Wild jail brawl leaves 2 dead, 6 convicts hurt

– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: After a brawl at Kanchanaburi’s Thong Pha Phum Prison in which two inmates were killed and six injured on Sunday, prison warden Paithoon Wisetsiri has been transferred to an inactive post.

Corrections Department chief Wittaya Suriyawong said a fact-finding committee was probing the fatal fight.

Mr Wittaya said he had reported the details of the incident to Justice Minister Gen Paiboon Khumchaya, who declared that all wardens must be responsible for inmates’ well-being and supervise possible conflicts to prevent out-of-control fighting.

Mr Wittaya said he had instructed all prisons to conduct weapon searches.

Regarding the drug-dealing situation in prisons, Mr Wittaya said most inmates (70 per cent) were drug cases. The department’s policy to segregate major drug dealers from the general jail population had been implemented to deter dealing from behind bars.

— Phuket Gazette Editors