Thailand News Today | Prison release?, Pattaya Makeover, 6 new Covid cases | October 2

Justice Minister proposes releasing chronically ill inmates to reduce prison overcrowding

In an effort to reduce overcrowding in Thailand prisons, the Justice Ministry is looking into allowing chronically ill inmates to be released on a royal pardon.

There’s also talk of shortening sentences for those incarcerated on drug charges.

Overcrowding has been a problem at Thailand’s prisons, especially now more space is required for new inmates to go through a quarantine before being released in the prison population to prevent potential spread of Covid-19. The minister says that while some prisoners have been released early and some jail terms have been suspended, the prisons still have too many inmates.

Former prisoner, released after murder rap, re-arrested for possession of weapons, drugs

Meanwhile, a routine checkpoint in Pattaya has led to the re-arrest of a 31 year old man recently released from prison following his role in a murder 14 years ago.

The man was arrested in possession of a machine gun and illegal drugs. He was previously found guilty of involvement in the murder of a prominent jet-ski champion.

The car in which he was travelling was stopped at a routine checkpoint on North Pattaya Road. In total, 5 occupants of the car were arrested, 3 men and 2 women.

Police have also seized weapons and ammunition from the vehicle, including a machine gun and handgun.

‘Bad Student’ group plan protest after alleged abuse at Sarasas school

After reports of a kindergarten teacher allegedly abusing and mistreating students in a Thonburi kindergarten school, a group of Bangkok high school students known as “Bad Students” are rallying in front of the Ministry of Education office today.

A teacher at the Sarasas School in Nonthaburi, north of central Bangkok, was caught on classroom CCTV pushing kindergarten students to the floor, dragging them around and hitting others. That teacher was fired but the Bad Students movement say Education Minister did nothing to solve the problems of alleged abuse at the school. The same group of students rallied in front of the office last month, calling on the minister to allow free expression of political views at the schools, end the draconian haircut and uniform rules and reform the education system.

Pattaya’s Beach Road to add an extra lane, part of multi-million baht renovation plan

In a multi-million baht plan to make-over Pattaya’s beach infrastructure, another lane of traffic will be added to the Beach Road to allow more parking.

The plan for the extra lane is a new idea in the 160 million baht renovation project aimed at attracting more visitors and improving the general amenity of the popular beach walk. The Pattaya Council openly admit they hope the renovations will attract more Thai visitors.

A budget of 160 million baht for the project has been approved, but exact details are still in the works. In an earlier report, the Pattaya City Mayor says the city will work on creating additional space for domestic tourists with more footpaths, toilets and parking spaces.

6 new Covid-19 cases among repatriates from India, Japan, South Sudan and the UAE

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has announced today that there are 6 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, all Thai repatriates.

There are 2 new cases each from India and UAE, and one each from Japan and South Sudan.

The two from India are a 23-year-old male student, and a seven-month-old boy who was in an alternative state quarantine facility in Bangkok.

The two cases from UAE are massage workers, aged 29 and 42, both were quarantined in Chon Buri province.

Another was a 56 year old Thai businessman returning from Japan and finally a Thai government official coming back from South Sudan, quarantined in Chon Buri.

94.6% of Thailand’s 3,575 cases have recovered, including 5 discharged over the past 24 hours. 132 patients remain in hospital.

PM pledges to protect Thailand’s natural resources

Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has said he’ll do his best to protect the country’s natural resources and tackle the issue of biodiversity losses in Thailand.

He was speaking at a UN biodiversity summit. PM Prayut says he acknowledges the impact of climate change on biodiversity, saying Thailand is stepping up to the challenge. He outlined 3 measures for managing climate change…

– Devise a plan to ensure policies are put in place to guard natural resources and their sustainable use

– Foster cooperation between relevant agencies, stakeholders, the private sector

– Learn from the Covid-19 pandemic and the evidence that natural resources recover when humans are removed.

The PM was speaking on the “Urgent Action on Biodiversity for Sustainable Development” online seminar.