experienced serious illness and were admitted to the hospital for further
treatment.
Vaccines are provided to all prisoners. Corrections Department, Thailand had
received a very good cooperation from the Ministry of Public Health as prisons
are given the highest priority in the national vaccination program to combat
the outbreak of COVID-19. The statistic as of 18 November 2021 had shown
that 89.7% of prisoners have received the first dose, 61.03% have completed
their second dose and 2.95% have received the third booster dose.
2.5. Q & A Session
During the Q&A session moderated by Ms. Pornpraphai Kanchanarin, the Chairperson
of the Office of the National Human Rights Commission, Thailand (NHRCT), the
following questions were raised and discussed:
I.Ms. Claire Maize, the Crown Prosecution Service, UK had posed a question about the
educational qualifications and vocational training that prisoners received. She
wonders what success do the prisons have once prisoners leave; are people willing
to employ ex-prisoners; and what sort of fields of work accept them?
According to Mr. Roujanavong, the best way to ensure that ex-prisoners are
employed is through providing them with skills and education for them to
own a private business or service. Although there are campaigns for public to
hire ex-prisoners, but the stereotype and fear prevails all over the world. On
the other hand, companies and firms in the business sector may also provide
their support to the prison by hiring ex-prisoners. However, the quality of a
person is important for them to be hired by anyone. As such, the prison
encourages prisoners to receive education as much as possible to enable
them to survive in future.38
II.Ms. Yoges from the Bar Council’s Legal Aid Centre, Kuala Lumpur had raised three
questions:
a) What is the difference between the current system that Malaysia has with
the proposal from the Correctional Council which was proposed in the
presentation of the Malaysian representative?
In his response regarding the Correctional Council proposed by the
Department of Prison, Malaysia, Dato’ Haji Nordin stated that prison is the final
stage of the criminal justice process. As far as he is concerned, the sentence is
varied as granted by the judge although the nature of crimes is almost the
same.
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Ex-prisoners are encouraged to study in bachelor’s degrees such as business management, law, and
accounting. Vocational trainings by prisons would equip prisoners with skills to work in automotive industry such
as mechanics or spa, massage, and therapeutic treatment for female ex-prisoners.
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