In an announcement made yesterday, the Ministry of Justice revealed that it had approved the use of electronic monitoring for criminals, meaning that Thai wrongdoers can now be tracked through the use of ankle bracelets, wristbands and other high-tech paraphernalia.
Electronic monitoring, which has been used in locations such as the United States since the 1980s, will only affect a small percentage of Thailand’s prisoner population.
Prisoners who are too sick to withstand incarceration, who have family members to take care of or who “deserve mitigation” will be able to serve out their sentences strapped to an ankle or wrist bracelet, rather than behind bars. (We suppose Kamnan Poh will be first in line for this service?)
The Bangkok Post reports that prisoners given electronic monitoring devices will be confined to specific areas, predetermined by the court.
