HM the King grants sweeping Royal pardon

[webfact]

HM the King grants sweeping Royal pardon

 

 

BANGKOK: -- His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun on Saturday granted a sweeping Royal pardon for prisoners and detainees throughout the country on the occasion of his succession to the throne.

 

The Royal decree regarding the Royal pardon was countersigned by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha and published in the Royal Gazette on Saturday.

 

Under the Royal decree, prisoners serving detention term; those ordered to perform public service in lieu of fines and those placed on probation will be released from prison.

 

Prisoners who are totally blind; without both legs or hands and certified as being disabled by two doctors; who are lepers or who are suffering from cancer, AIDS, mental problem or serious kidney problem; first-time female prisoners who have served at least one-thirds of their prison terms will be set free under the Royal decree.

 

Prisoners who are older than 60 and who have served at least one-thirds of their prison terms as well as first-time prisoners who have served at least one-thirds of their terms.

 

Prisoners on death row for specific offences will have their sentence commuted to life imprisonment; those serving life imprisonment will have their jailterm reduced to 50 years and then cut by half for prisoners classified as outstanding, one-thirds for “very good” prisoners and one-fourths for prisoners classified as “good”.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/hm-the-king-grants-sweeping-royal-pardon/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2016-12-12

[webfact]

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[Lammbock]

Nice to see that HM is in a good mood. Very fine move indeed.

[4evermaat]

Interesting. Was there any press conference explanation speech following the decision?

[lopburi3]

Exemption to pardon seem to be those convicted of sexual offences and public fraud as well as drug offences of more than 8 year term.

[Clamhua]

Nothing like letting criminals back out on the street

[Kasset Tak]

This is maybe not the best but it's badly needed as the prisons are severely overpopulated!

In the past I was teaching in Phichit provincial prison, originally designed for 500 prisoners but back then they were over 1,500 male and over 500 female inmates. 35-40 female inmates we're sharing a 35 square meter cell (40 sqm if you include the 2 toilets that they had in each cell and equally or worse for the male inmates with an average of 0,8 sqm to sleep and keep personal belongings.

[trogers]

17 minutes ago, Kasset Tak said:

This is maybe not the best but it's badly needed as the prisons are severely overpopulated!

In the past I was teaching in Phichit provincial prison, originally designed for 500 prisoners but back then they were over 1,500 male and over 500 female inmates. 35-40 female inmates we're sharing a 35 square meter cell (40 sqm if you include the 2 toilets that they had in each cell and equally or worse for the male inmates with an average of 0,8 sqm to sleep and keep personal belongings.

 

I learnt a couple of decades ago from playing Sim City that a growing population also needs investment in new prisons...

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

who are suffering from cancer, AIDS, mental problem

Will they receive any treatment to ensure that their problems do not cause them to reoffend?

 

{I do not refer to the conditions struck through, rather the one in bold/underlined}

[Chip Allen]

This can do nothing but increase goodwill toward the new reign. Rama X is off to a good start.

[mercman24]

ME ? taking good advice from admin lol !!

[BSJ]

Some days you say what your thinking and other days you just smile a lot.   

[samsensam]

nice gesture, however here's hoping due diligence has been done and these criminals are not ones who will, upon release, revert to their old ways and negatively impact the lives of law abiding citizens.

[al007]

What about those in exile, any hope for them to be able to return and not go to Prison

[Bob12345]

5 hours ago, trogers said:

 

I learnt a couple of decades ago from playing Sim City that a growing population also needs investment in new prisons...

That experience places you one step above the average Thai city planner with a Masters degree.

[Reigntax]

17 minutes ago, al007 said:

What about those in exile, any hope for them to be able to return and not go to Prison

 

 

That would make Prayuth blow a head gasket and start frothing at the mouth. Even more than usual.

[andersonat]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Friendly reminder

 

In using Thai Visa you agree to abide by the following terms:

 

You will not express disrespect of the King of Thailand or any one member of the Thai royal family, whether living or deceased, nor to criticize the monarchy as an institution.

 

By law, the Thai Royal Family are above politics. Speculation, comments and discussion of either a political or personal nature are not allowed when discussing HM The King or the Royal family.

 

//Admin

 

 

Article 112 of Thailand's Criminal Code states that anyone who defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-Apparent or the Regent will be punished with up to 15 years in prison.   

 

In the Friendly Reminder, the Admin has expanded this to refer to "any one member of the Thai royal family".

 

[phycokiller]

never understood the concept of mass royal pardons (in general, not just thailand), it undermines the justice system surely. i realize the prisons are overloaded and its a good way to get the support of criminals and make them realize whose the boss, but seems very third world to me

[elgordo38]

6 hours ago, Clamhua said:

Nothing like letting criminals back out on the street

Easy your pushing the envelope.

[Briggsy]

10 minutes ago, phycokiller said:

never understood the concept of mass royal pardons (in general, not just thailand), it undermines the justice system surely. i realize the prisons are overloaded and its a good way to get the support of criminals and make them realize whose the boss, but seems very third world to me

I take your point if the pardon system is taken at face value.

 

However if you look at it from the point of view that it

 

i) incentivizes good behaviour amongst prisoners

ii) gives prisoners hope and something to aim for / live for

iii) gives power and leverage to those running prisons

iv) incentivizes guilty pleas

 

you will see that it synergizes with many of the requirements of the state.

 

It is not so different from a host of parole and early release schemes found in the West. It is just named and carried out in a Thai cultural and political setting.

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, al007 said:

What about those in exile, any hope for them to be able to return and not go to Prison

I hope not

[Jimbo2014]

[hdkane]

7 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Exemption to pardon seem to be those convicted of sexual offences and public fraud as well as drug offences of more than 8 year term.

i have not read the original source, but if true, that seems pretty reasonable, and a kind gesture on the part of HM...

[al007]

1 hour ago, Jimbo2014 said:

 

Can we post to Dubai ? ?

 

Happy Christmas

 

 

 

[fvw53]

Were there people (still) in jail for the fire that burned down Central World on 19 May 2010 and if so ..did they benefit from the Royal Pardon?

[Honthy]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Prisoners who are totally blind; without both legs or hands and certified as being disabled by two doctors;

one doc counts one missing hand and the other the rest

[performance]

Good news let every rapist and murderer back out. I understand the wests reluctant nature to issue Thais a VISA lol.

[KBsinter]

Well done, came at a good time I"m told ............ 

[dbrenn]

Before we start banging on about letting criminals off lightly, we should all bear in mind how severe Thai jails are, and how long sentences tend to be when compared to the western world.

[metisdead]

A post containing a nonsense comment regarding the Royal family has been removed.