A British tourist has exposed the appalling conditions inside Thai prisons, issuing a stark warning to other travellers.
The 29-year-old former soldier was detained in two Thai police cells and a Bangkok deportation centre for 15 days. He managed to smuggle a phone inside a pack of baby wipes, capturing images and footage of the grim reality within. His videos depict inmates crammed into minuscule cells with unsanitary hole-in-the-floor toilets, sleeping on mats so close together they are shoulder to shoulder.
He claims up to 130 men were packed into one cell, allowed out for only an hour each week. The man arrived in Thailand in April with hopes of establishing a business and settling there. However, he was arrested in Pattaya in November and later charged with overstaying his visa. Consequently, he was held in custody for two weeks before being deported on December 5.
Now working in marketing, the man described the conditions as “The conditions were absolutely disgusting. I was so shocked. It was unreal. The deportation centre was the worst. The only way I can describe it is hell.”
He continued: “There was no ventilation and 130 of us in the room. We could only go out for an hour a week. At the deportation centre they’d bring in a big pot of food and you’d each get a tray to eat off. The trays were then washed in cold water on the bathroom floor – which was filthy.
“In all locations there were fire ants and cockroaches. The rubbish wasn’t collected – it was just piled in the corner. There was a guy who sat in one corner selling tiny pot noodles – that was the only thing I’d eat.”
He believed overstaying on Thai visas was often overlooked by officials for a small fee. However, after a fallout with an ex-partner, he found himself in hot water when police discovered his visa had expired.
“The police asked me to pay 50,000 Baht (£1,180) instead of 500 to release me straight away, and I couldn’t pay it,” he explained. Following a court appearance, he was fined for his visa overstay, banned from Thailand for five years, and held in a deportation centre.
Recalling the arrest, he claimed: “When I was arrested they were very violent. Two police came up behind me in a public toilet and beat me. They chucked me in a flatbed of a truck and handcuffed me to the side. I was very dazed – I’m sure I had concussion.”
The lack of information was distressing, but Russian cellmates helped him navigate the situation. “One of them lent me the money to pay my court fine straight away otherwise it would have been even worse for me.”
He spent eight days crammed into a tiny cell in Pattaya before being deported on December 5.
The Brit confessed to bribing guards to move a few people to another cell for more space. He also admitted to paying bribes for food, cleaning products to sanitise the bathroom, and to send messages to his mum in the UK.
“The cell was tiny. We couldn’t lie down properly and certainly not all at the same time. There was a pregnant girl from Laos who was really struggling. She was crying all the time with her head on the floor,” the man added. He described the situation as “horrible” and mentioned another cell of the same size housing 13 people.
Eventually, he was transferred to the deportation centre in Bangkok where he witnessed the most shocking conditions, including 130 inmates shared four hole-in-the-wall toilets which they cleaned with a bucket of cold water. They bathed by filling small bowls from a cold water bucket. Once a week, detainees were taken to a room with an open, barred roof to walk around for an hour.
He spent five days there while his mum battled with the British embassy to get him flown home. After paying for the flight home plus 500 Baht per night for the five nights in the deportation centre, he was finally released to fly home.
He managed to capture footage because he smuggled his phone in a pack of baby wipes. “Once you’re in there you have no contact with anyone and no way to get your money, so unless someone is fighting for you on the outside and knows you’re there you have no hope.”
“I’m very lucky I managed to get my phone in and that my mum was contacting the embassy: otherwise I’d still be there. The deportation centre was the worst thing I’ve seen in my life. “I really want to put it all behind me but it’s important for people to know what it’s like: I want people to know what goes on over there,” the man continued.
“Lots of people let their visas run out and then pay a small fee to renew them, but don’t do it, don’t risk it at all. I don’t want anyone else to become a victim of this. I’m never going back to Thailand.”
“Tourism built and holds up their economy but they just want more. They imprison people then charge them but give them no means to access their money to pay, so they’re basically stuck and it’s a money maker for the authorities.”
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