Phuket prisoners don berets for scout training

PHUKET: A group of 60 male and female prisoners at Phuket Provincial Prison donned their green berets and picked up their red sticks (mai ngam) for the opening ceremony of a scout training course yesterday.

Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut chaired the opening ceremony of the first guide course running from February 11 to February 14.

“It is part of the Department of Corrections’ policy to encourage prisoners to participate in society in a healthy way and do good,” Provincial Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon said. “So we are taking two groups of prisoners and training them to be scout guides.”

The program is designed to help prisoners relax, socialize and network with people within the prison and outside of it, Mr Rapin said.

“We want them to realize that they are not abandoned,” he added

The second group of 60 prisoners will take the course from February 18 to February 21.

— Kritsada Mueanhawong