Pattaya defendants awaiting trial to be issued with ankle bracelets

Chamnanwit Terat, deputy governor of Chon Buri province, hailed the move as it would create equity for poverty-stricken defendants who cannot afford bail to have access to temporary release in the justice system. It will also give the defendants the freedom during the court proceedings to find evidence or witnesses to help their defence.
Pattaya Provincial Court Chief Justice Apichart Thepnoo spelled out the criteria by which defendants could apply for an ankle bracelet for temporary release. Eligible cases would be those punishable for up to three years in prison, those that were compoundable, those committed by recklessness or those deemed suitable by a judge. Suitable candidates would be those who defendants who confessed, those for whom the court demanded pre-sentence investigation reports, and the defendants who were too poor to afford bail.
In 2013, the Probation Department allowed 200 defendants to use ankle bracelets in Bangkok and five neighbouring provinces. This year, 3,000 ankle bracelets would be used in 22 key provinces, including Chon Buri, whose probation branch office had already received 190 ankle bracelets. The Pattaya Court aims to use the ankle bracelets in cases such as those mentioned with the first case being a defendant who was charged with carrying a weapon in a public place.