Friends and former employers of Peter Burr have started a fund to pay the cost of a ticket to get him home. The painter and decorator was arrested by Thai immigration authorities on 11 November and has been incarcerated in a mosquito-filled and crowded concrete cell ever since.
As reported by the JEP this week, Mr Burr, who is believed to be in his 40s, was charged with not having a passport and for visa irregularities. He was sentenced to two weeks in jail and then transferred to the Immigration Detention Centre, which is in the grounds of the Royal Thai Immigration Bureau, Suan Phlu Road.
After reading Wednesday’s JEP, Mr Burr’s former employer Tony Le Tiec, of PBS office equipment suppliers, contacted the paper to say that he would put £400 towards the cost of getting him home. His friends have also chipped in and it is thought that the unofficial fund is now close to being able to afford the air ticket needed.
Phil Volante, another former employer, said that the FCO had informed him that Peter would need £650 to get home and to pay money due in Thailand and to the FCO. Anyone who wants to help out can email peterburrsfund@hotmail.co.uk.
