Thailand | The prison that awaits Daniel Sancho, the Bangkok Hilton, a hell of torture, disease, hunger

The Thai court has read the verdict in the case of the murder of Colombian Edwin Arrieta at the hands of Daniel Sancho, son of Rodolfo Sancho. 

As we were saying earlier this Thursday, the Thai court has sentenced Daniel Sancho to life imprisonment for murdering and dismembering Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta in Thailand. 

The court found that there was premeditation and sentenced Sancho to one of the worst sentences, second only to the death penalty. He will also have to pay $119,000 in compensation to Arrieta’s family.

Daniel Sancho’s parents and lawyers were present at the reading of the verdict that condemns the Spaniard to spend the rest of his life in prison. 

While waiting for the appeals from Sancho’s defence to be resolved, the prisoner will remain for around a month in the same centre where he has been for just over a year. Afterwards, it is expected that he will be transferred to another prison.

Torture, corruption and terrifying abuses by prison guards

The Big Tiger is the name given to the prison where Daniel Sancho could end up. It is one of the most dangerous penitentiary centres on the planet. 

Various human rights organisations denounce that torture, corruption and terrifying abuses by guards are common in this Thai prison. 

Prisoners who have managed to get out of there report that survival is complicated and that the violence is extreme, not only from other prisoners but from the guards. If Daniel is admitted there, even if he survives, he will suffer terrible physical and psychological consequences.

Sancho has spent the last few months in prison Koh Samui in the hospital module. It is a quiet place compared to other prisons in Thailand. But now, having been sentenced to life imprisonment and unless the appeals announced by the Spaniard’s defense succeed, it is almost certain that he will be transferred within a month or so to the prison of Brother Kwang, where the mortality rate is very high, especially for those who cannot afford to pay for better nutrition or other types of care such as medical care.

The center, with terrible living conditions for inmates, houses the most dangerous prisoners in Thailand including those awaiting appeals or petitions for clemency after being sentenced to death. 

Inmates are subject to strict surveillance, with security cameras monitoring them 24 hours a day. 

In Thai lumpen slang, Brother Kwang is known as the Bangkok Hilton, and also as The Big Tiger. 

It is one of the most dangerous prisons on the planet.

More than 50 people per cell

Apart from the appalling sanitary conditions (contagious diseases are common and they barely receive medical attention) and security inside the prison, the jail is prepared to withstand a prison population of no more than 3,500 inmates But there are currently more than 8,000 inmates. That is why Daniel Sancho will have to share a cell with at least fifty other people.

To all the above we must add that Daniel Sancho will go hungry and eat very poorly if he enters there. 

In addition to the lack of food (prisoners receive only one bowl of rice a day*), there is also the lack of hygiene. 

There is also constant aggression between prisoners.

* Inmates typically get low quality rice plus some curry or soup. Inmates with money can buy better food from the canteen or even food from outside the prison. Visitors can also bring food. But the food provided by the prison is really low quality. Inmates with no money must work to get better food. Like prisons in the US, Thai prisoners can work at slave wages for cash to improve their conditions. — DPN

Source: sportsfinding.com, Chris Lawrence, August 29, 2024

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde