Teen facing years in Thai prison after committing '$100 crime' at airport speaks out on 'terrifying' situation
An 18-year-old detained by police in Thailand after being accused of picking up another passenger’s watch at the airport has spoken out on the 'terrifying' situation he's endured.
Loukas Rainger, from New Zealand, flew out to southeast Asia with his best pal for a month-long backpacking trip.
However, as Rainger was boarding a flight home at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, he was approached by immigration officials who accused the teenager of stealing a fellow passenger’s Swatch watch worth roughly $100 two weeks prior at Surat Thani Airport.
After being reunited with his family following a week in a Thai jail, the Kiwi has spoken out, saying the other passenger had left the watch in the security tray at the airport and ‘without even realizing what he was doing he picked it up and shoved it in his pocket’.
Advert
"I guess I just scooped it up with my own s*** and lobbed it all in my backpack… and I didn’t even think of that watch for any time on the rest of the trip. It didn’t even come into my mind," he said to Stuff.
Rainger told the outlet that he been suffering with a nasty stomach bug in the build-up to his flight home and was ‘pretty wiped out’ as he boarded the plane.
He originally thought there was a mix up when immigration challenged him, but reality soon hit after he was detained and transported to Surat Thani Prison some ten hours away.
Recalling the nightmare, Rainger told Stuff: "That's where the real nightmare kicked in.
“They shaved my head and threw me into a cell with 20 men - real criminals and gang members. Honestly, when they found out my alleged crime was over a watch and saw how young I was, they all just laughed.”
The teen then went on to speak about the conditions in the prison, as he added: "There were no beds - just a single blanket on the hard floor - and I had to wash out of a bucket right in front of 20 other guys.”
Rainger has since been reunited with his family after paying bail costs of 100,000 baht, around $2,955. He will go on trial in September for theft in an airport, a charge in which he denies.
The teenager's mother previously told Stuff: "He didn’t maliciously steal it or intend to steal someone’s belongings, he didn’t think, he’s inexperienced, young.
"He’d been on a long boat trip just right before, and had been really sick. He should have left it or handed it in but that doesn’t deserve years in a Thai prison."
Rainger faces up to five years behind bars if he's found guilty.
An online fundraiser on GiveALittle has been set up by the teenager's aunt, Melissa Pronk, to help the family afford the costs of traveling to Thailand during the legal proceedings.
Callum Jones