COVID-19: Provisional release on the cards for some inmates in Thailand amid overcrowding

BANGKOK: Some inmates in Thailand could soon get a provisional release as the government plans to reduce overcrowding in prisons in its fight against COVID-19.

A new wave of outbreak is sweeping through detention facilities nationwide. More than 100,000 people have been infected in Thailand since April, including some 18,000 prisoners.

The transmission of the virus among inmates has raised concerns over prison capacity. Data from the Corrections Department showed more than 311,000 inmates are incarcerated in 143 correctional facilities nationwide.

Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin has admitted that the inmate population is well over the capacity of what the prisons were designed for and has proposed a plan to resize it. The plan is currently being developed by the parole committee.

“Once released, they have to complete the…