Page:Pearl of Asia (Child JT, 1892).pdf/152

Rh as if they had lost all the rights of humanity. Should they desire any favor they can only obtain it through the greed of the guards who extort from them all the money that their relatives can give for this purpose, frequently holding back the small amount of rice doled out for their food will they are on the verge of starvation so as to induce their friends to come to their assistance. The prisons, I have been informed by those who have entered them, are filthy in the extreme; the stench intolerable. Within the past year His Majesty has attempted to alleviate the suffering of the prisoners and has had erected a large prison house in accordance with modern methods, but se long as a prisoner is looked upon as a mere beast and brutal jailors have him in charge but little can be done to benefit his wretched condition. Persons are arrested on the frailest pretexts and knowing the horrors that are in store for them if convicted "see" some one in power who "sees" some one else and if he can raise the requisite number of ticals escapes with a lightened pouch; in fact this state of affairs was so prevalent a couple of years since that a band of dacoits operated openly in Bangkok until their crimes became so bold and flagrant that the attention of the King was called to it and then fourteen of the leaders, whose money had hitherto shielded them, were arrested and tried; the evidence against them was conclusive and they were sentenced to be executed. Every effort was made to save them by their friends, but it availed not, in this instance money was powerless, the King had moved in the matter. That settled it, no one daring to set aside the edict of royalty.

A Siamese execution is a peculiar affair After