Teen facing years in Thai prison over '$100 airport crime' opens up about 'nightmare' ordeal

A teenager who is facing years in a Thai prison after being accused of picking up another passenger’s watch at the airport has opened up about the ‘nightmare’ of being banged up at the high-security Surat Thani Prison.

Loukas Rainger, from Tauranga in New Zealand, flew out to Thailand with his best mate for a month-long holiday.

However, while attempting to leave to board his flight home at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, he was approached by immigration officials who accused Rainger of swiping a fellow passenger’s Swatch worth roughly $100 (£75) two weeks earlier at another airport.

Speaking to Stuff, Rainger said the other passenger had left the watch in a security tray alongside his belongings and ‘without even realising what he was doing he picked it up and shoved it in his pocket’.

(Instagram)

Rainger told the publication he had been battling a nasty stomach bug in the run-up to his return home and was ‘pretty wiped out’ and feeling rough from a long boat ride.

When he was first approached by officials, Rainger he initially wasn’t concerned as he assumed they had got him mixed up with someone else.

But the reality soon hit, when he was detained overnight in Bangkok before being put on a 10-hour long train ride to the high-security Surat Thani Prison.

Speaking to Stuff, Rainger said: “That's where the real nightmare kicked in.

“They shaved my head and threw me into a cell with 20 men - real criminals and gang members. Honestly, when they found out my alleged crime was over a watch and saw how young I was, they all just laughed.”

Opening up about the condition at the prison, he continued: “There were no beds - just a single blanket on the hard floor - and I had to wash out of a bucket right in front of 20 other guys.”

Rainger spent six days locked up in the prison, but says he barely ate because the food was ‘terrible’ and the heat of the cell, mixed with the smell of sweat and the various excretions in the bucket, was enough to shut down his appetite.

He told the outlet that between his sickness bug and his time at the prison he came out 10kg lighter.

Reunited with his mum

After six days, Rainger was released on bail and reunited with his mum Natasha.

The mum says her son lost 10kg in a week and had his head shaved (GiveALittle)

Rainger, who is facing a charge of 'theft in an airport', which is considered more serious than simple theft - was initially denied bail due to 'not having the right visa', Natasha said.

Before he could be released he had to submit proof of a three-month accommodation booking and Natasha had to hand over 100,000 baht (£2,210).

Speaking to Stuff, his mum said: "I have never ever in my life been so happy to just see my son, I can't stop looking at him.

"He just walked into my arms and his first words were, 'Oh mum, mum, what are you doing here?' I didn't know whether to laugh or cry - it was like nothing of the last days ever happened."

The teenager's aunt, Melissa Pronk, has launched an online fundraiser on GiveALittle to help the family afford the costs of staying in Thailand, which they have to do until the legal process has run its course.

Rainger has been given a trial date of 4 September.

If convicted, he faces up to five years behind bars.