Here at WoWasis, we’re aware of lots of reasons why you don’t want to get thrown in jail or prison in Thailand. When you do, you’re at the mercy of an unbelievable amount of corruption and bribery practices involving prison authorities, police, your own lawyers, and the justice system itself. As a foreigner, a great way to get thrown in prison (or lose your life) is to engage in business in Thailand, although, as Kay Danes’ book Deliver Us From Evil regarding a situation in Laos points out, it could happen in any country in Asia.

Which brings us to Steve Raymond’s sobering and compelling book of justice gone wrong in Thailand, The Poison River (1995, ISBN 0-9642533-8-0). A U.S. expat, Raymond ran a tour business from Bangkok. A confessed do-gooder, he took the step of taking in two Thai youths, who lived in his apartment. With the permission of the boys’ families, he was paying their school tuitions, giving them a clean place to live, and sending them off to school every day. He wasn’t sleeping with them.

But that didn’t stop Thai authorities from arresting him on child molestation charges, based on a spurious newspaper article which was then reported in Bangkok’s two English language newspapers. It quickly went out of control as U.S. authorities began the process of also prosecuting him under U.S. law. How did the problems begin? Who two individuals in the U.S. associated with the Religious Right, who powered a media frenzy over unfounded allegations of child abuse. An amazing aspect to the story is that Raymond was acquitted by the Thai justice system, but was held in jail in Thailand anyway because the United States Embassy had rescinded his passport. Without the assistance of Amnesty International, he still might be rotting in jail today. As the story unfolds, he was finally brought back to the U.S. as a prisoner, where a judge ruled that all charges were unfounded, and he was granted his freedom.

Although written more than 15 years ago, this book is hardly out of fashion. In Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia these days, a Western adult living with any underage individual in any non legally-binding relationship is a potential recipe for disaster. Indeed, as reported in countless stories in Cambodian newspapers, Western-based religious organizations and NGOs are trolling for any westerner seen in the company of any individual who even appears to be underage. They are taking films and photographs, paying taxi drivers and hotel staff, and taking the alleged “evidence” to police. In many cases, this results in financial shake-downs and incarceration of innocent people.

Raymond’s book is the best we’ve read to date on how innocent individuals helping children in Asia can be abused by justice systems influenced by innuendo, unfounded charges, and corruption.