Product Description

Written from his cell and smuggled out page by page, Colin Martin's autobiography chronicles an innocent man's struggle to survive inside one of the world's most dangerous prisons. After being swindled out of a fortune, Colin was let down by the hopelessly corrupt Thai police. Forced to rely upon his own resources, he tracked down the man who conned him and, drawn into a fight, he accidentally killed that man's bodyguard. Colin was arrested, denied a fair trial, convicted of murder and thrown into prison, where he remained for 8 years. Honest and often disturbing, but told with a surprising humour, "Welcome to Hell" is the remarkable story of how Colin was denied justice again and again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1159166 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 231 pages

Review
'A fascinating read, horrifying and entertaining in equal measure. Superbly written, Martin's descriptive narrative brings you deep into the bowels of the notorious Bangkok Hilton.' - Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo'Reads like an unputdownable work of fiction...' - Metro'Absolutely stunning...' - The Star

About the Author
Colin Martin was born in Liverpool and worked all over the world as a welder before going to Thailand. On arrival in Bangkok he was swindled out of half a million pounds. Martin didn't go home however, and began searching for the conman. When he eventually tracked him down a fight took place and a member of the gang was killed. Martin ended up being arrested for murder, denied a fair trial and spent more than 8 years in prison.

Customer Reviews

A very memorable book. Rings true.
I picked up "Welcome to Hell" shortly after arriving in Bangkok and being pretty disgusted right off the bat at what I encountered. From the smut and filth, to the poverty and open disregard for nearly every law. And I've got to say, if that's what it's like for an average American dude just checking the scene out it's not hard to imagine that Martin's story is accurate.

Many people are getting hung up on the culpability of his actions and that this somehow negate the behavior of the Thai authorities. People have the same criticism of "Midnight Express." But to argue this is to miss the entire point; even if Martin did seek vengeance on men who had done him wrong, how can anyone deny the horrid abuse of basic human rights that he encountered? And the sad thing is, Thais and most critiques of the book do not even try and disavow this.

To me, even more alarming than the filth, brutality, and squalor of the prisons themselves are Martin's depictions of the Thai criminal courts; they would seem to be nothing short of psychological torture. Even though I read the book some time ago, I still remember the mockery of justice that this man endured at the hands of utterly corrupt judges and police officers who come across as savage perversions of civil servants. One has to really ask themselves if any of it seems so far-fetched and what motivation Martin would have to exaggerate. It is quite simply so loaded with excruciating detail it's beyond the pale.

Thailand is my least favorite country I have ever visited, and this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand what lies beneath the syrupy rehearsed "sawat-de-kraps." Since my trip, I make it a point to read nearly any story about this nasty country and they almost all involve some form of violence, abuse, mistreatment of refugees...you name it. I also think that "Welcome to Hell" is superior to William Hayes's "Midnight Express". Whereas Hayes's account seems a bit slick and ultimately somewhat shallow, this book shows a deep range of emotion and impressions of a foreign culture.

My heart goes out to Colin Martin, who seems like a relatively decent guy.

Superficial and not convincing.........
Like most of your "Bangkok Hilton" books (and there are many) this one seems a little exaggerated and at times unbelievable due to the sensationalism that surounds this type of story. Thailand is notorious for there sub-standard prisons and I truly do feel bad for Mr. Martin who spent 8 years in one but if the "Hilton" (name given to any Thai prison that a foreigner is sentenced to) that he was sent to was as bad as he claims then why didn't he allow himself to be transfered back to Ireland after 4 years which was an option. On page 210 the author states that "I could have asked the Thai government to tranfer me back home to Ireland after I'd served 4 years but I had decided to stay and fight my case in the belief that I could eventually win." Hmm, eventually win? after all the hype about the corruption of the prosecutor, judge, and his own defense lawyers that Mr. Martin tirelessly repeats throughout his story, it almost seems like a contradiction.

After finishing this book I felt like there were pieces of a puzzle missing. The author states that he accidently killed the con mans bodyguard yet the cause of this mans death was do to being stabbed repeatedly. Is this another conspiracy fabricated by the Thai authorities against Mr. Martin? Did his first wife leave him because he had "lost everything" or is there more to this? The author lived in Thailand for 3 years waiting to seek revenge on the people that conned him yet he gives the reader little insight as to what he was doing during those 3 years except that he was working as a welder and married a women who he claims did not love him and only married him for his money. According to the author young Thai women only marry older men for there money.

The author voices his utter contempt for not only the Thai "system" but for Thais in general making himself sound rather narrow and ignorant which gave his story less credibility to this reader not to mention the inacurate explanations surounding some Thai customs that the author attempted to convey.

So was Mr. Martin an unfortunate victim who was "screwed" by everyone? Was he simply a poor judge of character? or is he just a person (like many people in this world) who absolutely refuses to take any responsibility for his actions? Maybe a little of each?

FRIGHTENING but REAL & TRUE! So It Goes
I agree there are too many unanswered questions in this book, especially surrounding the circumstances involving the alleged murder. Martin says he 'can't remember' but personally I think the guy did it. He was so enraged at having been conned out of nearly half a million bucks he beat a guy to death. It's the only explanation that makes sense w/ the info he provides us. So it goes.
What is interesting is reading about the conditions of the prison, not the physical ones, which aren't all that revelatory or surprising for anyone who's familiar w/ Asian prison systems but the sadistic nature of the 'commandos' or prison guards & the complete lack of oversight. Thailand, ranked #70 by Transparency International on its corruption scale, where #1 (Denmark) is the least corrupt (I have lived before in Thailand for years, I would place it much much lower, perhaps 100 or so) is a country where every police officer needs to be bribed otherwise you could find yourself in REAL trouble.
For example, a good friend of mine busted his arm driving a motorbike & was taken to hospital, a private clinic, the only one open at that hour & after being taken care of was told he had to pay B8000. He had only B3000 on him (at any other hospital it would have cost around B2000) so he was taken to jail till he could pay the remainder. The second night of being locked in a bare cell w/no windows, toilet, food or water, the prison guards all got drunk & one of them the youngest, about 19 or so, dragged him, an American citizen, out of the cell & thought it funny to hold his revolver to the guy's head & pull the trigger back far as it would go before firing. Considering how drunk the guard was, my friend supposed he was going to die right there. But he didn't. So it goes.
After being released, he complained to the American Embassy in Bangkok who didn't seem to care at all. So it goes.
So I do believe a lot of what Martin tells us about the guards. The other guy who reviewed this, Pat from Thailand, is indicative of a Thai population unable or unwilling to admit that the entire society of Thailand is corrupt from top to bottom. I have had friends sent to Bangkok Hilton & tell me they saw inmates murdered by the guards. I've seen the police beat kids in back alleys nearly to death for being caught w/ a joint of weed. I've been stopped by the police for no reason & searched, putting their paws in my pockets where it would have been easy to plant a little bag of drugs that could send me to prison for life or worse a death-sentence. There is absolutely no oversight whatsoever, the government is completely dysfunctional & once in prison you are forgotten about by everyone, an untouchable if you will & despised by all Thai people.
Why did Martin refuse to go back to Ireland after 4 years? After 4 years of torture would you be in your right mind? This, like many others, 'Mr. Nice,' for example, is a book where if the author wrote the truth straight out he & his family would be killed. Believe me. He says he wanted to stay &clear his name. I think, after 4 years, he got used to prison life & was scared, like many other inmates, of leaving - a quite common psychological phenomenon.
The book does offer a horrifying glimpse into the cruel, barbaric, sadistic underbelly of the 'Land of Smiles' & a good read for anyone planning to visit Thailand for awhile or live there or has friends or family who are. B30,000 is more than enough to get the right cop to murder someone from you. No investigation. No body. No problem. I was told this once by an actual officer offering his services. Of course I was shocked but then, you know, so it goes.
Try also 'Sunday Smuggler' which takes place in Indonesia & involves a drug offense instead of a murder case but equally as brutal treatment & abuse.
Just make sure if you visit Southeast Asia you have $10,000 handy to pay off any cops, prosecutors or judges lest you end up in some hole where you could just as easily die as live & where nobody gives a 'darn' one way or another. Don't expect your embassy to help! Once inside, you're on your own.

Rizzob