By Bert Bratoo
We are often asked by friends, relatives and visitors about how we go about providing for ourselves with the basics like food, health and hygiene in such an unforgiving environment. Just how do we set about preparing meals and taking care of ourselves domestically. And how we actually pay for it?
For those of you that don’t know, the prison supplies only the bare minimum in food supplies and utilities. In fact only enough to keep us alive, nothing more. With the electrical supply, which is often cut to minimize expenditure, the pumping of contaminated river water into the buildings for prisoners bathing, a very intermittent supply of mains water for drinking only. And the inedible bag of slop per day masquerading as a wholesome meal, the prison, as far as it is concerned has fulfilled it’s duty as ward to the prisoners held within it. From that point on a prisoner, if he is to keep himself healthy, well fed, clothed, shod and standing any chance of reaching the far end of his sentence must provide the means to do so from his own pocket. Nothing is provided free by the Thai prison system but almost everything needed can be supplied by it, at the right price. In fact prisoners have no choice but to buy even the bare basics such as food, drinking water, toiletries and clothing from the ‘Coffee Shops’ soley owned and operated by the prison for their exploitation.
From day one there will be a steady stream of money flowing from our own hands into the pockets of our turnkeys. There are many hidden cost’s as well as the main ones to contend with bus in general we can break these costs down into four main areas; starting costs as a new prisoner, essential items such as food and drink, toiletries etc. monthly services, and medicines. Additionally there are always unexpected costs, that crop up now and again such as bribes to the guards, or more correctly,’ Taxes’ imposed by them to allow, for example, the movement of certain items, the allocation of a bed-space or a down payment on a locker, to name but a few.
So lets explain how all this works. Each prisoner has a personal account administered by the prison. Money can only be placed in these accounts by visitors coming to the prison themselves. Cash is handed over, a receipt given and a day or two later the prisoner will be called to the coffee shop to sign for the deposit. A prisoner can hold any amount in his prison account but can only access 200 baht per day (approx. £2.90) to make any purchases he may require.
In this building alone, the combined monthly total of prisoners money being held by the prison is in excess of 3 million baht (approx. £43.000) and so its easy to see that huge sums ‘interest’ alone are being collected by the prison on the backs of Bangkwangs prisoner population of 6000 men. Foreign prisoners sometimes hold a separate account with their respective embassies and ask them to deposit funds into their prison account as and when it’s required. Alternatively friends or relatives organise their own ways of getting money to their loved ones via a third party resident in Thailand
The coffee shops are traditionally run by Chinese Thai inmates because their ‘Chinese half’ is renown for its precise accountancy skills with their ‘Thai half’ ensuring reverence to any authority. In fact, the building coffee shops could be said to be leased or owned by these inmates in a similar way to a franchise. Although of course the ultimate control lies with the prison authority. However, there have been occasions when a buildings entire coffee shop operation has been abandoned by its inmate ‘owners’ because of increasing pay-offs to prison authorities leaving no room to collect any profit for themselves. On other occasions the building authorities have conspired to oust the prisoner ‘owner’ from his business, moving him to another prison altogether so that the whole lot can be put up to the highest bidder again. It would not be unusual for a new group to put down 500.000 baht in cash (approx. £7000) to re-lease the coffee shop and then have to pay for the remaining goods within it as extra, though the source of these cash payments are never investigated. A coffee shop will pay a huge bribe every month to the building chief, calculated from the monthly profit, to allow it to operate. I have heard figures of 60 – 70 thousand baht (approx. £ 1000) mentioned in this building. When considering that a building chiefs monthly wage tops out at about 10.000 baht it’s easy to see that it’s not a bad earner for doing absolutely nothing!
On top of that the coffee shop must supply any prison officer with whatever he desires free of charge as an everyday perk. Coffee, Pepsi, Kannom (cakes) lunch and dinner are footed by the coffee shop. They stopped selling cigarettes inside a while ago now as officers were smoking away thousands of baht in profits!
All goods sold from the coffee shop must be approved and purchased from the visitors shop, owned of course by the director’s wife. It is, not surprisingly, the director that approves the goods for sale inside, setting his own price scale for the coffee shop buyers.
Last year ‘Mrs. Director’ was severely reprimanded and made to pay ‘Damages’ to the Government when she was caught in a scam involving the purchase of fake black market cigarettes, probably produced and smuggled in from Cambodia. Which were then sold on to prisoners visiting relatives at the normal retail price. The cigarettes were copies of a local Thai brand produced by the Government owned ‘Thai Tobacco Manopoly’ so not only was she avoiding the taxes on the cigarettes she was also cheating the Government of profits by selling hundreds of thousands of cheap fakes. Ironically, she was eventually caught out by the piss poor quality of the fakes when disgruntled and rather wheezy prisoners complained directly to the Justice department who launched an investigation. Other nations would have sent this woman directly to prison for ripping off the Government her husband worked for but this abuse of position is so common in Thailand
The coffee shops are already paying vastly over inflated prices averaging 50% higher than the high street but as long as they can still make a profit having paid the bribes, fed and kept the officers happy and so on in order to provide themselves with a wage then it is worth their while.
Not many prisoners can make money working in Thai prison so they are keen to take on the task. It should come as no surprise then that all these expenses are absorbed by the sale of goods to prisoners and their visitors at very extortionate prices. Not only do we have to pay to try and survive our own imprisonment but we also have to swallow the fact that our gaolers are blatantly ripping us off
Cash, although strictly considered by prison rules to be contraband is openly used and is the oil that lubricates the wheels of commerce in this prison, forever changing hands for various services, purchases, payments or gambling debts.
Not missing a trick, the coffee shop who administer our prison accounts on behalf of the authorities, charge us a whopping 10% on any cash drawn against our accounts. Any transaction using cash is actually costing us 10% more, this ‘tax’ having already been collected through the coffee shop. Cash is hard to come by in the building. The actual amount being strictly controlled and the same notes circulate for months and become tattered and filthy but without cash it would be difficult for any private concern or service to operate and of course impossible for the guards to collect their bribes and kickbacks.
Purchases from the coffee shop can be paid in cash or deducted from the ‘official’ 200 baht daily allowance from an account at no extra cost. They sell all the basic stuff for everyday living in a prison where we have to take care of every part of our upkeep; eating, sleeping, clothing and health, they are all our own responsibility. For cooking there are daily supplies of fresh meat, fish and vegetables for sale with all the sundries and dry goods to produce a meal, but the ‘trickledown’ prices to us the consumers are truly outrageous. Toiletries and practical items such as washing powder, writing materials, scrubbing brushes, shaving mirrors, thermos flasks, cookers, pots and pans are also on sale. You will have to buy your own eating irons (cutlery) dishes, bowls cups and food containers though many of these latter types of items are not available and must be bought and sent in by parcel from friends or family. When I was first thrown into remand prison I had to collect the minging prison slop in an old plastic bag and coop it into my mouth by hand. The prison didn’t even supply a bowl and spoon!
The coffee shop is not the only place to spend money. Many prisoners set up private businesses in the yard each day from which they try to earn their own means to survive and make ends meet. It should be noted that many prisoners, in particular the Asians, have no monetary support at all and must survive any way they can. To do this they offer a whole spectrum of various services to those who are more fortunate and can support themselves. These ‘services’ can range from anything between a barber to a blow job, if you’ve got the money, somebody is selling it!
In the canteen; a covered area with bench tables, several different ‘shops’ are set up each morning. In general, these shops display and sell property that other prisoners wish to sell, gaining a commission by doing so, but some of them also sell items that are not available in the coffee shop such as stationery items, coloured pens and pencils, T-shirts and shorts and many other items that are either second hand or have come in a parcel sent by relatives or friends and are not needed by the owner. Anything has some value and can generate cash for more important things like food.
One guy with a ‘shop’ specialises in cakes made by a partner, flavoured ice drinks, snacks and hand rolled cigarettes. Another makes his own greetings cards, sells key rings, locker padlocks and restored earphones for walkmans some of these ‘shops’ even have their own roaming salesmen walking around the yard hawking the goods for a small commission. Its supply and demand but all these shops pay an ‘operation tax’ to the assistant building chief. Elsewhere in the building different foods are on sale. Dishes cooked by other prisoners while you wait. Chinese cakes, BBQ meat on sticks, dried fish, sweet doughnuts or roti bread filled with sugared bananas. One chap mixes iced teas and coffees while another makes and sells large curry puffs with boiled eggs inside. You can find freshly fried chicken drumsticks or Chinese ‘Sarabao’ dumplings filled with minced pork or savoury sweetmeats. In the mornings noodle soups are sold as a filling breakfast dish and all morning woks are sizzling everywhere in the yard as people prepare meals to order or cook food for themselves or for those in their group or ‘house’.
It makes good and practical sense to form an eating group or ‘house’ with friends. For a start it means the cost of food is shared amongst members of a house and consequently works out cheaper for the individual. A larger group will also have the benefit of a wider choice each mealtime. If a house prepares its own food, which many do, then the work is shared equally amongst its members. Alternatively a house will hire an indigent prisoner as a cook and general dogsbody. The prisoner will work as a domestic helper/cook to a house and in return will share in its meals, be given cigarettes, clothes and will be generally taken care of. The ‘tax’ allowing him to be excused from working in one of the prisons factory sweatshops is also paid by the house to the appropriate officer. Good cooks are not easy to come by though it’s not for the lack of ready volunteers hoping to find a job with a house in order to feed themselves properly. A good cook will plan and prepare the main meal of the day for the members of his house, sometimes reaching 10 persons or more. It is his job to buy necessary ingredients from the coffee shop each morning when fresh produce is brought in on hand cards from outside. There is always a scramble to be the first to buy the best meat and vegetables available but the skilled cook has made his order the day before and can collect it once the rugby scrum has dissolved. Either way, for the first hour or so each morning the coffee shop does a roaring trade.
From 7 am onwards every day there is frenzied activity amongst the houses and cooks as they start to prepare the main meal of the day for their group which may take several hours. Everywhere charcoal fires are lit and meat, fish and vegetables are prepared for cooking, usually on wooden chopping board on the ground. The charcoal bucket fires (like mini barbeques), huge frying woks, pots for boiling and chopping boards are set up next to the open sewer channel so that waste may be discarded into them with little fuss. Vegetable peelings, fat, bones, fish gut, old cooking oil and packaging all get thrown into this river of shit. Drums of water are kept close by for cooking, washing the food and rinsing any choice pieces that happened to have fallen on the ground.
Soon the air is filled to choking with smoke and steam and the sound of sizzling oil and meat being separated from bone on the chopping blocks. The smell of a hundred different boiling pots and frying woks that contain god only knows what can sometimes be overpowering. The Thais have a whole range of foods that reek to the rafters but possibly the worst is a food flavouring called ‘Pla-Raa’ which made as a kind of pickle from a particular dirt water fish. The fish are left to rot and fester for several months until there is a mass of stinking fish flesh, bone and guts in a vile coloured liquid fermenting away happily in large glass jars. A quick whiff from the jar is enough to flip the strongest stomach but when a spoonful of this gunk is added to a stir-fry for extra flavour the sickly vomit smelling odour that could permeate a spaceman’s helmet is just too foul for most of us and we have to vacate to the other end of the yard.
The foreign prisoners in this building share a roof area in the south-east corner of the yard, jammed between the main cell block and the perimeter wall dividing us from building 5. this was constructed about 15 years ago when a group of foreign prisoners clubbed together and paid for the necessary materials and ensuing ‘taxes’ to have it built.
Below the low peaked roof is a concrete floor on which has been built a couple of hundred concrete lockers with wooden doors standing waist height. The lockers are where we keep our belongings, clothing and food. The tops of the lockers have been tiled and are used to sit on, store things, make food, play chess, eat, sleep or write letters and a thousand other uses besides. In-between the rows of lockers are buckets, water drums big and small, ice boxes and cooler chests, homemade chairs, stools and miniature tables made from packing cases. Dozens of cardboard boxes scattered around the place are packed with people’s property, books, laundry, food or clothing.
Above from the steel roof struts and supporting uprights hangs a kaleidoscope of items ranging from washing lines draped with laundry, nets of vegetables and herbs, fists of green bananas, strings of dried fish, Chinese sausages and necklaces of dried tofu, to calendars, clocks, mirrors, security cameras and lucky charms to ward off evil. In some places there are small wooden shrines with pictures of monks, kings and other Buddhist deity’s. Usually incense sticks burn at the shrines. Slow moving fans push the fetid air around beneath the roof but cooking fumes and cigarette smoke have nowhere to escape. The lack of vents in the roof trapping the heat and choking atmosphere beneath. There is clothing drying wherever you look. Hanging on plastic coat hangers from racks, hooks wire and string.
Amongst all this, the pots, pans, kettles and mugs hang from any remaining hook or litter the locker tops along with food, magazines, clothing and 100’s of other things. The whole thing is reminiscent of a cross between an Asian market and Steptoe’s yard. This is where we live out our days.
These days we also share this area with dozens of cats who’s only function it seems is to reproduce and increase in numbers. They were originally introduced to keep down the vermin but year after year have steadily climbed in population. The Buddhist Thais are reluctant to do anything which would see a cat loose one of its lives, they are not even keen to rid the ‘Tom’s’ of their tackle and so the feline population has exploded in here. There are always kittens running round getting under prisoners feet crying for scraps from the men’s cooking.
The cats are generally well fed and looked after by the prisoners but now and again a particular troublesome, smelly or flea bitten moggie will be ‘launched’ over the adjoining wall, hopefully clearing the razor wire, to join some of its cousins in the next building.
Sometimes the same cat will come screaming out of the sky back into this building a couple of days later having outstayed it’s welcome and been launched back over to us by the prisoners next door!
Another thing I’ve noticed about the cats is that every now and again the fatter ones go missing. It may just be my imagination but I could swear that these disappearances occur at the weekends when the coffee shop is getting low on meat supplies. I used to wonder why the cats were nicknamed ‘Jail Rabbits’ but it’s now starting to make sense!
Sometimes we are forced into paying for repairs to prison property. If a ceiling fan or fluorescent tube goes on the blink in our cell then we must chip in to have the repairs made ourselves. Likewise, the water pump that supplies river water to the yard and cell ‘toilets’ is ancient and is forever breaking down. If the hat wasn’t passed around amongst the prisoners we would simply go without water to flush away the shit or wash our arses after. The prison budget does not even extend to cleaning materials or disinfectant let alone expensive repairs to the plumbing. The block itself hasn’t seen a fresh coat of paint in decades. Even we draw the line at paying for their decorating. No doubt previous budgets have included funds for the upkeep and maintenance of the building but these funds would have been skimmed off by the long list of previous Directors who have ‘Managed’ Bangkwang Prison.
Returning to the subject of a individual prisoners expenses lets have a closer look at the four main areas he will have to cough up for in order to take care of himself.
STARTING COSTS
A new arrival at Bangkwang will need to get himself organised and set up with the accoutrements of basic living within his building.
Without the bare basics such as a sleeping mat, locker to stow his meagre possessions, a way to prepare and store food and the means to keep clean and healthy he is going to have a very difficult time of it and so it is wise to secure the following items in order to provide himself with basic necessities that we all take for granted outside.
Sleeping mat, Groundsheet, Pillow and Blankets
A sleeping mat is made from blankets sown together to form a basic body sized mattress. Any mat brought along from another prison will be stripped and shredded by induction officers during their search and inspection of a new arrivals property. A prisoner can wait for relatives to visit and buy him new blankets from the prison shop which he can then have sewn together for a small fee by experienced prisoners in his building. Alternatively he can purchase a ready made second hand mat from another prisoner. He will need to buy material (from one of the sweatshops) in order to have a new and clean cotton cover made for his mat. This will be sown by a prisoner who works in the sweatshop, for a small fee, as will making a pillow and ground sheet made from empty rice sacks which prevent the mat from soaking up any damp from the cell’s concrete floor. Extra blankets may be purchased by a visitor at the prison shop and they will be sent into the prisoner.
Locker
There are not enough lockers in the building to provide storage space for every prisoner and so it is rare that a locker becomes vacant. Naturally then those that do come up command a high price, being bought and sold amongst prisoners though ‘officially’ this is against the rules. The purchase of a locker also involves an additional ‘tax’ payment to a guard in order that your ‘ownership’ is registered in the proper log. Failure to do so will mean that in future your locker can be confiscated by the guards and re-sold to another prisoner. Some indigent prisoners with little or no possessions sometimes lease their locker for a monthly fee. All locker areas are located in the yard under roof and no space whatsoever is provided for possessions in the cells.
Water Drums
For reasons of health it is a good idea to avoid bathing in the water supply pumped into the prison directly from the nearby ‘Chao Phaya’ river, Bangkok
Some prisoners make money by hiring themselves out as ‘water boys’, collecting mains water from the standpipe and delivering it to an individuals drum, always keeping it full. This is a good business if you are prepared to work your bollocks off carrying drums of water backwards and forwards each day under the burning sun. most prefer to pay the meagre 200 baht per month (£2.90) fee to have someone else take care of it. A full water drum is also handy when the mains supply is cut off by scrupulous building authorities in order to skim money off the budget provided for it’s supply.
Large Ice Box/Cooler
In order to stand any chance of keeping food items reasonably fresh and to keep drinking water cool it is advisable to purchase an icebox or cooler. Blocks of ice can be ordered on a monthly basis from the coffee shop and ice is delivered around the building every morning (similar to a milkround) but it makes sense to collect your ice when its first pushed into the building on a handcart and while your block is still large enough to keep your stuff cool for the following 24 hours until the next delivery. Coolers can be purchased from… yes you’ve guessed it, the coffee shop!
Bedspace/Cell
When a prisoner arrives at Bangkwang and is allocated a building, he will be put into a cell which is extremely crowded, has Aids or T.B. sufferers in, or even the inevitable bunch of nutters, queers or weirdo’s in order to get yourself allocated a decent cell (perhaps with your friends) that is clean and orderly and offers a good bedspace then it is necessary to apply to the block chief for a move to that cell.
A one time payment must be made to him which can vary from a few pounds to a few hundred, depending on the popularity of the cell, if the occupants are willing to accept you and how much money he thinks you can come up with. Generally, the less prisoners occupying a cell the higher the price for a spot in it. The block chief will also take cash bribes from the occupants of a cell to not allow an unwelcomed prisoner to move in and so he cannot loose. Again, supply and demand.
Other Items
Below is a list of items that a prisoner will eventually find useful to purchase in order to improve his living standards a little. Most can be bought at the coffee shop or may be sent in by parcel from friends or relatives.
Clay Cooking Bucket Stove
Large Cooking Wok
Cooking Pots and Pans
Thermos Flask
Fold out writing table for cell
Pinto (to store and carry prepared food)
Bowls, Plates, Mugs, Forks, Spoons
Shaving Mirror
Visit Shirt (Mandatory)
Water Containers (Extra)
Monthly Services
There are three monthly services that must be paid for. The services are provided by indigent prisoners who are controlled by the guards. The guards pay them a small wage and keep the large percentage of the takings. The services are:
- Daily cell cleaning – carried out by an occupant of the cell, every other occupant paying a monthly charge for the ‘service’
- Water collection and delivery – as previously stated.
- Daily laundry service – including bedding and bed airing once per week
Monthly Food Hygiene
Below is a list of essential food, hygiene and other items needed in Bangkwang based on an average 30 day month. I eat one cooked meal per day; usually something over rice which I hope provides me with a good balance of nutrients though I am hardly an expert on these matters. I pay for this meal to be prepared and cooked (using cash money) by a prisoner who has the necessary equipment and cooking skills. I’m not in a ‘house’ and share costs with one other person but we both eat what the Thais eat so it is reasonably cheap compared to those who can only eat western food. It would cost us far more to buy and prepare our own food though we do not have the skills or tools needed to do so and would have nowhere to store any leftovers. Furthermore fresh meat and vegetables can only be ordered in quantities of 1 kilo or more. Unordered food bought ‘over the counter’ is 25% more expensive. Food prices are generally hiked to 2 or 3 times their outside cost. All cooking is done over Clay Bucket Stoves using charcoal purchased from the coffee shop as fuel and a large Wok and steel Pots. I for one have no idea how to make proper meals using this ‘Ho Chi Min’ ear equipment and so its far more convenient, not to mention cheaper to pay someone to do it for me. If I want to eat cheap local dishes I have no choice.
For my evening ‘meal’ I buy bread and prepare sandwiches which I carry up to the cell to eat after ‘Lockdown’. I eat as much fruit as possible but it’s scarce as it can only be purchased from the outside coffee shop by a visitor. Occasionally we can buy from other prisoners who have excess after a visit. I usually skip breakfast, just taking coffee, but noodle soup and fried rice can be bought from prisoners who have breakfast business.
Drinking the mains water supply can often lead to stomach problems and diarrhoea so I only drink bottled water bought from the coffee shop. For food items that are not available inside such as tinned meats and fish, dairy products and other typically western food products I must rely on ‘Good Will’ parcels sent in by family or friends but these are rare because of the cost of sending such items. My family sometimes send money to friends in Thailand
Essential Items for one Month
By Bert Bratoo
We are often asked by friends, relatives and visitors about how we go about providing for ourselves with the basics like food, health and hygiene in such an unforgiving environment. Just how do we set about preparing meals and taking care of ourselves domestically. And how we actually pay for it?
For those of you that don’t know, the prison supplies only the bare minimum in food supplies and utilities. In fact only enough to keep us alive, nothing more. With the electrical supply, which is often cut to minimize expenditure, the pumping of contaminated river water into the buildings for prisoners bathing, a very intermittent supply of mains water for drinking only. And the inedible bag of slop per day masquerading as a wholesome meal, the prison, as far as it is concerned has fulfilled it’s duty as ward to the prisoners held within it. From that point on a prisoner, if he is to keep himself healthy, well fed, clothed, shod and standing any chance of reaching the far end of his sentence must provide the means to do so from his own pocket. Nothing is provided free by the Thai prison system but almost everything needed can be supplied by it, at the right price. In fact prisoners have no choice but to buy even the bare basics such as food, drinking water, toiletries and clothing from the ‘Coffee Shops’ soley owned and operated by the prison for their exploitation.
From day one there will be a steady stream of money flowing from our own hands into the pockets of our turnkeys. There are many hidden cost’s as well as the main ones to contend with bus in general we can break these costs down into four main areas; starting costs as a new prisoner, essential items such as food and drink, toiletries etc. monthly services, and medicines. Additionally there are always unexpected costs, that crop up now and again such as bribes to the guards, or more correctly,’ Taxes’ imposed by them to allow, for example, the movement of certain items, the allocation of a bed-space or a down payment on a locker, to name but a few.
So lets explain how all this works. Each prisoner has a personal account administered by the prison. Money can only be placed in these accounts by visitors coming to the prison themselves. Cash is handed over, a receipt given and a day or two later the prisoner will be called to the coffee shop to sign for the deposit. A prisoner can hold any amount in his prison account but can only access 200 baht per day (approx. £2.90) to make any purchases he may require.
In this building alone, the combined monthly total of prisoners money being held by the prison is in excess of 3 million baht (approx. £43.000) and so its easy to see that huge sums ‘interest’ alone are being collected by the prison on the backs of Bangkwangs prisoner population of 6000 men. Foreign prisoners sometimes hold a separate account with their respective embassies and ask them to deposit funds into their prison account as and when it’s required. Alternatively friends or relatives organise their own ways of getting money to their loved ones via a third party resident in
The coffee shops are traditionally run by Chinese Thai inmates because their ‘Chinese half’ is renown for its precise accountancy skills with their ‘Thai half’ ensuring reverence to any authority. In fact, the building coffee shops could be said to be leased or owned by these inmates in a similar way to a franchise. Although of course the ultimate control lies with the prison authority. However, there have been occasions when a buildings entire coffee shop operation has been abandoned by its inmate ‘owners’ because of increasing pay-offs to prison authorities leaving no room to collect any profit for themselves. On other occasions the building authorities have conspired to oust the prisoner ‘owner’ from his business, moving him to another prison altogether so that the whole lot can be put up to the highest bidder again. It would not be unusual for a new group to put down 500.000 baht in cash (approx. £7000) to re-lease the coffee shop and then have to pay for the remaining goods within it as extra, though the source of these cash payments are never investigated. A coffee shop will pay a huge bribe every month to the building chief, calculated from the monthly profit, to allow it to operate. I have heard figures of 60 – 70 thousand baht (approx. £ 1000) mentioned in this building. When considering that a building chiefs monthly wage tops out at about 10.000 baht it’s easy to see that it’s not a bad earner for doing absolutely nothing!
On top of that the coffee shop must supply any prison officer with whatever he desires free of charge as an everyday perk. Coffee, Pepsi, Kannom (cakes) lunch and dinner are footed by the coffee shop. They stopped selling cigarettes inside a while ago now as officers were smoking away thousands of baht in profits!
All goods sold from the coffee shop must be approved and purchased from the visitors shop, owned of course by the director’s wife. It is, not surprisingly, the director that approves the goods for sale inside, setting his own price scale for the coffee shop buyers.
Last year ‘Mrs. Director’ was severely reprimanded and made to pay ‘Damages’ to the Government when she was caught in a scam involving the purchase of fake black market cigarettes, probably produced and smuggled in from Cambodia. Which were then sold on to prisoners visiting relatives at the normal retail price. The cigarettes were copies of a local Thai brand produced by the Government owned ‘Thai Tobacco Manopoly’ so not only was she avoiding the taxes on the cigarettes she was also cheating the Government of profits by selling hundreds of thousands of cheap fakes. Ironically, she was eventually caught out by the piss poor quality of the fakes when disgruntled and rather wheezy prisoners complained directly to the Justice department who launched an investigation. Other nations would have sent this woman directly to prison for ripping off the Government her husband worked for but this abuse of position is so common in
The coffee shops are already paying vastly over inflated prices averaging 50% higher than the high street but as long as they can still make a profit having paid the bribes, fed and kept the officers happy and so on in order to provide themselves with a wage then it is worth their while.
Not many prisoners can make money working in Thai prison so they are keen to take on the task. It should come as no surprise then that all these expenses are absorbed by the sale of goods to prisoners and their visitors at very extortionate prices. Not only do we have to pay to try and survive our own imprisonment but we also have to swallow the fact that our gaolers are blatantly ripping us off
Cash, although strictly considered by prison rules to be contraband is openly used and is the oil that lubricates the wheels of commerce in this prison, forever changing hands for various services, purchases, payments or gambling debts.
Not missing a trick, the coffee shop who administer our prison accounts on behalf of the authorities, charge us a whopping 10% on any cash drawn against our accounts. Any transaction using cash is actually costing us 10% more, this ‘tax’ having already been collected through the coffee shop. Cash is hard to come by in the building. The actual amount being strictly controlled and the same notes circulate for months and become tattered and filthy but without cash it would be difficult for any private concern or service to operate and of course impossible for the guards to collect their bribes and kickbacks.
Purchases from the coffee shop can be paid in cash or deducted from the ‘official’ 200 baht daily allowance from an account at no extra cost. They sell all the basic stuff for everyday living in a prison where we have to take care of every part of our upkeep; eating, sleeping, clothing and health, they are all our own responsibility. For cooking there are daily supplies of fresh meat, fish and vegetables for sale with all the sundries and dry goods to produce a meal, but the ‘trickledown’ prices to us the consumers are truly outrageous. Toiletries and practical items such as washing powder, writing materials, scrubbing brushes, shaving mirrors, thermos flasks, cookers, pots and pans are also on sale. You will have to buy your own eating irons (cutlery) dishes, bowls cups and food containers though many of these latter types of items are not available and must be bought and sent in by parcel from friends or family. When I was first thrown into remand prison I had to collect the minging prison slop in an old plastic bag and coop it into my mouth by hand. The prison didn’t even supply a bowl and spoon!
The coffee shop is not the only place to spend money. Many prisoners set up private businesses in the yard each day from which they try to earn their own means to survive and make ends meet. It should be noted that many prisoners, in particular the Asians, have no monetary support at all and must survive any way they can. To do this they offer a whole spectrum of various services to those who are more fortunate and can support themselves. These ‘services’ can range from anything between a barber to a blow job, if you’ve got the money, somebody is selling it!
In the canteen; a covered area with bench tables, several different ‘shops’ are set up each morning. In general, these shops display and sell property that other prisoners wish to sell, gaining a commission by doing so, but some of them also sell items that are not available in the coffee shop such as stationery items, coloured pens and pencils, T-shirts and shorts and many other items that are either second hand or have come in a parcel sent by relatives or friends and are not needed by the owner. Anything has some value and can generate cash for more important things like food.
One guy with a ‘shop’ specialises in cakes made by a partner, flavoured ice drinks, snacks and hand rolled cigarettes. Another makes his own greetings cards, sells key rings, locker padlocks and restored earphones for walkmans some of these ‘shops’ even have their own roaming salesmen walking around the yard hawking the goods for a small commission. Its supply and demand but all these shops pay an ‘operation tax’ to the assistant building chief. Elsewhere in the building different foods are on sale. Dishes cooked by other prisoners while you wait. Chinese cakes, BBQ meat on sticks, dried fish, sweet doughnuts or roti bread filled with sugared bananas. One chap mixes iced teas and coffees while another makes and sells large curry puffs with boiled eggs inside. You can find freshly fried chicken drumsticks or Chinese ‘Sarabao’ dumplings filled with minced pork or savoury sweetmeats. In the mornings noodle soups are sold as a filling breakfast dish and all morning woks are sizzling everywhere in the yard as people prepare meals to order or cook food for themselves or for those in their group or ‘house’.
It makes good and practical sense to form an eating group or ‘house’ with friends. For a start it means the cost of food is shared amongst members of a house and consequently works out cheaper for the individual. A larger group will also have the benefit of a wider choice each mealtime. If a house prepares its own food, which many do, then the work is shared equally amongst its members. Alternatively a house will hire an indigent prisoner as a cook and general dogsbody. The prisoner will work as a domestic helper/cook to a house and in return will share in its meals, be given cigarettes, clothes and will be generally taken care of. The ‘tax’ allowing him to be excused from working in one of the prisons factory sweatshops is also paid by the house to the appropriate officer. Good cooks are not easy to come by though it’s not for the lack of ready volunteers hoping to find a job with a house in order to feed themselves properly. A good cook will plan and prepare the main meal of the day for the members of his house, sometimes reaching 10 persons or more. It is his job to buy necessary ingredients from the coffee shop each morning when fresh produce is brought in on hand cards from outside. There is always a scramble to be the first to buy the best meat and vegetables available but the skilled cook has made his order the day before and can collect it once the rugby scrum has dissolved. Either way, for the first hour or so each morning the coffee shop does a roaring trade.
From
Soon the air is filled to choking with smoke and steam and the sound of sizzling oil and meat being separated from bone on the chopping blocks. The smell of a hundred different boiling pots and frying woks that contain god only knows what can sometimes be overpowering. The Thais have a whole range of foods that reek to the rafters but possibly the worst is a food flavouring called ‘Pla-Raa’ which made as a kind of pickle from a particular dirt water fish. The fish are left to rot and fester for several months until there is a mass of stinking fish flesh, bone and guts in a vile coloured liquid fermenting away happily in large glass jars. A quick whiff from the jar is enough to flip the strongest stomach but when a spoonful of this gunk is added to a stir-fry for extra flavour the sickly vomit smelling odour that could permeate a spaceman’s helmet is just too foul for most of us and we have to vacate to the other end of the yard.
The foreign prisoners in this building share a roof area in the south-east corner of the yard, jammed between the main cell block and the perimeter wall dividing us from building 5. this was constructed about 15 years ago when a group of foreign prisoners clubbed together and paid for the necessary materials and ensuing ‘taxes’ to have it built.
Below the low peaked roof is a concrete floor on which has been built a couple of hundred concrete lockers with wooden doors standing waist height. The lockers are where we keep our belongings, clothing and food. The tops of the lockers have been tiled and are used to sit on, store things, make food, play chess, eat, sleep or write letters and a thousand other uses besides. In-between the rows of lockers are buckets, water drums big and small, ice boxes and cooler chests, homemade chairs, stools and miniature tables made from packing cases. Dozens of cardboard boxes scattered around the place are packed with people’s property, books, laundry, food or clothing.
Above from the steel roof struts and supporting uprights hangs a kaleidoscope of items ranging from washing lines draped with laundry, nets of vegetables and herbs, fists of green bananas, strings of dried fish, Chinese sausages and necklaces of dried tofu, to calendars, clocks, mirrors, security cameras and lucky charms to ward off evil. In some places there are small wooden shrines with pictures of monks, kings and other Buddhist deity’s. Usually incense sticks burn at the shrines. Slow moving fans push the fetid air around beneath the roof but cooking fumes and cigarette smoke have nowhere to escape. The lack of vents in the roof trapping the heat and choking atmosphere beneath. There is clothing drying wherever you look. Hanging on plastic coat hangers from racks, hooks wire and string.
Amongst all this, the pots, pans, kettles and mugs hang from any remaining hook or litter the locker tops along with food, magazines, clothing and 100’s of other things. The whole thing is reminiscent of a cross between an Asian market and Steptoe’s yard. This is where we live out our days.
These days we also share this area with dozens of cats who’s only function it seems is to reproduce and increase in numbers. They were originally introduced to keep down the vermin but year after year have steadily climbed in population. The Buddhist Thais are reluctant to do anything which would see a cat loose one of its lives, they are not even keen to rid the ‘Tom’s’ of their tackle and so the feline population has exploded in here. There are always kittens running round getting under prisoners feet crying for scraps from the men’s cooking.
The cats are generally well fed and looked after by the prisoners but now and again a particular troublesome, smelly or flea bitten moggie will be ‘launched’ over the adjoining wall, hopefully clearing the razor wire, to join some of its cousins in the next building.
Sometimes the same cat will come screaming out of the sky back into this building a couple of days later having outstayed it’s welcome and been launched back over to us by the prisoners next door!
Another thing I’ve noticed about the cats is that every now and again the fatter ones go missing. It may just be my imagination but I could swear that these disappearances occur at the weekends when the coffee shop is getting low on meat supplies. I used to wonder why the cats were nicknamed ‘Jail Rabbits’ but it’s now starting to make sense!
Sometimes we are forced into paying for repairs to prison property. If a ceiling fan or fluorescent tube goes on the blink in our cell then we must chip in to have the repairs made ourselves. Likewise, the water pump that supplies river water to the yard and cell ‘toilets’ is ancient and is forever breaking down. If the hat wasn’t passed around amongst the prisoners we would simply go without water to flush away the shit or wash our arses after. The prison budget does not even extend to cleaning materials or disinfectant let alone expensive repairs to the plumbing. The block itself hasn’t seen a fresh coat of paint in decades. Even we draw the line at paying for their decorating. No doubt previous budgets have included funds for the upkeep and maintenance of the building but these funds would have been skimmed off by the long list of previous Directors who have ‘Managed’ Bangkwang Prison.
Returning to the subject of a individual prisoners expenses lets have a closer look at the four main areas he will have to cough up for in order to take care of himself.
STARTING COSTS
A new arrival at Bangkwang will need to get himself organised and set up with the accoutrements of basic living within his building.
Without the bare basics such as a sleeping mat, locker to stow his meagre possessions, a way to prepare and store food and the means to keep clean and healthy he is going to have a very difficult time of it and so it is wise to secure the following items in order to provide himself with basic necessities that we all take for granted outside.
Sleeping mat, Groundsheet, Pillow and Blankets
A sleeping mat is made from blankets sown together to form a basic body sized mattress. Any mat brought along from another prison will be stripped and shredded by induction officers during their search and inspection of a new arrivals property. A prisoner can wait for relatives to visit and buy him new blankets from the prison shop which he can then have sewn together for a small fee by experienced prisoners in his building. Alternatively he can purchase a ready made second hand mat from another prisoner. He will need to buy material (from one of the sweatshops) in order to have a new and clean cotton cover made for his mat. This will be sown by a prisoner who works in the sweatshop, for a small fee, as will making a pillow and ground sheet made from empty rice sacks which prevent the mat from soaking up any damp from the cell’s concrete floor. Extra blankets may be purchased by a visitor at the prison shop and they will be sent into the prisoner.
Locker
There are not enough lockers in the building to provide storage space for every prisoner and so it is rare that a locker becomes vacant. Naturally then those that do come up command a high price, being bought and sold amongst prisoners though ‘officially’ this is against the rules. The purchase of a locker also involves an additional ‘tax’ payment to a guard in order that your ‘ownership’ is registered in the proper log. Failure to do so will mean that in future your locker can be confiscated by the guards and re-sold to another prisoner. Some indigent prisoners with little or no possessions sometimes lease their locker for a monthly fee. All locker areas are located in the yard under roof and no space whatsoever is provided for possessions in the cells.
Water Drums
For reasons of health it is a good idea to avoid bathing in the water supply pumped into the prison directly from the nearby ‘Chao Phaya’ river,
Some prisoners make money by hiring themselves out as ‘water boys’, collecting mains water from the standpipe and delivering it to an individuals drum, always keeping it full. This is a good business if you are prepared to work your bollocks off carrying drums of water backwards and forwards each day under the burning sun. most prefer to pay the meagre 200 baht per month (£2.90) fee to have someone else take care of it. A full water drum is also handy when the mains supply is cut off by scrupulous building authorities in order to skim money off the budget provided for it’s supply.
Large Ice Box/Cooler
In order to stand any chance of keeping food items reasonably fresh and to keep drinking water cool it is advisable to purchase an icebox or cooler. Blocks of ice can be ordered on a monthly basis from the coffee shop and ice is delivered around the building every morning (similar to a milkround) but it makes sense to collect your ice when its first pushed into the building on a handcart and while your block is still large enough to keep your stuff cool for the following 24 hours until the next delivery. Coolers can be purchased from… yes you’ve guessed it, the coffee shop!
Bedspace/Cell
When a prisoner arrives at Bangkwang and is allocated a building, he will be put into a cell which is extremely crowded, has Aids or T.B. sufferers in, or even the inevitable bunch of nutters, queers or weirdo’s in order to get yourself allocated a decent cell (perhaps with your friends) that is clean and orderly and offers a good bedspace then it is necessary to apply to the block chief for a move to that cell.
A one time payment must be made to him which can vary from a few pounds to a few hundred, depending on the popularity of the cell, if the occupants are willing to accept you and how much money he thinks you can come up with. Generally, the less prisoners occupying a cell the higher the price for a spot in it. The block chief will also take cash bribes from the occupants of a cell to not allow an unwelcomed prisoner to move in and so he cannot loose. Again, supply and demand.
Other Items
Below is a list of items that a prisoner will eventually find useful to purchase in order to improve his living standards a little. Most can be bought at the coffee shop or may be sent in by parcel from friends or relatives.
Clay Cooking Bucket Stove
Large Cooking Wok
Cooking Pots and Pans
Thermos Flask
Fold out writing table for cell
Pinto (to store and carry prepared food)
Bowls, Plates, Mugs, Forks, Spoons
Shaving Mirror
Visit Shirt (Mandatory)
Water Containers (Extra)
Monthly Services
There are three monthly services that must be paid for. The services are provided by indigent prisoners who are controlled by the guards. The guards pay them a small wage and keep the large percentage of the takings. The services are:
- Daily cell cleaning – carried out by an occupant of the cell, every other occupant paying a monthly charge for the ‘service’
- Water collection and delivery – as previously stated.
- Daily laundry service – including bedding and bed airing once per week
Monthly Food Hygiene
Below is a list of essential food, hygiene and other items needed in Bangkwang based on an average 30 day month. I eat one cooked meal per day; usually something over rice which I hope provides me with a good balance of nutrients though I am hardly an expert on these matters. I pay for this meal to be prepared and cooked (using cash money) by a prisoner who has the necessary equipment and cooking skills. I’m not in a ‘house’ and share costs with one other person but we both eat what the Thais eat so it is reasonably cheap compared to those who can only eat western food. It would cost us far more to buy and prepare our own food though we do not have the skills or tools needed to do so and would have nowhere to store any leftovers. Furthermore fresh meat and vegetables can only be ordered in quantities of 1 kilo or more. Unordered food bought ‘over the counter’ is 25% more expensive. Food prices are generally hiked to 2 or 3 times their outside cost. All cooking is done over Clay Bucket Stoves using charcoal purchased from the coffee shop as fuel and a large Wok and steel Pots. I for one have no idea how to make proper meals using this ‘Ho Chi Min’ ear equipment and so its far more convenient, not to mention cheaper to pay someone to do it for me. If I want to eat cheap local dishes I have no choice.
For my evening ‘meal’ I buy bread and prepare sandwiches which I carry up to the cell to eat after ‘Lockdown’. I eat as much fruit as possible but it’s scarce as it can only be purchased from the outside coffee shop by a visitor. Occasionally we can buy from other prisoners who have excess after a visit. I usually skip breakfast, just taking coffee, but noodle soup and fried rice can be bought from prisoners who have breakfast business.
Drinking the mains water supply can often lead to stomach problems and diarrhoea so I only drink bottled water bought from the coffee shop. For food items that are not available inside such as tinned meats and fish, dairy products and other typically western food products I must rely on ‘Good Will’ parcels sent in by family or friends but these are rare because of the cost of sending such items. My family sometimes send money to friends in
Essential Items for one Month
Drinking Water: 6 Litres per day 9180 litres)
Ice: One block per day
Main Meal: one per day
Bread: ½ loaf per day
Coffee: 200 grams
Coffee Mate: 400 grams
Sugar: 2kg
Eggs: 20 per month
Fruit: as much as possible
Envelopes
Stamps Soap: 5 Bars
Shampoo: 2 small bottles
Toothpaste: 1 large tube
Toothbrush: One per month
Talcum: 1 Bottle
Washing powder: 2 Large Bags
Cotton Buds: 1 Pack
Shaving Foam: small tin
Razors: 10 pieces
Haircut: twice a month
Biro Pens: Two per month
Aerogrammes: ten per month
Charcoal: one per month
Luxury Items (Non Essential)
Cigarettes
Milk
Butter
Deodorant
Tea
Fish Sauce
Exercise Book
Tiger Balm
Soya Milk
Comb
Breakfast
Orange Juice
Salt
Nail Clippers
Jam
Flip-Flops
Scrubbing Brush
Herbal Tea
Washing up liquid
Clothes Pegs
Canned Drinks (Pepsi etc.)
Biscuits/cake
Pepper
Ketchup
Cooking Oil
Mosquito repellent
Clothes Hanger
Prickly heat Powder
Fabric Softener
Incense
Medicines
Good medicines are difficult to come by. A trip to the prison hospital to be examined by a doctor involves making a written request and then waiting until it is your particular buildings chosen day to go. The medicines prescribed and issued in the hospital are of poor quality. Often cheap generic copies will replace brand name medicines the amount prescribed are rarely adequate to do the job forcing the sick prisoner to go through the whole process of requesting a second time to continue his treatment.
Prisoners are encouraged to fork out for medicines not available in the prison hospital. A prescription must be issued by the prison doctor but to get this a prisoner must attend the hospital and once again is forced to go through the routine above. This also applies for repeat prescriptions. Once a prescription has been issued a prisoner must then send it in the (Bangkwang Snail) mail to family, friends or their embassy who will hopefully purchase the medicine and deliver it along with the prescription to the prison gates. From there the medicine is taken back to the hospital to await approval. Finally they are delivered to the sick inmate in his building, but quite often they are found to have been exchanged for a cheaper brand, the hospital keeping the quality medicines to give officers who attend the hospital as a free ‘Perk of the Job’
This entire process can take anything from 2 weeks to a month or more which entirely defeats the object which is to help the prisoner recover quickly. Prescriptions cannot be issued to an individual who is not sick and so its useless trying to get ahead of the game by attending the hospital when he is well.
As a result of this ludicrous system there is always a ready market for all types of medicines in the buildings and a healthy black market exists in them. Prisoners cant afford to wait until they fall ill before trying to get hold of medicines to treat themselves and therefore buy and store common medicines in order to be prepared for any sickness that may, and quite often does befail them.
Medicines are brought in and sold by guards at a large mark up. They will usually sell the entire ‘stock’ to one prisoner who they know and will deal with. The prisoner will then sell them on to other inmates at a higher price still. Some prisoners bribe the guards to allow medicines arriving in parcels which normally would be considered ‘contraband’, confiscated and sent to the hospital.
Medicines on sale in the building
Paracetamol/Aspirin
Scabies Gel
Ibobrufen
Tylenol
Flu Capsules
Plasters
Immodium
Actifed
Antacil
Dettol
Tiffy Coldcure
Antiseptic Creams
General Broad Spectrum Antibiotics
Antibiotic ear drops
Nizarol Cream
Antibiotic Creams
The Thai department of corrections allocates the princely sum of just 33 baht (approx. 47 pence) a day, per cappita out of its budget for keeping prisoners in its system. That 33 baht is all this prison is giving for the express purpose of feeding us, ensuring that we have fresh water, electricity and housing plus any basic medical treatment we may need. A dog owner would lavish more on his faithful mutt in a day than this system deems necessary to keep a human being adequately fed, clean and healthy for the same period.
To put that into some sort of perspective, my one simple meal per day costs me just 50 baht, quite cheap you would think on the face of it, but still 34% more than is being spent in a day to keep me alive in prison. Is it any wonder then that we are subjected to the deprivations, cruel conditions and inhumane treatment that have been documented on this site and many other places besides. Indeed were our dog owner to show the same kind of irresponsibility and neglect toward his pet, in any civilised society, he would probably face prosecution himself.
From our very first day in prison we have been forced into footing the bill for our imprisonment and expected to fend for ourselves in order to do so every one of us has had to adapt and find ways to ensure that we make it through another day.
Some of us are lucky to have support from a network of family and friends, others are not so fortunate, making their stay in prison a test of survival.
One thing for certain is that the system here and those that are employed by it are totally reliant on this prison being full to bursting with men who must part with their money regularly in order to cover their basic needs. It is not unreasonable to suggest that the 33 baht per day ‘investment’ made by the D.O.C. (Department of Corrections!) for each man yields a return of many times that amount out of profits from a prisoners spending, his free labour and the various ‘spin- offs’ created to funnel cash from his family and friends. Furthermore, individual guards are also able to supplement their meagre incomes and are given their own ‘piece of the pie’ by being allowed free reign to ‘milk’ prisoners and fleece them of their money in any way they see fit. ‘Taxes’ or bribes, confiscations, forced labour and even blackmail or theft are seen as legitimate methods to be used by guards to ensure that their kid’s school fees are paid, the wife gets that solid gold necklace she’s had her eyes on, the pick up is full of petrol and there’s still enough to treat friends to a bottle at the local Karaoke. Life is good for a guard at Bangkwang because there’s always more money to be had.
We as prisoners have had to adopt the ‘Village’ attitude. Each building of 800-1000 men has to become a cohesive unit, rather like a rural village far from the big city, in order to fend for itself and the individuals within it.
There is precious little help from those who are supposed to be taking care of us here and so we are forced to take the initiative ourselves.
Like any small community we have learned to adapt and make use of our surroundings and interact for the greater good of the whole. If a prisoner wants something doing there will be someone amongst us who will make it his business to do it for him, at the going rate of course. That person will be very glad to have the opportunity to earn the means to survive a little longer and the ‘customer’ will be equally happy to be provided with a service for perhaps something he couldn’t do himself, the same as any society outside. It is in this way then that what little ‘wealth’ there exist’s trickles down and is spread amongst those in greater need and collectively we are able to make it through yet another merciless day on the inside.
If it were left entirely up to the Government, Politicians and in turn our gaolers to provide even our most basic needs such as wholesome food and clean drinking water the system would collapse in a very short space of time.
The Thai Government is quite happy to imprison Foreigners and it’s own Citizens for decades in order to seek retribution and make a point, but it is not prepared to pay for it. Instead a system has developed that takes punishment a step further by not only forcing us to spend years in conditions unfit for animals, let alone people, but also giving us no choice but to provide the necessary funds to do so ourselves.
I’d like to round off this month by paraphrasing Winston Churchill who said “The mood and temper of a public with regard to treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing test of the Civilisation of any country”.
Anyone that can condone, gain satisfaction with, or profit from such a bleak and unrelenting punishment for mistakes such as ours, must surely have failed this civilisation test?
See you here for March –Bert Bratoo
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