Kiwi man Michael Salinger was detained by Thai authorities and has allegedly had his basic human rights violated. Photo / Supplied
Kiwi man Michael Salinger was detained by Thai authorities and has allegedly had his basic human rights violated. Photo / Supplied
Michael Salinger watches other foreigners come and then go from the concrete floor he is confined to day in and day out and wonders, what is taking so long to get him out and back home.
The 45-year-old Kiwi man was detained in Thailand over a month ago after being sentenced to be deported back to New Zealand, following pleading guilty for the possession of two ecstasy pills.
After sentencing, Salinger spent five gruelling nights in the Patong Police Station jail before being moved to a detention centre in Phuket. He was then transferred with 28 others to a detention centre in Bangkok.
Out of the group of 28, he is one of only a few who remains in the detention centre.
He told the Herald that he is becoming increasingly concerned about his safety as he waits for the New Zealand Embassy to reply to tens of unanswered emails he has sent them in an effort to get help.
“Embassies of other countries have all got their citizens out by now for safety reasons,” he said.
“All other western countries people I have met, which has been about 50, have been deported within two to three days, sometimes hours. Third world country people seem to be deported in a week at most.”
The New Zealand Embassy could not provide any details on Salinger’s situation other than that it was providing him with consular assistance.
Michael Ari Salinger and his partner Vanessa Pagarigan in Phuket. Photo / Supplied
Salinger is under the impression that he is required to pass a medical check and a risk assessment before an airline will accept him to fly due to his criminal conviction and his ADHD condition. However, he is yet to receive details on how to facilitate these checks.
“ADHD affects work and study, not being a passenger on a flight,” he said.
In an email to the embassy, and at his wits’ end, Salinger wrote “please just stop delaying and book the flight!!”
Human rights lawyer Craig Tuck said it can take months to get a professional, such as a psychiatrist, to detainees and said airlines may have flagged Salinger as a risk because of his mental health condition.
“These things can go on for weeks and weeks and they are extended because they can’t actually get an appropriately qualified psychiatrist to do the report,” said Tuck.
Salinger’s father, esteemed climate scientist Jim Salinger, said he is not a risk and his mental health issues should not be an issue.
“He’s perfectly fine and he’s a non-violent person,” said Jim.
In regards to being a risk because of his criminal conviction, Jim said “in this case, two tablets of ecstasy, I couldn’t see this as a problem. It’s not as though he is trafficking it, he’s not a Schapelle Corby.”
Jim, who has already given money to the New Zealand Embassy for the flight, said the situation is made even more complicated with his son also needing approval for access to countries he would just transit through.
