Cripple so that then it will take a long time to recover. Women here are generally literally no one and there is no way to call them. If, for example, a European or a Russian woman is raped, then in response she will hear something like "it’s our fault, we did not call you here." This is not even considered a crime by local standards. To pat the Thai on the shoulder is another matter. This is truly a crime.
Several stories of foreign tourists
There are people who, having once been to Thailand, promised themselves not to return here ever again. And they really can be understood. After all, often what they have to go through does not fit into any framework. Even if in many situations they themselves are to blame for what happened.
An inside look at Thailand's prisons allows you to fully appreciate how sad a visit to this kingdom can be. For example, on the Internet there is a story of a Russian tourist, whom he called "Cash Cow". This expression means that if you do not know the laws, then they can easily “milk” you twice.
In Thailand, narcotic substances are well distributed, here you can buy everything that only the soul desires, from synthetic substances to heroin. The only question is whether you fall into the “paws” of local justice. So, the vacation of our fellow countryman mentioned above lasted from one month to three. First, he was assigned to an institution according to the type of our bullpen. Then they were sent to a maximum security colony. Of course, they provided a free lawyer. His first sentence was something like "I don't mind being executed." Then friends managed to hire another lawyer. She just announced the amount that needs to be paid in order to be free. But in prison I still had to sit before the trial.
When he passed, the guy was released, but his passport was not given. Allegedly, he was supposed to be noted in the police for a certain time. There is no money, renting a house and finding work without a passport is unrealistic. So live as you can. Somehow informally got a job - just lucky.
After some time they said that you can no longer celebrate. Passport returned. But it turned out that the visa had expired during this time. There was no passport - your problems. So pay a fine. No money - welcome to jail.
Reading such stories as an inside look at Thai prisons, you understand that, on the one hand, there is nothing to worry about, and on the other, it’s wild. It’s wild to be in prison for scandal in a store. After all, in Russia only administrative punishment can follow. Maximum - suspended sentence with correctional labor. And here is the prison.
The Kazakh woman, who, in fact, made a scandal in the store, for which she ended up behind bars, thought that was all. Her fate is a foregone conclusion and this cannot be changed. Of course, the conditions in the colony were not simple, but a good relationship between women in the cell saved. They behaved quite adequately, no one humiliated anyone, did not beat. True, it happened that the Vietnamese fought among themselves.
In the women's prison, the contingent is also quite diverse. There are grandmothers of 80-90 years old who sit behind their grandchildren, drug dealers. There are women with several higher educations who speak languages. And they get here for various reasons. Someone could not repay the loan. Someone stole money from the office in which he worked. Someone was generally shut down simply because the girl was next to the criminal and automatically became his accomplice.
Women in the colonies are doing different things. They embroider, make artificial flowers, bake desserts and bread. All this is difficult, but money for the work, of course, does not pay. Those who did not have money were fed brown rice and some boiled grass, which in combination was similar to slops. This unhappy girl lost 3 kg in 3 months.
When she fell ill and was taken to the first-aid post, Slavic girls from another cell handed her new underwear, coffee and condensed milk. Although there is some kind of mutual assistance. And the guards do not touch you if you do not touch them and do not cause unnecessary problems. In general, it is precisely this attitude and conditions in the Thai prison for women.
Why can I go to jail?
There are a lot of stories similar to those written above. And there are much more terrifying ones, such that the hair on the head moves. Although more and more often you can read that there is no longer discrimination based on race. That is, everyone is equal.
In principle, if you read the reviews of former Russian prisoners, you can understand that the tin that was described earlier in the media is no longer there. Of course, there are some rules and rules of their own, but without harsh violence and humiliation. And this is a kind of plus. But it’s scary to be in Thailand prison anyway.
The main problem is that you can get behind bars for anything. Indeed, there are a lot of reasons. Therefore, our compatriots, who had the misfortune of being in prison in Thailand, advise before traveling to this beautiful country to study the set of basic rules that will help to avoid undesirable consequences.
- Being friendly, do not clap a local man on the shoulder. Also, one Russian tourist was convicted for hugging a woman in the hotel lobby who did not give consent.
- Do not rent anything, be it a car or a scooter. At least if his condition is not evaluated. Then it’s hard to prove that this scratch was already there. For damage to other people's property, you can easily find yourself in jail.
- Difficult for foreign tourists and local traffic rules. There is left-hand traffic, and the Thais themselves never abide by the rules. Nevertheless, a foreigner will always be to blame.
- No illegal transactions may be made. And in order to clarify its legitimacy, it is necessary to have a mass of knowledge. So it’s better not to get involved in it at all.
- Passion for sex tourism is equal to rape. And the punishment for this is at least 25 years of the colony, the maximum is the death penalty.
- It is advisable not to show any action in relation to the "artificial" king. For example, if you decide to take a photo, hugging his statue, get ready for 15 years in prison.
- Do not get involved in drugs. Traders themselves turn in their customers to the police. Having bought a forbidden substance, a tourist will not have time to walk three meters before being "accepted".
- Buddha is the perfect souvenir. But few people know that trying to take his head outside the state can cause problems.
It is difficult to list all the points. There are so incomprehensible laws and rules that the head goes around. For example, a story is known when a husband and a pregnant wife rented an apartment in a house, and came to Thailand to work. Drug dealers lived here. So, the police arrested absolutely everyone, including a pregnant woman. It is impossible to prove anything to them. If you are a tourist, you will in any case be to blame. There is no reason - they will find.