Daniel Sancho Bronchalo is serving a life sentence inside an extremely dangerous prison in Thailand (Image: RTVE/AP)
Daniel Sancho Bronchalo is currently serving a life sentence inside an extremely dangerous, overcrowded in .
Earlier this year Mr Bronchalo was convicted of the murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, a 44-year-old plastic surgeon from Colombia, when both were vacationing on the Thai holiday island of Koh Pha-ngan in August 2023.
The son of Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre, a prominent Spanish actor, was remanded for 12 months in Koh Samui prison, a much friendlier and safer centre but still a far cry from his former luxurious life.
Koh Samui prison houses only 500 inmates compared to the over 5,400 in his new location.
Surat Thani prison poses significant dangers (Image: RTVE)
Located in the south of the country on the Malawa peninsula lies Surat Thani which poses significantly greater dangers.
The conditions here are much harsher than those in Koh Samui: cells are overcrowded, often holding up to 24 prisoners for over 12 hours a day, without exception.
Most of the inmates are serving sentences of more than 25 years, mostly for violent crimes, and with the threat of violence so high security forces are constantly on standby to make sure that the population doesn’t riot.
There are no mattresses, and prisoners sleep on towels on the floor if they are lucky going 16 or 17 hours without food.
Police raids often leave cells in disarray and prisoners half-naked, according to reports from Lecturas.
Most prisoners sleep on towels on the floor (Image: RTVE)
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Up to 24 prisoners are held in cells for over 12 hours a day (Image: RTVE)
The prison also doesn’t have enough resources to clothe the inmates, leaving many of them half-naked and shivering, fighting for ragged pieces of clothing.
Surat Thani prison’s sanitation also has a lot to be desired for thanks to stretches resources with it having a mortality rate of 25% every two years and inmates can forget about having many visitors with only blood relatives allowed to pay a visit.
This will be Daniel Sancho’s home for at least the next twelve months and Thai regulations may require him to serve one-third of his sentence on Thai soil before being handed over to Spanish justice.