1. History

2. Visiting Klong Prem

3. Prison World Cup

4. Current and former notable prisoners

5. See also

6. References

7. External links

Klong Prem Central prison ({{lang-th|คลองเปรม}}; {{rtgs|Khlong Prem}}) is a maximum security prison in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, Thailand. The prison has several separate sections. The compound houses up to 20,000 inmates. Within the perimeter of the compound are the Women's Central Prison, often referred to as "Lard Yao" or "Lard Yao women's prison". There is the Central Correction Institution for Drug Addicts (also known as "Bambat Phiset") "Bangkok Special Prison", and the Central Correctional Hospital. The Lard Yao men's section takes custody of male offenders whose sentence term is not over 25 years. As of 2002 the men's section held 1,158 foreigners from 56 countries out of a total of 7,218 prisoners.^[1] It is a part of the Thai Department of Corrections.

The Klong Prem section for women houses female death row inmates.^[2][3]

History

Klong Prem Central prison was originally a temporary prison established in 1944 in the Lard Yao district as a consequence of demands during World War II when Thailand was at war with Britain and the United States.^[4] In 1959 it was used as a vocational training centre for those who, in the words of the Thai corrections department, "act and behave as gangsters".^[5]

In 1960 the old Klong Prem prison on Maha Chai Road (now the Bangkok Corrections Museum) had become especially overcrowded so all prisoners were transferred to the vocational training centre site.^[4] The Interior Ministry established a temporary prison within the new compound by dividing one part into a vocational training centre and the other part into the Lard Yao temporary central prison. In 1972 the Interior Ministry issued orders establishing the prison on Maha Chai Road as the "Bangkok Remand Prison" and the prison in the Lard Yao subdistrict was designated the "Klong Prem Central Prison".^[4]

Visiting Klong Prem

Klong Prem Central Prison allows the families and pre-registered guests of inmates to visit prisoners. Visiting rules and times vary and international visitors have some special privileges. Different days are allocated to certain cell blocks. Weekend visits are typically prohibited. Additional privileges (e.g., phones, longer visits) when visiting foreign prisoners can sometimes be attained with a letter from the appropriate embassy or with bribes to prison guards. Food for prisoners can be purchased at the commissary by completing a form listing the items to be purchased and the prisoner's name. After paying for the items, the order is generally delivered that evening or the next day.

As of June 2010, foreign prisoners held at the Bangkok Remand Prison at Klong Prem could be visited Monday through Friday, between the hours of 08:30 and 15:30. There is a small restaurant outside the main visiting area where meals can be bought for the prisoners. Purchases are made in the Prison Commissary and are delivered to the prisoners later that day. There is also a service for limited fast food delivery, such as pizza, for prisoners.

As of October 2018, prisoners are normally held in Bangkok Remand Prison until sentencing. At which point, they may be sent to either the main Prison, Bambat Phiset (for drugs offences) or complete their sentence in Bangkok Remand Prison. In Bangkok Remand Prison there are 8 buildings in which prisoners may be held. Weekday visits are available for all buildings. Weekend visits are on Saturdays only, visitation alternates between building 1-4 one Saturday and 5-8 the next Saturday. Ring ahead to confirm which buildings are allowed visitation to avoid disappointment.

Money can deposited into a prisoners account only after the visit has taken place. Visitation is limited to one 20 minute slot per week.

Prison World Cup

With the large number of foreign nationals at Klong Prem, the prison is able to hold a football World Cup.^[1] Teams of 10 are chosen by prison staff to represent Nigeria, Japan, the US, Italy, France, England, Germany, and Thailand.^[1] Games consist of two 20-minute halves on a half-sized pitch. The winners are given a replica of the real World Cup trophy, which is made of wood in the prison workshop.^[1]

Current and former notable prisoners

Foreign prisoners are concentrated in Building 2, and those prisoners may have contact visits for several days providing visitors can demonstrate they have traveled from another country. As of June 2010, there are many foreign prisoners in other buildings of the prison complex.

• Jon Cole, American heroin smuggler. Author of Bangkok Hard Time.^[6]
• Brian Scott Meise: released{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}
• Ginggaew Lorsoongnern, convicted of murder^[7]
• David McMillan: Arrested for drug charges, he successfully escaped from the prison in August 1996 and has published a book titled Escape which describes his time in Klong Prem and his escape.^[8]
• Dmitry Ukrainskiy: In 2016, Russian businessman Dmitry Ukrainskiy was arrested in Pattaya, Thailand, along with Uzbeki Olga Komova in Koh Chang, Thailand. Dmitry Ukrainskiy was initially held on an arrest warrant based on a provisional extradition request from the United States.^[9] In addition, the Russian Federation initiated its own extradition request for Dmitry Ukrainskiy. Ukrainskiy was also charged with a civil case amounting to 18.1 million Thai baht (THB) and a criminal case involving charges of money laundering and other business-related charges. Dmitry Ukrainskiy is currently in the Klong Prem Remand Prison, pending appeal.^[10]
• Johan van Laarhoven: In 2015 The Dutch former Coffee shop owner from The Netherlands sentenced to 103 years in prison for money laundering. His fortune was made from running licensed cannabis cafes in his own country. Van Laarhoven was convicted for spending money in Thailand earned by selling cannabis in The Netherlands. Johan van Laarhoven now 55 of age, will spend 20 years behind bars serving 43 concurrent sentences. His wife, Tukta, was sentenced to 12 years in prison since her name is on their property purchase documents and officials have asserted that the money used to buy that property was earned by selling drugs.
• Sandra Gregory: British woman who was imprisoned in Thailand for drug smuggling after being caught trying to smuggle heroin and temazepam out of Bangkok's Don Muang Airport. The King of Thailand granted Gregory a royal pardon and she was released on 18 June 2001.^[11]

• Nola Blake: An Australian woman who in 1987 was arrested in Bangkok for drug trafficking. Blake received a royal pardon and was released in March 1998 having spent 11 years and two months in prison. She returned home 24 March 1998.
• Harry Nicolaides: An Australian writer of Greek-Cypriot origin imprisoned in Thailand under the Thai lèse majesté law, for a passage in a 2005 novel of his deemed to defame the Thai monarchy. On 19 January 2009 he was sentenced to three years in prison. He was pardoned on 21 February, after having spent six months in prison.
• Paul Hayward: An Australian man who was convicted in Thailand, alongside Warren Fellows and William Sinclair, for attempting to export 8.5 kilograms of heroin to Australia. After being transferred back to Lard Yao he was released on 7 April 1989, after being granted a royal pardon.
• Roger Thomas Clark: arrested in April 2015,^[12] suspected of being Variety Jones, the closest advisor to Ross Ulbricht, alleged founder of the Silk Road dark web website. Roger Thomas Clark was extradited from Bangkok, Thailand, to New York, US on June 15, 2018, where he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.^[13]
• Colin Martin: An Irish citizen from Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, who was imprisoned in Thai prisons for the crime of murder. He was released from the Lard Yao prison near Bangkok on 18 January 2005 and was deported from Thailand.
• Viktor Bout: Arrested on 6 March 2008, by Royal Thai Police for allegedly conspiring to supply the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He was extradited to the United States on 16 November 2010. On 2 November 2011, he was convicted by a jury in New York of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to kill American officers or employees, conspiring to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile, illegal purchase of aircraft, wire fraud, and money laundering.
• Andrew Hood (some reports say "Hoods"): Arrested in departure hall of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International airport on 17 December 2008 and charged with trafficking heroin.^{[14][15][16][17]} On 5 August 2009 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking. He avoided the death penalty by confessing to the crime.^[18]

• Kim Eriksson: A Swede who was sentenced to life imprisonment for drug offenses and for having a methamphetamine lab.

See also

• Bang Kwang Central Prison - Bangkok's other main prison which holds male inmates with sentences of more than 33 years.

References

External links

• [https://web.archive.org/web//http://www.correct.go.th/klong.htm Klong Prem Central Prison] - Thai Department of Corrections (Archive)
• Foreign Prisoners Support Site

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