A surge in COVID-19 infections sweeping through Thailand’s prisons has thrown the spotlight on the kingdom’s overcrowded penal system, where some inmates have less space to sleep than the inside of a coffin.
More than 22,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 inside prisons, where inmates living side by side have been told to keep wearing their masks even when they are sleeping.
Authorities have floated plans to give early release to prisoners with underlying medical conditions, and have announced funding for more testing and medical care.
Photo: AFP
However, those behind bars say they have been kept in the dark about the seriousness of the outbreak.
“Prisoners don’t have the knowledge to protect themselves,” said Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a high-profile advocate facing charges under Thailand’s royal defamation law.
Somyot, who last month was released on bail, said that during his 10-week incarceration, he was not tested for COVID-19.
He was not worried about contracting the disease while in jail because he had no idea about the level of risk.
“But after this, I’m so scared [for everyone still inside]... If you are inside the prison, you are at risk — it’s unavoidable,” he said.
The outbreak of COVID-19 in Thailand’s prisons has skyrocketed from just 10 publicly announced cases a month ago and sparked growing public concern after a handful of prominent advocates were infected.
The Thai prison population earlier this year totaled about 311,000 prisoners, the International Federation for Human Rights said — more than two-and-a-half times the system’s official capacity.
Four inmates in every five are serving time for drug charges because of anti-narcotics laws that can see offenders jailed for a decade just for possessing a few methamphetamine pills.
Many cells are so packed with bodies that some inmates only have 0.5m of space.
“That is less room for a body than the inside of a coffin,” Thai Minister of Justice Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters in February.
Officials have tested more than 36,000 inmates, and begun delivering COVID-19 vaccines to inmates and prison staff.
Rights groups say the plan should go further and urged authorities to also free non-violent offenders to reduce overcrowding.
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