Bang Kwang Central Prison

History

The prison houses many foreign prisoners. It is a harsh prison that handles death row and long-sentence prisoners. All prisoners are required to wear leg irons for the first three months of their sentences. Death row inmates were required to have their leg irons permanently welded on, although this practice ended in 2013. In the book The Damage Done, former prisoner and drug courier Warren Fellows recounts that the prison was nicknamed "Big Tiger" by the Thais because it "prowled and ate". Fellows's associate Paul Hayward also served part of his sentence there.

Death row

Bang Kwang contains Thailand's primary men's death row and execution chamber. Death rows for both men and women also are present in provincial prisons. , 510 persons remained on death row nationwide.

there was one man from the United Kingdom on death row at Bang Kwang, Alan John Davies. He was the first European to receive a death sentence in Thailand. He was freed after 17 years of "hell" in the Bang Kwang prison, returning to the UK in 2007 after being granted amnesty by the king.

Chaovaret Jaruboon, the last executioner in Thailand to have performed an execution by shooting, died in 2012, having executed 55 prisoners during his career. He wrote an autobiography in 2006, The Last Executioner, and co-wrote A Secret History of the Bangkok Hilton, with Pornchai Sereemongkonpol.

Notable inmates

Jonathan Wheeler: a British man arrested for drug smuggling in Thailand in 1994, served 16 months in Klong Prem Prison before being moved to Bang Kwang when he received a 50 year sentence. Wheeler would go on to become one of the longest serving western inmates in Thai prison after spending more than 18 years behind bars. He chronicled his story in the book, The Tiger Cage: 18 Years in Thai Prison.

References

References

1. (27 September 2018). "NHSO takes on Bang Kwang". Bangkok Post.
2. "[http://mg.co.za/article/2012-03-02-free-at-last-longestserving-farang-bangkok-hilton-is-checking-out Free at last: Longest-serving farang at 'Bangkok Hilton' is checking out]." ''[[Mail & Guardian]]''. March 2, 2012. Retrieved on July 4, 2016.
3. Fredrickson, Terry. "[http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-news/350310/shackles-removed-from-bang-kwang-inmates Shackles removed from Bang Kwang inmates ]." ''[[Bangkok Post]]''. May 16, 2013. Retrieved on July 4, 2016.
4. Fellows, W., Marx, J., ''The Damage Done'', Pan Macmillan Australia 1997, p.115 {{ISBN. 1-84018-275-X.
5. (20 June 2018). "Debating the Death Penalty". Bangkok Post.
6. (20 June 2018). "Death penalty 'here to stay'". Bangkok Post.
7. "[http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12097060.Scot_faces_life_in_Thai_prison_after_drugs_are_seized_at_airport__English_trafficker_sentenced_to_death/ Scot faces life in Thai prison after drugs are seized at airport. English trafficker sentenced to death]." ''[[Herald Scotland]]''. July 13, 1995. Retrieved on July 4, 2016.
8. "[https://www.fairtrials.org/alan-john-davies/ Alan John Davies - Thailand] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-03-25 ." ''[[Fair Trials]]''. March 14, 2013.)
9. (2012-05-06). "Boozing altruist a 'Kindly Killer'". Bangkok Post.