Security class Maximum security Opened 1944 | Status Operational Phone +66 2 589 5253 | |
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Klong Prem Central prison (Thai: คลองเปรม; rtgs: Khlong Prem) is a maximum security prison in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, Thailand. The prison has several separate sections. The compound houses up to 20,000 inmates. Within the perimeter of the compound are the Women's Central Prison, often referred to as "Lard Yao" or "Lard Yao women's prison". There is the Central Correction Institution for Drug Addicts (also known as "Bambat Phiset") "Bangkok Special Prison", and the Central Correctional Hospital. The Lard Yao men's section takes custody of male offenders whose sentence term is not over 25 years. As of 2002 the men's section held 1,158 foreigners from 56 countries out of a total of 7,218 prisoners. It is a part of the Thai Department of Corrections.
Contents
The Klong Prem section for women houses female death row inmates.
History
Klong Prem Central prison was originally a temporary prison established in 1944 in the Lard Yao district as a consequence of demands during World War II when Thailand was at war with Britain and the United States. In 1959 it was used as a vocational training centre for those who, in the words of the Thai corrections department, "act and behave as gangsters".
In 1960 the old Klong Prem prison on Maha Chai Road (now the Bangkok Corrections Museum) had become especially overcrowded so all prisoners were transferred to the vocational training centre site. The Interior Ministry established a temporary prison within the new compound by dividing one part into a vocational training centre and the other part into the Lard Yao temporary central prison. In 1972 the Interior Ministry issued orders establishing the prison on Maha Chai Road as the "Bangkok Remand Prison" and the prison in the Lard Yao subdistrict was designated the "Klong Prem Central Prison".
Visiting Klong Prem
Klong Prem Central Prison allows the family of inmates to visit prisoners. Visiting rules and times vary and international visitors have some special privileges. Different days are allocated to certain cell blocks. Weekend visits are typically prohibited. Additional privileges (e.g., phones, longer visits) when visiting foreign prisoners can sometimes be attained with a letter from the appropriate embassy or with bribes to prison guards. Food for prisoners can be purchased at the commissary by completing a form listing the items to be purchased and the prisoner's name. After paying for the items, the order is generally delivered that evening or the next day.
As of June 2010, foreign prisoners held at the Bangkok Remand Prison at Klong Prem could be visited Monday through Friday, between the hours of 08:30–15:30. There is a small restaurant outside the main visiting area where meals can be bought for the prisoners. Purchases are sealed by prison store staff in a plastic bag, and then the visitor passes it through the window to the prisoner after a visit. There is also a service for limited fast food, such as KFC or pizza, delivery for prisoners.
Prison World Cup
With the large number of foreign nationals at Klong Prem, the prison is able to hold a football World Cup. Teams of 10 are chosen by prison staff to represent Nigeria, Japan, the US, Italy, France, England, Germany, and Thailand. Games consist of two 20-minute halves on a half-sized pitch. The winners are given a replica of the real World Cup trophy, which is made of wood in the prison workshop.
Current and former notable prisoners
Foreign prisoners are concentrated in Building 2, and those prisoners may have contact visits for several days providing visitors can demonstrate they have traveled from another country. As of June 2010, there are many foreign prisoners in other buildings of the prison complex.