PHUKET: The little girl jumped from the car before it was properly parked. She skipped towards Phuket Prison. She was going to see her father, for the first time in a long while.
There were tears, hugs and smiles galore as about 60 Phuket prisoners picnicked with their families behind bars today. Some visitors had come from all over Phuket, others from all over the region.
It was a remarkable experiment. And it seemed to work.
''These people are not inside jail forever,'' said Phuket Prison Commander Rapin Nichanon. ''They are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, members of families, and it's important that the contacts with their families are maintained.''
Normally, prison visits are short and the only contact is through wire netting. There is no chance to touch.
In a prison where there are twice the number of inmates that there should be, one would assume that incarceration is no picnic.
But the prisoners Phuketwan spoke to on the inside had no complaints about conditions.
And today was different. As families filed in, they submitted to searches and the food they brought was carefully checked.
Thailand's jails have developed a reputation for ''drugs kingpins'' running their operations from the inside, thanks to mobile telephones tossed over walls inside dead rats, or fired from slingshots, or if latest reports can be believed, airlifted in and dropped from remote control helicopters.
There were no signs of shenanigans today, just happy embraces and the chance for men and women who happen to be in prison to be fathers, mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters for a couple of hours.
Commander Rapin rated the experiment a success and will give about 300 of the 1510 prisoners a taste of real life over the next couple of days, as an inducement to good behavior.
With an amnesty likely for the exceptionally well-behaved to celebrate the HM the King's Birthday on December 5, for some the best may be yet to come.
For those left on the inside, there's a chance of a meeting with families every three months. And with the regular opportunity to smile, hug and touch, perhaps even the likelihood of a reduction in the need for telephones to be thrown over walls.
There were tears, hugs and smiles galore as about 60 Phuket prisoners picnicked with their families behind bars today. Some visitors had come from all over Phuket, others from all over the region.
It was a remarkable experiment. And it seemed to work.
''These people are not inside jail forever,'' said Phuket Prison Commander Rapin Nichanon. ''They are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, members of families, and it's important that the contacts with their families are maintained.''
Normally, prison visits are short and the only contact is through wire netting. There is no chance to touch.
In a prison where there are twice the number of inmates that there should be, one would assume that incarceration is no picnic.
But the prisoners Phuketwan spoke to on the inside had no complaints about conditions.
And today was different. As families filed in, they submitted to searches and the food they brought was carefully checked.
Thailand's jails have developed a reputation for ''drugs kingpins'' running their operations from the inside, thanks to mobile telephones tossed over walls inside dead rats, or fired from slingshots, or if latest reports can be believed, airlifted in and dropped from remote control helicopters.
There were no signs of shenanigans today, just happy embraces and the chance for men and women who happen to be in prison to be fathers, mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters for a couple of hours.
Commander Rapin rated the experiment a success and will give about 300 of the 1510 prisoners a taste of real life over the next couple of days, as an inducement to good behavior.
With an amnesty likely for the exceptionally well-behaved to celebrate the HM the King's Birthday on December 5, for some the best may be yet to come.
For those left on the inside, there's a chance of a meeting with families every three months. And with the regular opportunity to smile, hug and touch, perhaps even the likelihood of a reduction in the need for telephones to be thrown over walls.
