Product Description

Hours after her husband, Kerry, was kidnapped by the Communist Laos government, Kay Danes tried to flee to Thailand with her two youngest children, only to be intercepted at the border. Torn from them and sent to a communist prison, it was then that the nightmare really began. Kay was forced to endure ten months of outrageous injustice and corruption while she and her husband fought for their freedom from behind the filth and squalor of one of Laos' secret gulags. Battling against a corrupt regime, she came to realise that there were many worse off people held captive in Laos - people without a voice, or any hope of freedom. Kay had to draw from the strength and spirit of those around her in order to survive this hidden hell, while the world media and Australian government tried desperately to have her and Kerry freed before it was too late and all hope was lost. For Kay, the sorrow and pain she saw people suffer at the hands of the regime in Laos where human rights are non-existent, will stay with her forever, and she vowed to tell the world what she has seen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94946 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-01
• Binding: Hardcover
• 303 pages

Margaret Reynolds, United Nations Australia
Kay writes from the heart, and her experience of life as a prisoner in Laos makes compelling reading.

Margaret Reynolds, United Nations, Australia.
'Kay writes from the heart, and her experience as life as a prisoner in Laos makes compelling reading.'

Irish Daily Star on Sunday
'A thrilling account full of drama that reveals a side of Laos the government don't want the tourists to see.'

Customer Reviews

Great Book of Heroic Proportions
As a woman I rarelr read prison stories but was amazedto find one in the shop I use. Also, this woman appeared to be innocent until framed by a communistic government for its own ulterior motives. Very disturbing account of her treatment. She was allowed anti-depressives and the Australian ambassador- who up till her arrest had been her personal friend- went through the motions of trying to help her but in reality- although she doesn't like to admit this- did precious little in real terms for her.
Also, the embassy doctor did an avaluation of her health from the back of a jeep- when she came to court he looked through the window and. seeing that her legs hadn't actually been broken, and that she was able to walk, declared her health 'good'. What a clown. How frustrating.
But this writer has made it through, found her kids again, and rebuilt her life. Now she is campaigning for the rights of people to whom bad things happen- but who, unlike herself, may not experience such a fortouitous outcome.
Would make a great film!!

Great Read
As the title of her book says, Danes endured a nightmare in Laos, imprisoned with her husband Kerry, for alleged wrongdoings related to a coveted gem mine in the country's north. The Danes ran a security firm that ended up being responsible for more than a tonne of sapphires from the Huay Xai mine. Kay says she and her husband, a former SAS soldier, were effectively held hostage for 10 months in Phontong prison by a "paranoid communist regime" intent on taking over the mine and getting back any gems spirited out of the country by the Danish mine manager who fled to Bangkok.

There were other aspects to the drama. The Danes also ran a firm in Thailand that provided security for an expatriate businessman who was involved in a struggle with one of the Kingdom's most notorious corporate figures. This aspect of the story is not fully explained in the book, presumably for legal reasons, given the Thai businessman's fearsome record of taking his opponents to court. Did this man pay the Lao government to keep the Danes - responsible for his opponent's personal security - in jail? You are led to believe that may have happened, but its not fully revealed or spelled out.



Danes writes emotively. Phontong is a "gulag" where prisoners live in squalor and are routinely tortured. "Gulag" seems a little over-the-top, but the bulk of text is well written and credible. How many other farangs have emerged to tell the tales from inside a Lao jail? Danes' account of her fellow prisoners is moving and upsetting. I was left wondering why prison officials in Vientiane would feel the need to beat prisoners - foreign, Hmong or Lao - and commit ugly acts such as burning people's genitals.

This book reinforces the belief shared by a number of Western embassies here that the Lao regime includes some ugly figures, not much better than the generals in Rangoon. A book like this, exposing the dark underbelly of Laos, is a stark contrast to the country's tourist promotions and the gentle manner of the bulk of its people. In the beginning one gets the impression that Kay Danes is playing a game with soldiers, blissfully unaware of the risks. At the end of the 10-month confinement and separation from her young children, she seems close to emotional breakdown. But you fully understand why she is campaigning on behalf of those suffering such outrageous cruelty and neglect in Asian jails.

A compelling Story
What a compelling story. It is the realisation of every parent's worst fears and nightmares--being taken away from your children and left in a place that seems alien and cruel. The horrifying accounts of cruelty and suffering shocked me. I felt that one of the strongest elements of the book was the author's realisation of the extent to which the people suffer, particularly the Hmong, and the determination that grew in her to help tell their story. This book appeals to anybody who has ever felt fear--and that is everybody. It's about losing everything but the support of family and friends, and realising that that is the most valuable thing any of us can have. It has drama, action, political intrigue, tension, sorrow and joy, and is at its centre an inspirational story about never giving up, and fighting for what you believe in. I thoroughly enjoyed it!