The Spanish Daniel Sanchosentenced to life in prison in Thailand for premeditated murder of Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrietais serving a six-day quarantine period in Surat Thani prison and will not be able to receive visitors until at least September 6, a source close to the case told Efe.
Last Friday, Sancho entered the Central Prison of Surat Thani (southern Thailand), to which he was transferred from Samui prison a day after being sentenced to life imprisonment by a court on that island, a sentence that can still be appealed in two Thai courts, including the Supreme Court.
The 30-year-old Spaniard will remain in quarantine until September 5 – a common practice in Thai prisons since the Covid-19 pandemic – and it will not be until the following day, at the earliest, that You will be able to receive in-person visits and video callsaccording to the EFE source.
Sancho is in a cell with other prisoners who are in quarantine and if next Thursday one of them tested positiveEveryone should remain isolated again until each of them tests negative, the same source added.
From Surat Thani prison, located about 600 kilometers south of Bangkok, they told Efe today that they had been instructed not to give information to the media about the situation of the Spanish prisoner.
Sancho had to do the same quarantine when the August 7, 2023 He was admitted to Samui prison five days after the murder of Arrieta, whom he had met through social media and agreed to meet on the island of Phangan.
Although the Spaniard asked the judge on Thursday, after hearing the verdict, to stay in Samui, a centre considered “friendly” in Thailand and with fewer inmates, this prison only admits those sentenced to terms of less than 15 years in prison.
Surat Thani Prison, which houses 4,730 men and 626 women detainedis aimed at people sentenced to terms ranging from 15 years to execution.
Communication problems
A security guard prison He warned Efe last Saturday of possible communication problems in the foreigners’ prison due to the predominance of Thai among the center’s officials.
According to him, Sancho asked upon his arrival on Friday afternoon if “anyone spoke English” and requested an interpreter.
In a sparsely populated area with little traffic, with some houses In its vicinity and surrounded by agricultural fields, the prison has new facilities, inaugurated in February 2023, about 15 kilometers east of the city of Surat Thani.
Son of the Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho and investment analyst Silvia Bronchalo and grandson of the late actor Sancho Gracia, Daniel Sancho initially confessed to the crime, but later and during the trial, he maintained that the death of Arrieta, a Colombian plastic surgeon he had met on the Thai island of Phangan that day. In fact, it was due to an accident.
