Prison inmates get a shot at manufacturing military guns

Prison inmates get a shot at manufacturing military guns

The army has opened 33 positions for inmates put in prison for producing illegal homemade firearms to help produce military guns, said Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Prajin Juntong.

The project initiated by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has recruited 70 inmates to undergo training to develop their skills in gun assembling and apply for the jobs, he said.

The training is being organised by the Ordnance Department of the army, said ACM Prajin. He added that these job opportunities will prepare inmates for work in the defence industry.

Of the 70 candidates, 20 will be serve as technicians, while 13 will work as service officers, he said.

Those selected for these jobs have to be nearing their release date for light sentences.

In a related development, Naras Savestanan, director-general of the Department of Corrections, said the department does not have enough correction officers in proportion to the number of prisoners they are supervising.

There are currently about 320,000 prisoners in Thailand, but the number of correction officers overseeing these inmates is only 14,000, he said.

Of the 14,000 correction officers, only 1,300 are warders, he said, emphasising the need for more of the latter is critical.

The government recently approved the department's request to recruit 3,000 new warders, he said.

The cabinet will also set aside funds for the department's plan to construct two or three new prisons per year, he added.

Pol Col Naras also brought up the issue of overcrowding at prisons, saying that the department is considering releasing 1,077 foreign inmates deemed eligible to be transferred to prisons in their home countries under an international treaty on prison transfers.

Two French and one Danish national were recently transferred to serve their remaining sentences in their home countries, he said.

Foreign convicts must have already served one third of their prison term, which has to be over one year, said Pol Col Naras.

To be eligible to get transferred back to his or her country, foreign inmates are required to have more than one more year of their sentences to serve.

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