Sorrayuth lets his feelings be known from his prison cell (Updated)

Imprisoned former TV news anchor Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda let his feelings be known in a post to his Facebook account "Sorrayuth Labourer"

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Afternoon update

Sorrayuth lets his feelings be known from his prison cell

Imprisoned former TV news anchor Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda let his feelings be known in a post to his Facebook account "Sorrayuth Labourer":

“I have not thought about escape because that is not the end. Escape is not the solution to the problem," the post said.

"If I escaped inside Thailand, all people would remember my face. If I went abroad, overseas Thais there would also know me, so I would be arrested and sent back to Thailand. Or I would have to spend the rest of my life hiding and might never see my mother again.

“My stay in the prison will have an end. It is tough staying here but I have to adjust gradually. I have thought about the worst-case scenario and if I have to reach that point, I have to live with it. Life will go on. So don’t be worried, I can live here.”

From the post, which drew over 5,500 comments within the first hour, he clearly seemed resigned to life in jail.

Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda / Bangkok Post file photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd

Morning story

Sorrayuth's first night in prison passed quietly

King-oua Laohong

Former popular TV news anchor Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda, jailed for embezzling state advertising revenue, showed a normal degree of stress on his first night behind bars, according to the governor of Bangkok Remand Prison.

He said Sorrayuth has asked for and found solace in reading a book on Bhuddhism.

"Mr Sorrayuth is stressed at a normal level and does not need counselling by the prison psychologist, or a tranquilliser," Krit Krasaetip said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday the Appeal Court upheld his jail sentence of 13 years and four months for supporting malfeasance by a government official. The Supreme Court rejected his request for bail backed by a surety of 4 million baht, and he was taken from the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases in Dusit district to the remand prison in Chatuchak district on Tuesday evening.

New inmates normally became distressed, because most had no prior knowledge of the environment inside prison, Mr Krit said.

Sorrayuth, 51, was put into cell No.11 in the acceptance zone. He ate a prison dinner. Before bedtime he asked for a book on Buddhism, and went to sleep around midnight. A medical checkup showed no problems other than hypertension and high cholesterol. Appropriate medication was available in the prison, he said.

His lawyer, news anchor Pitchayatan "Bright" Chanput and former politician Chuvit Kamolvisit, now a television commentator, visited him at the prison on Wednesday morning.

Mr Krit said Sorrayut had coffee and patongko  (deep fried dough) on Wednesday morning, and then joined in activities with other inmates to kill time and avoid tension.

"Mr Sorrayuth did not make any special request. There are 4,100 prisoners, and the prison is not congested.

"Although Mr Sorrayuth is well known he does not excite other inmates, because there are many well-known people and politicians here," the governor of the Bangkok Remand Prison said.

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