About 16 years ago, I visited the Lard Yao women’s prison at Klong Prem, outside Bangkok, because a Thai friend of mine had been jailed there for two years. 1/12 
I visited with another Thai friend who was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and the prison authorities refused to let her in because they deemed her clothing inappropriate. 2/12
So I had one friend who couldn’t get out of Lard Yao and another who couldn’t get in.
We walked out of the prison compound and eventually found a small street market where my friend could get some clothes to cover her arms and legs. 3/12
We walked out of the prison compound and eventually found a small street market where my friend could get some clothes to cover her arms and legs. 3/12
Then we went back in, and registered our names as visitors for our friend who was in jail. We waited in a large open-air building to be called to see her. 4/12
All around us were families of other female inmates. They knew it would be a long and unpredictable wait, and so most had brought picnics with them. It was obvious that they were not the relatives of dangerous criminals. 5/12
Most of the inmates of Lard Yao are just ordinary women who made a small mistake and had their lives destroyed by Thailand’s unfair justice system. 6/12
Eventually our names were called and we went to talk to our friend. We were separated by a scratched and dirty perspex screen, and dozens of other people were meeting prisoners at the same time so it was really noisy and we had to shout at each other to have a conversation. 7/12
I spent most of the time trying not to cry, in front of my friend, and then after we left I cried.
My friend was released after a couple of years. She had been denied medical and dental treatment in jail, and a lot of her teeth had rotted, but she was alive. 8/12
My friend was released after a couple of years. She had been denied medical and dental treatment in jail, and a lot of her teeth had rotted, but she was alive. 8/12
I thought about Lard Yao again recently because we know that King Vajiralongkorn’s former official consort Sineenat “Koi” Wongvajirapakdi has been sentenced to two years there. That’s the same length of sentence my friend had. 9/12
It’s actually good news for Koi that she is at Lard Yao. If she had been jailed at Vajiralongkorn’s secret prison at Thaweewattana Palace, she might never have come out alive. 10/12
Also, Koi is more responsible for her own situation than most of the women at Lard Yao. She played a very dangerous game, and she lost. 11/12
But I don’t think she deserves to be in jail, just like most of the women imprisoned in Lard Yai, and it’s sad to remember the pointless suffering I saw there. I hope she will be OK. 12/12
