Thailand to launch prison reform

BANGKOK, March 20 (TNA) - Thailand will soon launch a prison reform, based on "Bangkok Rules" endorsed by the United Nations, beginning with nationwide jails for female inmates. An event to introduce a public-participated research program on the planned prison reform, the first study of its kind in Asia, will be organized by the Thai Ministry of Justice and other agencies concerned at the Grand Mercure Fortune Hotel in Bangkok on March 22, to promote public awareness on the prison reform for female inmates nationwide. The research program will then be expanded to include a proposed plan on a similar reform of prisons for male inmates in Thailand in the future, with an issue on gender sensitivity to be taken into account to be in line with the changing situation and social conditions in the country. The planned prison reform in Thailand, both for female and male inmates, is a follow-up of a move by Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the eldest daughter of Her Royal Highness Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, to propose that a UN regulation on basic standards regarding treatments of prisoners be revised, after having been enforced since 1955, with the gender sensitivity issue to be taken into consideration. On December 21, 2010, the UN General Assembly then adopted the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, or known as the "Bangkok Rules", to supplement the existing 1955 UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Since then, relevant agencies have adhered to the "Bangkok Rules" pushed by the Thai Princess, who has steadily offered guidances and contributions to the research program to pave the way for the prison reform in Thailand in the near future. Meanwhile, Thungsong Prison in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in the Thai South has now declared its female prison a "white zone" being free of all banned items, namely narcotics and mobile phones. The Thung Song Prison chief, Phichit Wannajit, presided over a ceremony to launch the pilot project on Wednesday, during which 219 female prisoners attended to join the declaration of the "white zone" status of their jail, with its accountability and transparency for, always, public inspections. Phichit explained that Thungsong Prison's female jail has been qualified for the "white zone" status, following a series of raids by prison authorities in which no drugs, mobile phone and other banned items were detected. Phichit acknowledged that his Thungsong Prison, which currently houses a total of 1,929 inmates, 1,710 are males and the rest 219 are females, eyes to turn all the prison's areas to become the "100 per cent white zone" status within this year, with the strict enforcement of both prevention and suppression measures against all banned items in its male jail to then achieve the goal. (TNA)