Thai prisons.

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Bristolian
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by Bristolian »

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... eir-chains

More to lose than their chains
The guarantee last week from Corrections Department chief Suchart Wonganantachai that his department will unshackle all prisoners serving maximum jail terms in prisons across the country within three months is a positive step and long overdue. On Wednesday, 563 prisoners had their shackles removed during a ceremony at Bang Khwang Central Prison which was presided over by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The unshackling process actually started in January with a group of inmates who were all considered "well behaved".

It's not clear why another three months are needed to end this barbaric practice across the country.

In Thailand it has long been a tradition to weld shackles on the ankles of serious offenders on the day of sentencing by the court of first instance even though their cases have yet to go through the appeals process. Formerly the shackles were removed only after a prisoner was executed, died of natural causes or their sentences were lessened or annulled by the court. The use of such shackles prevents prisoners from getting proper exercise and is an obstacle to them maintaining personal hygiene. Cuts and sores caused by the shackles can easily become infected, posing a serious health threat.

In 2005, the UN Human Rights Commission strongly protested the use of shackles on inmates in Thailand, but no action was taken to stop the practice until this year.

However late, Thailand should be commended for taking this step to return a degree of dignity to those in the country's prisons, and hopefully it's the first of more to come.

According to a report by the Union for Civil Liberty, Bang Khwang has nearly 60 cells still used for solitary confinement - even though these have been banned by law.

Other areas that require urgent improvement are nutrition, hygiene, health care and security for prisoners.
There is an ongoing effort to reform the corrections systems in Thailand, but progress remains slow and difficult. One of the primary reasons for this is overcrowding. According to official statistics, as of Feb 1, there were 257,323 inmates in Thai detention facilities designed to accommodate 160,000.

The UN standard ratio of prison warders to prisoners is 1:5; in Thai prisons, the average is 1:20.
A Spectrum article published in March this year, "Is 'White Prison' making Bang Khwang a darker place?", about the so-called "White Prison" reform initiative, says "the lack of warders has long meant an overemphasis on the shackling of prisoners and the use of weapons by warders to protect themselves, as well as an inefficient rehabilitation process for inmates. There is no separation of inmates who are convicted and those still on trial, nor of violent and non-violent offenders. Activists say this is a breach of global standards."

Some people may feel that when a person receives a prison sentence their human rights are suspended, but that's a fallacy, as this excerpt from a paper from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on prison reform makes clear: "A sentence of imprisonment constitutes only a deprivation of the basic right to liberty. It does not entail the restriction of other human rights, with the exception of those which are naturally restricted by the very fact of being in prison.
"Prison reform is necessary to ensure that this principle is respected, the human rights of prisoners protected and their prospects for social reintegration increased, in compliance with relevant international standards and norms."

Ultimately, effective measures to reform the country's prison system need to start with a judicial process that is too quick to incarcerate, especially when it comes to poor people without connections. The government has tacitly admitted this in its adoption of the so-called "Bangkok Rules" _ a United Nations protocol for the treatment of women prisoners and non-custodial measures for women offenders, which as its name suggests, was first proposed at a UN conference in Bangkok. The protocol calls for judges to be more lenient in sentencing for pregnant women and new mothers, and explore alternatives to incarceration and emphasises rehabilitation and recovery over punishment.

Where appropriate _ ie, when offenders are deemed not to present a threat to society _ this philosophy should be expanded to cover all those found guilty of crimes, males as well as females
"'The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." - Mark Twain
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by nanyang »

arcadianagain wrote:Why so unpleasant? I take you go in for the Mr.MacKay school of screw rather than Mr.Barrowclough.

It's called English humour - which you, clearly, know nothing about.

Get back to your hand wringing - I, almost, envy people with a conscience. :D
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dtaai-maai
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by dtaai-maai »

nanyang wrote:
arcadianagain wrote:Why so unpleasant? I take you go in for the Mr.MacKay school of screw rather than Mr.Barrowclough.

It's called English humour - which you, clearly, know nothing about.

Get back to your hand wringing - I, almost, envy people with a conscience. :D
Was it really intended to be humorous? :shock:
I only 'laughed' on the assumption that after 30 years in the Prison Service, you were entitled to be a bit miserable and incapable of answering a straightforward question with a reasoned argument.
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by arcadianagain »

nanyang wrote:
arcadianagain wrote:Why so unpleasant? I take you go in for the Mr.MacKay school of screw rather than Mr.Barrowclough.

It's called English humour - which you, clearly, know nothing about.

Get back to your hand wringing - I, almost, envy people with a conscience. :D
I know quite a bit about English humour, your post, however, contained nothing but vitriol.I suggest you read a few of our other posts before you jump to conclusions. 30 odd years banged up with murderers, thieves and social misfits has perhaps clouded your judgement of "normal" people. :cheers:
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by MrPlum »

:popcorn:
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by nanyang »

arcadianagain wrote:
nanyang wrote:
arcadianagain wrote:Why so unpleasant? I take you go in for the Mr.MacKay school of screw rather than Mr.Barrowclough.

It's called English humour - which you, clearly, know nothing about.

Get back to your hand wringing - I, almost, envy people with a conscience. :D
I know quite a bit about English humour, your post, however, contained nothing but vitriol.I suggest you read a few of our other posts before you jump to conclusions. 30 odd years banged up with murderers, thieves and social misfits has perhaps clouded your judgement of "normal" people. :cheers:
:) You've been on here for one month and you've already racked up 70 posts - normal?

Any thoughts on Woolwich - I'd be interested to hear your analysis.
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by Ginjaninja »

:duck:
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arcadianagain
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by arcadianagain »

[quote="nanyang
:) You've been on here for one month and you've already racked up 70 posts - normal?

Any thoughts on Woolwich - I'd be interested to hear your analysis.[/quote]

I`ve got plenty of thoughts on Woolwich, none of them sympathetic to the lunatic nutjobs who try to justify their actions by hiding behind a religion, and just what has this to do with Thai prisons?
Thank you for taking an interest in the number of posts I`ve made in the last month though.
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by Khundon1975 »

If you think Thai prisons are bad, then think again. Hundreds of kids in the Yemen are on death row for crimes they committed when under 15 years of age.

Many are executed every year, most after many years of incarceration. And the prisons are real s**t holes, with corrupt and brutal guards and a judiciary that is even worse.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unre ... -teenagers

Being shackled, would be the least of their worries.

:offtopic: Sorry, back to topic.
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by nanyang »

arcadianagain wrote: and just what has this to do with Thai prisons?

It has everything to do with Thai prisons, your chosen topic on this forum.
Because it’s the hand wringing, God bothering minority – such as yourself, who, in my opinion, have contributed to a sad decline in behavior within society.
You appear unable to appreciate the fact that most of these people in shackles are psycopaths.
You cannot treat a psychopath on an equal footing (no pun intended) – believe me.
The ‘inhumanity’ bleat is, and always will be, entirely subjective.
However, my own view is that shackling a prisoner/inmate/client is acceptable.
Shackles are neither painful nor cruel, merely inconvenient.
Don’t ask me to comment further on this as I’m still bound by the Official Secrets Act.
Prisoner’s rights groups, and other idealists live in a dream world.
A lack of discipline is painfully obvious in Thai society and also, sadly, in my country.
The death penalty was last enforced here in 2009.
Another, perceived, humane approach to prisoners is another move in the wrong direction.
As I am writing this piece there will be ‘do-gooders’ in the UK prison system clamouring to find out why Mark Bridger committed his heinous crime.
The conversation will be along these lines:
“Come in Mark, please take a seat.
I’m Jenny from social services and this is Clive, our chaplain.
Now, how can we help you?”
Any person sentenced to five years or more used to spend their first month in isolation - till ‘Jenny’ and ‘Clive’ got their feet in the door and a seat on the ‘What more can we do for them’ committee.
It’s called progress.
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by sateeb »

Don’t ask me to comment further on this as I’m still bound by the Official Secrets Act.


Screwed: The Truth About Life as a Prison Officer - Wikipedia, the ...
en.wikipedia.org/.../Screwed:_The_Truth_About_Life_as_a_Prison_Offi...‎
Screwed: The Truth About Life as a Prison Officer is a non-fiction book written by ex-prison officer-turned-author Ronnie Thompson (a pseudonym

Is this author and ex screw being hounded down by the Govt for breaching the OSA...I think not!!!



Do you think that you are the only one on this Forum that has signed the OSA??..I think you will find there are many, myself included.


Another Walter Mitty
“Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”

― George Carlin
“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” -George Orwell.
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dtaai-maai
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by dtaai-maai »

nanyang wrote:Don’t ask me to comment further on this as I’m still bound by the Official Secrets Act.
Bound, but not shackled.
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by sargeant »

Nanyang i am still trying to think of a reason as to why/what it is that a jail warder could see or do that would warrant them to sign the OSA
Anything ILLEGAL NULLIFIES the OSA anyway as far as i know

genuine question i AM mystified i cannot think of anything legal
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by arcadianagain »

nanyang wrote:
arcadianagain wrote: and just what has this to do with Thai prisons?

It has everything to do with Thai prisons, your chosen topic on this forum.
Because it’s the hand wringing, God bothering minority – such as yourself, who, in my opinion, have contributed to a sad decline in behavior within society.
How do reach the conclusion that I am a "hand-wringing God-botherer".
You don`t know me or any of my values. Do we have to wait another length of time to get a reply, perhaps because you can`t get a responsible adult to supervise your access to the net. :cheers: Mr.MacKay
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Re: Thai prisons.

Post by sateeb »

Do we have to wait another length of time to get a reply,




Maybe all his posts have to be cleared by the Home Office :duck:
“Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”

― George Carlin
“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” -George Orwell.
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