Thailand

Incarceration Rates

How many people are incarcerated?

Prison population total (including pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners): 363 825 at 1.10.2019

Incarceration Rates

How does this country rank nationally?

Country ranks 26 out of 80

Incarceration Rates

What is the recidivism rate?

The recidivism rates in 2016 were 23.74 per cent or 62,117 recidivists among the total 261,687 convicted inmates.

Incarceration Rates

What are the common convictions of crimes?

Violent crimes: 38%

Property crimes: 26%

Drug crimes: 25%

Public order: 10%

2017 CRIME CATEGORIES

&

Population

INCARCERATED

INDIVIDUALS

197,506

31,829

JUVENILES

IN DETENTION

JUVENILES

IN DETENTION

Males

Females

72

3

DETAINED

1,184

85

As of January 2017...

Thailand had 208,391 individuals incarcerated

About 72% of the total prison population were incarcerated for drug related crimes

Thailand has the highest incarceration rate for women

In 2015 there was...

In 2019 there was...

44,152 women incarcerated

47,306 women incarcerated

INCARCERATED WITHIN THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Classified as LGBTQ+

Break down

Action taken place inside prisons

Females: 2,258

4,448

individuals

Males: 2,156

• The Department of Corrections is preparing to separate anyone withing the LGBTQ+ community from others in order to ensure their safety and security

Transgender: 34

As a result of high drug related crimes the Royal Thai Government has shifted to prioritize crackdown on narcotics

The imbalance of socioeconomic and political systems contribute to the increase of crime in Thailand.

Thailand's Constitutional Monarchy enforced censorship which has lead to many individuals being charged for “challenging the law and rebelling”. Authorities have arrested hundreds of people under charges of insulting the Monarchy.

Since 1998 there has been an increase of drug-related offenses due to dealing and use of the substance amphetamine. Thailand's penal policy criminalized drug which contributed to high drug-related incarceration rates.

Incarceration Crisis

• Similar to America, Thailand's rates of incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders are at very high rates.
• More than 80 percent of Thailand’s female inmates are locked up on narcotics charges.
• Meth pills are sold at very low costs and are generally favored by the poor.
• In news reports the criminalization of these pills are exaggerated and the news reports funded by the government depict meth users as hysterical, knife-wielding gremlins. America has armed, trained and advised Thailand’s anti-narcotics units over the course of nine presidential administrations.
• Meth in Asia is often cheaper than a Whopper value meal at Burger King.

Department of Corrections

Ministry of Justice

• Founded in March 25th of 1891
• Responsible for the criminal justice system, running prisons & Royal Thai Police.
• Oversees all administrations regarding crime, sentencing, and rehabilitation

In regards to classification, Thailand's department of correction has a classification system based on the needs of offenders, regarding "treatment" and programs (Bing and Albano 2017).

Ministry of Justice

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118845387.wbeoc099 (1)

System Overview

Central Administration

Central prisons: for sentenced prisoners and final sentenced prisoners, often maximum security

Correctional institutions: used for prisoners of the same category as those detained in a regional prison in localities where there are no regional prisons (regional prisons comprise provincial prisons and district prisons).

Remand prison: those who have been arrested and waiting trial

Temporary prisons: only for the prisoners of the category determined by the Minister of Justice.

Provincial Administration

Provincial prisons & District prisons: for entrusted prisoners, prisoners on remand, and final sentenced prisoners.

DOC : http://www.correct.go.th/eng/prisons_correctional_i.html

System

Number of Institution

Solitary Confinement

What is Solitary Confinement?

• Solitary confinement is isolating a person inside a reduced cell. This is used as a punishment
• Solitary confinement is allowed under The Correction Act B.E. 2479 (1936) and is used as a form of punishment. Incarcerated people may be placed in solitary confinement for no more than one month
• In a women's prison, a different form of solitary confinement is used. Corner segregation is a form of solitary confinement that involves placing the person in the corner of a room and not allowed to leave and other are not allowed to interact with them.

Overcrowding & Sleeping Conditions

Over Crowding

• As of January 2017 the official capacity of 148 prisons in Thailand’s penitentiary system was 118,058 inmates compared to an actual prison population of 264,447 for those prisons
• The sleeping dormitories in prison are very reduced. Men and women dormitories are empty rooms with linoleum floors. Dormitory sizes vary from prisons.

Community Institutions

• In 2018 the Ministry of Justice proposed to use Electric Monitoring (EM) as an alternative for jail time and to decrease over crowding
• The Ministry of Justice first planned to use the EM with female offenders as experimental project to see that using the EM with female offenders is effective

community corrections

Sanitation

Sanitation

• poor access to hygiene items, such as bras (old,oversized, containing fungus) and pads
• lack of basic health care leading to spread of diseases
• as for pregnant women they face verbal abuse and don't receive the proper treatment
• women, who are in the same facilities as men, often have to compete to receive medical attention (Supawatanakul, 2016)

• women do not have enough access to water for showering, or given enough time to shower (CEDAW 2017) https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/fidh_-_ucl_thailand_shadow_report_-_female_inmates_-_discrimination_behind_bars.pdf

https://prachatai.com/english/node/6773

Living Conditions

The Thai prison system was not built to hold the increasing women prison population. The prison facilities physical structure were design for male prisoners. Prisons were design to hold 30-60 individuals, while the number of women per prison is estimated to be 200-300 per prison(Chitsawang 2012).

With the overcrowding in prisons, women are unable to have the same access to rehabilitation programs, as men. The programs offered are not aimed to help women, failing to meet their gender specific needs, (Chitsaeang 2012, CEDAW 2017).

Due to the small number of women prisons, individuals are detained far from home. This makes it hard for mothers to fill their caretaking responsibilities. This has a negative impact on the mother and child. They are also given food that lacks proper nutrition, and are not given enough water. In addition, women go through invasive searches done by mostly male staff (CEDAW 2017).

Offenses

Thailand has one of the largest women prison population in the world. In part it has to do with Thailand's harsh narcotic laws, about 82%

of all females who are incarcerated are due to drug-related offenses.

Incarceration rate

The Bangkok Rule

The Bangkok Rule

The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders also referred as the Bangkok Rules are a set of guidelines created by the Thai government for a more equal treatment of women in prisons. The Bangkok rules provide guidelines for admission procedures, healthcare, humane treatment, search procedures, and children who accompany their mothers into prison. The Rules try to address the different needs that women have contrary to men. The rules aim to protect women's rights and are also the first international guidelines to address the needs of children in prison with their parent. Although the Thailand government drafted the rules, it is still in the earlier stages of being implemented in Thailand prisons. Due to being a developing nation will slowly transition

Foreigners make 4.4% of the total prison population

Foreigners Abroad

• Billy Moor this British foreigner was incarcerated at Chaing Mai in Thailand
• Billy Moore stated that getting enough food was a challenge
• Those incarcerated daily got one meal a day
• However, he began to receive money from the Prisoner's Abroad
• Prisoner's Abroad was a grant from a charity back in London
• With the help from Prisoner's Abroad, Billy was able to afford enough food to survive
• Prisoner's Abroad also sent Billy Moore books and newspapers to help him think about other things instead of his situation about being incarcerated

Billy Moore 2018. "Surviving Prison in Thailand".

Retrieved December 8, 2019 (https://www.prisonersabroad.org.uk/surviving-prison-in-thailand)

Foreigner who are incarcerated will not be allowed to transfer to a prison on their home country without first paying all fines that have been given to them during their stay in Thailand. They will not be released at all until the last Baht (currency $) has been paid.

Jensen, N. (2019). Got no money? Don't expect to leave Thai jail - ScandAsia. [online] ScandAsia. Available at: https://scandasia.com/got-no-money-dont-expect-to-leave-thai-jail/ [Accessed 11 Dec. 2019].

Bangkok Detention Center

U.S citizens incarcerated in Thailand

In Thailand, U.S. citizens are subject to its laws and regulations. Any persons violating the law in Thailand, even may be fined, arrested, or deported. If detained, a U.S. citizen will have to go through the Thai legal process of being charged, prosecuted, and possibly convicted and sentenced.

DREAM BILL OF RIGHTS

There are many flaws in today's prison system, undoubtedly people who are incarcerated are affected by the outcomes of an institution that doesn’t have their best interest in mind. As a nation we speak about the desire to see equality and to be heard yet we forget to acknowledge those who are incarcerated and we forget that they too have rights that are being violated. For this reason amongst others, it is necessary to establish a bill of rights for people who are incarcerated. Each individual who is incarcerated has the right to be treated with dignity. Through this bill of rights we aspire to contribute to the change in our current prison system to rehabilitate and prepare individuals for society integration . This list of rights applies to everyone who is incarcerated in the U.S regardless of the severity of crimes they have committed.

1

Article 2: Those incarcerated have the right to Primary education and Language development programs or to seek higher education .

2

The country of Thailand Failed to provide academic accredited courses to all people incarcerated. However some prisons have established vocational training programs to aid with reintegration to society with useful skills.

Recommendation: Prisons must implement and structure a program that allows incarcerated people obtain primary formal education. These programs are to be emphasized in the development of general writing, reading, and speaking skills, mathematics, and science. A merging of formal education and vocational training programs will successfully aid those incarcerated with skills for their future upon release.

Letter grade received: D

Article 3: Those incarcerated have the right to be provided with cost-free hygiene products and services.

3

The country of Thailand has a failed to provide the necessary hygiene products and services to those incarcerated within their prison system. Women in particular suffer from poor access to hygiene items, such as pads and there is lack of basic health care leading to spread of diseases. People incarcerated are not given an appropriate amount of time to shower and this can contribute to the overall lack of hygiene.

Recommendations: People who are incarcerated are to be given the opportunity to shower 3 to 4 times a week provided with shampoo and body soap at no cost. The facility will provide incarcerated people with weekly or monthly with hygiene products such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorants, toilet paper, and laundry soap at no cost. Women should have accessible pads or tampons as needed on a monthly basis.

Letter grade received: D

Article 4: Those incarcerated have the right to proper nutrition.

4

The country of Thailand has failed to provide proper nutrition to those incarcerated within their prison system. The poor quality of prison food and water has resulted in undernourishment for some of the people incarcerated. The quality of water poses a harm for all who are in the prison due to the lack of proper water filtration.

Recommendations: Every prisoner should be provided by the prison administration at the usual hours with food of nutritional value adequate for health and strength, of wholesome quality and well prepared and served. The Warden should have somebody that regularly checks how the food is being made. Cooks could be purposely sabotaging the food or could be exceeding the amount of serving per ingredient i.e. salt, sugar etc. Such regulations will ensure that all people are receiving the proper nutrition and decrease cases of malnourished individuals. Similarly the water must be tested to verify that the water consumed is clean and not harmful to the individuals health or welling.

Letter grade received: D

Article 5: Those incarcerated should have a minimum of 4 hours of recreation time.

5

The country of Thailand has failed to provide a minimum of 4 hours of recreational time for those incarcerated within their prison system. Many individuals spend up to 23 hours a day locked up in 5x10 cells, which can effect a person physical and mental health as well as create more violence within the institution.

Recommendation: One suggestion is that they get two hours at breakfast time and two hours at dinner time, where they can interact with others and get exercise if they choose too. The second suggestion is, that if a fight or a riot where to happen, the maximum amount of time these rights should be taken away is seven days. The last suggestion would be to have education or vocational trianing counted separate and not as the same 4 hours of recreational time.

Letter grade received: D

Article 6: Those incarcerated have the right to practice their religion

6

The country of Thailand does allow those incarcerated to practice their religion, however there is no true evidence to what extent. The law allows freedom or religion however it does not register new religious groups.

Recommendation: Within the country the major religions are Buddhist and Muslim. Prison officials should be provided sensitivity training in order to respect many religions besides Buddhist and Muslim. Individuals should have access to a variety of programs that center around other religions besides Buddhist. It is important that all individuals have the right to practice religion, even if it is a minority religion.

Letter grade received: B