UPDATE
Lee ''Pitbull'' Aldhouse will be arriving on Phuket about 7pm on Saturday on a flight from Britain with Intranee Sumawong, Executive Director of International Affairs at the Attorney General's Department, who will escort him back to Phuket.
Original Report
PHUKET: Wanted murder fugitive Lee Aldhouse is expected to be back on Phuket any time now to face trial, Phuketwan has learned.
Aldhouse, the first person ever to be extradited from Britain to Thailand, will appear in court on Phuket accused of the murder of former US Marine, Dashawn Longfellow.
His extradition could be complete within 10 days, Thai authorities in charge of the precedent-setting process told Phuketwan today.
''It's the first time a wanted British person has been extradited to Thailand so we have to set the standard in a proper fashion,'' an official said.
''I can confirm that all the documents from Britain have now reached Thailand. We are in the process of arranging tickets and organising visas.''
It's understood that a high-ranking Thai official will escort Aldhouse, 30, back to Thailand and to Phuket. The process is expected to attract international media attention.
Officials at Phuket Prison have been told to expect the new prisoner ''any day now.'' A special feature has been added to the jail: the large dormitories now have bunk beds.
Aldhouse, a Thai boxing fan who fought in the ring under the name ''Pitbull,'' fled Phuket soon after 23-year-old Dashawn Longfellow was stabbed to death on the holiday island in August, 2010.
The two had fought a fist fight earlier in the night at the Freedom Bar in southern Phuket, a fight that Aldhouse started and lost.
Fleeing Phuket, Aldhouse took a roundabout route via Cambodia before catching a flight from Singapore back to London's Heathrow airport, where he was arrested on an outstanding weapons charge.
Since then, the legal argument about whether he should be extradicted to Thailand has continued until Britain's High Court dismissed his appeal last week.
Officials in the Attorney General's department in Thailand oversaw the legal battle in London and were delighted to win the case.
One of the legal arguments concerned whether his rights would be breached by being housed in a Thai jail that did not meet international standards.
The population of Phuket Prison now numbers more than 2000 for a penitentiary built more than a century ago to house 750.
When Phuketwan inspected the dormitories during a dawn drugs swoop in February, prisoners slept on bedding on the floor.
But - perhaps partly as an outcome of the extradition legal debate as well as overcrowding - bunk beds have since been introduced.
Aldhouse will share the dormitory with between 40 and 100 other prisoners, some of whom are also awaiting trial. There is no provision for a separate ''remand'' section in Phuket Prison.
If he happens to be found guilty and is sentenced to more than 15 years, Aldhouse will be transferred from Phuket prison to a jail with higher security.
Although Phuket Prison is overcrowded, the jail director has a reputation for encouraging reform. As a ''white prison,'' Phuket has no illegal drugs, mobile telephones or hidden weapons, according to officials.
Other Britons who have done time there say the prison, with a high proportion of katoey ladyboys among them, produces its share of interesting moments.
Some of Aldhouse's fellow prisoners have breast implants and at times do not hesitate to show them to other inmates.
But the food is edible and facilities are kept as clean as possible, with some female prisoners working in a public massage facility and trusty male prisoners operating a car wash.
Family and friends of Dashawn Longfellow in the US have conducted a Facebook campaign for justice since his murder.
Today on the memorial site there were a couple of recent entries:
Marquis Longfellow: Hey bro just wanted to say happy thanksgiving we wish you were here
Michelle Elizabeth Bender: I hope the extradition and trial goes ahead without any further delay. Your family has been kept in limbo for way too long. The anguish of being grief stricken and waiting for justice to be served would be agonising. I hope the Thai court hand out the longest possible sentence.
CNN Report With Phuketwan
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/17/thailand.kickboxing.killer/?hpt=T2#fbid=j8b3WNTelG3&wom=false/
The 7-Eleven Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvuYakEINGg/
Preparing visas for who...Why would a fugitive going on trial here being brought from Britain need a visa...?
Posted by Ted Davis on November 26, 2012 11:38
Editor Comment:
How many people come and go without a visa?