PHUKET: Lee Aldhouse, a fugitive regained, was allowed to sleep on the floor of a Phuket police cell last night with a pillow, but no blanket.
It will be the same again tonight at the insistence of a Thai official whose duty it is to determine the concessions made to the British murder suspect in the interests of future justice.
Although the international treaty between Britain and Thailand is 101 years old, Lee Aaron Aldhouse, aka ''Pitbull'', is the first British person to be extradited to Thailand.
However, says Aldhouse's flight companion, Intranee Sumawong, who is also Executive Director of International Affairs at the Attorney General's Department, the floodgates have opened.
''More than 20 people have been extradited back to Britain since Mr Aldhouse was apprehended,'' she told Phuketwan last night.
''We expect that, with this case as a role model, there will be many other exchanges with other nations now, too.''
It's what can be done with a pillow, but no blanket, and an otherwise bare police cell.
Wanted for the murder of former Marine Dashawn Longfellow on Phuket in 2010, an almost lackadasical approach to Aldhouse's apprehension on Phuket saw him eventually held at Heathrow airport in Britain.
Some police on Phuket looked at it this way: If the British man really did kill the American on Phuket, is it really justice for Thailand to have to pay to keep him in prison?
Others thought differently, including an expat police volunteer who reached a Phuket City bus station just an hour after Aldhouse had departed, and Khun Intranee.
She led the legal fight to bring Aldhouse back, and was on the flights that brought him to Thailand and Phuket last night.
Doing the deal, she says, was all about transparency.
''We went in with an open mind and made sure that we had nothing to hide from the British authorities,'' she said.
Aldhouse and his family were most in fear of him being physically and verbally abused, she said. But some of that fear eased when the handcuffs came off Aldhouse on the flight from London.
''He is calmer now and accepts our assurances that there is no intention to cause him harm,'' Khun Intranee said.
''His family had read all the books written by British people who have spent time in Thai jails.''
Phuket Prison is a ''white'' jail with no illegal drugs, mobile telephones or weapons, according to authorities.
Prisoners there are fed three meals a day. While it's overcrowded, expat prisoners Phuketwan has spoken to say they have no complaints.
Aldhouse will spend another night in a police cell at Chalong, deprived of a blanket for security reasons, then appear in Phuket Provincial Court on Monday.
Unless his interview with police late last night went badly, he will plead guilty and throw himself at the mercy of the Phuket court.
Aldhouse's appearance said a lot last night. He was pale from more than two years in British jails, and perhaps heavier because of the comparative comfort of life in a non-tropical environment.
With Aldhouse's human rights no longer an issue, the next critical moment will come when he is sentenced.
If he is given less than 15 years, he will remain in Phuket Prison. If he is given more than 15 years, he will be transferred to a prison with tougher security elsewhere in Thailand.
For all its hardships, Phuket Prison is a relatively peaceful, unthreatening place. It's the other, tougher prisons in Thailand that have become the topics for books written by former prisoners.
British embassy officials are likely to be present when Aldhouse makes his historic court appearance on Phuket on Monday.
What happens next to the muscular young former kick boxer will be up to a Thai judge.
Khun Intranee said last night she was ''very grateful'' to Britain for trusting Thailand's justice system, for the first time in more than a century.
It will be the same again tonight at the insistence of a Thai official whose duty it is to determine the concessions made to the British murder suspect in the interests of future justice.
Although the international treaty between Britain and Thailand is 101 years old, Lee Aaron Aldhouse, aka ''Pitbull'', is the first British person to be extradited to Thailand.
However, says Aldhouse's flight companion, Intranee Sumawong, who is also Executive Director of International Affairs at the Attorney General's Department, the floodgates have opened.
''More than 20 people have been extradited back to Britain since Mr Aldhouse was apprehended,'' she told Phuketwan last night.
''We expect that, with this case as a role model, there will be many other exchanges with other nations now, too.''
It's what can be done with a pillow, but no blanket, and an otherwise bare police cell.
Wanted for the murder of former Marine Dashawn Longfellow on Phuket in 2010, an almost lackadasical approach to Aldhouse's apprehension on Phuket saw him eventually held at Heathrow airport in Britain.
Some police on Phuket looked at it this way: If the British man really did kill the American on Phuket, is it really justice for Thailand to have to pay to keep him in prison?
Others thought differently, including an expat police volunteer who reached a Phuket City bus station just an hour after Aldhouse had departed, and Khun Intranee.
She led the legal fight to bring Aldhouse back, and was on the flights that brought him to Thailand and Phuket last night.
Doing the deal, she says, was all about transparency.
''We went in with an open mind and made sure that we had nothing to hide from the British authorities,'' she said.
Aldhouse and his family were most in fear of him being physically and verbally abused, she said. But some of that fear eased when the handcuffs came off Aldhouse on the flight from London.
''He is calmer now and accepts our assurances that there is no intention to cause him harm,'' Khun Intranee said.
''His family had read all the books written by British people who have spent time in Thai jails.''
Phuket Prison is a ''white'' jail with no illegal drugs, mobile telephones or weapons, according to authorities.
Prisoners there are fed three meals a day. While it's overcrowded, expat prisoners Phuketwan has spoken to say they have no complaints.
Aldhouse will spend another night in a police cell at Chalong, deprived of a blanket for security reasons, then appear in Phuket Provincial Court on Monday.
Unless his interview with police late last night went badly, he will plead guilty and throw himself at the mercy of the Phuket court.
Aldhouse's appearance said a lot last night. He was pale from more than two years in British jails, and perhaps heavier because of the comparative comfort of life in a non-tropical environment.
With Aldhouse's human rights no longer an issue, the next critical moment will come when he is sentenced.
If he is given less than 15 years, he will remain in Phuket Prison. If he is given more than 15 years, he will be transferred to a prison with tougher security elsewhere in Thailand.
For all its hardships, Phuket Prison is a relatively peaceful, unthreatening place. It's the other, tougher prisons in Thailand that have become the topics for books written by former prisoners.
British embassy officials are likely to be present when Aldhouse makes his historic court appearance on Phuket on Monday.
What happens next to the muscular young former kick boxer will be up to a Thai judge.
Khun Intranee said last night she was ''very grateful'' to Britain for trusting Thailand's justice system, for the first time in more than a century.
This nasty piece of work should not be referred to as ''pitbull" in your news updates..it glamorises him, he's proud of that!!!that was his ring fighting nickname only, and as he is now just a soon to be convicted murderer,i'm sure that his given name will suffice....
Posted by davidj949 on December 2, 2012 11:58
Editor Comment:
How censorious of you, davidj949. Why imagine others will think the way you think? Nothing glamorous about a pitbull. We will ignore you as usual.