Shani Krebs has been living in a (reportedly revolting) maximum security Thai prison called Bang Kwang Central – lovingly referred to by inmates as the ‘Bangkok Hilton’ – since before South Africa became a democracy. Krebs is the longest-serving farang or foreigner in the institution, for which he’s earned a rather tragic reputation. He’s at last been released and will soon return to the ‘new’ SA.

Arrested for heroin smuggling in 1994, the day before the first democratic elections in his home country, Krebs has finally been given permission to leave the notorious Bang Kwang Central. This is not because he’s served his sentence (originally 100 years, then shortened to 40), but because the Thai king recently granted a type of amnesty to all foreigners serving jail time for drug-related crimes.

Krebs has received an ‘early’ release, more or less on the whim of the monarch – although this is not a moment too soon for his family, who have been campaigning tirelessly for his incarceration to end. Imprisoned at the age of 34, he’ll be in his fifties when he lands on home soil next month.

If there can possibly be an upside to being in a foreign jail for so long, apparently Krebs had earned a senior ranking in the inmate hierarchy due to the sheer length of his imprisonment. This meant that the junior inmates cooked and cleaned for him.

[Source: MG]