Samut Prakan prison teams up with industrial sector for work release programme

More than 100 prison inmates are going to work in the industrial sector as part of a vocational programme through the Samut Prakan Central Prison, which is southeast of Bangkok. Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin says it aims to provide inmates with “an opportunity to improve their industrial skills and increase the chance of employment after they finish serving their sentence.”

During the work release programme, the 145 prisoners involved will need to wear electronic monitoring bracelets. Somsak says the entrepreneurs involved in the initiative will provide lodging, wages and other benefits as required by Thailand’s labour law. The monitoring bracelets have been used for thousands of prisoners in home detention and the Department of Probation’s director-general says it has been successful.

“Entrepreneurs can rest assured that the released prisoners will not cause problems to your businesses, as they will be monitored at all times via the bracelets. We also have deployed officers and volunteers to keep an eye on released prisoners at workplaces periodically.”

Just two companies have joined the initiative so far, but the Justice Minister says he hopes more businesses will join the programme.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand