All language subtitles for locked_up_abroad_s04e04_bangkok

The girls were prostitutes, but that
didn't shock me.

It basically was slave trade.

I was being let into some deeper, secret
area of this syndicate.

It's my life, my freedom for smuggling
heroin.

Why didn't I back out when I had the
chance?

Why didn't I back out?

I'd grown up in Melbourne. I had an
average middle -class upbringing, but

conservative parents who were quite
religious.

Other than that, it was pretty normal.

I'd always had a sense of adventure.

So I'd come to Bangkok to try my luck at
teaching English.

I was 28 and ready for a big change.

I fell in love with the city pretty much
immediately.

It was just so many different things.

There's whole families on motorcycles
zipping past you.

It's just like an explosion for the
senses.

It's fantastic.

It's so different from a city like
Melbourne.

working at a small school in a slum area
of Bangkok.

The money wasn't great, but I used it
for the experience.

I found it a lot of fun.

The interaction with the kids, seeing
the smiles on their faces, that was the

most enjoyable part about teaching.

Bangkok at night is a kaleidoscope of
colour.

The city does come alive.

There were a lot of expats that were
living there.

And we used to frequent the red light
districts where there was a lot of bars.

There's a lot of pretty girls.

It's a seedy scene, but we weren't
looking at it like that.

We were whisked away into this fantasy
world and we loved it, whether it was

right or wrong.

It boosted our egos enormously to have
all this attention paid to us by all

these beautiful girls.

But it wasn't ideal for the type of
salary I was earning.

The bars and clubs are quite expensive
and my lifestyle and salary didn't match

up.

At the end of the summer, the work at
the school was drying up.

I had no savings whatsoever.

And I was thinking, if I have to move
back to Australia, my dream of living

working in Bangkok has become a complete
failure.

I'd met up with my friend Rainer to do
tarot card reading.

He was German. He was, I think, a little
more experienced than he led on at the

beginning. I was telling him about my
financial predicament.

He said there was this visa scam helping
local girls get passports

to live in other countries.

We as expats would marry them, but the
certificates were fake and that every

foreigner was doing it.

He said that it was low risk.

and you could make up to a thousand
dollars for any one job.

I asked him what would happen

if I was caught and he said you'd be
deported from the country that you were

flying into.

Worst case scenario was it was maybe a
five -year sentence.

If I hadn't have been so broke I
probably wouldn't have considered it at

I knew I was crossing a line, but it
seemed to be a small risk.

So I told Rainer I'm willing to go ahead
and do it.

That night, Rainer took me to meet an
Australian guy, Rick, who owns a bar.

He worked with the Thai syndicate.

They were looking for your typical
middle class.

clean -cut expat.

I was feeling excited and a little
nervous as well because I didn't know if

was going to be suitable or whether I
really wanted to go ahead and do it in

first place.

Rainer introduced me to Rick. He asked
me if I was a cop.

I said obviously not.

I told Rick I'm ready to do it.

I was taken a bit aback that it was
happening so fast, but it's Bangkok,

foreign, and it seemed okay, just go
with the flow.

I was aware the girls were prostitutes,
but that didn't shock me.

I thought at the time, naively, that the
girls would be able to make more money,

but I realise now that the money was
really going to the pimps.

I feel totally ashamed that I was
involved in that type of thing.

But back then, it seemed everyone was
doing it, so it wasn't unusual.

The next day, I got my first job.

I felt some trepidation, I guess.

I went to this house in the suburbs.

Hi, I'm Tim.

And the woman in charge introduced me to
the girl that I would be supposedly

marrying. It was all very surreal.

She left us alone to work out a story in
case we were asked any questions about

immigration.

She was a pretty sexy girl. I mean, she
was easy on the eye and so

I had no problem there.

But it was just sort of very awkward.
Why are we coming to Japan?

We spent a few hours rehearsing our
story, how long we had known each other,

down to what the colour of the phone
was. Because if you got something like

wrong, you would be found out.

When is your birthday?

Yeah, my birthday.

That afternoon

we went to the Japanese consulate.

We took our passports, we had a fake
marriage certificate.

It was a long queue.

It was a little bit stressful.

There was a risk of being caught.

When we got to the top, I was more
concentrating on what could go wrong.

And the girl, she just grabbed my arm
and started showing me some affection.

And I sort of eased into the role.

They didn't look at us at all. It's like
for them it was routine. They just took

the documents and we were on our way.

The next morning we flew to Japan and we
headed for the immigration counter.

I thought this is the most serious part
of this job. It's like we could get

caught here, something could go wrong.

We got to the counter, handed over our
documents.

Everything was stamped and we were
through.

It seemed so easy, it was incredible.

It felt fantastic.

I just said to the girl, we're on our
honeymoon.

She laughed.

We got outside. We were met by a limo.

Okay, bye.

Bye.

They whisked the girl away and they
handed me my money.

One minute we're married and on our
honeymoon, the next minute I'm thinking,

well, I'll probably never see this girl
ever again.

But I'm $1 ,000 up.

When I got back to Bangkok, I was in a
fantastic mood.

And I headed straight for Rick's bar.

I felt pretty cool and cocky.

It seemed like I had girls at my beck
and call.

Yes, I could do this. No problem.

It was easy.

After a few drinks, I got talking to
this girl.

Her name was Nock and she was beautiful.

She had lovely eyes and lovely long
flowing hair. We hit it off immediately.

Things never seemed better for me.

Over the next couple of months, I got
some really good contracts teaching

English.

Knock and I spent a lot of time
together.

My real dream was that we would get in
an apartment together.

But I'd need to have the money for the
deposit.

I kept in touch with Rick one night and
he told me there were other job

opportunities coming up and it was even
easier than doing trips to Japan.

We just had to take the flight to Hong
Kong and just get the passport stamped

immigration. Better money.

I had thought that maybe I could just
stick teaching English, but this seemed

too tempting to pass up. It was an
opportunity for me to get the money to

our own apartment.

I said to Rick, fine, I can do this.

Yeah, I'm in.

Over the next

six months, I did three trips to Hong
Kong.

It was easy and it was monkey business.

By the fourth trip I was pretty
confident, even cocky.

The girl and I, we arrived at the
immigration desk, we handed over our

and immediately there seemed to be a
problem.

We didn't know what.

The immigration officer called in a
colleague.

I was starting to get a little bit
anxious.

We could be in some trouble.

Sorry, what's the problem?

Come with me. I've got a plane to catch,
what's the problem?

Come with me, okay?

The officer took us off into different
rooms to interrogate us.

Come and sit down.

They knew what we were up to and they
wanted to catch us out. Can I have your

passport?

I was worried that the girl may blow her
story and we could end up in jail for a

long time.

I figured I have to play this a certain
way or I'm done for.

She has a problem with her passport.

Problem? I acted it out that, you know,
as her fiancé, I need to know. You tell

me what the problem is. I don't think
that she's your fiancé.

What? I had to convince this officer
that what we were doing was totally

Where do you live? Bangkok. How long
have you known each other?

I know him six months.

Six months. Why have you come to Hong
Kong?

Because I'm a journalist.

I come to do research.

What kind of researching?

Chinese mysticism.

They asked the same questions over and
over again for hours.

She

was

trying to wear me down, hoping that I
would admit to what I was doing.

So I decided to up the ante a little
bit. I started giving her veiled

And I said...

Would you or your family want to be
treated if they came to Australia?

Would they be happy to be treated the
same way at immigration?

Would you?

Okay, you wait here.

I was thinking, where the hell is this
going?

The punishment for people smuggling can
be five years in prison.

Suddenly the door opens, she comes in.

Oh my God, what's happening now?

Okay, Mr. Slater.

You're free to go.

It was a close call, but finally we did
it.

We were walking away and I thought, I'm
pretty good at this.

They can interrogate me, they can't
break me. It's like, okay, this is my

now.

I knew I'd burned a bridge here, but
there was plenty of other countries.

Okay, if something comes up in the
future, I'm definitely available for

Back in Bangkok, a couple of weeks
later, Raina called me and he wanted to

to me immediately.

He sounded serious, so I knew it would
have something to do with the Thai

Syndicate.

I hopped on a motorcycle taxi.

I was feeling this is another adventure.

I get to Rainer's apartment.

Hey buddy, how are you?

His girlfriend's inside. He leads me out
into the corridor and says we need to

talk under four eyes.

Yeah, no problem.

It was his way of saying that he wanted
us to be talking alone.

He told me the syndicate was really
impressed with the way I handled the

interrogation. And now they wanted me to
meet an American guy, Bradley.

But this is no monkey business.

This is serious business.

I asked him, is it still drugs?

And he told me yes.

Is that a problem?

Now I'm thinking the risks are
definitely huge.

But the money's going to be a hell of a
lot better as well.

So it may not hurt to at least hear what
they've got to say.

I can meet this guy. I mean, let's go
that far.

I thought there's no harm in that at
all.

Downtown, yeah?

I headed downtown on the bike.

I'm definitely feeling anxious because
the level's gone up.

It's gone up 10 degrees.

In a weird way, I was feeling a little
flattered. I was being led into some

deeper, secret area of this syndicate.

I walked up to this really nice,
expensive hotel.

I went into the bar and waited for
Bradley.

Bradley arrived ten minutes later.

He had this confident swag about him.

He looked businesslike.

He seemed to know exactly what he was
about.

He suggested we go to dinner.

It was his treat. I thought, yeah, this
is great.

Bradley insisted on ordering everything.

Looking back on it, it's like they're
hooking you in.

Bradley said to me, you're one of us
now.

This is a promotion.

He said the syndicate would like you to
take some heroin into Los Angeles.

My first thoughts were the risks are
high.

I knew in Thailand that I could get the
death penalty for doing anything with

heroin.

especially smuggling.

So it's not a game anymore. It's like
I'm playing with my life here.

And how much heroin? He said it would be
between 4 and 8 kilos and that they

would pay me $10 ,000 and that I'd
really only even be doing a half run.

You just got to check the bag in.

We got a guy in Los Angeles who picks it
up for you. We got a 100 % track

record. No one had been busted. It was
foolproof.

He said, we wouldn't offer it to you if
we didn't think you could do it.

Look around, man.

Take a moment.

He had a silver tongue. He was very
suave.

He knew what buttons to push.

He said, you can forget about your money
problems. We'll pay you half them.

My mind's racing at this point because
the offer's tempting, but is it worth

risking? my life, my freedom, for
smuggling heroin.

I only suggested that I meet him at
Rick's bar the next evening and give my

decision then.

My head was spinning. There was a
million thoughts

racing through it.

One... Part of me saying I can do this,
the other part saying not. You're

stupid. Back away.

I had no idea that I was walking into a
huge trap.

None at all.

The next day, all I could think about
was Bradley's proposal.

I can't believe that I even considered
it.

It's madness.

It's absolutely insane.

It was someone different back then. It
wasn't me.

I looked at it closely and I thought,
it's a half run.

Once I've checked in the suitcase, I can
forget about it.

It's actually pretty easy.

I convinced myself.

I can do it.

That evening I went to Rick's bar and I
knew exactly what I was going to say.

Well, I'm in.

My heart was racing thinking, I'm in,
but am I really ready?

The plan was that in two weeks' time I
would check into a hotel with my

girlfriend.

The heroin would be delivered to me
there, and then I would take the flight

LA.

Bradley, true to his word, he gave me
the money.

So you're in. You can't back out.

It's too late now.

I got back to my apartment.

The $5 ,000 was all there.

I was feeling great because I had money
again.

But also there was this trepidation I'm
doing something dangerous.

Hello? The first thing I did was I rang
mum and told her that I would be home

for Christmas.

She hadn't seen me for a year so she was
pretty excited.

Love you too.

Bye. Bye.

I felt a bit guilty.

I knew that mum would be absolutely
horrified if she knew what I was doing.

As it got closer to the day, inwardly I
was on edge.

But I was going to go through it even
though I had doubts.

The night before I was due to leave.

I met up with Bradley and he ran through
the procedure with me again.

It was getting very close to the time,
so I was just a

lot more nervous, really concentrating
on being focused on what I had to do.

After we'd finished, we took a tuk -tuk
back to the hotel.

Bradley received a very quick phone call
on his mobile.

All he said on it was, yeah, fine, and
hung up.

We arrived at the car park.

It was quite dark.

This figure emerged from the shadows.

He acknowledged Bradley briefly.

He opened his boot, pulled out of it a
suitcase.

I knew exactly what was being handed to
him. They said, this is the suitcase

with the heroin in it.

We were in a public place, so we all
were feeling tense.

No one wanted to hang around.

The Thai guy, that was it. He was gone
in a moment.

Vanished.

We reached the entrance of the hotel.

Bradley put the suitcase down.

I picked it up and it felt heavy.

Okay, this is closer to eight kilos than
Ford.

We got to the room.

Bradley unzipped the suitcase.

I saw the heroin.

I felt my heart fluttering.

It wasn't hidden at all.

It was just wrapped in towels.

Bradley assured me that the x -ray was
not going to pick up on the bag anyway.

And he also had a backup plan.

The plan was simply that the suitcase
would be padlocked.

Knock and I would kiss our goodbyes.

She would leave the airport.

And if they wanted to open the bag.

Open your bag, please.

I'm to act surprised and say, oh, my
girlfriend must have the key.

One second. Yes, okay.

And I can just duck out of the airport
and be gone just like that.

In a flash.

Hit the road. Don't turn back.

I wasn't 100 % convinced, but I didn't
want to make a fuss.

Because he might be thinking I'm a bit
of a whiner.

Don't worry.

Everything's going to be fine.

I just wanted to get the heroin out of
sight of anybody.

My heart was racing.

But I knew I'd gone past that point of
no return, so it was game on,

I did a tarot reading to calm myself
down.

I turned over a knight of wands, which
meant an outside person was cunning and

deceitful.

My intuition thought of Bradley, but my
conscious mind buried that immediately,

saying, no, I cannot be thinking this at
this stage. It's too late anyway.

If only I'd trusted my instincts, my
life would have turned out completely

differently.

I had a restless night before, and the
next morning I had an unexpected phone

call, and it was Bradley.

Bradley, hello.

He said if I decided not to go ahead
with it and do a runner, I should at

let him know beforehand.

And I thought that was very strange.

Don't worry about it. I said
everything's fine.

The call unsettled me.

But in years to come, it actually did
make sense.

Late that afternoon, I dressed up smart
casual.

To remain anonymous, that's the key,
just to blend in with the crowd.

Rainer had given me some Valium to take
to ease my nerves, just to calm me down.

We took a cab and headed for the
airport.

Nock and I we weren't in any
conversation.

I was clearly focused on the backup plan

Cabs heading down the highway

and then suddenly We went straight off
the back of a motorcyclist This

is like the last thing needed to happen

The two of them start getting into an
argument about who's at fault here.

And I'm thinking, God, this is... I just
don't need this.

This is an attention -seeking drama.

I was concerned the policemen would rock
up and I had this suitcase of heroin

sitting right next to me in the back of
the cab.

I was worried that I was going to miss
the flight.

So I just...

Half stepped out of the cab, I was just
getting angry at that point.

Cab driver eventually handed over some
money to him and we were on our way

again.

It was definitely an omen.

I should have abandoned the mission then
and there.

When we arrived at the airport,
everything seemed so rushed, probably

was panicking.

The backup plan virtually went out the
window.

My focus wasn't so much on whether
they're going to pick up the heroin.

I'm more stressed out because I'm going
to miss a flight.

But I did manage to sneak a peek at the
two guys watching their monitors.

There was no reaction from them. The bag
went through x -ray and it got tagged.

I thought, fine, it's situation getting
back to normal again.

I just have to take it in to check in
now and I'm thinking, OK, I can relax a

little bit more now. I don't have to
stress out as much.

I go up to the counter.

The guy at the check -in counter tells
me the flight's closed.

And I'm like, oh, my God.

Come on, just let me through.

I've just missed it. He won't let me on.
I'm pleading with him, can you please

let me on? You know, it's only a few
minutes, but no, they're following their

official procedure.

So I asked him, can I book another
flight?

And he pointed upstairs.

The next problem was, what do I do with
the bag?

I'm thinking, I don't want to carry the
suitcase back out of the security area

again.

I spotted a security guard to my left.

It was just a very instantaneous
decision.

So I went over to him. I said, can you
look after this while I go and have a

ticket? Yeah? I must have been insane
handing a suitcase of heroin to a

guard. But it had been tagged. It was
secured.

So there's no reason for them to suspect
me.

The early flight was the same time the
following evening. So that was my best

option. Hey, Bradley. I rang Bradley and
he was absolutely furious.

Are you kidding me?

I calmed him down by saying, look,
everything's fine.

I've rebooked for the following evening.
Yeah, I'm sorry.

But he definitely was furious.

As I left the airport, I was thinking I
missed the flight, but as far as the

heroin in the suitcase, no one knows
I've got it.

And that was the best feeling that I had
that night.

I was quite confident the next evening
was going to be a walk in the park.

When we got to the airport the next
afternoon, everything was calm.

I said my goodbyes to Nok very openly
and visibly.

I'd placed my bag on the x -ray belt.

There was no reaction from the guys
watching the monitor.

I'm pretty relaxed, thinking, yeah, it's
situation normal. The bag gets tagged

again.

I'll just stroll in to check in, you
know, very calm, collected.

No problem.

I was early, so it seemed relatively
empty.

So I just walk straight up to the check
-in counter.

I'm thinking everything's normal, but
just all of a sudden it seems like he's

taking a little bit longer than normal.

I'm waiting, waiting for a bag to go
down the belt, but it's sitting there.

Nothing's happening.

I'm starting to get a little bit, what's
going on here?

Why is he taking so long?

The next thing I notice is this Asian
guy.

He comes up to me and he asks politely,
Can I see your passport?

Just the way he conducted himself sent
alarm bells ringing in my head. I

couldn't put my finger on it, but it
felt bad. It felt really bad.

I was trying to be as calm and collected
as possible. Inside, my heart's racing.

I was just trying to stand there and act
as innocent, as though I'm not doing

anything.

Then I saw another Asian guy appear from
behind security screen, and he said,

excuse me, sir. The moment I heard his
American accent,

my heart stopped. My throat went dry.

I just thought, I'm... A million
thoughts

raced through my head.

What have I done wrong?

I was well aware there was a huge
American drug authorities presence in

Thailand. I thought there's no point
trying to play cute with these guys. So

meekly said, it's my bag.

Are you all right?

Your hands are shaking.

I just want to shrink into the floor and
disappear.

Can you come with me, sir?

I just slipped into shock.

I'm busted. I'm in their hands.

I'm thinking, this is it. It's over.

My life has ended.

I knew it's just a matter of time before
they find the heroin.

The American guy introduced himself
saying he was from the American drug

authorities.

That was like the knife going in the
heart. I knew this is huge.

I'm in deep, deep trouble, and there's
no way out.

I responded, I don't have it.

He produced a Stanley knife and cut open
the top section of the bag and then

exposed the big block of heroin that was
wrapped in towels.

I didn't want to see it.

I knew it was there.

There's nothing else I can do.

Everything felt to me like it was in
slow motion. There was more people

into the room, obviously, to witness
this, but I had this deep thinking

inside that it's going worse, worse,
worse.

It's like I'm on this rollercoaster ride
and it's going all the way downhill.

I sweat.

The American guy said there's a lot of
heroin here Ten and

a half kilos It was two and a half kilos
more than I was supposed to carry and

that was to me a shock I couldn't fathom
why that had happened. Maybe their

scales could be wrong. Maybe Bradley had
miscalculated

I knew in Thailand that you only needed
100 grams to get the death penalty

anyway, but 10 .5 kilos, that's like a
huge amount.

I'm just thinking it's just going
totally, totally spiralling out of

control for me.

I felt like I was there in a nightmare,
and I'm the central figure of it.

The American cut away one bag, took a
small amount out.

Tested it.

My last hope is it's baking soda or
something.

But not.

This is really good quality, Mr.
Schrader.

Okay.

Yeah.

They placed handcuffs on me.

It's a terrible feeling. My freedom is
gone.

As we drove to the narcotics
headquarters, I'm feeling the most

earth.

Everything seemed so surreal, unreal. I
mean, to think about a death penalty, I

didn't even know how they did it.

I knew my parents would be absolutely
mortified.

Why didn't I back out when I had the
chance?

Why didn't I back out?

Yeah.

It was probably around midnight that I
would have arrived at the headquarters.

There were two Australian Federal Police
officers waiting for me because I was

an Australian citizen.

And the first comment one of them made
is that, You've been a very busy boy,

Tim.

They asked for a statement.

Start writing, Tim.

I just clammed up. I didn't want to say
anything.

I gave them an absolute piece of
fiction.

And I remember one of them commenting,
saying, this is absolute frog, which it

was. This is garbage, Tim.

Give it some names, mate.

They pressed a little bit for names, but
not to an extent I would have thought

them. And then one of them commented, he
said, well, we knew you were coming.

I'm like, how the hell do they know
that?

How do you know I was coming?

Are they just playing with me?

They can see I'm in enough anguish,
shock.

Is it a ploy to get me to talk, or had I
been set up?

Is it Bradley? Is it Rainer? Is it Rick?
Is it not?

They told me that the Thai customs
officials were holding a press

and I was horrified to think that I'm
going to be paraded in front of the

but I had no choice in the matter.

behind bars in Bangkok after he was
arrested for allegedly trying to board a

flight to America carrying more than 10
and a half kilos of heroin.

I just sat there like the dumb idiot
that I looked.

There were 17 numbered bags.

It looked a huge amount of heroin.

I was in shock.

The whole world's watching me.

It was so humiliating.

My family are going to see this. It's
going to break their hearts.

After the press conference had finished,
I just broke down and cried like a

baby.

I was crying for me, for my parents.

I don't think I could ever forgive
myself for the impact that it's had on

family. From when they found out, they
went through it day by day as much as I

did.

So...

Probably harder for them than it was for
me.

Yeah, really sorry about it. Put them
through that.

I was taken to a holding cell.

There was no windows, so there's no way
I could determine whether it was even

day or night.

It was like you had been put in a hole
in the ground.

This was just the very beginning of a
journey into hell.

My spirit sunk so low.

I felt like the lowest, vilest creature
that existed.

I was reduced to nothing. That's how
small I had become. I'd gone from this

cocky, arrogant guy.

Oh yeah, an airport's my office. Yeah,
get real.

How stupid.

The first people to visit me was a
representative from the Australian

Are you holding up?

She told me that I was in huge trouble,
that the death penalty was mandatory in

Thailand, but if I pleaded guilty...
Then there's a really good chance that

sentence will be commuted to life
imprisonment.

That really didn't make me feel any
better at all.

I didn't feel I had the strength to go
another day, let alone life.

I was taken to Bangkwan Central Prison,
the largest prison in Thailand.

It's basically for anybody who's got a
life sentence, death sentence.

And nobody's going home.

It's a depressing place.

It's massively overcrowded. It's putrid.
It's dirty.

Disease is rife.

It's like being in this bizarre, mad
village that you cannot get out of.

This is it.

Ban Kwan is now my home.

I was still trying to work out what had
actually happened, whether I was set up.

One day a prisoner told me that Bradley
had been arrested a few months ago and

that he had struck a deal with the drug
authorities to become an undercover

informant for them.

He was saying, yep, you've been set up.

It dawned on me that Bradley had
instigated the biggest bust of the year

Australian in Thailand.

Everything started to make sense.

From the phone call about doing the
runner.

Ten and a half kilos.

The amount of heroin in the suitcase was
two and a half kilos more than said it

would be.

The police saying, yeah, we knew you
were coming.

It all came together, thinking, yep.

He betrayed me.

He sucked me in all the way.

And I didn't see it, or I chose not to
see it.

I knew I was an idiot, but I can't feel
that sorry for myself. I deserved what I

got. I knew what I was doing.

The conditions in Bang Kuang prison are
horrific.

The guards were extremely corrupt.

It was easier to score heroin on credit
than it was to actually buy food.

I was offered heroin and I accepted it.

That was a stupid thing to do, but it
numbed the pain hugely.

It helped you pass the days, the weeks,
the months.

But heroin is such a powerful,
addictive, evil drug.

After snorting it for a while, it's just
the effect is not enough.

So the next process was to shoot it up.

Sharing needles was a commonplace
occurrence.

HIV was rife.

It's crazy, yeah. It's playing Russian
roulette.

I might as well have had a gun and spun
the barrel and, you know, pointed it at

my head.

Life sentence, I'm not getting out. So
it's like, who cares? I don't.

In a way, I guess it was a weird sense
of justice.

I was originally smuggling heroin and
now I've become a heroin addict. So the

tables have completely turned.

I used heroin for two years.

Eventually a friend convinced me to get
a HIV test.

The test was positive.

I was devastated.

But I knew I'd been taking huge risks
and I was paying for my own stupidity.

It was a severe slap in the face, wake
up call.

I didn't want to end up like this.

A prison junkie and dying in the prison.

My mum decided to visit.

I didn't really want her to come, but
she was determined.

It's great to see her walking in.

She burst into tears, but I could still
see she was happy to see me.

It felt good to hug her.

But I couldn't dream of picking a worse
situation for her to see me in.

She was wonderful. She just said, keep
positive, keep thinking that one day

you're going to get out.

Don't give up. Don't despair.

It was something to hold on to.

It made me a stronger, better person.

I thought, I'm not going to let the
prison beat me. I'm not going to let

disease beat me.

I gave up heroin.

I decided to change my whole attitude
and hopefully one day get out.

My health started to deteriorate, which
was just a matter of time.

My mum was tireless in her campaigning.
She was in constant contact with

officials in Australia to get them to
support.

my application for a royal pardon.

He needs medical help urgently.

Her mission was to get me out and to get
me out alive.

I think it's the best day of my life for
sure.

I was almost at death's door, but I knew
I'd got this far.

I'm going to get home.

I'm indebted to my mum, to her
perseverance, to her courage.

It's just a mother's love for her son.
That's what got me out.

After I was released, I'd heard that
Bradley was found dead in the Red Light

District of Bangkok from a heroin
overdose.

I knew that he'd been bumped off.

He got the death sentence, not me.

It's been 12 years since I was released
from prison.

Since then, I'd channeled a lot of my
energies into getting better.

I regret what I did.

I was totally stupid.

The only thing I can do is try and live
as good a life as I can now and show to

people that, you know, I'm a changed
person.

I think I'm extremely lucky to be given
a second chance to live.

I cherish every day that I'm alive, so
why not? It's fantastic.