Posts
Nothing new on the information front today, so I have had alot of time to think about recent events. It´s hard to believe that a little over a week ago, my life seemed to be getting back on track. I was making a little bit of money, staying out of trouble, and overall just trying to live a very simple life. I had even started to make plans for the future. Making attempts at mending fences and rebuilding burned bridges.
Tonight will be a quiet evening with Thai friends for some food and conversation. We don´t know when we´ll all see each other again, so we´ll try to make the best of it.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
More has been revealed
Today has been a mixed bag of new information and old. I was feeling very depressed and down this morning after another sleepless night. I did my best to review my notes so far and try to stay positive. At 2:00 pm I got a phone call regarding a particular attorney that I had been trying to reach. He is a very prominent and respected professional here in the city and agreed to meet with me. I met with him and his partner today and they were very helpful in answering procedural and legal questions I had as well as giving me some inside information on what´s happening behind the scenes.
It´s about 11:00 pm here local time, and I´m hoping to actually get some sleep tonight. We´ll see how that goes. Wish me luck!
It´s about 11:00 pm here local time, and I´m hoping to actually get some sleep tonight. We´ll see how that goes. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Some details at last!!!
It´s been a roller coaster of a day here as there are only five days left before my fate will be decided in the courts here in Thailand. I did manage to meet with a Thai attorney who agreed to see me at no charge as a favor to a friend of mine, so I did get some more details today.
The charges of working (playing a guitar and singing) without a permit are still up in the air. I may still be charged, but there is talk of dropping that part of the case due to a lack of evidence. The usual punishment for this is deportation, but you are required to pay your own plane ticket out of the country. That´s not really an option for me because I can´t even afford a bus ticket to Burma. Without having a plane ticket, I will be sent to the provincial prison here in Chiang Mai or possibly the immigration detention center down in Bangkok. There I will earn $2 a day until I can afford a ticket out. Mind you that the $2 a day is for food because in prison here you have to buy your own. I´ve done the math, and it´s not a pretty timeline.
The second and more serious charge is that of my expired visa. For those that don´t know what a visa is, it´s the piece of paper that gives you permission to stay in what ever country you are in and they are issued by the country´s government. I´ve had alot of people ask about this, and for my American friends I will try to make this easy. When a Mexican citizen comes to America legally, they apply for a visa from the US Government. When that visa expires they must leave the country or get a new one. The same applies here in Thailand, and my permit ran out a long time ago when I was living on the streets with nothing more than the clothes on my back last year. Basically I´ve been living the life of a ¨wetback¨ for the last year. The maximum penalty for this offence here in Thailand is 2 years in prison, a fine of 20,000 THB (about $700 in US dollars), and you must pay your way out of the country as with the penalty explained in the last paragraph. Back to the $2 a day in prison trying to earn a cheap plane ticket to Vietman, Burma or Laos just to get out from behind bars.
It´s still not pretty, but at least I´ve got a better picture of what I´m up against. I´ve managed to put some money together (about $300 USD or 9,000 THB local money) by calling in some overdue favors and what little savings I had, but I´m still a ways away from what it´s going to take to get me back to legal status. It still looks like a certain amount of prison time is unavoidable, and I have come to accept that. My main concern at the moment is trying to make sure that I don´t end up in there for the next decade or so.
I´ve always been one to do everything I can to avoid asking for help from others, but as the days tick by here I feel more and more desperate. Last year when I was nearly starving to death on the streets I put a ¨lunch money¨ link here on my blog and a few people chipped in and got me enough to eat for a little while till I got back on my feet. I had forgotten about it till an old friend asked me if it still worked the other day. I checked it, and it does so I changed the name to the Legal defense fund. It´s on the left side of the page here. If you can help, that´s great. If not, then I completely understand and would never ask anyone to go without on account of my own difficulties. I just wanted to put it out there just in case.
The emails and comments I have continued to receive have really been a big help already. I´m exhausted stressed and severely lacking in sleep, so it´s a real blessing to see an encouraging word in my inbox when I do finally get some time in front of a computer. All the best and thanks again for all the support so far.
Hanging in there.......
Matt
The charges of working (playing a guitar and singing) without a permit are still up in the air. I may still be charged, but there is talk of dropping that part of the case due to a lack of evidence. The usual punishment for this is deportation, but you are required to pay your own plane ticket out of the country. That´s not really an option for me because I can´t even afford a bus ticket to Burma. Without having a plane ticket, I will be sent to the provincial prison here in Chiang Mai or possibly the immigration detention center down in Bangkok. There I will earn $2 a day until I can afford a ticket out. Mind you that the $2 a day is for food because in prison here you have to buy your own. I´ve done the math, and it´s not a pretty timeline.
The second and more serious charge is that of my expired visa. For those that don´t know what a visa is, it´s the piece of paper that gives you permission to stay in what ever country you are in and they are issued by the country´s government. I´ve had alot of people ask about this, and for my American friends I will try to make this easy. When a Mexican citizen comes to America legally, they apply for a visa from the US Government. When that visa expires they must leave the country or get a new one. The same applies here in Thailand, and my permit ran out a long time ago when I was living on the streets with nothing more than the clothes on my back last year. Basically I´ve been living the life of a ¨wetback¨ for the last year. The maximum penalty for this offence here in Thailand is 2 years in prison, a fine of 20,000 THB (about $700 in US dollars), and you must pay your way out of the country as with the penalty explained in the last paragraph. Back to the $2 a day in prison trying to earn a cheap plane ticket to Vietman, Burma or Laos just to get out from behind bars.
It´s still not pretty, but at least I´ve got a better picture of what I´m up against. I´ve managed to put some money together (about $300 USD or 9,000 THB local money) by calling in some overdue favors and what little savings I had, but I´m still a ways away from what it´s going to take to get me back to legal status. It still looks like a certain amount of prison time is unavoidable, and I have come to accept that. My main concern at the moment is trying to make sure that I don´t end up in there for the next decade or so.
I´ve always been one to do everything I can to avoid asking for help from others, but as the days tick by here I feel more and more desperate. Last year when I was nearly starving to death on the streets I put a ¨lunch money¨ link here on my blog and a few people chipped in and got me enough to eat for a little while till I got back on my feet. I had forgotten about it till an old friend asked me if it still worked the other day. I checked it, and it does so I changed the name to the Legal defense fund. It´s on the left side of the page here. If you can help, that´s great. If not, then I completely understand and would never ask anyone to go without on account of my own difficulties. I just wanted to put it out there just in case.
The emails and comments I have continued to receive have really been a big help already. I´m exhausted stressed and severely lacking in sleep, so it´s a real blessing to see an encouraging word in my inbox when I do finally get some time in front of a computer. All the best and thanks again for all the support so far.
Hanging in there.......
Matt
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thailand Update March 28, 2011
Getting details can be difficult here in this country, but with some persistence and determination it can be done. Knowing a fair amount of the language helps, but the most important thing has been my local Thai friends who have gone out of their way to help me out. One such friend is ¨Goong¨. I barely know her as merely an aquanitance through another friend. Her husband was locked up in that same jail for over a year when they lost his aquittal and release papers. He literally sat in there day in and day out for a year because some clerk mis placed his file. She was there everyday for a year, so needless to say, she knows that place inside and out and knew who to talk to when it came to getting my temporary bail arranged. Without that I would not be out and able to work on my case before it goes to court. For that I am incredibly thankfull and I definitely owe her and her husband a dinner or three!!
I´m starting to get an idea of what it´s going to take in order to get my situation straightened out. It´s still a rather monumental task, but I have no choice but to face it and dig in. As you may remember from my original article (LINK HERE), the immigration officers wanted to cut a ¨deal¨ with me on the night of the arrest. This was the usual ¨bribe offer¨ to make everything go away without any paperwork or charges. This is always money that goes directly into the officers pockets and does not go to the government. The grand total they wanted at the moment was a ridiculous 120,000 THB. That´s double what I make in a year here, and in all actuality it wouldn´t have fixed anything. In hindsight, I´m actually glad I didn´t have that kind of money because I can now take my case to the courts where the level of corruption is considerably less and any fines that I have to pay will go to the appropriate government offices and not some corrupt cop´s pocket. Also, in the end I may be able to resolve my immigration problem once and for all and return to being a productive member of this society. At first I was very angry because with the new job, I was very close to resolving my immigration issues on my own when all this happened. Now I am trying to look at this challenge as a blessing and a chance to continue getting my life on the right track even though it is under rather extreme conditions.
I´m starting to get an idea of what it´s going to take in order to get my situation straightened out. It´s still a rather monumental task, but I have no choice but to face it and dig in. As you may remember from my original article (LINK HERE), the immigration officers wanted to cut a ¨deal¨ with me on the night of the arrest. This was the usual ¨bribe offer¨ to make everything go away without any paperwork or charges. This is always money that goes directly into the officers pockets and does not go to the government. The grand total they wanted at the moment was a ridiculous 120,000 THB. That´s double what I make in a year here, and in all actuality it wouldn´t have fixed anything. In hindsight, I´m actually glad I didn´t have that kind of money because I can now take my case to the courts where the level of corruption is considerably less and any fines that I have to pay will go to the appropriate government offices and not some corrupt cop´s pocket. Also, in the end I may be able to resolve my immigration problem once and for all and return to being a productive member of this society. At first I was very angry because with the new job, I was very close to resolving my immigration issues on my own when all this happened. Now I am trying to look at this challenge as a blessing and a chance to continue getting my life on the right track even though it is under rather extreme conditions.
Again I thank everyone for all the kinds words, helpfull advice, and words of wisdom. There is still a treacherous road ahead, but I´m looking at it in a different light. Yes, it´s still a dangerous and potentially deadly situation to be in, but Iḿ trying to look at the bright side and see this as an opportunity for progress despite the dangers involved.
As for recent news, there´s not much to report today. The aftershocks have pretty much quit and we haven´t had a power outage for at least a day now. The internet is still pretty hit or miss during the day, but that´s bearable. Hopefully more news tomorrow.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Updates March 27, 2011
I´ve been working night and day here trying to make the best of a bad situation, and have made a little progress. The lack of sleep is getting to me a bit, but I am getting by alright. I want to thank all of you who have offered me so much support in this very difficult time. Please keep passing on the message. Your messages and kindness keep me going through all this. Here are the updates for the day. I still don have much of any specifics on how this may play out, but I´m making a little progress.
CLICK HERE to read the original article if you haven already.
It looks like I may have found a local attorney who can possibly represent me on my case. A little digging and research found a similar case about 3 years ago with a somewhat positive outcome. That same attorney is still here in Chiang Mai and has contacted a friend of mine asking if he could help when he heard about the case. I may get a chance to meet wth him on Monday.I´ve still been unable to get in touch with the US Consulate here in Chiang Mai. They do have an emergency contact phone number, but it´s ¨no longer in service¨. Why am I not suprised? Interestingly enough, I had a meeting today with the Australian Consulate General who offered me some good advice and a little inside information that he found from his contacts in the immigration and police departments. It´s been my experience around the world that if you want red tape and alot of hassles, you visit a US government office. If you want to get something done, you go to an Australian. Today´s events just reinforced that notion. I have alot of respect for Ozzies in all my dealings with them.
That´s all for now, I´ve still got a ton of emails and phone calls to take care of. I hope you are all doing well, and thank you all for your support so far.
That´s all for now, I´ve still got a ton of emails and phone calls to take care of. I hope you are all doing well, and thank you all for your support so far.
Friday, March 25, 2011
An urgent message from Thailand
I never thought I would go back to writing on this blog, but this week´s events gave me no choice. Facebook has strict limits on posting lengths and this story cannot be told in 420 characters or less. I only ask that you read this post in it´s entirety, and I apologize in advance for taking up so much of your time. This is a very urgent and important matter with a limited time frame to act.
Wednesday night was supposed to be my evening off, but I got a call to go across town and do a show with a band I had performed with many times before. I accepted reluctantly, and made my way across town. I was greeted by the usual crowd and settled in for an hour of the ¨same old same old¨. About three songs into the set, I noticed two Thai guys with cameras taking pictures of the band. I got nervous and alerted the guitar player. We decided to take a break and see what was up. The two Thai guys flashed badges and identified themselves as ¨immigration officers¨. Whithin moments, the venue filled up with uniformed officers and we were all asked to sit down for questioning.
They began asking for visas, passports and work permits, and I knew immediately that there was going to be trouble. After some on site questioning and interrogation of the band and restaurant staff, we were all arrested and hauled to the local immigration office. The officers were drinking heavily and obviously quite proud of their catch. They began very intensive interrogation and started the ¨good cop bad cop¨ routine. There were about 10 of them sharing a bottle of whiskey and taking turns at us. My heart was beating out of my chest, but I did my best to stay cool.
After doing their best to scare the living daylights out of us, the mention of a payoff or bribe was made. This wasn´t surprising, and is pretty much standard practice. The grand total that they asked for was 120,000 Thai Baht (about $4,000 US dollars). Now, keep in mind that I earn about 6,000 Thai Baht a month (about $200 US dollars). This of course was an astronomical amount for any of us, and even calling in a few favors would not even get me close to that amount. I knew that the next stop might just be my last for a very long time.
Once again, the immigration officers (probably bordering on too drunk to drive) loaded us up in the backs of trucks and delivered us to the big police station in the old city. I was booked in, fingerprinted, and shown my new living quarters. The first thing to hit me when entering the actual jail was the overpowering stench of feces, urine, and who knows what else. The jail itself consists of four cells approximately 20 feet by 15 feet each. In these four cells they house somewhere near 200 inmates, and I am now one of them. Each cell is nothing but an empty barred room with one hole in the corner for use as a toilet. No windows, no fans, no beds, no shower, just a concrete floor surrounded by steel bars.
The second thing to shock me was that my cellmates ranged in age from one year olds to 70 year olds. Entire families were being held there from many different countries. Mothers, fathers, children and even infants. There I was lying on my back in this hellhole looking up at 5 and 6 year old kids playing and climbing around on the bars like it was just another day. I remember looking through the bars of my cell at a toddler wearing nothing more than a tshirt crying and reaching out for his father in the next cell. One of the families I got to know a little bit was North Korean. They escaped North Korea and traveled all the way through communist China and Laos in the hopes of making it to Thailand because once arrested in Thailand they can choose to defect to South Korea and reunite with loved ones there on the friendly side of the DMZ. An incredible journey in itself.
It was on day two that the 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit just north of here in Burma and sent the whole country shaking all the way as far as Bangkok. There I was, the whole jail was moving and shaking, lights flickering, babies crying, dust and concrete flying through the air and the guards had pretty much abandoned the place in fear that it might collapse. A truly terrifying experience, but we all survived and stuck together till it was over.
By the third day of my incarceration, I had pretty much come to grips with the fact that this was going to be my life for the next few years. It wasn´t pretty, but I was going to have to accept it. I had been watching the guards round up prisoners all day and ship them out shackled together about six at a time. I wasn´t sure where they were going, but I assumed it was the big prison outside of town near the mountain. Soon enough, it was my turn and I submitted my wrists and ankles once again to the chain gang style march. As we passed the lobby of the police station I saw several friends of mine waiting there. I tried to pause and say hello, but the guard kept yelling ¨Bah bah bah¨ (go go go). Myself and the six burmese guys I was chained to were loaded into the back of a truck and I saw one of the sargeants come running out front yelling ¨My My Dio Dio Falang!!¨ (no no wait wait foreigner). The guard looked at me with a grin and said ¨Falang Chok dee mak!¨ which basically means ¨Foreigner very lucky¨. It seems my local Thai friends had been there at the police station night and day trying to negotiate a bail agreement for me and were close to working something out. I was unshackled from the truck and marched back inside to the overcrowded cell. Suddenly it wasn so bad considering where I had been headed a few moments before.
A few hours later I was released under the supervision of my Thai friends. I went home, took a very long shower, ate some rice and veggies, and slept for about three hours. This is where my story comes current. At the moment I am a free man and can walk the streets, but I must present myself and my case in front of a judge in Thai court on April 4th. That gives me less than one week to prepare, find my options, make decisons and hopefully keep myself alive.
My official charges are as follows:
Wednesday night was supposed to be my evening off, but I got a call to go across town and do a show with a band I had performed with many times before. I accepted reluctantly, and made my way across town. I was greeted by the usual crowd and settled in for an hour of the ¨same old same old¨. About three songs into the set, I noticed two Thai guys with cameras taking pictures of the band. I got nervous and alerted the guitar player. We decided to take a break and see what was up. The two Thai guys flashed badges and identified themselves as ¨immigration officers¨. Whithin moments, the venue filled up with uniformed officers and we were all asked to sit down for questioning.
They began asking for visas, passports and work permits, and I knew immediately that there was going to be trouble. After some on site questioning and interrogation of the band and restaurant staff, we were all arrested and hauled to the local immigration office. The officers were drinking heavily and obviously quite proud of their catch. They began very intensive interrogation and started the ¨good cop bad cop¨ routine. There were about 10 of them sharing a bottle of whiskey and taking turns at us. My heart was beating out of my chest, but I did my best to stay cool.
After doing their best to scare the living daylights out of us, the mention of a payoff or bribe was made. This wasn´t surprising, and is pretty much standard practice. The grand total that they asked for was 120,000 Thai Baht (about $4,000 US dollars). Now, keep in mind that I earn about 6,000 Thai Baht a month (about $200 US dollars). This of course was an astronomical amount for any of us, and even calling in a few favors would not even get me close to that amount. I knew that the next stop might just be my last for a very long time.
Once again, the immigration officers (probably bordering on too drunk to drive) loaded us up in the backs of trucks and delivered us to the big police station in the old city. I was booked in, fingerprinted, and shown my new living quarters. The first thing to hit me when entering the actual jail was the overpowering stench of feces, urine, and who knows what else. The jail itself consists of four cells approximately 20 feet by 15 feet each. In these four cells they house somewhere near 200 inmates, and I am now one of them. Each cell is nothing but an empty barred room with one hole in the corner for use as a toilet. No windows, no fans, no beds, no shower, just a concrete floor surrounded by steel bars.
The second thing to shock me was that my cellmates ranged in age from one year olds to 70 year olds. Entire families were being held there from many different countries. Mothers, fathers, children and even infants. There I was lying on my back in this hellhole looking up at 5 and 6 year old kids playing and climbing around on the bars like it was just another day. I remember looking through the bars of my cell at a toddler wearing nothing more than a tshirt crying and reaching out for his father in the next cell. One of the families I got to know a little bit was North Korean. They escaped North Korea and traveled all the way through communist China and Laos in the hopes of making it to Thailand because once arrested in Thailand they can choose to defect to South Korea and reunite with loved ones there on the friendly side of the DMZ. An incredible journey in itself.
It was on day two that the 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit just north of here in Burma and sent the whole country shaking all the way as far as Bangkok. There I was, the whole jail was moving and shaking, lights flickering, babies crying, dust and concrete flying through the air and the guards had pretty much abandoned the place in fear that it might collapse. A truly terrifying experience, but we all survived and stuck together till it was over.
By the third day of my incarceration, I had pretty much come to grips with the fact that this was going to be my life for the next few years. It wasn´t pretty, but I was going to have to accept it. I had been watching the guards round up prisoners all day and ship them out shackled together about six at a time. I wasn´t sure where they were going, but I assumed it was the big prison outside of town near the mountain. Soon enough, it was my turn and I submitted my wrists and ankles once again to the chain gang style march. As we passed the lobby of the police station I saw several friends of mine waiting there. I tried to pause and say hello, but the guard kept yelling ¨Bah bah bah¨ (go go go). Myself and the six burmese guys I was chained to were loaded into the back of a truck and I saw one of the sargeants come running out front yelling ¨My My Dio Dio Falang!!¨ (no no wait wait foreigner). The guard looked at me with a grin and said ¨Falang Chok dee mak!¨ which basically means ¨Foreigner very lucky¨. It seems my local Thai friends had been there at the police station night and day trying to negotiate a bail agreement for me and were close to working something out. I was unshackled from the truck and marched back inside to the overcrowded cell. Suddenly it wasn so bad considering where I had been headed a few moments before.
A few hours later I was released under the supervision of my Thai friends. I went home, took a very long shower, ate some rice and veggies, and slept for about three hours. This is where my story comes current. At the moment I am a free man and can walk the streets, but I must present myself and my case in front of a judge in Thai court on April 4th. That gives me less than one week to prepare, find my options, make decisons and hopefully keep myself alive.
My official charges are as follows:
- Entering the country illegally. (charges already dropped once my passport was located)
- Overstaying my visa. (guilty as charged, and I have already entered a guilty plea)
- Working (playing a guitar) without a permit. (I have entered a not guilty plea. The evidence is very poor against me as I was not even being paid. Just helping out a friend who was short a bass player) I hear now that this charge may already have been dropped, but I´m not sure.
What I need from you my freinds and family is first and foremost your support in the coming days. If nothing else, pass this article along to as many other people as you can. The more people I can get behind me the better off I will be. I´m not sure what other help I will need, but the next day or so should reveal more as I get more information and advice. I thank you for taking the time to read this all the way through, and I will be posting more updates soon. The more people that are aware of my situation will ensure that I receive fair and just treatment here in this far away plae that has become my home, so please please please pass it on!! The worst that can happen is that this blog and my facebook page goes silent. If it does, then expect the worse. I will do my best to answer all emails and keep people in the loop.
All the best and thank you so much for everything.
Matt
All the best and thank you so much for everything.
Matt
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