4,000 Days: My Life and Survival in a Bangkok Prison


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Rating: 3.9

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4,000 Days: My Life and Survival in a Bangkok Prison

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In the late 1970s, author Warren Fellows and two of his friends had the perfect scheme: they would traffic heroin between Australia and Thailand, concealing it flawlessly in high-tech, invisible compartments in suitcases. The money was there, and the process seemed foolproof--especially because they hadn't gotten caught in all their prior attempts at smuggling. But in 1978, all that would change, and Fellows would spend the next twelve years of his life enduring violations of his human rights of unimaginable hideousness.

Fellows, convicted in Thailand, spent these twelve years in Bangkok's infamous Bang Kwang prison, witnessing atrocities committed by both prison officials and his fellow inmates. He survived countless torturous beatings, was forced to eat rats, and endured solitary confinement under terrifyingly inhumane conditions. On a daily basis, Fellows also witnessed the torture and execution of those around him, their screams as common as the insects and vermin in his cell. Many of the prisoners in Bang Kwang turned to heroin--the vice that landed Fellows there in the first place--to escape their daily nightmares, and the prison guards often helped feed this deadly addiction.

Fellows, now a free man, has lived to write about these twelve ghastly years. He has captured the filth, pain, anger, hopelessness, and torture of life in a Thai prison with vivid, engrossing detail and brutal honesty.




    4,000 Days: My Life and Survival in a Bangkok Prison Reviews


    4,000 Days: My Life and Survival in a Bangkok Prison Reviews


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    72 Reviews
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    31 of 40 people found the following review helpful
    2.0 out of 5 stars Gave it 2 stars only because it is about Bangkok-deserves 1, November 22, 1999
    By A Customer
    I wish that I could say that I found this book to be intelligent and insightful, however, I can't. It does not take a rocket scientist to recognize that drug trafficking is a risky business that in all probability will result in imprisonment for the participants. Fellows does not attempt to argue that what he did was wrong. Quite the contrary, he owns up to the fact HE committed a serious crime, then goes on to fill the rest of his 204 pages with a lot finger-pointing. Too bad the finger is never pointed at himself.

    As far as mechanics are concerned, Fellows' writing style is underdeveloped and his descriptions are vague at best. This subject is one that fascinates a lot of people and he has had a first-hand experience (horrible though it was) that the majority of the population will never, ever know. Had he taken some time, or sought some assistance with his writing, he could have really delivered a powerful account of his time in Thai prison. He never develops any of... Read more

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    12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
    1.0 out of 5 stars This is the sum of 12 years in a prison?, May 26, 2000
    This is more of a outline for a book than anything else. Its hard to believe that this guy wrote about 4000 days in a Thai jail and had so little to say. There is very little detail to what went on day to day or even about the author's life inside. He says that he became very good friends with a man from New York, but he mets this guy, gets to be pals with him and then the guy from NY dies in the space of just one or two pages. He never even gives a clear understanding of his Thai language skills or the relationship between the Thais and the foriegners. A reader above said that the writing was "flawless". No way, I am a very poor writer and have most likely made many mistakes in what your reading now. So think about it.. If a guy like me found errors in it, you know its bad.
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    9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
    3.0 out of 5 stars Would be captivating if better written, August 29, 2004
    By 
    J. E. Nelson (Plainfield, Illinois) - See all my reviews
    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   
    Amazon Verified Purchase( What's this?)
    This book is, to some extent, a memoir of Warren Fellows' experience with being imprisoned in Thailand for 12 years. Mr. Fellows, a native of Australia, was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to smuggle heroin out of Thailand to Australia. During his trail and imprisonment, Mr. Fellows serves time at several different facilities in Thailand. Finally after 12 years of a life sentence, he is pardoned by the King and deported back to Australia.

    The prologue of the book begins by describing a scene involving a French prisoner who had a "problem" with the local insects. The scene, which is something right out of a horror movie, is described in excellent detail, enough to make my stomach churn. However, the book went downhill fast from there. The writing in the book is below average. I did not feel that the chapters flowed together at all. While I am sure that prison life is repetitive, Mr. Fellows described how he got into drugs, 12 years in prison, and what it... Read more
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