Prison General Background submitted by Paul Hunt - 2nd June 2004 - e-mail : [valleyscript@yahoo.com]
There are about 137 correctional facilities in Thailand, which in early 2004 had a rapidly rising inmate population of at least 260,000, with some estimates putting the figure as high as 300,000. Prison officials were unable to give an accurate total number. However, they said that drugs cases account for 80% of the total.
Officials in the Foreign Affairs Section of the Department of Corrections, which comes under Thailand's Ministry of Justice, were extremely defensive when asked for details concerning hilltribe minorities held in Thai correctional facilities!
On 19th November 2003, they said there were 4,852 prisoners listed as coming from Myanmar, making them the largest group of foreign prisoners in Thailand. From Laos 1,042 prisoners were recorded. However, they gave a ridiculously low figure of 194 hilltribe prisoners from Thailand!
In view of the findings detailed in previous reports a substantial number of prisoners in Thailand are hilltribe minorities from Karen, Hmong, Lahu, Akha, Lisaw and Yao ethnic groups. They total in the thousands, making up a larger proportion of Thailand's prison population than would be expected from their numbers in the general population. It appears that Thai officials, including Department of Corrections and prison officials, do not wish the whole truth to be known concerning hilltribe minorities in Thailand. Many are listed as coming from Myanmar, Laos or China, and not according to their ethnic identity. Not a few hilltribe people in Thailand experience difficulties in obtaining official identification papers. They can thus be treated by prison and other officials as immigrants from other states, although they may in fact have been born, or have rights to be, in Thailand!
Due to the size of the problem and the difficulty in obtaining accurate information, it has not been possible to reach precise figures concerning hilltribe prisoners in Thailand. This seems at least partly due to Thai policy that would prefer not to deal with this issue because it highlights some very serious questions concerning the denial of human rights and discriminatory treatment of ethnic hilltribe minorities in Thailand.
Several prisons in the north of Thailand, apart from those already reported on, hold considerable numbers of hilltribe prisoners. In January 2004, an official at Mae Hong Son Prison said there were about 630 male and 30 female prisoners there. Of these he said there were roughly 100 Karen, 100 Lahu, 100, Lisaw, 100 Hmong and 50 Akha. The vast majority of the prisoners there are hilltribe minorities!
Lampang Prison had about 120 Akha inmates, with more Akha people held in a separate drug facility in the same city, according to one source. Nan Prison had a total of about 1,000 inmates in March 2004, a large number of whom were hilltribe minorities. Other prisons at Fang, Turh and elswhere also hold hilltribe prisoners.
On behalf of poor, oppressed and imprisoned hilltribe minorities in Thailand, the U.N., human rights organizations, state officials and concerned individuals are called on to no longer ignore the suffering of these people, but to clarify the reasons for their dire situation and do what they can to ease their plight before it becomes an even greater human disaster.
Following are a few addresses to express concern about this issue: His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Office of His Majestyˇs Principal Private Secretary, Arsa Sarasin, The Grand Palace, Na Phra Lan Road, Bangkok 10200, THAILAND Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, The Secretariat of the Prime Minister, Government House, Thanon Nakhon Pathom, Dusit, Bangkok 10300 ,THAILAND email: Secretariat_PM@opm.go.th Ms. Hina Jilani, Special Representative, c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10, SWITZERLAND email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch Prof. Saneh Chamrik, Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, c/o Mr. Vasan Phanich, P.O. Box 400, Rongmuang Post Office, Bangkok 10330 ,THAILAND email: commission@nhcr.or.th Mr. Pongthep Thepkanjana, Minister of Justice, Office of the Ministry of Justice, 22nd Floor, MoJ Building, Jangwatana Road, Parkket, Nonthaburi 11120 , THAILAND Mr. Natthee Jitsuwang, Director-General, Room 222, Department of Corrections, Nonthaburi 1 Road, Nonthaburi Province 11000, THAILAND Mr. Ittiporn Boonpracong, Thai Consul, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations, 351 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022, U. S. A. email: ittipornb@saranrom.or.th or ittiporn@yahoo.com Mr. Moe Neing Aung, Second Secretary (responsible for prisoners), Myanmar Embassy, 132 Sathorn Nua Road, Bangkok 10500 , THAILAND
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