Talk:Bang Kwang Central Prison

Geographic Imbalance tag - Anglocentrism
The article entirely rests on illustrative examples of the experiences of actual prisoners drawn entirely from time served there by British visitors to Thailand. Attempts should be made to find either accounts from Thai prisoners and also of experiences of non-British prisoners. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.49.224.156 (talk) 20:24, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

Bangkok Hilton
Was the nickname Bangkok Hilton in actual use before the TV miniseries of that name? In book The Damage Done the prison's nickname of Big Tiger is refered to many times, and the reason for that name given ("the prison eats people up"), but there is no mention of any Bangkok Hilton nickname. I've also read news reports that claim it is the Klong Prem prison that is nicknamed Bangkok Hilton. Asa01 07:45, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Think you are right, Klong Prem = Bangkok Hilton. Also there are no woman in Bangkwang, they are in Klong Prem. But in many articles Bangkwang Prison is mentioned as "Bangkok Hilton". Bangkwang prison is known as "The Big Tiger" not the Bangkok Hilton. Klong Prem is the Bangkok Hilton.


 * What I was saying and what I believe is that in reality there is no prison that carries the nickname "Bangkok Hilton". That was invented by the book/minseries or the same name. After the miniseries was screened, journalists have started using the "Bangkok Hilton" nickname as if it is actually used in Bangkok in real life to describe a real prison there. I believe that it is not used at all. Asa01 22:03, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

The word "Hilton" before the prison name is often - sarcastic - used by prisoners. It's more a slogan like 'it isn't Hilton Hotel'. But the prisoners actualy use the name "Bankok Hilton". Maybe after the movie, but it is used often by them and journalist. I got the information from the prisoners themselves. (20-6-2006)

The BBC use this nickname to describe this prison Eraserhead1 10:13, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Still, that is basically the media reusing the nickname, that was invented by the miniseriesMelbn 12:19, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
 * That was the name of the program, not the prison. Like saying, this program is the real Bangkok Hilton. Format (talk) 07:46, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Stuff moved from article
Below moved from main article: (Asa01 22:03, 20 May 2006 (UTC))

BANGKWANG Man sentenced to 12 Death Sentences!! Terrorist? Serial Killer? No!!!! Let me introduce my friend from Poland (Mr. Paul) was sentenced to 12 Death sentences! It must be a horrendous crime Mr. Paul committed. How many people did he kill? Well! In Thailand killing someone can be punished by as little as a fifty pound fine settled out of court. So what was Paul’s horrendous crime? On 12 occasions he sent Ecstasy to a so called girlfriend living in Thailand from his home in Poland. The girlfriend, a Thailand citizen, turned out that she worked for the D.E.A. of America. She persuades unsuspecting first time foreign holiday makers to help her by sending her very small amounts of Ecstasy through the post once they return home. In my friends case this ranged from 0.2 grams to 7 grams with a total of just over 50 grams. Paul’s pleas of guilty reduced his 12 Death sentences to a life sentence. Entrapment by the D.E.A. (Police) is illegal in America, but is freely practiced by the American D.E.A. police in Thailand. http://www.steveatbangkwang.bravehost.com

BANGKWANG Living in a Coffin? No such luxury!!! Try and imagine this! For 15 hours a day, every day for the next 33 ½ years I’m confined to living in a space 180cm or 6 feet long by a width of 52 cm or 21 inches, that’s less living space than when I’ am dead and buried in a coffin. 3 blankets folded in half and sown together, to act as my only cushions from the hard concrete floor. Over 20 years of my 33 ½ year sentence I’ am forced to live in a space hardly wider than my shoulders and slightly less than my body length. Overcrowding? Has a whole new meaning herein Bangkwang Prison Bangkok!! Unable to walk, only able to sit up and stand on my bed roll, as every inch of our prison cell floor space we are packed tighter than sardines in a tin!! When I hear of prisons in England being overcrowded where 2 people share a cell with real beds and a toilet, how I dream of such luxury when I compare how I live here. http://www.steveatbangkwang.bravehost.com

Wikiproject Prisons
If anyone is interested, I have proposed a new Wikiproject concerning prisons here.--Cdogsimmons (talk) 16:56, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Brutality / Human Rights abuses
There is no mention here about the human rights abuses going on inside, which are detailed in the book "Damage Done", including torture (physical and psychological), murder of prisoners, withdrawal of medical attention, etc.. --201.214.97.253 (talk) 19:21, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Newspaper articles posted by the Thai Ministry of Justice
The Thai Ministry of Justice has posted newspaper articles here: http://website2556.moj.go.th/th/justice/home2-cms-news.php?page=1409&section=main_cliping - Most are in Thai but I used one in English WhisperToMe (talk) 09:26, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

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Unsourced text from History section
The following was taken from the article as unsourced. Good info, well written, but maybe untrue. We do not have cites. Please add cites if possible, and if warrented, move back to article. Thanks, Seligne (talk) 05:20, 27 September 2018 (UTC)

Prisoners receive one bowl of rice in vegetable soup each day. Other food must be purchased from the prison canteen. The prison works on a chit system. Each prisoner has an account with the canteen. Poor prisoners do chores for wealthier prisoners and prison guards to earn money for food. Some Westerners, particularly British, Americans, and Canadians receive extra money monthly from charities. Thai prisoners used to be served red rice, "khao daeng", foreign prisoners white rice. This was abolished as it was seen as discrimination. All prisoners are now served white rice.

In 2004 there were nine British prisoners in Bang Kwang, including Michael Connell, serving a 99-year sentence (commuted from the death sentence and later reduced to 30 years) for smuggling 3,400 ecstasy tablets and Andrew Hawke, serving a 50-year sentence for smuggling heroin. Andrew Hawke has since been released from prison and is now a free man. He was granted a pardon. He left Bang Kwang Prison in February 2013. Michael Connell has since been transferred back to the UK to finish his sentence. He took advantage of the British transfer treaty.

Lee Williams (formerly of Gibraltar) was arrested in 1996 for attempting to export heroin and sentenced to 200 years (later commuted to 99 years). He served 10 years in chains (five of them in solitary confinement) and contracted tuberculosis. The British Embassy was instrumental in applying for him to repatriate on a bilateral transfer treaty to serve out his Thai sentence in British custody on health grounds. He transferred back to UK in 2005 to serve his remaining sentence in HMP Rye Hill, working as a chapel orderly playing hymns on piano for services. He also attained a degree in psychology. He was released in 2011 after serving 15 years in total after receiving a Royal Kings Pardon. He now works in Stoke for Walk Ministries, a Christian-based organisation that assists former prisoners.

Unsourced section removed from article waiting for valid sources
Pls add if you can and return to article. Thanx, Seligne (talk) 05:23, 27 September 2018 (UTC)

==In popular culture== The prison is featured in the popular simulation game Mafia Wars: Bangkok, as one of the jobs under the criminal tier (Pay Off The Guards At Bangkwang Prison) where one has to choose between the Triad and the Yakuza factions.

In the episode "Great Space Roaster" from American Dad!, Roger is placed by Stan in Bang Kwang. His prison cell is placed deep underwater and surrounded by mines. However, Roger brutally massacres two dozen guards and makes a raft out of their corpses to escape.

Partly, in popular culture, Bang Kwang Prison is considered to be a prototype for a plot of Bangkok Hilton, a fictional prison in an Australian TV show of the late-1980s with the same title (starring: Nicole Kidman, Denholm Elliott, Hugo Weaving). The plot and story of the show do not accurately reflect life in the prison and contains only fictional characters and information.

A character in the New Zealand television series Top of the Lake claims to have spent eight years in Bang Kwang Prison for marijuana possession with intent to sell. This is actually impossible since the maximum possible sentence for marijuana trafficking in Thailand is 15 years and you need a sentence of above 33 years to be sent to Bang Kwang.