At the height of the floods in Thailand in October and November, the Jesuit Foundation Prison Ministry continued to reach out to the many prisoners it has befriended in the country’s overcrowded prisons. Vilaiwan Phokthavi, Director, Jesuit Prison Ministry tells us how the floods affected prisoners in three prisons.
See what the Prison Ministry team encountered to get to one prison. Click here.
Central Women Prison – Klong Perm, Bangkok
There are 169 women prisoners in Klong Perm Women Prison in our Prisoner Ministry list. During the flood crisis, 90 were moved to Rachaburi Central Prison and 39 to Nakhon Ratchasima Prison, but we could not locate 38 prisoners and two remained in Bangkok.
On November 2, we found that 42 prisoners had been moved out from Bangkok to Rachaburi Central Prison. When we visited them on November 4, we found 48 more prisoners on our list and made another trip on November 18 to visit the rest. Rachaburi Central Prison is a pleasant place. We received a warm welcome from the prison authorities and the way they treat prisoners is kind too. The prisoners like this place.
They call the prison director “ father” and many said they wished to stay there instead of going back to Bangkok after the flood, because the rules at Women Prison at Klong Perm are so strict. Here in Rachaburi, we can visit them face to face and we could give them necessary items easily.
The 39 women prisoners who were moved to Nakhon Ratchasim were not so lucky. We were not allowed to visit them inside. The prison authorities consider this group temporary so they are separated as an emergency group. We cannot give them necessary items.
Bangkwang Prison
The Death Row prisoners at Bangkwang Prison were all moved to Khao Bin Central Prison, Rachaburi. As Khao Bin is close to Rachaburi Prison, we were able to visit some prisoners from the Bangkwang Death Row who had been moved to Khao Bin the day we visited the other prisoners. From our visit we learnt that prisoners prefer to be moved back to Bangkwang as soon as possible, Bangkwang is more comfortable place for them.
The Prison Ministry team to make many adjustments to its visit schedule in October and November 2011 beause of the flood. There were some places we could not go to, for example, Ayudhaya which was totally flooded and fom which all prisoners had to be moved. The prison at Pattumtani was not flooded but the road to the prison was impossible to pass so it was only on November 22 that we were able to visit the prisoners. Bangkwang , Klong Perm (men & women) announced they were closed for visits for some days, as did the Klong Perm Prison hospital. Each day we checked the water situation, following the news for forecasts of the flooding. We rearranged our storage room, lifted everything up high in case the water reached Xavier Hall. We stopped purchasing goods for Christmas because we knew we could not have space to store them.
And Christmas is coming.
The flood, the Amnesty given on the Thai King’s birthday on December 5 … This coming CHRISTMAS 2011 … we will have to make a lot of adjustment for the celebration for prisoners with the move of prisoners because of the floods. But every one looks forward to Christmas time to celebrate JESUS born for us in all situations.
The story of Somchai, Aye Linn and Ah Mer, prisoners in Ayudhaya Central Prison
 |
| A Jesuit Prison Ministry team member (carrying the pink bag) standing in front of Nonthaburi prison before going inside to visit Somchai, Aye Linn and Ah Mer. Big sand bags are stacked at the entrance for flood protection. |
At about 10.30 pm on October 5, while we were sleeping, the prison officers woke all of us up shouting “Up, bring only a pillow and up to second floor. Flood coming”.
Our room contained 65 persons and we had to move immediately in the middle of the night into a second floor cell, squeezing in with those who were already there. That cell was supposed to hold 47 persons so there was no space to sleep, only to sit all night long. The water kept raising and we were not allowed to go down to get breakfast. We were very hungry. At 11 am, two or three prisoners went down to the shop and brought up biscuits, instant noodles and soft drinks for everyone.
At around 4 pm, we were ordered to move, to go downstairs. When we went down, the water reached our necks. For someone who is a bit short like Ah Mer, the water was up over his head. He cannot swim and almost drowned. It was lucky that Aye Linn helped him and both managed to swim to the truck. We saw our friend Hean Shingha crying as he also could not swim. We felt pity for him and many of us in this situation. Whoever could swim reached the truck.
We did not know where the truck would bring us. We had to swim to the truck and when the truck was full, it went out of Ayudhaya. We found out later that our truck reached Nontaburi prison. Of the many prisoners in this truck, only three of us me (Somchai), Aye Linn & Ah Mer are in Prison Ministry member list. We don’t know where are the others. I (Somchai) am very sad to have lost my diary, stamp album, photos, guitar, 4 new pieces of clothing, and all the toiletries. We reach Nontaburi with only the clothes we were wearing, nothing else.
The Prison Ministry team visited Nontaburi prison on November 3. During our first visit here (we managed to get inside visit) they told us how overwhelmed they felt when they heard their names called for the visit and they were sure that it was us, the Jesuit Prison Ministry team. They almost cried with happiness and gratefulness when they saw us. That day was a day of joy for us all. The terrible and sad story became a funny story that made us laugh a lot. I can feel the blessings overflow among us with laughter and happiness.
To learn more about the Jesuit Foundation Prison Ministry, go to www.jesuit-prison-ministry.org
To watch the Al Jazeera report, Floods worsen Thai prison conditions, click here.