Daniel Sancho was probably over the moon after he was sent to Koh Samui prison, where was remanded after being found guilty of murdering and dismembering a plastic surgeon.
Described locally as a ‘big kindergarten for adults’, the prison on the notorious Thai party island holds just a few hundred people, many of them Westerners, who are treated with relative respect and kindness.
But Sacho, the YouTube chef-turned-murderer, wasn’t long for Koh Samui. He was transferred to the hellhole that is Surat Thani just 12 months later.
With 5,400 prisoners to house and feed, more than ten times the population of Koh Samui, Surat Thani holds twice as many prisoners as it’s meant to.
The sheer number of people held in the walls creates a litany of unsolvable for the prisoners, almost all of whom are kept there for life for committing violent crimes like Daniel’s.
Up to 24 prisoners are held in cells for over 12 hours a day, without exception.
With so many people primed for violence confined to such a small area, security forces are constantly on standby to make sure that the population doesn’t riot. Armed guards raid the prison constantly, leaving lags in a perpetual state of paranoia and confusion.
Former inmates interviewed by RTVE, a Spanish broadcaster, said that it is common for guards to use batons against prisoners or force them to wear shackles, among other punishments, for fighting or violating rules in many Thai prisons.
Daniel Sancho (pictured, centre) found guilty of murdering and dismembering a plastic surgeon
He now resides in Surat Thani prison (pictured)
With so many people primed for violence confined to such a small area, security forces are constantly on standby to make sure that the population doesn’t riot
Surat Thani also doesn’t have enough resources to clothe the inmates, leaving many of them half-naked and shivering, fighting for ragged pieces of clothing.
The bedding situation is even more dire. No prisoner is given a mattress, meaning they have to sleep on towels if they’re lucky, or the floor if not.
If the prisoners and the prison guards don’t kill him, the rapid spread of disease might. Stretched resources and and overstuffed cells mean that disease spreads rapidly.
One estimate claims that there is a mortality rate of 25% every two years.
If that wasn’t enough, prison officials only allow blood relatives to visit inmates. And with his fractious relationship with his father, actor Rodolfo Sancho, it is likely that his only contact with the outside world will be with his mother, fellow actress Silvia Bronchalo.
Spanish reports claimed that after Daniel’s trial, Rodolfo left Thailand without saying a word.
And who could blame him?
His found was guilty of killing and dismembering the body of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, a 44-year-old plastic surgeon from Colombia, and disposing of the parts on land and at sea.
Sancho was a YouTube chef who is the son of two famous Spanish actors
One estimate claims that there is a mortality rate of 25% every two years
The prison holds twice as many inmates as it is meant to
Both men were vacationing together on the Thai holiday island of Koh Pha-ngan in August last year, an area famous for its monthly Full Moon beach parties, attracting travellers from around the world for all-night raves.
The Koh Samui provincial court issued an initial sentence of death for Sancho but commuted it to life imprisonment due to his co-operation during the trial, colonel Paisan Sangthep, deputy commander of the Surat Thani provincial police, said.
At his trial on the island of Samui, Sancho claimed he got into a fight with Mr Arrieta for allegedly trying to sexually assault him. He said that Arrieta fell as they scuffled and hit his head on a bathtub, losing consciousness and dying.
He had pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder.
For the charge of concealing or damaging a body, he received a four-month prison sentence, reduced to two months for acknowledging the act, said Mr Paisan.
He had also pleaded not guilty to the charge of destroying another person’s documents – the victim’s passport – for which he received a two-year prison term.
The elements of the case: violent death on a holiday island, the celebrity connections and the lurid details; attracted huge coverage in Spanish media.
HBO produced a Spanish-language documentary on the events.
Sancho claimed he got into a fight with Mr Arrieta for allegedly trying to sexually assault him
A handout photo made available by the Royal Thai Police shows forensic officers inspecting human body parts they found at a garbage dump site in Koh Phangan island, Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, August 4 2023
Spanish actress Silvia Bronchalo, mother of Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, leaves from Koh Samui provincial court in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024
Rodolfo Sancho, a Spanish actor, walks after a Thai court jailed for life his son, Daniel Sancho Bronchalo for the high-profile murder and dismembering of a Colombian man last year on the popular tourist island of Koh Phangan, as he leaves court in Koh Samui, Surat Thani province, Thailand, August 29, 2024
The case came to light when trash collectors found what the Bangkok Post newspaper described as a sawed-off pelvis and intestines weighing about five kilogrammes in a fertiliser sack at a garbage dump.
Shortly after that, Sancho reported to police that Mr Arrieta was missing, and police then gathered evidence linking the two men that led them to detain and interrogate him.
Police established a narrative, claiming to the press that Sancho had confessed to the murder and saying he had planned it because Mr Arrieta threatened to disgrace him and his family by revealing their alleged sexual relationship.
Sancho, through his father and his lawyers, said that was a distorted version of what he told police, and denied having a sexual relationship with Mr Arrieta.
