UK wants assurances on basic rights for British prisoners in Thailand

[webfact]

UK wants assurances on basic rights for British prisoners

By The Nation

 

File photo

 

Britain has asked Thailand’s Department of Corrections to ensure that prison inmates are provided with basic rights under international standards, department director-general Pol Colonel Narat Sawettnan said yesterday.

 

Narat said he had assured UK authorities that his agency took care of inmates of all nationalities – including British prisoners – as per Thai regulations and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, or the Mandela Rules.

 

Narat said that the British Embassy had recently asked his department to prevent suicides and prison breaks while ensuring inmates were provided with a good quality of life and human rights protection as per international standards. 

 

The embassy also sent standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the agency to apply, to help solve corruption and assaults, promote equity and be in line with human rights, he said. 

 

Narat said Thailand had to adjust to apply the international practices and his department would study the procedures and apply them where possible.

 

He also said Thai prisons currently hold 15,076 foreign inmates, most of whom came from neighbouring countries and were linked to drug crimes.

 

Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) adviser Natthee Jitsawang, a former Department of Corrections chief, said the department had made a lot of changes to promote inmates' rights, including the improvement of prison infirmary medical care standards to match the rest of the world.

 

He said inmates were not punished by starving them of food or drinking water, locked in the dark or assaulted. There was a programme to take care of “vulnerable” inmates who were pregnant and stateless inmates were given access to legal aid, he added. 

 

Natthee said the SOPs would have to be adjusted to fit the Thai context and would help boost the work of prisons and clarify doubts or questions.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30338765

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-02-14

[Fish Head Soup]

24 minutes ago, webfact said:

Narat said that the British Embassy had recently asked his department to prevent suicides and prison breaks while ensuring inmates were provided with a good quality of life and human rights protection as per international standards. 

 

The embassy also sent standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the agency to apply, to help solve corruption and assaults, promote equity and be in line with human rights, he said. 

 

Narat said Thailand had to adjust to apply the international practices and his department would study the procedures and apply them where possible.

Rather than study them and apply them where possible just apply them to the waste paper bin, the last thing you want to do is take advice from the British on how to treat prisoners and run your prisons.

 

What a cheek!

[Colabamumbai]

Two hots and maybe no cots should suffice.

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, Fish Head Soup said:

Rather than study them and apply them where possible just apply them to the waste paper bin, the last thing you want to do is take advice from the British on how to treat prisoners and run your prisons.

 

What a cheek!

Why? Do you feel British prisoners are so horribly treated or the prisons are so sub-standard?

There is always room for improvement but let us not forget it is a place of punishment.

I feel confident to suggest prisoners in Britain are treated better than those in Thai ones.

 

[captspectre]

didn't the uk just sell their embassy? the thai's should tell them to P--s up a rope! keep their hoodlums home and they will not get a daily ration of rice and fish heads!

 

[samsensam]

25 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Why? Do you feel British prisoners are so horribly treated or the prisons are so sub-standard?

There is always room for improvement but let us not forget it is a place of punishment.

I feel confident to suggest prisoners in Britain are treated better than those in Thai ones.

 

 

while not a direct comparison with the thai prison system this recent report raises serious failings in the uk prison system

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/19/prisons-chief-blames-cuts-damning-reports-nottingham-liverpool

[anon537687643]

Of course we could follow the US penal system which has the highest prison population per capita in the world ....it doesnt appear to be a deterrent


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[anon789561]

10 minutes ago, captspectre said:

didn't the uk just sell their embassy? the thai's should tell them to P--s up a rope! keep their hoodlums home and they will not get a daily ration of rice and fish heads!

 

whats the UK selling embassy grounds got to do with it? 555. yeah, they sold their embassy didn't they. who bought the british embassy then, the chinese? yawn

[TheSwede99]

34 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Why? Do you feel British prisoners are so horribly treated or the prisons are so sub-standard?

There is always room for improvement but let us not forget it is a place of punishment.

I feel confident to suggest prisoners in Britain are treated better than those in Thai ones.

 

You're wrong, A prison is going to rehabilitate prisoners, not punish them.
The punishment is the time they are to be kept separate from society.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, TheSwede99 said:

You're wrong, A prison is going to rehabilitate prisoners, not punish them.
The punishment is the time they are to be kept separate from society.

Yes, that is the enlightened POV but tragically not shared in prison systems in much or most of the world. 

[soalbundy]

39 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Why? Do you feel British prisoners are so horribly treated or the prisons are so sub-standard?

There is always room for improvement but let us not forget it is a place of punishment.

I feel confident to suggest prisoners in Britain are treated better than those in Thai ones.

 

British prisons have been unfavourably reported in the news lately. Why this should be a priority I don't know, part of the UK's 'protect the crap' policy.

[Boon Mee]

12 minutes ago, markaoffy said:

Of course we could follow the US penal system which has the highest prison population per capita in the world ....it doesnt appear to be a deterrent


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Keeping the evil-doers off the street though.

[wakeupplease]

24 minutes ago, captspectre said:

didn't the uk just sell their embassy? the thai's should tell them to P--s up a rope! keep their hoodlums home and they will not get a daily ration of rice and fish heads!

 

The mad get madder under the sun maybe

[grego49]

Do the  crime do the time,simple.

[Orton Rd]

3 minutes ago, grego49 said:

Do the  crime do the time,simple.

Yeah people getting at least 15 years for facebook comments, or even forwarding a BBC article really deserve it don't they!

[Orton Rd]

7 minutes ago, grego49 said:

Do the  crime do the time,simple.

Yeah people getting at least 15 years for facebook comments, or even forwarding a BBC article really deserve it don't they!

[darksidedog]

More lies. To suggest Thai prisons come remotely close to International minimum standards is a joke. Unsanitary conditions and mass overcrowding mean infections run wildfire in them. If you don't have money for food, you are in serious trouble.

The Embassy are wasting their time talking to DOC.

[gk10002000]

They may want and they may even get assurances, but I would not put great faith in the conditions actually being good.

[wakeupplease]

Just the UK pushing the Human Rights issue that this lot do not understand, Now Boris arrives today so the evil boys now know not to try it on with him, hope he has diplomatic immunity as his gob may wake up a few locals

[anon537687643]

Keeping the evil-doers off the street though.

Haha dont think so! Plenty more “evil doers” not incarcerated !


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[Yann55]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

UK wants assurances on basic rights for British prisoners

Good luck with that.

[SpeakeasyThai]

30 minutes ago, grego49 said:

Do the  crime do the time,simple.

The Cuckoo simpleton approach, clearly the article registered meaningless to you and  flew over your head in a nano second. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The longer I stay here, the better I get at translating Thai into reality.

 

So what the Corrections guy is saying to the Brits above is, thanks very much for the suggestions on U.N. standards and humane ways to treat prisoners/foreign prisoners.

 

We'll consider those suggestions, and then we'll pretty much go about doing things the way we've always done them, the Thai way, the Thai interpretation of what's humane and compliant.

 

Kind of like the Thai version of democracy and civil rights...

 

Fish head soup, anyone?

 

But I should add, kudos to the British government for, apparently, at least raising the issue with their Thai counterparts. That's more, apparently, than the "human rights champion" U.S. has done lately.

 

[captspectre]

51 minutes ago, Happy enough said:

whats the UK selling embassy grounds got to do with it? 555. yeah, they sold their embassy didn't they. who bought the british embassy then, the chinese? yawn

if a uk citizen had a problem, where would he/she go? the embassy in BKK has been sold., while not a big fan of the uk, i have talked to a lot of uk expats and some of the stories they tell about the service provided by their embassy infuriates them!

 

[hobobo]

1 hour ago, captspectre said:

didn't the uk just sell their embassy? the thai's should tell them to P--s up a rope! keep their hoodlums home and they will not get a daily ration of rice and fish heads!

 

What's selling "the embassy" got to do with any of this? UK sold the plot of land and the buildings built on it, the embassy continues at a different location. Get your facts right.

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Why? Do you feel British prisoners are so horribly treated or the prisons are so sub-standard?

There is always room for improvement but let us not forget it is a place of punishment.

I feel confident to suggest prisoners in Britain are treated better than those in Thai ones.

 

 

Based on recent reports concerning the conditions of some prisons, lack of staff, increase in assaults and suicides, riots and disturbances, it seems that whilst the general living conditions may be better, and the corruption might be less, with basics provided rather than having to be paid for, conditions in British prisons are far from a role model.

 

As often the case with British politicians, they can tell others what to do but can't do it themselves!

 

Most people associated with the justice system see prisons as a form of corrections rather than punishments btw.

[hobobo]

51 minutes ago, grego49 said:

Do the  crime do the time,simple.

Your time will come!

[Jingjock]

Yes keep em locked up with rice and a fish head, Brits number 1 hoodlum here in Thai. Its pitiful to see these louts acting like crazy fools. And by the way I was born and raised in UK

[Stargeezr]

In Canada the prisoners in the Yukon, used to get top quality food, 400 thread  count sheets, TV and computor time, you know the necessary life stuff. I sure hope that is not the International standard..

Geezer

[mercman24]

my step son was a low life started up with borstal then next stop was prison, said it was great, he learnt various tricks of the trade, hot wiring cars for example, moved on to selling e tabs at UK raves made a bloody fortune ha ha, buy for 1 pound,  sell for 5 pounds