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  • Rotting in the Bangkok Hilton

  • The Gruesome True Story of a Man Who Survived Thailand's Deadliest Prison
  • By: T. M. Hoy
  • Narrated by: Jim Frangione
  • Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (305 ratings)
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Rotting in the Bangkok Hilton cover art

Rotting in the Bangkok Hilton

By: T. M. Hoy
Narrated by: Jim Frangione
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Editor reviews

The real-life account of an American serving time in a Thailand prison, Rotting in the Bangkok Hilton summons listeners to a gruesome realm of chronic hunger, unchecked violence, torture, degradation, and extortion. Performer Jim Frangione speaks with the resigned disquiet of an inmate struggling to come to grips with the cruelest confinement, his hushed baritone punctuated by shock and disgust as bizarre, often gruesome, prison rituals unfold routinely. T. M. Hoy's memoir, written in the hope he might bribe his way to freedom using its proceeds, is sure to inflame and excite listeners with its unnerving portrayal of a third world penal system.

Summary

A collection of unspeakable degradation, fear, and agony through the eyes of an American locked up abroad.

Prison is harsh enough, but as a foreigner (farang) in a strange land, jail time is an even more horrifying reality. Rotting in the Bangkok Hilton is a collection of short stories chronicling T. M. Hoy’s descent into the harrowing world of Southeast Asian prison life. Through his eyes, listeners will experience the bizarre events of daily life in a Thai maximum security prison: feel the weight of the chains he wears; the stomachaches from lack of food; witness the murders, drug overdoses, torture, and unbridled cruelty that ensues.

Sentenced to life in prison, Hoy does his best to accept the fate he’s been given. While attempting to "adjust" to this third-world hellhole, he contracts tuberculosis and nearly loses his life.

Hoy’s stories are brutal and his words are heart-wrenching. Go places you’ve only seen in your nightmares, to a world in which few survive, and none emerge unscathed...and if you’re lucky, you’ll die before you really begin to suffer.

©2012 T. M. Hoy (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Rotting in the Bangkok Hilton

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible and gripping.

Incredible and gripping stories set in the harshest of environments. One of the few books I've listened to more than once.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

an interesting story...

Is there anything you would change about this book?

it could do with more of a narrative rather than a series of separate stories

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

it'd be a little conceited to offer suggestions to change a true story....

Which character – as performed by Jim Frangione – was your favourite?

the gauloise smoking Frenchman.

Do you think Rotting in the Bangkok Hilton needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

the story seems pretty complete to me.

Any additional comments?

it removed any last inclination I had to smuggle heroin through SE Asia

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Had me gripped, if you like crime stories, with a true twist...this book is for you! Need more like this

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Well???

i dont really know how i feel about it? wasn't as bad as i thought, there's not enough detail.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

There are better out there.

I feel harsh writing book reviews on books I haven’t really liked but I guess that’s why you review.

For books on prison life, in my opinion, there are much better books. For me Marching Powder by Rusty Young or Hotel Kerobokan by Kathryn Bonella give a much better account.

Sadly this was a culmination of other people’s narrative that didn’t quite come together as smoothly.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic collection of stories

Not so much his story of life in Thai jail but the stories of his experiences. Very well written and captivating.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This book will blow your mind

I've got over 300 titles in my library
this one stands out it's unforgettable

real life horror written by a highly intelligent articulate man.
the kind of book that would definitely snap you out of feeling sorry for yourself

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

it's okay

a bit too wordy for a story about some guy who gets jailed for murder.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Occasionally lost interest

Generally pretty good,lost interest at times I perhaps expected more but worth a read.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Listen

Always interesting to hear stories from former inmates experiences from the Bangkok Hilton. This is a well paced collection of stories that shines a light on another world. Narrator is great - although couldn’t shake the hint of TC from Top Cat that came through at times…

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