Govt To Improve Prison Conditions

[george]

Govt to improve prison conditions

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanjana led an inspection tour of Bangkok’s five prisons on Friday.

The visits were part of a government project to boost the well-being of inmates all over the country.

The Prison Board’s duty is to ensure all the country’s prisons meet the Department of Health’s standards covering dining halls, food, sleeping quarters and sanitation, according to the justice minister.

He said that the committee had gathered information during the prison visits and suggested improvements to prison authorities if they do not meet the necessary standards.

The board – which includes senior Justice Ministry officials, a public prosecutor, a law lecturer, and a senior Budget Bureau official – visited the Klong Prem Prison, Bangkok Special Prison, Women’s Central Prison, Central Correctional Institution, and Corrections Department Hospital on Friday.

Overcrowding was one of major problems facing the Corrections Department, Mr. Pongthep said.

The short-term solution would be to move some inmates to newly-built facilities in provinces, he noted.

--TNA 2005-01-15

[ProfessorFart]

Why? Don't make jail look a soft option!

[gburns57au]

Why? Don't make jail look a soft option!

I work within the Justice system, Western prisons compared to some Thai, Indon Viet prisons are like holiday camps...I just saw a doco on the Bangkok Hilton and the impression I got was that it is not such a bad place all things considered. That may have been a sanitized view though. I am sure that a lot of the old provincial ones do need some work.

The whole point is that people are sent to jails AS punishment, not FOR punishment.

No I am not some bleedin heart or whatever...I work on a daily basis with prisoners, I dont see them in the stereotypical way that a lot of people do.

You have to ask yourself the question....how would I want a jail to be if I was the one that was in there ????

[sua yai]

I've got the video of the documentary on Bang Kwang. Would agree that it's sanitised. I know someone doing 100 years there now. Not visited him myself, but judging by others' accounts of the state he's in after 2 years, I can't imagine that life there is as "easy going" as the documentary shows.

[Crazy Dave]

Why? Don't make jail look a soft option!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You have to ask yourself the question....how would I want a jail to be if I was the one that was in there ????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hmmmmm, well color tv and aircon, maybe some nice rugs, hot water obviously for the jaccuzzi, nice views, a few women...ohhhhh sorry we were talking about jails for criminals, well in that case concrete floors, no beds, no fans, no water, hardly any food etc etc etc, yep i reckon the thais just about have it right....

[penzman]

Govt to improve prison conditions

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanjana led an inspection tour of Bangkok’s five prisons on Friday.

The visits were part of a government project to boost the well-being of inmates all over the country.

The Prison Board’s duty is to ensure all the country’s prisons meet the Department of Health’s standards covering dining halls, food, sleeping quarters and sanitation, according to the justice minister.

He said that the committee had gathered information during the prison visits and suggested improvements to prison authorities if they do not meet the necessary standards.

The board – which includes senior Justice Ministry officials, a public prosecutor, a law lecturer, and a senior Budget Bureau official – visited the Klong Prem Prison, Bangkok Special Prison, Women’s Central Prison, Central Correctional Institution, and Corrections Department Hospital on Friday.

Overcrowding was one of major problems facing the Corrections Department, Mr. Pongthep said.

The short-term solution would be to move some inmates to newly-built facilities in provinces, he noted.

--TNA 2005-01-15

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah!

They're tidying up for Thaksin's upcoming cleanup of "influential people".

Make it nice and comfy for friends, relatives, high ranking government officers, political opponents, university professors, journalists.