Shadowing Practice: Comparing Prisons Around The World! - Learn English Speaking with Video

Prisons around the world are extremely different,

so let me tell you about some of the craziest ones.

Starting with Bestoy Prison, which makes prison seem like a vacation.

Bestoy sits on a small island just 50 miles from Norway's capital city,

Oslo, which means the prison is only accessible by boat.

Inmates here spend their days fishing,

playing tennis, riding horses, and sunbathing on the beach.

I'm not joking.

This is a real prison.

Inmates live in wooden cabins with their own bedrooms.

They wear their own clothes they cook their own food.

There's a gym, a movie,

a library, and a weekly schedule of concerts and events.

At a glance, you would genuinely think you're looking at a summer camp.

Interestingly though, some of the inmates here are violent offenders.

People have committed serious crimes.

You're in prison for murder.

Yeah.

You killed somebody.

Yeah.

But this isn't the only type of prison in Norway,

which we'll get to more on that later.

So how do these prisoners end up here?

Well, typically, if they are violent offenders,

they'll serve part of their sentence in a prison that's a bit more prison-like.

But after inmates prove that they can behave and reintegrate themselves into the free world,

they can be transferred to Bastogne to finish out their sentence.

However, the Norwegian government pays over $125,000 a year per inmate,

compared to the U.S., which spends about $25,000 per year.

That's over five times the cost.

This is because the Norwegian government believes that the more life inside prison resembles life outside of it,

the less likely an inmate is to re-offend when they get out.

If you treat an inmate like an animal, he'd be an animal.

If you treat an inmate with respect, he'll respect you back.

And here's the part that's hard to argue with.

It's actually working.

Norway has one of the lowest re-offending rates in the world.

Only 20% of inmates are back behind bars within two years of release.

Compare that to the United States,

where over 50% of prisoners return within three years

so who's really winning here the inmates are even in charge of operating the ferry service to bring people to

and from the island without any attempts at escape the prison is

so relaxed

that most of the guards actually leave the island overnight inmates

are trusted to take care of themselves a prisoner at bestoy was once asked why nobody escapes to

which they said you are free but you're not free if an inmate were to get caught trying to escape

they would immediately be sent back to a prison much harsher than Bastogne.

So the question this raises is simple.

Here in the U.S., are we locking people up to punish them or to actually fix the problem?

Because Norway seems to have figured something out that the rest of the world hasn't.

Now that you've heard about one of the nicest prisons,

let's switch gears and talk about Patak Island in Russia.

This prison is often called the Alcatraz of Russia due to being on an island in a freezing lake.

This is one of the harshest prisons in the entire world.

Inmates are sent here only after committing some of the most violent and heinous crimes imaginable.

That's because in 1997, this prison was exclusively dedicated to only housing inmates who are serving life sentences.

For most inmates, they'll never walk out and they spend the rest of their lives there.

The guards commute to work by driving over the single bridge connecting the prison to the mainland.

Sounds like something out of a horror movie.

As you can imagine, escaping from this prison seems impossible and so far has proven to be exactly that.

Nobody has ever successfully escaped from Patak Island,

and it doesn't look like anyone will anytime soon.

One notable inmate who is currently behind bars at Patak Island,

Alexander Biklov, Russian serial killer and cannibal who claimed to eat the hearts and livers of his victims.

Now imagine him being your cellmate.

Since the prison is in a remote part of Russia and visitation is strictly limited.

Most inmates never talk to anyone outside of the prison walls,

and are forgotten by the rest of their families to spend the rest of their days in this cold, relentless prison.

The prison psychologist documented that after three to four years,

inmates' personalities begin to visibly deteriorate.

After 25 years, she said psychological destruction is essentially guaranteed.

You can only imagine what goes on behind those walls every single day,

where every prisoner knows that they will never step foot in the free world ever again.

Now we've heard about a luxury prison in Norway and one of the harshest prisons in Russia.

Let's see what the most secure prison in the US looks like.

ADX Florence has been nicknamed the Alcatraz of the Rockies because of its location in Colorado.

And it's the only federal supermax in the United States.

And a supermax means that the people inside are so dangerous that they can't even be in a normal prison.

So they are watched very closely and kept away in remote locations in case they get out.

This prison has had multiple people that were on the FBI's most wanted list.

Some names include El Chapo,

who ran one of the biggest crime rings in the world.

Robert Hansen, who was an FBI agent who was secretly working for Russia.

Richard Reed, who's known as the shoe bomber and the reason we have to remove our shoes when going through TSA.

I think you get it.

You don't wanna be around these people,

but let me tell you how they're treated now.

The inmates here are confined in seven foot by 12 foot concrete cells for 22 to 23 hours a day.

Even their beds, desks, and stools are all concrete and impossible to move,

so they can't be used as weapons.

Each cell has one four-inch window

that is designed to make it harder for inmates to learn the layout of their prison

or even where their cell is located,

and this makes it harder to escape.

It's the concrete bed, and this is the window with the red concrete bricks behind it.

The prison is surrounded by 12 gun towers,

motion sensors everywhere, attack dogs,

and on top of all of that,

razor wire, just in case you make it far enough.

100

There's even wires strung across the top to make sure helicopters can't land on top,

101

since they've been used to escape at other prisons.

102

Hopefully, you never end up here.

103

Next, we have San Pedro Prison in Bolivia,

104

which is a self-governed inmate city.

105

There's roughly 3,000 inmates that are running the prison on the inside,

106

and the guards only stay on the outside of the walls.

107

Inmates buy, sell, and rent their cells with different options,

108

like this is a luxury apartment complex.

109

They have cramped multi-person rooms,

110

but they even have luxury cells with hot tubs and city views of the La Posta neighborhood.

111

There's even 200 children that live here with their incarcerated parents,

112

and some of them even go to school in the prison and play in the courtyards.

113

How does someone even become a children's teacher inside of a prison?

114

Until 2009, this place was even a tourist attraction,

115

and they would give people tours for $20 to $57 as a bribe.

116

And sometimes they would even spend the night.

117

And there's reports saying

118

that they ran up to 50 tours daily until someone posted it on YouTube

119

and the guards were forced to crack down on it.

120

At one point, Coke products were exclusively sold inside the prison and local bottling companies supplied them with Coca-Cola tables,

121

chairs, and umbrellas.

122

They even have their own soccer matches and betting ring

123

that generates up to $20,000 a year with star players being bought and traded between cell blocks like an actual league.

124

There was a book called Marching Powder by Rusty Young that made the prison famous.

125

Maybe the prisoners should have read Oops,

126

That's Illegal, and they wouldn't be in there.

127

Get it in the link in the description.

128

Now, this prison in Thailand is like none of the other prisons we've talked about so far.

129

It's called Bong Kwong Central Prison,

130

and it was originally built to hold 3,500 inmates.

131

But now there's 6,000 to 8,000 inmates,

132

and a lot of them are on death row.

133

How many women are in this cell?

134

200. 200 women in here?

135

Yes.

136

And until 2013, every inmate that came in had to wear iron leg shackles for three months.

137

And death row inmates had their shackles welded on for years,

138

and they could only be removed by using a wheel cutter.

139

And these shackles weighed 33 pounds,

140

15 kilograms for my non-American viewers.

141

The solitary confinement cells in this prison were 5 foot by 7 foot windowless cells,

142

which means there was barely enough room to even lay down

143

and prisoners were kept there for months

144

and they would go to extreme lengths just to escape for

145

a little bit with one inmate smearing toothpaste all over his body to cause blisters just

146

so he could go to the hospital

147

and escape solitary confinement for some reason this prison was a tourist attraction for years

148

and visitors could request to visit a prisoner and bring them food

149

and cigarettes what is it with people wanting to visit these prisons

150

and turn it into a vacation hopefully no one wants to go to this next prison.

151

You've probably heard of Guantanamo Bay,

152

but do you know what actually makes it special besides it constantly being mentioned in the news?

153

The prison is located in Cuba,

154

but is controlled and operated by the United States and has been open since 2002,

155

and has only held a total of 780 people from 48 different countries.

156

And as of January 2025,

157

there are only 15 detainees there.

158

The detention camp is where the US military holds some of the biggest threats to the United States,

159

so they can charge them,

160

and then send them to the maximum security prisons.

161

But not everyone makes it out.

162

Three of those 15 have been cleared for release,

163

but they've been there for so long that they have nowhere to go.

164

So they are classified as forever prisoners,

165

and they are held without being charged or any plan to try them in court.

166

Many of the detainees have been reportedly tortured at CIA black sites before they get transferred to the detention camp.

167

Because it sits on a U.S.

168

Navy base in Cuba, Guantanamo was a legal gray area.

169

But courts have recognized some constitutional protections for the detainees.

170

In January 2025,

171

President Trump signed an executive order to expand the camp's separate

172

migrant operations center to be able to hold up to 30,000 immigration detainees.

173

This will double our capacity immediately.

174

It's a tough place to get out of.

175

Which would be a brand new use for the facility

176

and a big change for a legal black hole that multiple administrations have tried to shut down.

177

The Guantanamo, we'd like it to be empty.

178

President, I will close Guantanamo.

179

Did you know that there's a prison in France that's specifically built to hold celebrities?

180

And it's even holding the former French president.

181

It's called La Sainte prison.

182

And in October 2025, for the first time,

183

a French ex-president was sent to the prison to do time.

184

And he brought earplugs, sweaters,

185

a biography of Jesus, and a copy of the Count of Monte Cristo.

186

There's a block of cells that are considered the VIP wing,

187

where the cells are 10.4 by 10.4 feet with a private bathroom,

188

landline phone, bed, and a small desk.

189

Inmates can even rent a fridge for 7 euros

190

and 50 cents a month and a TV for 14 euros and 15 cents a month.

191

This is just sounding like a Hilton hotel at this point.

192

The former president is being kept in solitary because the guards believe

193

that inmates would target him and he's also accompanied by a personal officer any time he leaves his cell.

194

According to reports, France's prisons are the third most overcrowded in the EU.

195

And despite this prison's recent renovations,

196

it still runs at double its rate capacity.

197

So while other inmates pile into three per room,

198

the VIPs basically get an apartment to themselves.

199

Do you think it's fair that this former president gets special treatment?

200

This prison in the Philippines became popular for a very weird reason and you might have even seen it.

201

The Cebu Provincial Detention Center went viral on YouTube because in 2007,

202

a security advisor uploaded a video of 1,500 inmates performing Michael

203

Jackson's thriller in their jumpsuits as part of an exercise rehabilitation program.

204

I said, why don't I convert that march into a dance number?

205

I thought of dancing after that.

206

Hey, maybe they were onto something with how popular TikTok dances have become.

207

This video has gotten over 58 million views and was one of the most viral videos in 2007.

208

They've also done performances of YMCA,

209

Grease Lightning, and some Bruno Mars songs.

210

It even inspired a Netflix documentary in 2019 called Happy Jail.

211

So I guess if someone has to go to jail but is also into TikTok,

212

that's an option.

213

Most people are aware of North Korea and how they are completely disconnected from the world with super strict laws and policies.

214

But let's talk about their prison,

215

which is called Camp 14.

216

This isn't really a prison,

217

and more so slave labor,

218

where unfortunately children are born as inmates and never even know what freedom is.

219

Reports estimate that there are 15,000 to 43,000 people in the coal mines,

220

factories, and farms at this camp.

221

And satellite images from 2021 show that it's expanding.

222

North Korea has a three generation rule where the regime imprisons not only the person who committed the crime,

223

which in North Korea could be almost anything if they feel like it,

224

but also their children and even their grandchildren.

225

Most people say that most of the inmates were born inside and don't even know why or what their family did.

226

The UN commissions found that crimes against humanity were taking place here,

227

including extermination, enslavement, and torture.

228

People make funny videos about traveling to North Korea.

229

But remember, if you're there,

230

you need to follow their rules because they make it enforce them and no one can stop them.

231

Luckily, since 2017, the US State Department issued a travel ban that prohibits American citizens from using US passports to travel to,

232

in, or through North Korea due to these risks.

233

In Spain, there's a prison designed specifically so entire families are able to serve prison sentences together.

234

It's called Aron Weth Prison and is located 25 miles south of Madrid and has 36 family cells.

235

There are walls painted with Mickey Mouse,

236

Donald Duck, and other Disney characters.

237

I wonder how Disney feels about this.

238

Cells include a double bed,

239

a crib full of toys,

240

a small bathroom, and outside facing windows.

241

Both parents must be inmates,

242

and then the child can live in the prison until they are three years old.

243

And if the parents aren't out by then,

244

the child is sent to relatives or social services.

245

The prison even has a nursery school with an outdoor playground so the kids can live a somewhat normal life.

246

That's a big difference from the prison in North Korea.

247

The inmates do appreciate getting to be with their children and see them grow up,

248

and hopefully seeing that will help them get on the right path.

249

The prison makes couples go through a two-month observation period to prove that they can co-parent correctly.

250

Hopefully, these inmates getting to see their kids grow up helps them to realize they need to stay out of prison,

251

but only time will tell.

252

This prison was another one that people thought of more as a vacation resort rather than a prison,

253

but has been overtaken and transformed.

254

Tocoron Prison in Venezuela was raided by 11,000 Venezuelan soldiers on September of 2023,

255

and they were shocked to find a professional baseball field,

256

swimming pool, a children's playground,

257

a nightclub with DJ booth,

258

a steak restaurant, bedding parlors,

259

and a private mini-zoo with monkeys, flamingos, and exotic birds.

260

They also see sniper rifles,

261

explosives, motorcycles, and Bitcoin mini-machines,

262

which if they sold it today,

263

they would have made over three times their money.

264

And that's because this prison was overrun and being run by a gang instead of law enforcement.

265

It became the headquarters for the gang boss to run his transnational empire,

266

operating in multiple countries, and he was doing that inside of a prison.

267

I guess if you're already there,

268

they can't put you somewhere else.

269

The boss was tipped off about the raid that was incoming,

270

and he escaped through tunnels and still hasn't been caught with a $5 million bounty for information.

271

The prison ran for about 20 years until it was raided and shut down,

272

and authorities rescued the flamingos and reformed them to a public park in Caracas.

273

The last prison brings us back to Norway,

274

where we have what's considered the world's most humane prison,

275

and a luxury alternative to bestow.

276

This is the Halden prison.

277

It costs $252 million to build and opened in 2010.

278

Sales have flat-screen TVs, mini-fridges,

279

in-suite bathrooms, and designer furniture,

280

made by students from Norway's National Academy of the Arts.

281

Inmates get to cook their own meals with real knives,

282

record music in top-of-the-line studios,

283

and have access to rock climbing walls and a library.

284

When you think of prison,

285

you think of high security,

286

and the guards are ready for something to break out at any moment.

287

But here, the guards are unarmed.

288

We don't need it.

289

You don't need any guns.

290

We talk to the guys.

291

That's our weapon.

292

That your weapon is your mouth?

293

Yeah and roughly half of them are women, and that's by design.

294

They believe that the guards being unarmed and women reduces aggression and is more friendly,

295

to the point where guards will eat lunch and play sports with the inmates.

296

There's even a section for inmates to host their families for overnight visits.

297

That includes a kids' play area, kitchen, and two bedrooms.

298

I won't get into their crimes,

299

but this place holds some violent criminals,

300

not just some petty shoplifting,

301

but as we talked about earlier,

302

Norway has seen a drastic decrease in people re-offending.

303

The 20-foot perimeter wall has a rounded top to make it look not as hostile.

304

It's insane to see how different some prisons are around the world,

305

but if you want to hear some of the craziest prison escapes,

306

click the video on the screen here.

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