Every weekend the police set up a roadblock to catch motorcycle thieves and incarcerate drug suspects. The cops stop car drivers too, although the round-up is aimed at young people out for fun.

Anyone whose piss turns ‘purple’ gets a trip down to Soi 9 for processing.

And this is not Paris Hilton jail.

Soi 9 has no chairs, fans, or hot meals.

My friend Fabo came home the other night to discover his wife missing.

Not really worried, since she had a tendency to go out on a bender. He went to sleep. The next morning still no sign and her phone was shut off.

Concerned she might have had an accident, he checked the hospitals. No wife. Someone suggested a call to the police. The officer answering the call informed Fabo that his teelat had tested positive for ja bah or the speedy mad medicine and was residing at Chonburi Central Prison.

Prison in Thailand is notoriously medieval, since penal authorities deem criminals, innocent or guilty, in need of punishment. Everyone has done something wrong or else they wouldn’t be there.

Chonburi Central Prison thankfully has witnessed some improvements with the arrival of a new prison warden, however conditions within the walls are scary to say the least and Fabo was frightened for his wife’s welfare.

Being the weekend her release could not be arranged until Monday.

20000 baht was the bail.

Fabo gave the money to the family.

He later explained the circumstances of his wife’s arrest.

The police had come to their house to search for a family relative. The person was from Lao. No papers. Fabo’s wife told them to leave the house. They responded by forcing her to take a drug test which she failed. The story has holes in it, but Fabo was more interested in getting his wife out of prison than the truth.

Was Fabo’s wife not guilty?

No.

Does she deserve a week in prison and a year’s probation?

It’s what is proscribed by the law of the land.

Fabo said, “Maybe now she will be a good girl.”

The betting pool is running against this logic.

3-1.