Abstract
Thailand has one of the highest incarceration rates of women in the world. With an increasing prison population overall as well as an increasing proportion of female inmates, the country faces one of its most challenging tasks in penitentiary administration: reforms to its legal landscape and its correctional practices in line with international standards. A response to such a crisis is to undertake a prison evaluation project to ensure proper implementation of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (also known as the ‘Bangkok Rules’). The primary objective of this research article is to assess and identify a prison model that can inspire the development of other prison facilities, while supporting a firm commitment to maintain and improve the status of current model facilities.
Highlights
In 2016, the picture of a poor mother carrying her little daughter in her arms after being arrested by the police for allegedly stealing baby formula from a store, captured public attention and attracted widespread criticism in Thailand
The results showed that two prisons can serve as best practice prison models, in their treatment of female inmates: the Rattanaburi District Prison and Nakorn Ratchasima Central Prison
Based on all 153 indicators across the nine areas assessed, Rattanaburi District received a total score of 92.1% while Nakorn Ratchasima Central received 91.1%. Both these total scores indicate good performance according to the Bangkok Rules
Summary
In 2016, the picture of a poor mother carrying her little daughter in her arms after being arrested by the police for allegedly stealing baby formula from a store, captured public attention and attracted widespread criticism in Thailand. The woman was nearly put in jail under the Thai Criminal Code. She was saved when a good Samaritan offered to pay a large penalty in exchange for her freedom and the safety of her child. The public response to such a situation was mixed, a combination of resentment and sympathy. The fact that she avoided jail greatly relieved those who heard about her fate because of the likely effects of her incarceration on her offspring
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