A BRIT who spent 18 years in a hellhole Thai prison has revealed how he had to fight inmates who took bets on killing him – before nightmare struck again when he finally returned to the UK.
Jonathan Wheeler, now 66, travelled to south east Asia in the 1980s to learn martial arts and spent his days competing against other fighters to make money.
Jonathan Wheeler, left, spent 18 years at a prison in Thailand after he was caught smuggling drugs Credit: Supplied
The Brit had travelled to Thailand to learn Muay Thai and fought in competitions to make money while he was there Credit: Jonathan Wheeler
After agreeing to smuggle six kilograms of a potent opioid across the border for money, he was caught and sentenced to a vile Thai prison.
Despite being locked up with Chinese syndicates and Thai drug lords for almost two decades, his troubles continued to haunt him when he returned to the UK.
Jonathan was born in Southampton and worked as a roofer in the 1980s.
He decided to leave his life behind and travel to Thailand where he would train in the martial arts of Muay Thai.
He had his death sentence returned to 50 years if he agreed to plead guilty Credit: Jonathan Wheeler
While incarcerated, he fought slum boys who were known for dealing drugs and killing others in prison Credit: Jonathan Wheeler
He used scissors to cut the face of a Chinese mafia member after the two got into an argument Credit: Jonathan Wheeler
Jonathan returned to the UK in 2012 and on his second day back was robbed in London Credit: Facebook
Travelling around the country on a Yamaha motorbike, Jonathan would enter to survive and one day bumped into an Australian man with a business proposition.
The Aussie offered Jonathan money if he agreed to smuggle a large quantity of opioids across the border.
But while going through the airport, his 6kg stash of drugs was found and he was arrested by .
Jonathan, who was 34 at the time, was facing the death penalty – a common sentence for drug smugglers in Thailand.
When he heard he was being sentenced to death, he said the “blood drained” out of his head and all he could do was “live in the moment”.
“You don’t think of the past or future, you think what the hell is going on,” he added.
Jonathan agreed to plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence of 50 years at Bang Kwang Central .
The site is a men’s prison, 11km north of Bangkok, and houses death row inmates.
Beginning his sentence in 1995, Jonathan said he had to fight a lot of inmates to survive the hellish jail – especially the Samurais.
With covering their whole body and faces, the Samurais are slum boys from Thailand.
Jonathan said: “They are all Thai boxers because it is a poor-man’s sport.
There were a lot of them in the prison and they were all interconnected with each other.”
“They would always do the hits or collect drug in prison.
“When they stab you, they only go for the heart or lung. They only go for the kill.
“If you see one with a knife, it means that they are out to kill someone. And they are quite good at killing.”
One day while Jonathan was sitting in a cell, a 40-year-old Samurai entered the confined space and began provoking Jonathan.
The Thai had taken a bet with the other Samurais that he could beat up a foreigner at the prison.
Arguing with Jonathan, the Samurai punched him on the side of his throat.
He said: “He was a proper coordinated boxer so he knew what he was doing.”
“When I turned, he hit my temple and made me quite dizzy.”
“He had gone to hit me again, but I blocked it and grabbed the back of his head.”
With a grip on the Samurai, Jonathan pushed down on the man’s head and broke his back.
“He was having treatment afterwards and never fought again”, he added.
Jonathan said his fighting skills he learned from Muay Thai and Thai helped him survive in prison.
The Thai slum boys were not the only inmates the Brit had to fend off while at the prison.
He said that he was once arguing with a 14K member, who was getting agitated from their conversation.
The 14K is a group from the Chinese crime syndicate, The Triads, that are based in Hong Kong and focus on large-scale global drug trafficking.
Faced with an angry Triad member, Jonathan went to arm himself against the criminal.
He said: “I went into the barber shop and the guards were asleep on a deck chair.
“Its not like a British prison where there are six officers to control one prisoner.
“It’s just one guard present until the others come in later in the day.
“On this particular day, the Triad pissed me off, so I had to show with some scissors.”
“I did some practise shots in the mirror and the guard woke up and saw me. I told him ‘I am only messing about'”.
Entering the main corridor, Jonathan saw the Triad and ran up to him before cutting under his eye with the pair of scissors.
During the fiasco, one of the guards caught the Brit launching his attack, which led to him being sent to isolation for four months.
Despite people getting beaten, stabbed, and killed, Jonathan managed to get out of prison after 18 years following an amnesty agreement.
He flew back to the UK in 2012 and spent the first few days of his release at a temporary accommodation in London.
On his second day as a free man, Jonathan went on a night out to enjoy himself.
He said: “I ended up getting drunk after three cans of Fosters since I hadn’t drank for 18 years.”
“I went into a pub with music, sambucca, and jager bombs.”
“A group of guys were buying me drinks and I got proper drunk”.
“I woke up the morning at 7.30am in front of someone’s doorway only 50 yards from my hotel.”
Jonathan realised as he came to his senses that his shoes, bag and the cash he had in his pocket had been robbed.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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