AN ISLE of Wight man endured five months locked up in a series of Thai jails — and has been quizzed by the FBI after he witnessed a US citizen die behind bars.

Kai Isaacs, of Freshwater, is now back on the Island after his ordeal.

He said the FBI came to the Isle of Wight to see him, to find out more about the controversial death at the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok.

Kai held the man in his arms as he died on May 21, and said the man had been 'picked on' by foreign detainees for being American. The death was reported as heart failure, but Kai said he was severely beaten.

Kai, 35, ended up in jail on a visa overstay charge. He had entered Thailand in August last year to visit his then-girlfriend, a Thai woman, on a standard one-month tourist visa.

He had wired $2,000 over in advance but found someone had withdrawn the funds before his arrival.

He said he was left with no money for a return flight and ended up staying in the country for six months, and was arrested for breaching Thai immigration law when he handed himself in, preparing to come home.

He was sentenced to nine days in Pattaya Nong Pla Lai jail where he was in a room with around 150 Thai gangsters and murderers before being transferred to two police stations, where he said he was kept in something akin to a cage at both.

He was then moved to the Immigration Detention Centre, which again had about 150 people in one room, sleeping in rows of ten on the floor.

Kai said: "It was a notorious, nasty place. There were people from 47 different countries, including suspected ­terrorists.

"Their own countries didn’t want them back so they had been there for years. They ran the place.

"There was a bit more respect for me ­because I’d been in there for quite a long time, a lot longer than normal for westerners, but it was the worst few months of my life.

"I was the peacekeeper in there and tried to keep the room clean.

"It was horrific as with all those men, the water was only on for a few hours a day, and some people were pulling worms out of their bodies, it was disgusting.

"There were 40 different nationalities, but some spoke English."

Kai was deported in June and returned home.

He said: "The FBI came to the IW and took a testimony from me. I've got to go to the USA to stand as a witness at some point."

Kai was born and raised on the Island and went to Carisbrooke High.

He had previously holidayed in Thailand several times without incident.

Now trying to recover from his ordeal, he is not in good health.

He said: "I have been pretty sick but it is nice to be back home, even though I have been suffering anxiety attacks.

"I'm not allowed back into Thailand for five years but I've got no interest in going back to that country whatsoever."