Thailand To Build Six Super Max Jails For Drug Offenders

[george]

Thailand to build six Super Max jails for drug offenders

By John Le Fevre

BANGKOK: -- Thailand’s Corrections Department is to spend more than Bt200 million (about $US5.8 million) on a new Super Max prison to house about 1,000 serious drug offenders.

The new penitentiary will be fitted with the latest high-technology security systems and be built at the existing Khaobin Central Prison complex in Ratchaburi province.

Nathee Jitsawang, head of the Corrections Department, said once the prison was built the department will seek additional funding for the installation of high-tech security equipment.

The plans to build the Super Max penitentiary were revealed yesterday on the sidelines of a seminar discussing measures to prevent the use of mobile phones in the illicit drug trade inside prisons.

The smuggling of mobile phones into prisons is a major problem for prisons in all countries, and a Super Max prison with high-tech security equipment that can locate and block mobile phone signals and a surrounding buffer area has been identified as one solution.

Nathee said the department plans to turn six prisons in Bangkok, Ratchaburi, Rayong, and Phitsanulok into the so-called Super Max, maximum security jails.

He said the Khaobin Central Prison will be the first to be upgraded to Super Max level and once complete prisoners will be confined in groups of 10 for each security zone.

Jay Jamieson, of Southwest Texas State University, said Thailand and the US faced similar problems with the smuggling of drugs, mobile phones, and gambling devices by inmates.

He told the seminar that in the US there were two million prisoners, with 25 percent of them jailed for drug offenses.

Jamieson said banned items were smuggled into the prisons in food trucks that entered the jail compounds, were hidden in CD boxes sent by relatives, or simply thrown into jail compounds at locations known only to the receiver and sender.

He said that in the US, prison authorities could not install mobile phone detectors for fear of being sued by mobile phone vendors and that creating Super Max institutions was an effective solution to the problem.

-- thaivisa.com 2009-07-18

[imjustagirl]

Surely there are more deserving individuals than drug offenders for these prisons....i.e. murders, rapists, peadophiles....

I understand the need to keep drugs out of the prison but i always presumed that the REAL big drug offenders didn't use their product, just abused the people. Unless of course these super max prisons are for poor souls addicted to yabba etc and need kept away from it - surely a rehab, education and drug councellor would be cheaper and more appropriate and constructive for them....

[webfact]

Something like Pelican Bay California State Prison?

[parryhandy]

Surely there are more deserving individuals than drug offenders for these prisons....i.e. murders, rapists, peadophiles....

I understand the need to keep drugs out of the prison but i always presumed that the REAL big drug offenders didn't use their product, just abused the people. Unless of course these super max prisons are for poor souls addicted to yabba etc and need kept away from it - surely a rehab, education and drug councellor would be cheaper and more appropriate and constructive for them....

Totally agree, but the sad truth is the "system" is to big and vested to be able to sit down and say "what a waste of time this drug war is "

I mean people take drugs and potentially harm themselves or not, and the answer is to throw them into a crowded , stinking jail for a long time to protect them ?

[PoorSucker]

Sounds like a good place for Thaksin.

He can continue his war on drugs from inside by himself.

[neverdie]

Hopefully they arnt going to start building comfort into their jails, I would be really disappointed

[TAWP]

200 million...1 000 prisoners... So just the buildingcost is 200k per inmate, then add to that yearly costs for guards, equipment and maintenance. Jeez... someone must have smoked something when they drew up the plans.

[animatic]

Any prison can be retrofitted to cancel or locate cellphones.

A grid of wires across the roof and a transmiter tuned to block the

same three basic frequencies putting out white noise would do it.

Not to expensive either.

Location is a bit more difficult, but would require 3-5 receivers

hooked to thos same roof wires,

tuned to the same frequencies used in cell phones

coming together on a XY grid screen.

Triangulate the position of each signal and go there with a hand held

radio frequency meter to find the last few feet if needed.

Cellphones with a battery installed can usually be located with cell towers alone,

inside a building such as a prison install you own grid system.

Not brain surgery this.

[verydumbubba]

Shakespeare - "Kill all the lawyers - drug dealers.

Bubba

[crocodilexp]

A grid of wires across the roof and a transmiter tuned to block the

same three basic frequencies putting out white noise would do it.

Not to expensive either.

They can *impede* cell phone use this way, but I'm not so convinced they can *block* it without engineering it from the start. Not sure how well this would work, if it would have complete coverage or cause unwanted interference. Also, I wonder how difficult snipping those retrofitted wires would be.

Location is a bit more difficult.

MUCH more difficult, given human ingenuity. Make a quick call, take the battery out, relocate the phone (assuming you're making the call when not in the cell). By the time they pick up on it, locate it and dispatch the guards, it's already too late... or even stealthier, don't connect to the network (Flight mode), then collect / send out SMS in bulk in a brief period. A minute should do it, and you don't even need to take the phone out of your pocket during that time.

Easier, just pay off the guards. This is trivial if you're important enough that your phone use would represent a public threat (e.g. mafia boss). If you're small fish, too bad, you need to be creative.

[jfchandler]

My former home in California has a number of so-called Super Max prisons...

The total price for the project being mentioned in this thread, nearly $6 million, wouldn't even buy you a Super Max cell block back in the States....

Maybe they're planning to build the ones here using corrugated sheets of tin and concrete blocks....

[webfact]

My former home in California has a number of so-called Super Max prisons...

The total price for the project being mentioned in this thread, nearly $6 million, wouldn't even buy you a Super Max cell block back in the States....

Maybe they're planning to build the ones here using corrugated sheets of tin and concrete blocks....

an addition to your post - Pelican Bay Supermax

[sanmiguellight]

Hopefully they arnt going to start building comfort into their jails, I would be really disappointed

But lots of people in jails are ok, many are just chancers they deserve a bit of humanity.

Violent people and people who physically harm others deserve a sh7tty establishment.

[Chunkton]

Now understand this comment isn't entirely politically correct, but wasn't Taksin's approach cheaper?

[Maejo Man]

I feel another "hub" coming on.......Thailand hub of super nicks

[Maejo Man]

Duplicate post

[Maejo Man]

stuck button

[webfact]

stuck button

no... not use browser back button! Will bring you back to the posting window!

click after you've posted on top at the "topic title" you've just posted.

Thats the trick... I guess

[Scott]

A super max for drug offenders? Isn't that a little like taking a shot gun after a mosquito? Seems those prisons should be used for very violent offenders, terrorists and other potentially very dangerous people.

[Datsun240Z]

Why don't they spend some money on infrastructure.

[webfact]

Will this super mad max prison built on that island they where looking for couple of weeks ago...?

I've posted a topic Alcatraz In The Gulf of Thailand?

[neverdie]

A super max for drug offenders? Isn't that a little like taking a shot gun after a mosquito? Seems those prisons should be used for very violent offenders, terrorists and other potentially very dangerous people.

Scott, I appreciate what you say BUT if we were to disregard the terrorist bit and talk about violent offenders and dangerous people, I would have to say that some of the druggies I have been involved with over the years have been exactly that.

Armed hold ups, Home Invasions, Rapes, Serious Assualts, Murder, Drive by shootings, Robbery, Drug Induced violent acts....they've all been committed by druggies. Serious organised crime and drugs......DEFINATELY.

Ive been stabbed by a junkie, voilent enuf for your jail now?

Criminals don't usually just stick to one field of play, okay some of the white collar stuff maybe, but generally a low life will try all walks of trade in the crime game and many things come back to drugs.

Flame me all you like, what would I know, I was only in the coal face for two decades.

[Scott]

Neverdie: Your right, but my point is that they aren't mutually exclusive. If you are dangerous or violent then you may need specialized care (incarceration). If this is because of or in conjunction with drug offences, or drug dealing, then so be it.

I am not trying to defend junkies or say they don't need this care, I am just saying that a lot of these are low level people who are don't need specialized supervision.

You build a super max for prisoners who need to be in a super max, whether they are a drug offender, terrorirst, or anything else. You don't build a super max because your current system can't keep mobile phones and drugs out of the prison. I think there are some lazy guards and too many bribes being paid. This may not change in a super max, given the track record of corruption.

[Crushdepth]

Why do you need high technology to lock people up, when simple bars and locks will do?

The smuggling of mobile phones into prisons is a major problem for prisons in all countries, and a Super Max prison with high-tech security equipment that can locate and block mobile phone signals and a surrounding buffer area has been identified as one solution.

It's always amazed me how people under lock and key can get hold of drugs, phones, needles and whatever. Here's a clue: The prisoners are not the problem, its the people running the jail. Do something about that.

[neverdie]

Neverdie: Your right, but my point is that they aren't mutually exclusive. If you are dangerous or violent then you may need specialized care (incarceration). If this is because of or in conjunction with drug offences, or drug dealing, then so be it.

I am not trying to defend junkies or say they don't need this care, I am just saying that a lot of these are low level people who are don't need specialized supervision.

You build a super max for prisoners who need to be in a super max, whether they are a drug offender, terrorirst, or anything else. You don't build a super max because your current system can't keep mobile phones and drugs out of the prison. I think there are some lazy guards and too many bribes being paid. This may not change in a super max, given the track record of corruption.

Why do you need high technology to lock people up, when simple bars and locks will do?

The smuggling of mobile phones into prisons is a major problem for prisons in all countries, and a Super Max prison with high-tech security equipment that can locate and block mobile phone signals and a surrounding buffer area has been identified as one solution.

It's always amazed me how people under lock and key can get hold of drugs, phones, needles and whatever. Here's a clue: The prisoners are not the problem, its the people running the jail. Do something about that.

EXACTLY, EXACTLY.

Hey also this is a problem back in many of ur western countries too, something that is difficult to stamp out 100%.

Having said that, in the perfect world there would be plenty more jails and I would be running them ....none of that crap on my shift

[Scott]

Much of the time, it's the fox guarding the chicken coop. That's pretty much everywhere, but here it is much more prevalent and seldom punished.

[geriatrickid]

200 million...1 000 prisoners... So just the buildingcost is 200k per inmate, then add to that yearly costs for guards, equipment and maintenance. Jeez... someone must have smoked something when they drew up the plans.

Wonder which minister has the construction company......

Wouldn't the money be better spent on treatment and prevention?

This model doesn't work and is just a business opportunity.

Iran has a major heroin problem and yet for a country teetering on the dark ages, its approach of treatment, intervention and counseling is light years ahead of many western countries (and actually has better results). Maybe Thailand needs to look to the Netherlands, Israel and Iran for solutions instead of the failed US model.

[TAWP]

Having said that, in the perfect world there would be plenty more jails and I would be running them ....none of that crap on my shift

In a perfect world, surely there would be no need for prisons...?

[EndofDays]

200 million...1 000 prisoners... So just the buildingcost is 200k per inmate, then add to that yearly costs for guards, equipment and maintenance. Jeez... someone must have smoked something when they drew up the plans.

Wonder which minister has the construction company......

Wouldn't the money be better spent on treatment and prevention?

This model doesn't work and is just a business opportunity.

Iran has a major heroin problem and yet for a country teetering on the dark ages, its approach of treatment, intervention and counseling is light years ahead of many western countries (and actually has better results). Maybe Thailand needs to look to the Netherlands, Israel and Iran for solutions instead of the failed US model.

You are kidding, right? You know what happens to them in Iran if they don't kick the habbit? The Netherlands? Aren't they dealing with a pandemic of a drugged out generation and now are working to reverse all thier "enlightened" policies?

[Datsun240Z]

Everybody was stoned here in the 70's. So fun.