Andy and Sarah's Journal

Thailand

Arrived 4/02/2009

Left 11/02/2009

The flight from Bali to Bangkok takes about 4 hours, one of our better results at £30 each with Air Asia. A little bumpy in the air and one big downwards lurch that caused a few screams, surprisingly not from Sarah. The new terminal at Bangkok airport is huge and very impressive. Sadly nothing has improved regarding the taxis into the city and the sham continues. (We had to be very assertive to get a fare of 400 Baht, when we returned to the airport with a driver willing to use the meter it was just over 200 Baht). The airport extension to Bangkok’s sky train is just a few months away from opening, perhaps the taxi mafia will have to step in line at last.

We set off early on our first morning to join the queue at the Myanmar (Burma) embassy. Postings and advice on the internet described a fast track one day visa service. However our application coincided with refugees from Burma arriving by boat in Sumatra having been turned away and even attacked by Thai naval ships. 20 of the refugees had died on board the packed ships and the story was all over CNN and the BBC for several days. The authorities in Burma hate this sort of attention and instructions had clearly been sent to the embassy to closely monitor visa applications. At all times they deny access to journalists and NGO workers, but they pay special attention when events such as this occur. Despite our best efforts at pleading with the visa application manager we were told that our application could not be processed until the following Monday. Like all other applicants that day we had to complete additional paperwork regarding our professions. The nature of our work didn’t help things and we were asked if we were NGO workers. Having changed our flights (at great expense) we collected our visas on Monday with some relief that we had been admitted, although with all the difficulty when applying we had considered forgetting the idea of going to Burma.

While waiting for our visa we attended an appointment with Jeff at the British Embassy. Jeff talked us through the procedure for a prison visit and gave us the names of 2 British nationals in Bang        prison. The level security at the embassy was impressive. The Thai guards search you at the gate and take any electrical items from you. Even then Jeff met us in a cubicle with what we assumed was bullet proof glass between us. On the wall behind him there were 2 panic buttons labelled “incident” and “bomb”.

We made our first prison visit on a Tuesday afternoon. Each block in the prison has 2 visit days per week and for the two men we were seeing it was Tuesday and Thursday. This is the only time they get to leave the block and both confirmed they are always pleased to have a visit. Arriving about 20 minutes before the visit you must submit a visit request form and show your ID. You then wait to be called and given a stamped visit form. With this you can cross the road and enter the prison. Your bag is handed in, you can keep a pen and notebook and your ID. Any thing you have brought for the prisoner is searched and taken from you to be passed onto the prisoner the next day. Entering the inner prison gate you handover a photocopy of your passport, walk into a courtyard and in the far corner hand in your prison visit slip. Then you wait for the prisoner to be called. The meeting takes place behind glass and bars on either side with a gap of about 2 meters between them. Conversation is via telephones.

I won’t go into any details about the 2 guys we have visited, but think they won’t mind if I share a little of how they described prison life. Up to 12 men share a cell. They sleep on the floor and share a small hole in the ground as a toilet, there is no privacy when using it. They are released from the cell at 6.30am each morning and put back in the cell at 3.30pm. When not in the cell they are in the “yard”. Each person has a locker of some kind in the yard where they can keep any personal items. In a group with other English speakers they have been able to buy some cement from the guards and have used it to make some barbells and dumbbells for weight training in the yard. Having money or cigarettes to trade is a vital part of survival in the prison. Each foreign inmate receives 2 phone cards a week and can use each to make a 5 minute call to the UK. They rely on financial support from relatives to buy any sort of comforts in the prison. A couple of months ago the prison block was attached to the water mains, before that the shower water was pumped straight from the river.

 Both were uncomplaining about their physical accommodation saying that it now feels normal. However both had a lot to say about their legal situation. Much of their time appears to be spent exploring the law, their hopes are for a pardon from the Thai King or for changes in the law that would allow them to return to the UK with a reduced sentence. Like the vast majority of British prisoners they were convicted of drugs offences. If what they have said is true, then from my knowledge in the UK they might have received 6 months to 2 years for a first offence if in the UK. Instead they were sentenced to 20 and 50 (reduced to 42 after an amnesty – good will gesture from the King) years and are currently 6 and 10 years through those sentences. I guess we can each make our mind up about the level of sympathy we feel for them.

Whilst on remand awaiting trial for 27 months one of the 2 was in a cell with 70 others who did not speak English. They were all in hand and wrist chains and shared one hole as a toilet. This was his first experience of prison and although he didn’t say so, it must have been quite frightening. The two men we visited have found a way to survive prison life, their own friendship and their focus on achieving release one day is clearly a big part of this. They described other British inmates who have not been able to find ways to cope and who have become increasingly mentally unwell.

Our other challenge in Bangkok was to equip ourselves with enough US Dollars for our 4 week trip to Burma. There are no atms in Burma and all cash must be brought with you in dollars and then changed into local currency (Kyat) as you go. We amassed Thai Baht from the atms in Bangkok for several days and then went to a money changer to exchange them for pristine dollars (only perfect notes are accepted in Burma). Frustrating that the pound is at it’s lowest for years against all other currencies.