Thai prison life.

This is the story of one prisoner at Klong Dan Prison in Samut Prakan, Thailand. His name is Panrit Daoruang (previously Nattawud) and he is known by thousands of people around the world as Gor. This prisoner is no ordinary Thai person. Ever since the age of 12, he has been documenting his life on the Internet on his internationally acclaimed website thailandlife.com. Over the years he became Thailand's most recognized teenager. Newspapers hailed him as Thailand's youngest ambassador. Others said he had done more to promote Thailand than the government run Tourism Authority of Thailand. Indeed, his other website at learningthai.com receives over 6,000 unique visitors every day. That is a lot of people he was helping to learn Thai for free.

When he was only 16, Gor became the youngest columnist at the Bangkok Post (GorsWorld.com). Over a period of two years he wrote honestly about the ups and downs of his life. He wrote about his teenage marriage, the birth of his daughter and his most darkest secret. He told them that when he was 15 he became addicted to drugs. This drug is known locally as "yaa baa" or "crazy drug". Unknown to his readers at that time, he was still struggling to quit. The drugs had affected him more than we first thought. Shortly after his 20th birthday, he was arrested by the police for drug possession. His parents put their house up for the bail and a year passed before he had to go to court. In that time he managed to stay clean and concentrated on raising his family and his Internet work. On the 7th September 2006, the criminal court in Samut Prakan sentenced Gor to six years in prison. However, this was then commuted to three years because he had pleaded guilty. At 4.45 p.m. that afternoon, a new chapter opened in the life of Gor.

BOOKS FOR PRISONERS IN THAILAND: Do you have any unwanted books in Thai or English? We have started a collection of books for the prisoners at Klong Dan Prison. We want to help both the Thai and foreign prisoners. If you have any old books then please send them to the Paknam Web office and we will pass them on to the prison. Thank you.

The menu on the left takes you through the courtcase and then his life in the prison. The menu on the right gives you some background information about how Gor first became addicted to drugs and how it changed his life. Gor has always been honest about his addiction. He has always said that he wanted to send a loud and clear message out to the teenagers of the world. "Don't do drugs. Not even one time. It will change your life forever." Judging by the hundreds of letters that Gor has received over the years, his "drug interviews" have helped many people. Not only drug addicts but also their parents.

Message from the editor: These blogs about life in a Thai prison will be updated at regular intervals over the coming months. There have been many books written by foreigners serving in Thai prisons. They talk about sadistic guards, daily beatings and rampant drug use. Some people claim that many of these accounts have been exaggerated in order to sell more books. Although this might be partly true, we still wouldn't want anyone to go through this experience. The blogs on this website are a true and unbiased account of life in a Thai prison. Nothing has been exaggerated. No stories have been made up in order to dramatize the experience. These blogs are also the only account in English from the viewpoint of a Thai prisoner.


From : www.thaiprisonlife.com/