Thailand may release 50K prisoner to stem COVID-19 infections amid inmates

Thailand’s justice minister is considering the possibility of releasing up to 16 percent of the country’s incarcerated population amid continued outbreaks of COVID-19 in the country.

Justice Minister Somsak Theputsin said Tuesday, according to Bloomberg, that his agency was considering such a plan if surges of new infections in the country’s densely crowded jails and prisons could not be controlled in the coming weeks.

“If we can’t get enough vaccines or if we can’t contain the spread quickly, we’ll have to think about reducing the number of inmates in the system through early release,” said Somsak. “They’re already incarcerated. They shouldn’t have to suffer more than that.”

Roughly 311,000 people are currently incarcerated in Thailand, Bloomberg noted. As many as 50,000 could be eligible for an early release program being considered by the justice agency’s officials, according to the news agency, but would likely have to comply with electronic monitoring or other requirements.

The country is also pursuing shorter sentences for drug users, focusing instead on rehabilitative measures, according to Somsak.

Thailand’s rate of new COVID-19 cases saw a second wave begin in early April that has yet to abate. While the country is not seeing anywhere close to the levels of infections that other countries such as India have seen, the spike has yet to show signs of slowing down.

Just over 9,600 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Thailand on Monday, more than twice the country’s seven-day average.