Colin Martin - Welcome to Hell. One Mans Fight for Lige Inside the Bangkok Hilton

Acknowledgements

Many kind-hearted people in Ireland and elsewhere gave me support, and it meant the world to me.

My greatest supporter was John Mulcahy at Phoenix . He wrote a number of articles in his magazine to highlight my case. An appeal fund was launched by Phoenix which enabled me buy food and cover my legal costs.

The support the appeal received was fantastic and, to be honest, I couldnt have survived without it. People from all over Ireland seem to have sent in a few quid. It was great to know that if I needed money for food or medicine I only had to ask and John would send it. No more worrying where my next meal would come from really lifted a weight from my shoulders. I owe a debt that I could never repay to all the people of Ireland who had the heart to help me, even though theyd probably never even heard of me before.

A Ms Lily Byrne, whom I knew only vaguely, wrote offering to help in any way she could. She arranged a petition demanding that the Irish Foreign Affairs department look into my case.

I received a letter from Dr Liam OGorman who is a member of Amnesty International in Ireland. Dr OGorman tried to use any of his contacts to put pressure on the Irish government to help me and he wrote numerous letters himself. We became good friends, and he sent me some money and a parcel of medical supplies that would cure anything from a headache to hairy palms.

Journalist John Mooney wrote a few articles in his paper, reprinted the Phoenix appeal and included my name and address at the prison so that people could write to me directly. He also donated money himself to my appeal fund. He even took the time to come and visit me.

Elizabeth ONeill of Magill also made the trip out to Thailand. Magill printed articles Id written under the title Letters from Bangkok , and they too donated money to my appeal. I had various other Irish journalists write or visit me if they were in Thailand, but John Mulcahy, John Mooney and Elizabeth ONeill are the ones that really stand out.

I also got a visit from time to time from Dr Dan Breen. Hes an Irish professor at one of the universities in Thailand. Dr Breen is also a member of the Thai Union of Civil Liberties and he gave me advice and tried to help me with my case.

There were always a lot of missionaries visiting too. I didnt go to any of the visits with the bible bashers. I didnt need anyone to tell me about Jesus. I had learnt a long time ago that nobody was going to save me.

A priest called Father Oliver and an Irish nun working in Bangkok, Sister Louise Horgan, were the only ones who didnt try to stuff religion down my throat. I was always pleased to see them. Sister Louise might be getting on a bit, but she always made me laugh something we really needed in prison.

I also had visits from people passing through Thailand on holiday. Some had read about me before they came over. Obviously, a few were nervous about coming and some werent sure if Id want to be visited by strangers, but they still came. For people to take time out from a holiday theyd just paid a fortune for to come and visit a prisoner meant a lot to the men behind bars. It might be the only visit they ever got, or the only friendly face they ever saw. We did get the odd thrill seeker who only wanted to know the gory details, but 99 per cent were genuinely interested in our welfare and shocked at the conditions we were forced to live in. Some would leave a little money or buy us some fruit in the prison shop at the front of the prison (these visits were always known as banana visits).

The food they bought I always shared with the other guys who didnt have much, and when theyd get a banana visit theyd share with me. Its the way we survived. Most of the men would share what little they had, because being selfish doesnt pay in the end.

I had visits from people of many nationalities. Two beautiful Danish girls stick out in my mind, as they came back to visit me two or three times, and two beautiful English girls, Tanya Cook and Alisha, who visited and then sent postcards to cheer me up.

Some of the Irish bars in Pattaya and Bangkok took collections from time to time to raise a little money to help when it was needed. I felt very lucky.

My pen friend Ann did a great job of cheering me up. I wrote a lot of letters in prison and have been lucky to make such good friends Helen, Miriam and Colin, Arthur, Eddie, Martha, and John L.

I received letters and cards and also food parcels, some on a regular basis, from Helen, Martha, Tom, Liam, Margaret, John and Paddy, to name just a few. Unfortunately, some of the people who wrote or sent parcels didnt include a return address, so to some people I never will get the chance to say thank you.

I also received letters and parcels from Margaret Shiels in London. Shes the proprietor of the Coningham Arms, an Irish bar in Shepherds Bush where I used to drink when I was working in London at the age of 18.

My ex-wife Paula and my three children wrote to me regularly. Although it can be hard explaining to your children where you are and why, I never lied to them about it. That wouldnt be right or fair to them. It was very hard for me, though, when my daughter asked, Daddy, when are you coming home?

How do you explain to your children that youre innocent but they still lock you up? How do you explain about appeals and verdicts and constitutional courts, or amnesty from the king?

All I could ever say was that I loved them all and Id be home as soon as I could. It wasnt much of an answer, but its the only answer I had.

Now Im out of that hole well have to try and recover some of the years weve lost.

Dedication

Id like to dedicate this book to everybody that helped me during the eight years I was in prison but especially to John Mulcahy and John Kealy. I wouldnt have made it without them.

8

The Thai justice system is corrupt to the core. Criminals can buy their way out of any charge if they have the right connections and enough money. There is, to put it simply, no justice.

I had never seen the inside of a Thai courtroom. I knew petty corruption among government officials was rife, but I had no idea that such criminality and corruption was endemic.

The police in Chonburi transported me to court in the back of a pick-up truck. On arrival at the court building I was ushered into a small room, where I was searched.

One of the guards told me to take my shoes and socks off. I looked at the floor. It was soaking wet from where the single toilet had overflowed. There were bits of food, shit and garbage everywhere. And they wanted me to walk barefoot in it.

After a sharp jab in the ribs with a baton, I decided it would be safer to follow orders, and took my shoes and socks off. It was disgusting.