Product Description

Tells the story of how a Liverpool-born woman rescued her brother from the notorious Bangkok Hilton prison.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #288780 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Jim Pollard, 'The Nation', July 30, 2006
This book is in another class. I enjoyed it.

About the Author
As a result of the experiences related in this memoir, Liverpool-born Debbie Singh is a well-known campaigner for Australian prisoners in foreign jails. Debbie is regularly called upon for media comment on issues related to her struggle. She continues to campaign for prisoner's rights.

Excerpted from You'll Never Walk Alone: A True Story about the 'Bangkok Hilton' by Debbie Singh. Copyright © 2006. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
One thing is for sure; you can never know from one day
to the next what life has in store for you. Seven years ago,
when I was merrily juggling a business, a household and
a family, I would never have dreamed that in the coming
years I’d be on the telephone discussing foreign affairs
with the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, or
debating on-air with one of his key ministers, Alexander
Downer. I never would have pictured myself comfortably
sitting down to breakfast with the Governor of that
infamous prison, the ‘Bangkok Hilton’, while outside 15
prison inmates ran a marathon that I had helped organise
in order to raise money for disadvantaged children in the
Bangkok slums. I never could have imagined that I would
do many of the things that I’ve done, and lived through
the incredible events that now form my memories. So
many people have told me that my story is unbelievable.
If I hadn’t lived it, I think I would agree with them.
But what is unbelievable, really, is the capacity of
humanity to treat strangers with such extremes—in
the last seven years, I think I’ve witnessed the worst
and the best of human behaviour, from utter contempt
and degradation, to an awe-inspiring capacity for love,
coupled with a genuine desire to make the world a better
place for everyone. My journey has been harrowing at
times, desperate at others, and sadly doesn’t have the
happy ending for which I had hoped. Still, I don’t think
there’s much that I would have done differently, and
though the ending is not what I first wanted to achieve,
it has brought a lot more to my life than I could possibly
have imagined.
I grew up in Liverpool, England, in a wonderfully loving
family. I was the youngest of four children in the Doran
household, my mother having had three boys before I was
born. Kevin and Daniel were twins, but sadly Daniel died
in infancy. Pat was born a year later, before I came along
six years later; the only girl and the youngest member
of the family. That was until the 1970s when my mother
became increasingly interested in the idea of fostering.
My older brothers were flying the coop —leaving home
and getting married—and I don’t think Mum could bear
the thought of an ‘empty nest’. My father was largely
unaware that my mother had begun making enquiries
to the Merseyside Social Services about fostering. I was
privy to this secret and was so excited at the thought of
having younger brothers or sisters. I was always hovering
over her shoulder when she was on the phone to the
agency, coaxing her on. I had been the youngest for long
enough, I felt, and I didn’t want to be the only one still at
home either. We both began dropping hints and generally
bringing up the subject whenever Dad was home from
work, and it didn’t take long before he cottoned on to
what we were plotting and accepted with good-natured
resignation that it was going to happen, with or without
his blessing. I remember him saying something to the
effect of; ‘Do what you like—you always will anyway!’
And so our family went through the screening process
and within a few months, short-stay foster children who
needed temporary accommodation, perhaps due to a
parent being in hospital or because they were in preadoption
proceedings, became part of our family.
John came into our family as a foster child when he
was about seven years old, after a pretty rough start in
life. He was a lost and very sad little boy; looking into
his eyes you only saw sorrow. He had never had a father
figure, and his mother, who had cerebral palsy, just
wasn’t capable of looking after him. The placement with
us was not the first time John had been placed in care
with other families. His mother had indicated that she
could no longer cope with John, so his length of stay
with us was always presumed to be long term. From the
moment he entered our house, it was pretty obvious that
this skinny little guy had been through a lot. When the
social worker brought him to us, all he had with him were
the clothes he wore, which were two sizes too small, a
change of underwear, and a small box of broken toys. In
anticipation of his arrival, Mum had already bought new
clothes, toys and shoes, so within hours of joining our
family, John’s transformation began. He wolfed down
every bit of food that was offered to him, and it was clear
that he was undernourished.
It was impossible for our hearts not to go out to him,
and our immediate and extended family quickly grew
to love him as one of our own. And that is how I’ve
always thought of him—as my brother. In my mind, the
distinction between blood and foster relations seems
ludicrous—if you grow up in the same house and share
your lives together, the bonds are the same as blood ties.
To this day it annoys the life out of me when people refer
to him as somehow ‘outside’ of the family, simply because
he is not my blood brother. For us, the sense of family
was always very strong. We looked out for and supported
each other, and always have. For me, this was no different
when it came to John. He was one of us. Simple as that.

Customer Reviews

bangkok uncovered
Honest and often disturbing - but told with a surprising humour - Singh's book is the remarkable story of how a family was split.
In this extraordinary account, Singh describes how her brother was sent to jail, how she campaigned to get him out and how he then dumped his child on her. Not for the faint hearted.

Most different
l consider myself knowledgeable about the Thai penal system,
and l certainly learnt things from Debbie.
She shows un-relentless love for her Stepbrother, a
love that normal siblings may not show to their own
brothers and sisters. She loves the family so much,
she near as damn sells everything, and in the end
has to move to smaller house, to pay for what she had
spent, on visits to Thailand, and phone calls. In
the end she in my mind beat the system, as she was
the first person to get a prisoner sent home
(to Australia) but to serve his sentence in his
own country.She got as far as the Prime minister!!
On top of all that, she then gets involved in helping
deprived children, and her fund raising was to say the
least unbelievable.

********Spoiler do not read, if you want to know a
part of the book,l didn't expect*******
I thought her brother could have shown more
thanks for his sister bringing his own son from
Thailand, and l know that is one mean feat!
He didn't even tell her he was released from
of prison. He lives 3 kilometres away and doesn't
even keep in touch. How heartbreaking for her,
and his son.
She didn't take his son to Australia for herself,
she took him for her brother, and the thanks he
has shown, well enough said. I pray if l ever
get put in a Thai prison by mistake l would
have Debbie as sister.

A tragedy-if only she understood her "brother"
Although the author did a good and great deed in assisting her "brother" I don't think she should have demanded anything from him at the end. This is known as non-obligatory love which should exist between family members. Of course John (the guy put in prison) was adopted and it seems things weren't all right between John and his adoptive family.

The writer did a wonderful deed in assisting her brother in regular visits, food hampers and filling out the application for a royal pardon which eventually got him a couple of years off his time in the more pleasant Australian jail (to which he was transferred). However, in return she expected him to live with her and her family after getting out, despite not being close at all in the years before he was jailed. As far as I can see, going back to live with this sister would have prevented him from starting a new life in Australia, something he'd never previously succeeded in doing as the family emigrated from Liverpool when he was a teenager. She would also have reminded him of being in prison. Constantly seeing her everyday along with her "great deed" in his face all the time, well, no free minded young male wants that around their neck for the rest of their life. Also, it seems from the book that John isn't particularly keen on getting to know his son who he'd never really known before but in the book his sister judges him for this which she shouldn't really do and if she'd learnt anything about Thai culture she wouldn't. To me, it seems more like she's never lost here judgmental Liverpoodling religious ways. Living with her would have forced him to know his son, which perhaps he felt he wasn't good enough to do, or simply wanted to start a new life.

The main focus of the falling out with John is that he wanted to be picked up by a girl friend when he got out of jail. Well I suppose he should have probably politely asked his sister first if she'd mind but perhaps he thought that whatever he said she take offence. The author fails to understand that this man has not been with a girl for more than six years and had she gone with her sister, when would it end? I think what JOhn was looking for was a free life hence he told her that it would have been better if she'd just sent him the cash every month and avoided any close obligatory relationships even if it meant several more months in Jail. Anyhow who knows, maybe he could have completed his own royal pardon application in time as other prisoners do.

Another gripe I have is the author's view that trying to cash forged travellers checks isn't a serious crime and shouldn't deserve a prison sentence. It is serious. In Australia it may not be as shops may have insurance against that kind of theft, I don't know, but in Thailand if a small family owned hotel cashes the check they lose the money, and most people in Thailand aren't as well off as Australians. Also, I don't know why she bothers to take the vastly superior attitude and some cheap shots at the so called pedophile when she knew nothing about his case. Under Thai law you can imprisoned for sex with a 17 year old and bars don't make it clear who might be less than 18.

Obviously Debbie Singh means well and undertook a lot of effort on behalf of her brother for which she deserves praise. Nobody is perfect of course, but she might also like to understand people a bit better but at least her true nature shows through in the book which isn't always the case so she still gets 4stars.