The damage done : twelve years of hell in a Bangkok prison

by Warren Fellows

In 1978 Warren Fellows was convicted of heroin trafficking between Thailand and Australia. He was consequently sentenced to life in Bang Kwang prison, known as the Bangkok Hilton. This is the story of his 12 years behind bars, the abuse of human rights and the squalid conditions he endured.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Biography, Memoir, Crime, Autobiography, Travel

211 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Fellows was born in Sydney, Australia. His father Bill Fellows, was a champion jockey and horse trainer who won the 1949 Melbourne Cup on Foxzami. Fellows claimed he was nearly expelled from the school when he was caught running a horse betting operation from his school desk.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand in 1978 for his role in a heroin trafficking operation that took place from Perth to Bangkok. Fellows received a royal pardon and was released from Bangkwang on 11 January 1990.

Abridged from Wikipedia

Reviews

[chucklesthescot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Australian Warren Fellows becomes a willing drugs courier at the age of 21 and is finally caught in Thailand with 24 bags of heroin, spending 12 years in a Bangkok prison.

I detest this man. He wants sympathy for the terrible conditions that he was subjected to and yet I find it impossible to actually care. We're not talking about an innocent framed tourist or a naive idiot who thought he was carrying something else. This is a guy who, out of greed chose to be a drug courier and work for very dangerous men in countries with the death penalty for drug smugglers. So boo hoo and pass me something to wipe my tear filled eyes as I sob at your terrible ordeal. He claims not to want sympathy but then says in his introduction:

"If at the end of my story you still believe that anyone could deserve the horrors that I saw, then you too are a criminal. A vengeful and sadistic one." Oh you bitter, pathetic little parasite. So if we don't feel sorry for you then we are sadists huh?

And on his first drug trip to India, he got involved in some other nice dealings. A hotel manager offers to pay him to go to another city to bring back his girlfriend to him. Without knowing anything about it and agreeing not to mention the manager's name, Warren dupes the poor girl into believing he loves her and wants to be with her in the city, instead delivering her to the manager. Seems the girl escaped from forced labour at the hotel and now Warren has put her back into it. Oh how guilty he felt about her plight-so much so that he says he'll marry her and take her to Australia then just leaves India without a though and comes back months later on a drug trip, passing by the hotel where he sees the poor girl, letting her see his new girlfriend. What a nice guy!!!

Another pearl of wisdom from Warren was to justify his career. "So President Harry Truman agonised for three weeks over whether to drop the Atom Bomb on Japan. He still did it didn't he?" He seems to think he's superior because he didn't take any time to think about it. Whether you agree with the bomb dropping or not, the decision was taken to save more lives in a land war which has nothing in common with Warren and his drug career! He goes on to say about his career "...for me it was not murder....I didn't even know for sure if there would be any victims at all." Drugs kill people and ruin lives you self obsessed little git! If you were so horrified at the prison conditions then maybe you shouldn't have went to Thailand on your drug trips! You deserved every day of those 12 years.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

4,000 Days was offered to me as an excellent way to get myself out of a reading slump. I'd burned myself out on 400 page novels with brilliant writing and needed something a bit less involving. While I'm not entirely happy with the book, the recommendation was spot on and I found myself finishing it in one sitting.

Telling the story of Warren Fellows, 4,000 Days is more-or-less exactly what the cover promises. Told in a simple, straight-forward style, it is a loose and hurried account of a man's experiences being ruined in the Bangkok prison system. While it is certainly gruesome from cover to cover, it is not a collection of unbelievably horrible things. It is instead a collection of perfectly credible horrible things, and although the author never forces details down your throat, he manages to get the point across of just how much time passed before he was finished coping with the abuse piled on him daily.

All in all, it's a bit more nihilistic than I'd hoped, and the gloom and doom does not make for especially light reading, but it managed to keep me gripped the whole way through nonetheless. I'm not about to start recommending it left and right, but there are much worse ways to spend a cold winter's afternoon.

[Eric Schurr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the best book i've listened to all year. It is truly remarkable in every way: the story is gripping, horrifying, and illuminating; the writing is tight, to the point, and creative; and the narrator is one of the, if not the, best i've ever heard -- his timing and intonation is perfect.

Ever wondered what it's like in a prison? How about the worst one in the world? This guy describes the unbelievably inhuman living conditions and torture that the Thai prison system put him through. And he explains how it was not only hell to live through, but how it has scarred him for life.

I listened to this book during my commute and i actually looked forward to it every day (how often can you say that?). I was actually happy when there was a traffic jam or slowdown because i got to listen to more of the book. I was really disappointed when it was over.

Listen to this book -- you will be captivated from start to finish.

[Yigal Zur · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read it again as part of research to my thriller Passport to Death where the plot is based in Bangkok so i raised to 3.5 stars for its honesty based on harsh reality in one of the most horrible prisons.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read but not near as good as I expected it to be according to the ratings.

Maybe I am spoiled but I have read 2 books about this same prison by 2 different Dutch guys.
One of those books was so well written and told us the horrible experience he had to go through. But he did that in a much better way than Warren Fellows. This book felt rushed, written from the sideline.



I do understand why this book got high ratings. I think that has lot to do with all the horrible and shocking things he had to undergo.
It seems I was just spoiled. if that book by Pedro Ruizing is ever going to be published in English I'll let you know.

[Jake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a depressing book to be honest. A trafficker caught in the act who pays the ultimate price. Twelve years in a hellhole. Have to feel sorry for the guy but then you have to feel sorry for the heroin addicts who were addicted to his supplied product. Ironically he becomes an addict himself during his time behind bars. "Marching Powder" by Rusty Young is certainly a better, more uplifting tale, of life in prison for a trafficker. Much funnier too and at times, almost unbelievable!

[Avi B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very descriptive insight to some of the worst prisons in Thailand and I imagine anywhere in this world. The sheer disregard for human suffering and the extent of the brutality is unbelievable. The mind boggles how these things are allowed to happen. It was at times a grisly and difficult read but very interesting to someone like me who has no prior in depth knowledge on this topic.

[Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Review of 4000 Days by Warren Fellows
Imagine a place where anyone can do anything and anything can happen. People around you would be dyeing, but know one would do anything to help them they would just watch. A place where you would be starving for weeks, even sometimes for months. This is about a man named Warren Fellows who was a drug dealer and went to different places like India and Asia to get drugs and deliver them to people who wanted them. Everything went smoothly for him till one day the police tracked him down. He was found in a apartment building where he had all his drugs. He was found guilty and went to prison a prison on a island called Thailand. This prison was not an ordinary prison, this prison controlled the prisoners life. Most of the guards could do anything they want to the prisoners. The guards made Warren stay in a box just enough room for him to curl up in ball. They stuck him in there, hung him up in the air and left him in there, feeding him once a week for five months. Everything that the guards said you had to do or it could you your life. This biography called 4000 Days by Warren Fellows is a great intense and suspenseful book. The author's writing style really drags the reader in and makes you feel like you are next to Warren Fellows. Every part of the book make you feel terrified and wanting you to know what is going to happen next.
The writing style of Warren Fellows really pulls you in the book and makes you want to keep on reading. When Warren Fellows was in the prison for about five months, he describes one on his situations so deeply in the beginning of the book. "The sound of his scream was the scream of pain. But not only of pain, but of madness too. It was the sort of sound you didn't want coming from a human. Not only did the writing style of the book make it better but it makes the book a lot more thrilling to read. One part in the book they put a prisoner in the a container in the shape of a ball and they would bring an elephant to roll it around, while the prisoner cried for mercy. When the elephant got bored or tired of rolling the ball and squash the ball and the prisoner in the ball would die. The guards just stood there as they watched and laughed. The way Warren fellows describes everything in a way where it keeps you interested in the book. Not only does the author have amazing writing style, but he also puts great suspense in the book. An example of that when he is called to the office of the head of the prison no one knows what his name. The narrator describes the head of the prison by saying ,"He turned and walked directly towards me. I glanced downward, not wanting to see him. He stopped a few inches from me and touched me gently on my chest with his right hand. His touch was so lightly it was terrifying." This book is filled with great suspense. He ends up getting elbowed in the stomach and collapse on the ground but the suspense he puts in this one part of the book is amazing.
Fellows could put up with all these hardships that he had to face. The guards in the prison were ruthless and can do anything that they want to the prisoners with no one stoping them. Fellows was a strong man he didn't want to give up no matter what he had to go through. He herd from other prisons what the guards can do and he didn't want anything to happen to him. He lost track of the amount of days he was in there, so the guards would sometimes even trick him by saying you're being let out and then when they go to the door they would laugh and say your not being let out. This prison was madness he just wanted to be let out. The prison was destroying him and every last piece of him. He was beaten, starved, and all he wanted to do was get out of the prison.
This book is over all a really great book. It tells an amazing story about a a young man named Warren Fellows who was drug dealer who goes to a horrible to a horrible and terrifying prison and the things he had to go through. This book is for anyone who really likes thrilling and suspenseful book.



Spoiler Alert
At the end of the book it talks about how he is let free from the prison.At first he didn't really think he was being let out because sometimes the guards would lie and say they are being let out but they are actually not. When I finds out he is actually being let out his heart is filled with joy. When he leaves the prison he says how he was sorry for every thing he has done and the harm he cause to people. Also he wished he never done what he did to get him in the prison. When he goes to meet his mom for the first time in twenty years, he lashes out at her saying this was all her fault and that she was the reason she was in the prison. At the end of the book, he was destroyed. Every thing about him. He says how he can never be the person he use to be and he can't trust anyone anymore. His whole life was all destroyed by this prison that he was in for about twenty years.

[Javier Calle · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book to get information from Bang Kwang Prison, but as reading something loose.

[Innastholiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know, I think 2 stars is almost too kind for this book. I think it might be the first non-fiction book I have felt a genuine need to vent about. But, on the plus side, it was interesting and quick to read, so I can’t really rate it 1 star. Let’s compromise on 1.5 stars.

My main issue with this book is not the horrible things depicted in it, or that they happened to Warren Fellows. My problem is the way Fellows wrote this story. Look, I’m not gonna lie, this book is little more than a gigantic pity-party. And I just can’t bring myself to care, because this guy is an asshole. This much was apparent to me after Chapter 1, when the whole kidnapping incident happened. Basically, some guy Fellows and his friend had just met paid them to go to some other city and convince the guy’s ex-girlfriend to go with them back to the guy, only they can’t tell her the guy’s name. And neither of them stop to think about this request. Like, “of course we’ll do it, money’s money”. Are you for real? Of course, when Fellows and his friend get there, Fellows “falls in love” with this girl, so at first he doesn’t bring her back to the guy, but then he does, anyway, and it turns out that this guy is keeping her locked up day and night and forcing her to work for him at his hotel. Fellows promises to come back for her and marry her so they can go back to Australia together. Except he totally forgets about this girl, meets some other girl, and then basically parades her in front of this woman’s life he ruined. And does he feel bad about that in any way? Not as far as I can tell. She comes up a couple of times later, but Fellows just talks about what could have been with the two of them and shows no basic concern about what he did to her or even just what happened to her. Do you really not understand that what you did to her was cruel?

Fellows also goes on and on about how he doesn’t want pity and he’s probably a terrible human being and we’re all welcome to spit on his (metaphorical) grave and because he (metaphorically) died in ‘78 we totally can, but like a phoenix (or so I assume), he rose from the ashes that were his life pre-Thailand to tell his story and achieve … what exactly? I don’t even think he was trying to write a cautionary tale, the book is just This is what happened to me. Give me your money and cry for me. Ugh. You wanna know what made me cry? What those assholes did to that poor kitten.

Not to mention that whenever he talks about the Thai people, it sounds like he thinks they’re a different species. Have you never heard of cultural differences?

As if all of that wasn’t enough already, the book isn’t even well-written. It’s basically just a loose collection of there was this one time and this random prisoner I knew. Like, there is no common theme or conclusion to this story. But you know what? I think I’d have hated this book just as much if Fellows had come out the other side declaring himself a changed man. Because clearly, he didn’t change. I had the impression that all this experience did was instil a deep, dark fear of Thailand into him. And that just … Look, I know I shouldn’t judge how other people react to stuff, but if you can go through all that and still be an asshole — I don’t understand that. Of course, the things he endured were horrible, no question about it. Of course, he’ll be scarred for life. But the pretentious and unapologetic tone* in which he tells this story is despicable to me.

* Drug smuggling is a victimless crime, right?? No. It fucking isn’t. And it’s not even “just” the users you’re supplying, there are people dying and suffering all along the production line. Learn to take responsibility for your actions.

[Glenn Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself in terms of getting a first hand understanding of what life is really like in a Thai prison (for drug traffickers) is very good, and very eye opening. The offputting thing for me was the author. I didn't like him as a person and was not someone I could relate to. He knew what he was doing, he knew the penalty, and he did it anyway. The only remorse for what he did has on the final page of the book, almost an afterthought. It was almost like someone read his manuscript prior to publishing and made a comment about the lack of remorse. So a small apology was tacked on to the end. I don't believe there are too many criminals who deserve the treatment this man received in while in prison, but I found it difficult to sympathise.

[Chris Thrall · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with most people who read this book. I finished it in about two page-turning hours and thought it was a phenominal insight into the world of westerners involved with drugs in Asia. Warren wrote a straight to the point, one dimensional account of his experience - and it still receives a wealth of praise from both sides of the drug-debate fence. I say this because I wonder how my own book will be received, having written it with a literary bent straight from the heart of a full-on-and-mental life passionista!

[Andrew Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone even contemplating the life of drug smuggling, this is a must read. This tale of filthy conditions and uncaring guards all mixed up in a foreign land allow for a horrific page turner. If this doesn't put people off that kind of life, nothing will. This book also contains one of the best/scariest introductions to a book I have ever read. A well written account of living hell.

[Lauren Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 4 star, just. He does a great job of trying to describe the indescribable, which is probably why I struggled with the book. Some descriptions and imagery was too graphic for me, and I had to skip over it. I found the story captivating nonetheless, and it gave me a 1% insight into what life might have been like.

[Craig · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star for some of the elements of Thai culture that I found interesting. As for the rest....granted, I've been a corrections officer for a while now, so I'm probably just biased, but I just didn't feel sorry for him. It wasn't just that he was trying to enrich himself by running drugs and feeding off of the addictions of drug addicts, although that in itself isn't very endearing, but his behavior prior to his imprisonment just showed Warren Fellows to be loathsome and excremental, as when he seduced the girl he had been more or less hired to watch by someone else who wanted her. She really thought he was how he presented himself and romantically committed herself to him, while he completely used her for his own gratification. As for his assertion that "I didn't deserve" the time he spent in that prison...well.... I won't deign to even involve myself in that discussion, but whether he deserved it or not, it is without doubt he certainly asked for it. He and his crew knew exactly what the consequences would be in the event they were caught. Yes, he had his reasons, but they were just the same excuses such people always make. And they are just that. Excuses.
And while I usually don't justify how I rate books, I will say I lived in Thailand for 3 years (2002-2005) and traveled throughout much of the region. And while the Thais, Cambodians, Burmese and Malaysians are, as a collective whole, a friendly, welcoming people, they are Asian and our sense of civil rights is something with which they are just beginning to develop. Just in Thailand, saying anything against the King will get you imprisoned; a special law had to be passed just so that you could carry money in your hip pocket in a wallet because it had the king's picture on the money (because carrying the King's image against your hip could be seen as infringing on His royal dignity). So Fellows mewing about how badly he was treated may be understandable, coming as he did from a culturally Western country where one expects to be treated with some level of humanity, but it's not as if he didn't know he wasn't in Kansas anymore.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shockingly true story of two aussies jailed for drug trafficking in Bangkok in 1978 for 12 years.Whether they deserved it or not is besides the point. The horror and the cruelty of the guards and the inmates has to be read to be believed. While telling the reader of their experiences it is distressing to read about the graphic details of many other young travellers from all over Europe who disappear in to this hell hole, some never to be seen again. A must read if you want to know and avoid the underbelly of asian jails.

[Adrian]

Read in one day. Fellows spent 11 1/2 years in the Thailand prison system from 1978 until late 1989 for drug trafficking. He admits his guilt. It's a story of unrelenting horror- torture, heat, bugs, rats, filth, disease, privation and starvation and he has survived it all. Anyone who reads this account and feels justice was done isn't human.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute favourite book. Mind blowing! Awesome.

[Gary Pitman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Money

[Frank Balamatsias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book hit me for six! What a great insight into the world of drug trafficking and the diabolical consequences that lie ahead. It really is an eye opener and justice in the country of Thailand is swift and crushing. Prisoners are denegrated to the lowest possible forms of life with punishment being an inherent part of Thai punishment.
Fellows goes into great depth regarding the squaler like conditions with the rats the size of cats and contraband being a way of life and coping in such horrible conditions. The description he gives of Thai prison life is really a living Hell on this earth.
I in particular like how he intertwines fate and destiny in all of his run in with the law including the vivid dream he has the very night before he is arrested and kidding himself into thinking he may see his beautiful French Indian woman again after a drug trafficking operation. It all goes horribly wrong for him and the crew he's with which will see him behind bars for 12 years.
As the old saying goes kids 'drugs are bad, really bad' and will wipe off the best years of your life and render you psychologically damaged for the rest of it. Hence the title 'The damage done'.
Can't recommend this book enough. It gives a great account of the trafficking world including how the young are sucked into the lucrative world of hard drugs.

[Siriben - · Rating 3 out of 5]

4,000 Days: My Life and Survival in a Bangkok Prison is a biography book written by Warren Fellows. This book is about Warren Fellows, an Australian man who tried to smuggle heroin from Thailand to Australia, but he got caught. He was sent to Bang Kwang Prison and he had to spend 12 years in prison. He described about how the prison was like and how the prisoners were treated in the prison. The life in the prison was horrible, the prisoners were treated badly by the guards and the condition was very bad.

I think this book is interesting because I have never been to a prison before. I think that the guards were too sadist, but on the other hand I think that the prisoners deserve it because they did crime and they need to be punished. If there is no punishment, then some people would commit crimes again. This book is very easy to read, but I don’t like how the author introduced a character, then after a few pages about that character, there is nothing more about that character. I would recommend this book to everyone, so they would know that drugs are bad. If you take drugs, you might get into serious trouble.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this book in two short sittings. Ok it's not the best written book I have ever read but my the emotions it causes you to experience are intense.

Warren is arrested in Thailand for attempting to smuggle drugs out of the country. Up to that point he never used them and to be honest was probably feeling cocky as he had successfully smuggled before. He will admit it was a choice he made without much thought and at no time is looking for sympathy. The book details his time in various prisons in Thailand and the horrors he experiences and sees on a daily basis. Nothing in these prisons are humane. He served 11 years of a 30 year sentence and in the epilogue explains how much his life has changed.

I went through the emotions of " You get what you deserve....drugs are rife on the streets and people dying thanks to the likes of you".......to " how can anyone be put through that horror for such a long period of time and survive?" He is candid and honest in his account of what happened and saying I enjoyed the book is not the right phrase. It upset me but was something that I could not put down, reminding me very much of Sandra Gregory's " Forget you have a daughter" .

[Michael Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was on my way to Thailand, and wanted something to scare me off doing something stupid and ending up in prison, I had heard about The Damage Done and it was described to me as being a Thai ‘Midnight Express’ so I bought it straight away. Warren Fellows retells the story of his devastating experience in several of Thailand’s most notorious prisons for trafficking heroin in the late 70s. The Damage Done contains twelve years of this man’s life condensed into roughly 200 pages, his words are haunting and remind you that unless you’re locked up in a Thai prison, you’re living a pretty sweet life. The Australian born writer has a way with words and once you start reading it you can’t put it down, he never drags on and he also doesn’t try to play the sympathy card, but instead suggests that the punishment doesn’t match the crime, he simply tells it as it happened, and you have to admire his courage. A very good read, from start to finish.. the way the book ends was very unexpected and has definitely stayed with me, it really makes you question the prison system. Read it!

[Hannah Patnaik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am conflicted. I read this in one sitting and could not stop. I am horrified and disgusted by the acts and atrocities committed, and am grateful to the author for coming forward with his experiences so that the world may learn of the horrors within some prison systems. The experiences faced by this man and the senselessness that he felt was definitely conveyed and I am shocked that someone survived these experiences.

I could not give this a particularly high rating though because the writing was by no means great and I got annoyed by the style of the narrative. But that shouldn't take away from the content, which is still fascinating in a horrifying way.

[Andrew Culyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warren Fellows is a contrite person. He fully admits he deserved his punishment for drug-trafficking, and asks for no pity.

What he does do, though, is shed light on the atrocious things that one set of humans can inflict on another, and I found the last chapter the best, full of his thoughts about life afterwards.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, not just the account of life in probably the world's worst prison, but also the sheer human will you need to survive such a thing.

And if there's one thing you should take from this book, it's:

'Don't run drugs in Thailand'

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it from start to finish i too was a herion addict for 15 years i found he knew what he was talking about in this book i read it in prison for the first time and the second time was just 2 day ago its a must read book .I for one would seriosly think when i am abroad of having any thing to do with drugs. and will be do.uble chequing me case . its just so sad this story how one man could go through so much.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was OK. But I've read far better prison stories.

There's no doubt that Warren endured very hard times, but the story telling was pretty poor. There was no development of prison-mate characters, just a constant stream of "one time a guy...", "...and then another random guy..." etc., etc..

I would recommend books like "Papillon" or "Forget You Had a Daughter" over this one.

[Bill Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of an Australian man caught smuggling heroin from Bangkok and his time spent in Bang Kwang prison. Midnight Express is one of my all time favorite books about Billy Hayes imprisoned in Turkey for smuggling hash. 4000 Days is a good story but it is told in past tense instead of story form. Still interesting but not as good as Midnight Express.

[Tom Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm rating this 3.5 out of 5.

I'll start by saying this is no midnight express. There is no time to bond with the characters. The book feels rushed. At times years span pages rather than chapters.

What I did read was eye opening, shocking and to be honest quite sad.

Worth a read but don't go in expecting another midnight express. And, if you haven't yet read midnight express - read it

[Sarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This an extremely hard-hitting book, with very graphic and disturbing stories from the author. This is an excellent book to give teenagers and anyone does not have the full understanding of the unglamourous consequeces of drugs and drug peddling.