Thai prison documentary on BBC

Thai people call Bangkwang Penitentiary "The Big Tiger" -- it eats men alive. Westerners use the ironic name "Bangkok Hilton".

It's the subject of a new BBC documentary, The Real Bangkok Hilton.

The Mirror reports that the "fascinating but grim documentary should be made available on in-flight channels. "If it were, every cocky young drug smuggler who thinks they can try their luck in zero-tolerance Thailand would be abandoning their suitcases at baggage reclaim."

Cameras have never been allowed inside until now, says the Mirror.

What lurks behind the white plaster walls is a society of 7,000 murderers, rapists, drug smugglers and, of course, innocents. For 15 hours a day, dozens of men share cramped cells - many find it a small luxury if they can lie flat on their back.

We meet Andrew and Michael from England, otherwise known as prisoners 6-798 and 5-158, who have been jailed for smuggling drugs. As Andrew - who is serving a 50-year sentence - says: "I was arrested for stupidity".

Life there is hell. Many inmates have HIV, trouble can flare at any second and as the guards are outnumbered 50 to one, the potential for a massacre is real.

We also see the Thai ladyboys sharing their make-up, the executioner who has to take fingerprints before and after execution to make sure he has killed the right man and the monk who performs the last rites.

Bloody and brutal, this is not comfortable viewing but it is a not-to-be missed piece of film-making.