Free Bangkok Boy by Chai Pinit

desperation, I squeaked out that I was Niyom’s boy. He immediately snatched the bowl from me.
    ‘Why the hell didn’t you say so in the first place?’ he responded in surprise.
    He apologised and instructed me not to tell Niyom, who was a higher-ranking officer.

    The guards earned very little, and the only thing that kept them afloat was the deals they struck with inmates and their families. Inmates desperately want to communicate with family and friends so there is a huge demand for illegal mobile phones. Such precious commodities command high rental prices amongst the inmates themselves. The daily rations of food are frequently inadequate so it’s often necessary to find other sources of nourishment. Drugs can be freely purchased, and can help ease the pain, especially during long sentences. The kha yai , or ‘heavies’, use phones for drug deals, criminal arrangements, and many other scenarios outside of the prison. Considering prisoners are currently kept behind plexiglas during visits, it is completely unfeasible to import drugs or phones without the help of the guards.
    Conditions inside Thai jails are so harsh it’s a wonder how the justice system expects to ever rehabilitate the prisoners. I don’t mean to be crude, but one of the main failings of the penal system is that it doesn’t take the sexual needs of prisoners into consideration. After all, they’re still human beings with the same appetites whether inside or outside a cell. If you pack so many men into confined spaces, it’s inevitable that some will capitulate. It must also be taken into account that not all sexual encounters will be consensual. I overcame this by using my hand and my imagination, although this certainly wasn’t easy as privacy wasn’t a privilege we were entitled to. The communal bathing area tended to provide the best opportunity for meeting partners. Many long-term inmates adopted good-looking newcomers as sexual partners. These younger men were more than willing to take on the role in exchange for food and protection.
    Sunday was our day off and we generally gathered in the recreational room to watch TV. However, very little TV-viewing took place. We usually took advantage of this time to engage in intimacies with each other. Such interactions often started with playful fondling that would lead to mutual masturbation or even discreet anal sex. Meanwhile, everyone would act as if nothing was going on. I can’t say I ever witnessed a prisoner being raped; what I saw were acts of survival—men who, by allowing others to use them sexually, would receive the kind of treatment in return that would ensure their safety.
    Several weeks into my incarceration, I found myself looking at men in a different light. I even wondered what I’d be willing to do to find relief for my mounting sexual frustrations. But just as these temptations were starting to become appealing, my father made a call to his younger sister, the result of which changed everything. Aunt Suda worked as an assistant to a high-ranking officer in the police department in Bangkok. Her policeman husband had died on duty, leaving her three small children to raise on her own. His boss then hired her as an assistant, and in the years since, she’d worked for various other officers. My father desperately asked her to pull some strings for us. One of her bosses instructed his clerk to phone the station where I’d initially been charged to talk to the lieutenant working my case.
    The lieutenant visited me in person in the holding cell during one of my court appearances. He addressed me politely in a most respectful manner, apologising for putting me in this situation. I later learned that Aunt Suda’s boss had strongly criticised him for blowing this small case out of proportion. At the time however, I was oblivious to my aunt’s intervention, and was bewildered by his sudden change of heart. My parents later visited me and joyously informed me that the court would