The new year Songkran water festival is still going strong, but I did venture out into it briefly. I went across town to visit and old friend and fellow American here in the city who contacted me and wanted to offer me some advice. He was reluctant to chat online about it, and even more so to speak on the phone. He insisted that we speak in person so I began to cut through all the little zig zag streets that honeycomb through this city. All of the major streets are full of people dancing, throwing water, and just all around having a good time. I had to cross through a couple major streets, and got hit repeatedly with buckets of water when I did, but for the most part avoided them. It´s kind of strange to be surrounded by all this happiness and festive partying, but feeling like I just want to crawl in a hole somewhere and avoid it all.
Upon arrival at my friends house, he greeted me and asked me inside. He then proceeded to tell me a story that I had heard a little about, but was always too polite to ask. He himself been been imprisoned here in what the locals call the ¨monkey house¨. It´s the larger prison just outside of town. The fact that he is no longer there (and still in Thailand) reveals that he did manage to get himself out somehow, so I asked him how long he had been there. The answer was a staggering four years!! It took him four long years in prison to clear his name while awaiting a potential prison term of 35 years!! After his release, there were no reparations and he had lost everything he had worked for his entire life. He has, however, managed to rebuild and was kind enough to share his experience with me.
He had kept meticulous records over those four years and we spent the afternoon going over legal documents and informal records he had kept. He was able to offer me a wealth of information on legal processes, and also the inner workings of the local prison system. He gave me lists and names of who can be trusted with what and who to steer clear of. Oddly enough, most of the information was not about fellow inmates, but regarded prison staff and the various ¨goodwill¨ organizations that visit prisoners there. One of these that I want to inform everyone about back in the states is a particularly nasty little operation.
Various groups have set up NGOs or non profit charity groups to help out foriegners stuck in Thai prisons. Their advertised goal is to assist the prisoners by bringing them food, toiletries, books, offer them spiritual advice, and assist them with contacting family and friends on the outside. Sounds great, but here is how the scam works. Sadly they are almost always run and operated by foriegners (American or European) who of course speak perfect english. They operate under the guise of a church or some other religious organization, and get donations from their supporters back in western countries to assist with the prisoners here. Most get a ¨per prisoner¨ amount that they visit per month. Out of that amount, the prisoner might recieve 20% of the assistance that the folks back home in Sunday service so generously dropped in the offering plate. The rest goes to creating a lavish lifestyle for the lovely ¨God fearing¨ folks who were kind enough to ¨volunteer¨ their time and visit these poor lost souls.
The second part of the plan is much more sinister. After gaining the trust of the inmate, they ask for family contact information, and offer to start getting some help from back home. These guys (and ladies) are sweet talkers, know the scriptures by heart and know all the catch phrases and lines to pull at a family member or friend´s heart strings. They of course just want money, but will offer to help ¨save the soul¨ of that lost and misguided loved one who is locked away so far from home in a ¨heathen godless country¨. Any money sent (of course) is kept by the ¨do-gooder¨, and the family or friends receive a lovely letter once in a while about how their loved one is ¨doing so well with his new found faith¨. Most actual correspondence from the inmate is intercepted and never posted to their home country. Nearly 150 letters over four years in my friend´s case. Reminds me alot of the ¨Sponsor a Child in Africa¨ programs I used to see on the TV. They have similar things here too, and many of them are just as corrupt.
As a safeguard, I have already implimented a system with a small network of trusted friends both here in Thailand and back in the states. You all know who you are, and you know the validation and authentication protocol. As far as the rest of you goes, I can only offer one piece of advice. If and when the phone rings and the person on the other end is saying they are trying to help me, simply ask for the message authentication. If they give you something (anything) you know it´s a scam. If they don´t give you anything, it´s a scam. HANG UP! Don´t waste your time, and certainly don´t waste your money. If I need to get a message out when the time comes, it will be from a valid and trusted source, and not one of these ¨flim flam¨ artists.
I must admit, I was skeptical at first when he first started telling me the story, but after going over the letters, bank records, and court documents I was shocked and appalled at what I saw and read.
I hope you have read this post carefully, and understand the meaning. I will answer questions as long as I can, so please ask soon if you have any. The holiday will be over in a few days and the government will be back up to speed on Monday. From there anything can happen. I just keep hoping for the best and planning for the worst.
Take care everyone,
Matt
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It never ceases to amaze me how quickly things are put up and taken down in this country. Even during my time traveling with the big sound production crew here, I was amazed how fast things go up and then come back down again. Yesterday the streets were filled with people, food and goods vendors, concert stages, and every possible bit of merry making activity going on. This morning at 10AM I went out, and was amazed to see that once again Chiang Mai had been transformed back into the semi-sleepy little city that I have come to love so much despite the hardships of living here. All the vendors were gone, the streets had been swept clean, and the monolithic celebration of the week was all but forgotten. Absolutely amazing.
