Amendment to law will cut jail terms for offenders
AN OFFENDER who opts to spend time behind bars instead of paying a fine will serve a shorter time, according to a new law that came into effect on Thursday, because the fine rate of Bt200 a day has been hiked to Bt500 per day.
The Royal Gazette’s endnote states that the changes are aimed at updating the law taking into account the current economic situation and minimum wage, as well as reducing the number of short-term detainees in jails.
Under the Act Amending Criminal Code (No 25) 2016, the court could generally detain the offenders for up to one year.
In cases involving a fine of Bt200,000 and above, the court could order jailing for up to two years, Court of Justice spokesman Suebpong Sripongkul explained yesterday.
‘People now in jail will benefit’
This amendment to the law would benefit people who have gone to jail instead of paying a fine because it takes effect retrospectively, Suebpong said.
This meant that if the calculation of time served behind bars – based on this new rate of Bt500 per day – showed that a detainee (punished for a fine less than Bt200,000) was jailed for more than one year as of April 8, he or she would be free immediately, he said.
As for those who had not yet completed their jail term, instead of a fine, new detention warrants would be issued to correct the number of days to be served, he added.
The Royal Gazette also stated that in the case of an offender who was not a legal entity and was proven to be unable to pay the fine, he or she could ask the court judge to be allowed to perform public services instead of the fine.
The amendment also includes harsher punishment for anyone convicted of coercing another |person under 18, or a disabled |person, or a subordinate, or a poor dependant (such as one with an |illness) to commit a crime.
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