Akkarin "Rung" Puri spent almost half of his life behind bars. Instead of hiding his dark past, he's open about his ex-inmate status and uses it to inspire convicts to change their way and campaign for understanding and, more importantly, second chance for them to be part of society again. A guitar maker (Be Light Guitar; fb.com/belightguitar) and speaker at prisons, Rung talked to us about his long road to redemption.
Tell us about your childhood.
My family was pretty normal until my mum died when I was six. My dad, who was Indian, couldn't take care of all of us so had two of my siblings raised by our relatives. My sister and I stayed with him. He worked as a teacher and didn't have much money so we went to a temple school. I got bullied and called cheap farang because of my looks. I was young and thought the only way to stop them was to punch them so I did and it worked. Since then I was known as a troublemaker at the school and I misguidedly took pride of it, being egged on by my peers. I was on a slippery slope.
When did things start to turn really wrong for you?
Long story short, I became addicted to ya ba after falling in with the wrong crowd. My friend and I were using it at a deserted house that was my gang's den. A girl was raped there and the police arrested me as an accomplice even though I had nothing to do with it. I was sent to a juvenile detention centre for the first time and from then I went in and out seven more times before I turned 18. My subsequent stays were all because of drug offences. What landed me in an "adult's prison" was robbery. I did whatever I could for money to buy drugs for me and my luk nong [subordinates]. Eventually I robbed a gold necklace from a woman and was given 10-year sentence.
Did being in juvenile detention centres not help reform you?
You would think so but we were young men who liked to flex our muscles, boasting about the horrible things we did and trying to one up another. Later, when I was sent to Central Correctional Institution For Young Offenders in Pathum Thani as an adult, it was similar but worse. You had to belong to a gang or else you'll be bullied. I worked my way up to be a ringleader there, ready to fight and cause trouble. The inmates made new connections while being jailed and when they are released they go back to the same life as before -- by choice or out of necessity since no one hires ex-convicts.
Do you think is it possible for inmates to be rehabilitated?
No way. Not with the current conditions. Thai prisons are so overcrowded, resulting in horrible living conditions for the inmates. And what do you think happens when you put bad apples in the same barrel? What kind of conversation would they have? The prison guards were also greatly outnumbered. It's already difficult enough for one guard to keep an eye on 100 people to prevent them from fighting. So understandably, their priority is keeping order, not helping the inmates to be better.
When was the turning point for you?
I was resigned to the idea of spending the rest of my life in this cycle. During a visit from my sister, who never gave up hope on me over the years, I decided to ask her to cut me out. I no longer wanted to burden her. At that point, she had converted to Christianity and she told me to ask for a wish to be granted. I wasn't a model inmate by any measure and didn't think I was eligible for a royal pardon. I asked God for my release. I said I couldn't turn my life around in this kind of environment and my release miraculously happened a year later, in 2011.
How has life been after your release?
My sister had me stayed at a Christian foundation, which helps former inmates get back on their feet and spread the word of God in prisons. I learned how to make a guitar from Kru Laem [Narongchai Aramruangsakul]. It wasn't easy, though, as I had my weak moments. But, as I absorbed positive thinking and learnt new skills, I felt I had some stability for the first time in my life. Now that my life has turned around, I want show the inmates that they, too, can. This lead me to delivering motivational speeches at many Thai prisons.
I stayed at the foundation for four years before I decided to live on my own, supporting myself by selling my own brand of custom guitars. I want to show that I can survive in the real world like normal people do. If you know that you're stuck in a cycle that you can't get out of, you need to find someone to help you. Had I got no support from my sister, the foundation, teachers and my faith, I wouldn't be where I am today.
What do you want to say about the society's attitude towards ex-convicts?
There are many reasons why people land themselves behind bars. Some knowingly commit crimes while some out of anger. If you talk to repeat offenders, they will say that one of the reasons of their recidivism is society's attitude towards them. They find it hard to be integrated back into society. I urge people to think of ex-convicts, us, as individuals. If you push them away, they go back to their old ways. But if you give them an opportunity, they have more chances of becoming productive members of society. Let's give those who truly wish to change a chance.
