Loading AI tools
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Department of Corrections (Thai: กรมราชทัณฑ์, RTGS: krom ratchathan) is an agency of the Thai Ministry of Justice. Its mission is to keep prisoners in custody and rehabilitate them.[1] Its headquarters is in Suanyai Sub-district, Mueang Nonthaburi District, Nonthaburi Province.[2] As of 2020[update], Police Colonel Suchart Wongananchai is director-general of the department.[3] Its FY2019 budget was 13,430 million baht.[4]
| กรมราชทัณฑ์ Krom Ratchathan | |
.png) Seal of Yama, god of the underworld, riding on Rajasiha, the great Lion | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Suanyai Sub-district, Mueang Nonthaburi, Nonthaburi, Thailand |
| Annual budget | 13,430 million baht (FY2019) |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Ministry of Justice |
| Website | www |
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2016) |
Bang Kwang houses Thailand's death row for men and execution chamber.[19] The Klong Prem (Lard Yao) section for women houses female death row inmates.[20]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) puts the minimum space requirement for inmate accommodation at 3.4 m2 per person in a shared or dormitory accommodation. The Department of Corrections has three different inmate space standards for its prisons: the "standard capacity" spacing regulation is 2.25 m2 floor space for each prisoner. "Full capacity" spacing is 1.1 m2 per female inmate, 1.2 m2 per male inmate. "Full capacity 30%" sets the spacing at 0.85 m2 per inmate. These guidelines allow the DOC to manipulate prison occupancy numbers.[21]: 14–15 When the Director-General of the Department of Corrections says—as he did in December 2019—that the 700,000 inmates behind bars are three times the capacity of the prisons[22] it is unclear which capacity standard he is using. In December 2019, a video was released on YouTube showing a crowded cell at the Lang Suan Prison in Chumphon Province. Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin's response was to tell the prison to file a police complaint of an alleged hacking of the video system. He directed the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to find out how it happened and who was responsible on the grounds that the leak may have violated the rights of inmates.[23] Somsak's attitude has changed somewhat when he realised—as he put it—that some inmates have "...less room for a body [to sleep in] than the inside of a coffin,..."[24]
The Department of Corrections is moving towards separating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) prisoners from other prisoners to ensure their safety and security. Min Buri Prison will be used as a prison for LGBT prisoners under a pilot scheme. There are 4,448 prisoners self-identified as LGBT: 2,258 females, 2,156 males, and 34 transgender individuals. LGBT inmates account for about one percent of Thailand's total of 300,000 prisoners.[25]
Thailand, as of 2018, is one of 58 nations that retain the death penalty. Of the 10 ASEAN nations, only Cambodia and the Philippines have outlawed it.[26]
Thailand retains the death penalty, but rarely employs it. Since 1935 Thailand has executed 326 persons, 319 by firing squad (the last was shot on 11 December 2003), and seven by lethal injection, the latest on 19 June 2018. As of January 2019[update], 517 persons remain on death row.[27][28] Bang Khwang Central Prison contains the nation's primary Death Row, but Death Rows exist in provincial prisons, for both men and women.[26] As of October 2019[update], 59 women are on death row, 58 of them for drug-related offenses.[21]: 31
Even after the Supreme Court has handed down a death sentence, under Thai law it can be stayed by the king if a petition is sent to the palace within 60 days. The king can then ponder the petition indefinitely. King Bhumibol (Rama IX), effectively halted executions in Thailand for nearly a decade by this means. Petitions submitted by condemned prisoners were left unanswered by the palace, leading prison officials to regard them as "under royal deliberation". They did not dare put petitioners to death lest they were seen as intruding on royal prerogative. More than 500 death row inmates were thus spared death. On the other hand, when the king rejects clemency petitions, the prisoner must be put to death within 24 hours.[27]
Thai public opinion on the death penalty is unclear. A 2014 survey reported that only eight percent of the population favored its abolition. Another survey indicated that 41 percent wanted to retain the death penalty as a sentencing option.[26] Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said that the death penalty is necessary to maintain peace and order and deter severe crimes in spite of general acknowledgement that the possibility of execution does not serve to deter crime.[28]
The corrections department has three criteria for granting parole to inmates:
Two conditions are attached: The inmate must have served at least six months of an ordinary sentence, or—if sentenced to life—the inmate must have served at least 10 years of that sentence. One serial killer was originally sentenced to death in 2005. He confessed to the crime, thus resulting in the commutation of his sentence to life. He then served 14 years of his life sentence and during that time received four sentence reductions for good behaviour. He was then granted parole on a "special national occasion." Seven months after he was paroled he committed murder and was rearrested.[29]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
