Work by convicts cleaning Bangkok’s sewage system starts next month

City Hall has cleared a request by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to work with the Department of Corrections to clean the sewers and improve flood irrigation management using prisoners with good behavioral records. City Hall insists human rights must be respected, use only volunteer inmates, pay wages, use protective equipment, and offer welfare benefits.

Around 1,000 inmates from 10 of the city’s prisons will work on the project which is scheduled to start in July. All prisoners working on the project will be fully vaccinated and given Antigen tests, but they will not be permitted to see any family or roam in any public locations.

In addition to medical coverage, food and beverages will be provided for the labourers, and they will receive 70% of the revenue generated from their work. The prisoners can save the money and spend it however they wish once they are freed from serving their time in jail.

Bangkok’s sewers cover more than 6,500 kilometres, with the BMA’s drainage and sewerage department responsible for around 2,000 kilometres. The remainder, 4,500 kilometres of pipelines, are managed by district offices. The BMA has set a target of 5 billion baht in 2022 to clean 500 kilometres of sewer pipes in just over four months.

The newly elected Bangkok governor, Chadchart Sittipunt, has set a goal of clearing 100 kilometres of sewage as soon as possible and wants drains in all flood-prone zones cleared right away. When asked if City Hall would be in charge of all sewage cleaning in the future, the governor says that the suitability and quality of the work would have to come first.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post