THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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LGBT prison inmates to get new quarters for their safety

LGBT prison inmates to get new quarters for their safety

The Corrections Department will soon build a special prison zone to hold lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) inmates within Bangkok’s Min Buri Prison, according to deputy permanent secretary for the Justice Ministry, Kobkiat Kasiwiwat.

The plan is in line with the department’s policy, following the ministry being convinced by human rights organisations from inside Thailand and other countries that the Corrections Department should have a special facility to hold transgender persons for their protection. They could be sexually harassed or a prostitution issue could emerge if they were held with male peers, he said. 
Thailand has 4,448 LGBT inmates in prisons nationwide – comprising 1,804 transsexuals, 352 gay men, 1,247 tomboys, 1,011 lesbian girls and 34 male transgenders. 
Kobkiat’s comment was made during a Justice Ministry-hosted tour to Chon Buri’s Pattaya Remand Prison on July 5 to show non-governmental organisations, Office of the Ombudsman Thailand representatives and media members the LGBT inmates’ living conditions behind bars.
Prison director Chatpol Apasat said that Pattaya was known for a higher LGBT population. When some who had undergone sex change operations were arrested and prosecuted, prison officials had to separate them from male peers to prevent control issues and possible sexual harassment. 
The facility currently housed 4,300 inmates – 222 of whom were LGBT inmates (170 gay men or ‘lady boys’, 41 lesbians, and 11 transgender inmates), said an early July survey. 
Chatpol said an infirmary official and female assistant would inspect – with an inmate’s consent – to confirm if the inmate’s gender no longer matched their national identification card information. After the confirmation, the inmate would be held in cells separate from male inmates with whom they would meet only during working time, he added. 
According to the Corrections Department’s regulation, LGBT inmates were divided into four groups. First, transgender inmates whose bodies and behaviour had changed would be separated from male inmates and sent to imprisonment in a female prison. 
Second, male inmates showing trans-sexual behaviour who passed scrutiny by the committee’s behaviour examination, would initially be sent to a zone housing male detainees pending trial, before being transferred to other zones after the court verdicts. 
Third, lesbian inmates would be held in separate sleeping quarters following a resolution by the new inmate examination committee. 
Last, inmates with both sexual organs would be treated initially as according to their population census documents pending a doctor’s diagnosis or a court order to let the inmates choose which sex they desired. At present, Thailand’s prisons have no inmate in this last category. 
 
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