HUMAN RIGHTS
Prisons may move to ease inmate stressBhanravee Tansubhapol
A Human Rights commissioner wants prisons moved to the outskirts of town to improve inmates' frame of mind.
Chandhanee Santabutra said prisoners would get more space to exercise, could plant trees and raise farm animals. Old prisons could be developed into parks.
``Crowded prisons are an obstacle to improving the prisoners' mental state,'' said Khunying Chandhanee after studying problems faced by children and women in jail in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Nathee Chitsawang, the Corrections Department deputy director-general of technical affairs, said a tight budget and limited staff had held back relocation plans.
The department says only 17 of the 134 prisons nationwide were built in towns. They excluded prisons in Chiang Rai, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang, Ayutthaya and Nakhon Phanom which were moved to new sites years ago.
``The department does not get support to recruit new staff, so high-technology security systems are used instead,'' he said. Among 17 prisons located in towns, only six prisons were candidates for relocation, he said. The first priority would go to old prisons in Chiang Mai and Phuket.
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