Another chapter in the life of Panrit “Gor” Daoruang” has come to an end with his release from prison after serving his full three years for dug possession. Gor shot to international fame during his teenage years for his stories about life growing up in Thailand. He is regarded as Thailand first blogger as he started writing about his life when he was only 12 years old. This was back in 1997 and he is now 24 years old. His website www.ThailandLife.com still remains popular with people from around the world as a way to understand the culture of Thailand. People respected the way that Gor was honest about the ups and downs of his life including his fall into drug addiction when he was only 15 years old. He had just graduated from Junior High and it was the summer holidays. High School didn’t last long for him and he was soon kicked out and ended up living on the street for a while. Things picked up later that year when he became the youngest columnist at the Bangkok Post at the age of 16. However, although he was still working hard on his websites, including the popular www.learningthai.com website helping foreigners learn Thai for free, he struggled with staying clean from drugs. He ordained as a monk for a while but a month after leaving the temple he was arrested by police for drug possession. Gor was originally sentenced to six years in prison but the judge halved this sentence after he changed his plea to guilty.
Gor is now enjoying his new found freedom with his daughter Nong Grace and the rest of his family. He said it will take him time to adjust to life on the outside and also to catch up on things. He plans to go back to writing and making websites next month. He wishes to thank everyone that has shown him support over the last three years and he promises that he won’t let them down. I have posted some pictures of Gor taken during his first day of freedom over at the “Gor’s World Forums”. You can read more background information about his drug addiction and subsequent conviction and life in prison over at www.ThaiPrisonLife.com. Gor kept a diary while in prison so look out for some more updates in the coming months. These will be the only stories about life in a Thai prison written by a Thai person in English. If you didn’t know already, Gor’s autobiography, “Gor’s Thailand Life” was published while he was in prison and is available in all good book stores in Thailand and on the Internet at BuyThaiBooks.com.
