Thai jails suffer drug convict overload, Latest World News - The New Paper
World

Thai jails suffer drug convict overload

This article is more than 12 months old
Thai jails suffer drug convict overload
LIFE IN KLONG PREM: (Above) Inmates sitting in rows during an inspection visit; a cell with a toilet where five inmates sleep; visitors speaking by phone to inmates.
Thai jails suffer drug convict overload
BANNED: A list of instructions displayed on a wall in the long-term sentence zone inside Klong Prem prison in Bangkok.
Thai jails suffer drug convict overload
LIFE IN KLONG PREM: Inmates sitting in rows during an inspection visit; a cell with a toilet where five inmates sleep; (above) visitors speaking by phone to inmates.

Thai jails suffer drug convict overload
LIFE IN KLONG PREM: Inmates sitting in rows during an inspection visit; (above) a cell with a toilet where five inmates sleep; visitors speaking by phone to inmates.

Jail commander: Need to differentiate between small and major dealers to ease space shortage

Jul 23, 2016 06:02 am

Thailand's 10-year war on drugs is putting criminals behind bars in record numbers.

Corrections department figures for July showed a prison population of 321,347, with around 70 per cent jailed for drug offences.

Prisoners in Thailand make up 40 per cent of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' prison population, despite having only 10 per cent of the bloc's total population, says the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Institute for Criminal Policy Research data also shows the Land of Smiles has the eighth-highest incarceration rate in the world.

Lengthy sentences for drug offences are part of the reason why Thai jails struggle with chronic overcrowding, according to both Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya and United Nation experts.

"The world has lost the war on drugs, not only Thailand," he told Reuters. "We have clear numbers that drug use has increased over the past three years. Another indicator is there are more prisoners."

Thai heart-throb Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree (left) and singer-actress Pornnappan Pornpenpipat have confirmed they are dating.
Music

Thai actor Bright and singer Nene confirm they are dating

Related Stories

Chiang Mai tops world's most polluted cities

It ‘feels like’ 48 deg C in Bangkok

Thailand to ban recreational cannabis use by end-2024

The number of inmates jailed for drug convictions has almost doubled over the past decade, a result of unsparing sentencing that puts even petty users behind bars.

"We need to change sentencing and make a distinction between small and big-time dealers," Klong Prem prison commander Thawatchai Chaiywat told Reuters.

He clearly knows what he is talking about.

The prison he runs is home to 6,267 inmates serving sentences that range from 15 years to life, with 64 per cent convicted of drug crimes.

A typical cell measures 1.5m by 3m and sleeps five inmates, side by side on dark blue mattresses on the floor.

"Some of the men, especially the foreign prisoners, are pretty big, so it is a squeeze for them," said one prison guard.

BY THE NUMBERS

321,347

Number of inmates in Thai jails as of this month. Seventy per cent of these offenders have been jailed for drug offences

Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now

thailandprisonDRUG ADDICTS