The Poison River

As I read this book I am NOT surprised at how the US GOV officials are unresponsive to US citizens and their needs. I have been to many of the sites in Thailand ... Bankok too ... NOT surprised at the corruption and the unresponsiveness of Thai GOV officials! I am amazed that this Guy survivied ... where is he now! How did this aweful experience impact the next 10 years of his life? What of his Mother? Family? Did he start another business? How/what did he create of his life? WHO WOULD YOU "BE" AFTER SUCH AN ORDEAL????

I met Steve in January 2001 at the Renoir where he was working as Director of Sales. He gave me his book to read and first I thought - oh well - will see. Then I started reading it and was very sad to find out what can happen to your life if you are open, helpful and friendly as Steve is. It amazes me to read that Steve never gave up hope and even tried to educate/help other people while his situation was hopeless. And the endless love he shares for Asian countries is amazing. I loved the book even though it made me cry a lot.

Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. I read it straight through in eight hours and have read it several times since. It is the gripping (and documented) true story of an American business executive falsely accused of child abuse by a former college classmate. The accuser is John Cummings, a convicted child molester who was deported from Thailand when charges were filed against him in the US in 1988. He was sentenced to 68 years in jail, but an overzealous child abuse investigator got 40 years chopped off the sentence in exchange for Cummings spinning a tale of international "child sex tours." Although all of the people he accused were found not guilty or carges were dismissed in both US and Thai courts, in the meantime Cummings and his supporters (like US Senator Jesse Helms and economic doomsday author Howard Ruff) destroyed a world famous street children's shelter, along with the lives of dozens of innocent adults and children. This case began the media frenzy surrounding "sex tourism," and is often cited by the media as "Proof" even though no one was guilty. Steve Raymond spent two years in jail while the U.S. Justice Department -- realizing they had wrongly accused him -- used international pressure to keep him locked in a Thai jail and away from the media. He was finally freed after intervention by Amnesty International. Every time you turn the page, you believe that someone *HAS* to come into his cell and say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Raymond, we made a terrible mistake." That apology never came. READ THIS BOOK! If you think your American government will protect you, you'll learn differently. (Fully documented, BTW).

I found this book a revelation about one man's unjust imprisonment in Thailand. Worth reading.