OVERVIEW OF THE COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS SYSTEM OF
THAILANDI. INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS IN THAILAND

A. Historical Development of Community Corrections
In Thailand, the probation service has its origin in 1952.

It was unofficially started

with juvenile supervision operating by juvenile detention centers.

In 1956, the Penal Codewas enacted and was also the first statutory foundation of the probation services in Thailand
because the Section 56 – 58 of the Penal Code made it possible for judges to impose asuspended sentence with a probation condition. However, due to the lack of a responsible
authority, during that initial period the courts hardly put this into practice.

Not until 1979

the first probation office for adult offenders came into being, when the Probation Procedure
Act 1979 was enacted.

It was inaugurated on August 7th, 1979, directly accountable to the

Criminal Court, under the Office of Judicial Affairs. The office was responsible for the presentence investigation and supervision of adult offenders for the court in the Bangkok area.
In 1983, it began to open regional probation offices to expand its work.

In line with thisexpansion, a volunteer probation initiative was introduced.

The first Volunteer Probation

Officers (VPOs) was accordingly appointed in 1985.

Undoubtedly, VPOs has since

become our valuable local resource.
On March 15th, 1992 marked another remarkable reform in the Thai probation service
when the Central Probation Office was officially supplanted by the new “Department of
Probation” (DOP) under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.
continued to see many changes afterwards.

The DOP has

One is that although for most of its history theprobation service served simply adult probationers, it began to supervise other groups ofclients within the community.

The restructuring followed the recommendations of theth,cabinet resolution on July 10 2001 that the DOP should be the main agency in dealing with
community corrections.

The role of probation officers has consequently shifted fromproviding a service to merely adult offenders to all types of probationers.

That includes the

pre-investigation of adult offenders; post-sentence investigation of parolees; the supervisionof adult and juvenile probationers, and parolees; and the provision of after-care service forprobationers, parolees, and ex-offenders.
In 2002, Thailand witnessed further significant change as a result of the inception of
the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act 2002. The Act has introduced the drug compulsory
treatment programs with a new concept in solving drug problems. That is, drug addictsshould be considered as patients rather than criminals, according to government
announcement ‘…In dealing with aggravating drug crisis, emphasis placed on the prevention,
should not be less than the suppression. Drug addicts shall be treated, while drug producers or
traffickers shall be harshly punished…’

Therefore, the DOP has become the agency toenforce this act.
In 2003, the Penal Code 1956 was amended and enabled judges to impose theCommunity Service Order in lieu of fine, supervised by probation officers. In 2005, the DOP
became a key part of the historic forming of local Community Justice Networks nationwide
under the Ministerial Strategy - “Justice for All, All for Justice”. Center to the initiative wasto encourage the community to work in partnership with the DOP and other criminal justiceagencies in preventing crime and protecting their own community.

B. Legal Basis of Community Corrections
1. The Penal Code 1956, Section 56 – 58
2. The Probation Procedure Act 1979
3. The Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act 2002

C. Organization and Personnel
The Department of Probation, Ministry of Justice is the main agency foradministering probation during pre-trial and post-trial stages and is assigned to assess andrehabilitate drug addicts in accordance with the Drug Addict Rehabilitation Act 2002.

In

2013, the DOP’s vision is to be professional in protection of society by rehabilitating andreintegrating offenders to the community.
According to the Ministerial Regulation on the Division of the Department of
Probation 2008, the department has a duty to conduct social investigation, supervision, andrehabilitation; provide aftercare service for offenders and ex-offenders; provide drug
rehabilitation for drug addicts in the compulsory treatment system in accordance with the
Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act; develop the system and program for the treatment ofoffenders; administer according to the Ministry’ policies and plan as well as monitor andevaluate the performance of the department’s agencies; and coordinate the participation of thecommunity in the treatment of offenders.
In 2013, there are 108 probation offices countrywide and 4,250 officers consisting of
2,368 probation officers and 1,882 administrative officers.

Director-General= Internal organization
structure

Organization Structure
Deputy DirectorGeneral

ExpertInspector

Central Administration

Office of
the Secretary

Administrative System
Development Section

Provincial Administration

Internal Audit
SectionMoral Standards andEthical Conduct Section

Probation
Inspector Office

Provincial Probation
OfficeBranch OfficeCommunity Affairs
and Community
Service Division

Planning andInformation
Division

Drug Addict
Rehabilitation Center

Probation Development
BureauInformation Technology andCommunication Center

Research andDevelopment Institute

Drug Addicts
Rehabilitation
Development Division

Bangkok Probation
OfficeHuman Resource
Management Division

D. Main Tasks
1. Pre-sentence and Post-sentence Investigation
A key role of probation officers is to prepare the social investigation report for the
court at the pre-sentence stage and the parole board at the post-sentence stage. The
investigation process aims to collect and analyze material relating to the offender’sbackground and case in order to make recommendations for appropriate punitive andrehabilitation measures. This will ultimately both protect society and reduce recidivism.
2. Supervision and Rehabilitation of Offenders
Supervision of offenders consists of monitoring and assisting offenders to comply
with their conditions. During the probation period, probation officers also help in
rehabilitating offenders through various treatment programs, such as vocational training,
moral education, counseling, group therapy and behavior modification. Community service
can also be applied if an offender agrees with.
3. Welfare Service for Offenders and Ex-offenders
Some offenders on probation are classified as socially disadvantaged and/or incapableof conforming to legal norms.

Welfare services offered by the Department of Probation pay

special attention to these and other released offenders, aiming for their successful
rehabilitation and social reintegration.

The offered services include meal and transportation

allowances, educational or vocational training, employment opportunity, and housing
services.
4. Drug Rehabilitation in the Compulsory Treatment System
In accordance with the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act 2002, drug addicts who arearrested on charges of drug addiction, drug addiction and possession, drug addiction andpossession for disposal, or drug addiction and disposal will be referred to the compulsory
treatment system.

E. Probationary and Parole Supervision
1. Pre-sentence and Post-sentence Investigation
At present, criminal cases eligible for a pre-sentence investigation are those imposed acustodial sentence of not more than 3 year and the defendant pleads guilty.

Probation

officers have 15 days for the preparation after the court order which is extendable for another30-day period if the court permits.

Cases referred to the post-sentence investigation are referred by the Department ofCorrections.

The aims of the investigation are to ensure that the offender will not reoffend

and to protect the society from another crime.

During the investigation process, a probation

officer will gather information from the guarantor as well as the community and victims ifnecessary.

The investigation process will take about 1 month but can be extended up to 2

months.

Prisoners who are eligible for parole are those who serve one third of theirsentence or 10 years in case of life imprisonment and have the remaining sentence at least
one year.

Additionally, prisoners are eligible for parole through sentence remission.

Ifthey serve their sentence for at least 6 months or 10 years in case of life imprisonment andtheir remaining sentence equals to the remission, they can be conditionally released onparole.
2. Supervision and Rehabilitation of Offenders
The majority of offenders under the supervision of the department are adult offenders
under the suspended sentence with the condition of probation.
years of suspension.

The court can order up to 5

However, the probation period is about 1 year.

The condition of probation is also applied to juvenile offenders (10-18 yrs) by theJuvenile and Family court. According to Section 138 of the Juvenile and Family Court andJuvenile and Family Procedure Act 2010, the length of probation applied to juveniles shallnot exceed 1 year. Prisoners who are released on parole or sentence remission shall also besupervised by probation officers.
In conclusion, offenders under the supervision of the department consist of 3 groups.
1) Adult offenders aged 18 and above, who are on suspension of sentence orpunishment
2) Prisoners who are released on parole or sentence remission3) Juvenile offenders aged over 10 years but below 18 years who are:- Sentenced not-guilty but probation is deemed necessary- Sentenced guilty but given a suspended sentence with probation- Conditionally released from a training center- Discharged from a training center but probation is deemed necessary
3. Community Service
The Department of Probation also offers the community service program forprobationers. Community service can be used as a condition which the court orders for the
probationers or the Sub-committee of Drug Addict Rehabilitation orders as a supplement to
the drug treatment program. Additionally, the offenders who could not pay fine can conduct

community service in lieu of fine. However, community service must be conducted with theoffenders’ consent and without remuneration.
4. Drug Rehabilitation in the Compulsory Treatment System
If the offender is assessed as being addicted, the prosecutor will suspend theprosecution.

The drug addict will then be treated according to the rehabilitation plan

assigned by the Sub-committee of Drug Addict Rehabilitation.

The treatment process isdivided to 2 phases:
1) the drug treatment phase provided by drug rehabilitation centers taking about 4
months;2) the social reintegration phase provided by probation offices taking about 2 months.
The probation office acting as the secretary of the sub-committee will monitor thetreatment process and report the rehabilitation results to the sub-committee.

If the result is

successful, the sub-committee will release the drug addict without prosecution and no
criminal record.

F. Residential Facilities within the Probation Services
Drug Rehabilitation Center for Drug Addicts
The Department of Probation has been responsible for the following drug
rehabilitation centers.
1) Drug Addicts Rehabilitation Center: Ladlumkaew Home (Pathumthani Province)
This center is for rehabilitation of Drug addicts in the intensive and custodial type,where a Therapeutic Community (TC) model is implemented.

TC is a treatment programthat engages the whole person in the rehabilitation process and challenges the individual tohave a positive life.

TC’s primary goals are the cessation of drug abuse behavior andfostering personal growth.

In the therapeutic community, everyone is equally treated andseen as a family member, while the rules and regulations are applied to everyone.
Rewarding and punishment are used to shape the members’ behavior.

Those who are well-

performed will be promoted to the next level and receive privileges.

The concept

underlying this model is that people can change and grow though a group process.
2) Drug Addicts Rehabilitation Center: Pattani ProvinceThis center is under construction and will be operated soon.

G. Specific Measures and Programmes of Community Corrections

1. Offender Reintegration through the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy
The philosophy of the Sufficiency Economy was developed by His Majesty King
Bhumibol Adulyadej to show his people a balanced way of life. Sufficiency in this context
means living in moderation and being self-reliant. This concept can be applied to all levels
and sectors of the society and is not necessarily limited to the agricultural or rural area.
Therefore, the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy has also been adapted to offender
rehabilitation and reintegration.
As a part of the Inspire (Kamlangjai) project, in 2010 Her Royal Highness Princess
Bajrakitiyabha introduced the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy to the prisoners with thehope that they will be equipped with knowledge and understanding of sufficient economy andskills for sufficient living.

Prisoners are expected to be capable of farming and self-

sufficient living skills, such as bio-gas and bio-diesel production, herbal insecticide making,and brick house building; and to utilize those skills to earn a living that they choose to upon
released.

In order to facilitate a smooth transition from imprisonment to probation, theDepartment of Probation agrees to support the released prisoners in this project. In 2011, thepilot project was launched and 52 probation officers were trained to understand theSufficiency Economy Philosophy so that they would be able to extend this knowledge inassisting the prisoners after release. The probation officers also made several visits to theprobationers’ houses to see their living situation.

By teaching the offenders how to live inmoderation and to be self-reliant, the DOP hopes that this could help the offenders start theirlaw-abiding life, which will prevent re-offending.
2. Family Support toward Drug free LifeDue to excessively large caseloads, especially drug-related cases, and the limit
number of the probation officers, the DOP needs to have a broader support from outside inmonitoring the probationers to ensure their compliance with their probation conditions. Given
that urgent need, in 2011 the DOP has started the pilot project named “the Family Support
toward Drug Free Life” by inviting the families of drug-related offenders to take an activerole in rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders. The family in this context includes (butnot limit to) parents, spouse, family members, relatives, teachers, friends, and employers.
The idea behind this project is that family is the closest group of people to theoffenders and is the most valuable resource for encouraging and supporting them throughout
their rehabilitation process. More importantly, the family also shares the same goal with the
DOP which is to see success in the offenders’ rehabilitation. The DOP believes that therehabilitation will be effective and sustainable only when each family actively engages andrealizes that they are a crucial factor in helping their family members to overcome drug
addiction. In July, 2012 the Ministry of Justice and the DOP held the opening of “the FamilySupport toward Drug Free Life” with over 23,000 people participating in this event.
Realizing that the families need basic information in order to supervising their children
appropriately, therefore, from November to December, 2012 the DOP provided one-day
training to the family members who live in Bangkok and Northeastern of Thailand. Having
over 21,000 people attending the two-month training course has shown that the families are
greatly concerned about their children’s addiction and willing to support the work of the
DOP. Given this success, in 2013 the DOP has planned to extend the training throughout thecountry.
II. PARTICIPATION OF THE COMMUNITY

A. Volunteer Probation Officers
Volunteer Probation Officer Project (VPO) was established since 1985.

Volunteerprobation officers are community members who voluntarily work with the Department of
Probation in providing probation services.

After being trained on core knowledge inrehabilitating and supervising offenders, VPOs will assist probation officers in dealing withprobationers in their local communities.

The following list comprises the basic qualification requirements for those interested injoining as a volunteer:- Be of at least 20 years of age- Live in a permanent residence- Be literate- Be a person of integrity and honesty- Have suitable income- Maintain law-abiding behavior- Have completed required training course- Have no criminal record except for petty offences or negligence
Currently, there are 13,774 VPOs, working through 738 VPOs’ Coordinating Centers(as of August 2013). Those applying for a VPO are carefully screened, recruited, andspecifically trained.

Afterwards, they will be formally appointed and entitled according to

the volunteer regulation. Their roles are mainly to assist probation officers with allocatedcasework, such as post-sentence investigation, supervision, rehabilitation, and monitoring
probationers. Apart from this, they help local probation officers to educate people, sensitize
the public, and get involved in other activities relating to probation and public protection.
VPOs will not be paid but will get some benefits and honor, which are royal decorations,award for the distinguished performance, and exempt from health service fee.

B. Community JusticeCommunity justice underlines the community’s involvement in the justice process.
This concept views the community as the co-producer of justice and that the community
should be empowered to work as a partner with other criminal justice agencies in maintaining
public order and safety.

Even though the community involvement in Thai criminal justicesystem has been recognized for more than two decades in various forms such as the
Volunteer Probation Officer Scheme and the Volunteer in Right and Liberty Protection
Scheme, the work is viewed as a top-down model or one way approach, where the criminal
justice official assigned the volunteers to do the tasks. On the other hand, the concept of thecommunity justice is to create partnership between the State and the general public.
The Community Justice concept has been formally put into practice by the Ministry ofJustice in 2005 under the Ministerial Strategy “Justice for All, All for Justice”.

The mainobjective was to ask the community support in offender rehabilitation and reintegration to thesociety. In other words, it aims to empower the community to make itself strong through its
own members.

Under the initiative, many community justice centers are established withinthe community, where the members are recruited from the general public as volunteers. They
are then collaboratively involved in justice activities, such as crime prevention, offender
rehabilitation, reconciliation of conflicts, and legal aid, etc.

After nearly a decade since its

inauguration, the community justice centers have proved to be an appropriate channel for theThai criminal justice system in responding to the public needs and increase the public’s
confidence in the justice system. Each year, over 10,000 people have joined the community
justice network and 100 centers have been set up.
III. REFERENCE
www.probation.go.th
IV. STATISTICS
Table 1: Investigation Cases by Gender (Newly admitted)
Investigation
Pre-sentence
Investigation
Male
FemalePostsentence
Investigation
Male
FemaleNumber2010
Percentage

Number2011
Percentage

Number2012
Percentage

Number2013
Percentage

44,895100%

43,320100%

42,356100%

45,873100%

38,595
6,300

85.4%
14.6%

37,086
6,234

85.6%
14.4%

36,158
6,198

86.0%
14.0%

38,960
6,913

84.9%
15.1%

36,163100%

43,436100%

41,927100%

68,841100%

31,025
5,138

85.8%
14.2%

37,069
6,367

85.3%
14.7%

34,764
7,163

82.9%
17.1%

57,694
11,147

83.8%
16.2%

Table 2: Probation Population by Gender (Newly admitted)
2010

Types of
Population

2011

2012

2013

Number

Percentage

Number

Percentage

Number

Percentage

Number

Percentage

125,949100%

141,138100%

148,703100%

181,604

100%

Male

113,325

90.0%

128,88191.3%

137,487

92.5%

169,479

93.3%

Female12,62410.0%

12,257

8.7%

11,216

7.5%

12,125

6.7%

Parolee

22,721

100%

33,113100%

25,469100%

35,012100%

Male

19,49885.8%

28,545

86.2%

21,215

83.3%

28,795

82.2%

Female

3,223

14.2%

4,568

13.8%

4,254

16.7%

6,217

17.8%

23,733100%

23,548100%

17,161100%

20,436100%

Male

22,244

93.7%

19,35782.2%

16,082

93.7%

19,22994.0%

Female

1,489

6.3%

4,191

17.8%

1,079

6.3%

1,207

6.0%

Adult
Probationer

Juvenile
Probationer

Table 3: Probation Population by Selected Types of Offence (Newly admitted)
Year

Drug

Traffic

Property

AgainstSexualrelatedrelatedoffencelife

offenceoffenceoffence2010

43,67262,566

14,535

10,966

3,616

2011

74,49865,813

15,983

11,575

3,760

2012

78,211

66,835

12,272

9,838

3,116

2013

119,386

66,821

13,283

10,847

3,285

offence

Figure 1: Recidivism Rate (Reoffending within 3 years after Termination)
30
26.01

Percentage

25
20.86

20

17.83

15
10

10.73

14.91

14.2

5
0
2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Table 4: Drug Rehabilitation Cases in the Compulsory System (Newly admitted)
Year

Male

Female

Total

2010

109,079

10,441

119,5202011

161,204

16,378

177,582

2012

159,475

16,591

176,066

2013

186,501

17,460203,961

Table 5: Community Service Cases
Year

Court Order

Fine Substitution

Total

2011

205,480471

205,9512012

221,394

243

221,6372013

265,011307

265,318

Table 6: Volunteer Probation Officers and Community Justice Member (as of August 2013)
Types

NumberVolunteer Probation Officers

13,774

Community Justice Member

80,998Figure 2: Number of Staff (Fiscal Year 2012)

Number
1,964

Probation Officers
Administrative Officers

2,466

Table 7: Monthly Caseload (Fiscal Year 2013)
Standard Monthly Caseload per Staff
Investigation Case

8.56 cases

Supervision Case

15.54 cases

Actual Monthly Caseload per Staff

26 cases

Note :-Fiscal year in Thailand is from October 1st- September 30th -Sources: Division of Planningand Information, Department of Probation, Ministry of Justice, Thailand