Tom was, by profession, an electrician. Aged twenty -eight he had worked in a shoe factory in Leicester for seven years. Bored and lovelorn he gave up his job and decided to travel the world. He meandered through Indonesia and then spent a year in Australia doing odd jobs to support himself. Now on his way home he was spending the last of his money in Thailand , first on the beaches of the south and now, for his last few days, in Chiang Mai until his money ran out.

It never occurred to him that His Majesty's Government would give him free accommodation for an additional unexpected forty-two days in Chiang Mai.

Tom checked into the Rim Koo Guesthouse where he was asked to share a room with an Australian who had been there for some time. This man had not paid his rent for several weeks so finally the police were called. They burst into the room where Tom lay quietly on his bed smoking pot. The Australian was not there so the police, in frustration, arrested Tom.

After a week in custody at the central police station he was taken to court. The prosecutor asked for B80,000 for bail which, of course, he could not pay. Captain Supachai said that the pot, and he only had one joint, would have to be sent to Bangkok for analysis and that it could take three months before the result was known. Tom was sent to the main prison.

I visited regularly and he was always cheerful, saying that he was in no hurry and that he had never expected to have a paid holiday (prisoners receive an allowance of seventy baht a day which is set against their fine).

After forty-two days he was finally arraigned and taken to court shackled and dressed in orange prison garb. When I arrived, I discovered that the prosecutor's office had not sent the papers to the court. I managed to find them and the trial began. As we waited for the judge I chatted to the warder - an attractive girl from Lamphun called Mem who said that she often went to Bubbles disco, did I go too? At this point the judge entered. So small she could hardly see over the desk, in one minute flat she sentenced Tom to a fine of three hundred baht and ordered him to keep the peace for one year.

Tom was led back to the holding pen busy working out how much money was owed to him from his seventy baht daily allowance. From there he was to be taken back to the prison and then released. I waved goodbye to Mem.

I heard that he was released that very evening and went to spend the night with the missionaries before heading off to Pattaya for a well earned rest.

Tom wrote to me from England .

'Hello John,

Thank you for your support and help with my pridiciment. Could I ask another favour of you, could you please get in touch with the girl called 'A' at the guesthouse and retrieve my money (approx B9700). If you do get it back please give her B200 as a token of my appreciation. Thank you.'

I did get the money back. I never saw Mem again, perhaps next time a Brit goes to court.