Bangkok Post
Thai prisons ‘in state of crisis’
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Thailand’s prison system requires urgent restructuring to tackle overcrowding, inequality and repeat offending, according to Rudklao Intawong Suwankiri, a deputy leader of the Democrat Party.
Key facts
- Thailand’s prison system requires urgent restructuring to tackle overcrowding, inequality and repeat offending, according to Rudklao Intawong Suwankiri, a deputy leader of the Democrat Party.
- Ms Rudklao has proposed a special parliamentary committee to study justice, inmate welfare and the reintegration of former prisoners into society, describing the corrections system as being in a state of crisis.
- She told the House recently that Thailand had more than 330,000 inmates in 2026, despite prisons being designed to accommodate only 240,000 people, placing the country among the world’s most overcrowded prison systems.
- Ms Rudklao said inmates were sleeping in spaces no larger than a yoga mat, shoulder to shoulder throughout the night — conditions she linked to the spread of tuberculosis and skin diseases, as well as mental health problems.
- She also highlighted what she described as structural inequality in the justice system, noting around 70% of prisoners were jailed for minor drug offences and often lacked the financial means to secure bail. Nearly 100,000 of those behind bars are detainees awaiting trial, she said.
Summary
Ms Rudklao has proposed a special parliamentary committee to study justice, inmate welfare and the reintegration of former prisoners into society, describing the corrections system as being in a state of crisis.
She told the House recently that Thailand had more than 330,000 inmates in 2026, despite prisons being designed to accommodate only 240,000 people, placing the country among the world’s most overcrowded prison systems.