20,000 female prisoners to receive royal pardon

BANGKOK, July 16 (TNA) - Some 20,000 female inmates will soon be freed under a royal pardon, as part of nationwide celebrations of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s 80th birthday on August 12, 2012. The Thai Ministry of Justice's Department of Corrections is, therefore, organizing a vocational training programme for the female prisoners. Speaking on Monday at the Women's Central Correctional Institution in Bangkok, Corrections Department Director-General Colonel Suchart Wonganandchai said under the 10-day programme, the selected female inmates, with good behaviors and having no more than three years left in prison, are offered vocational training so that they can employ and apply what they have learnt in prison to earn their own and families' living after the release. The inmates are taught baking, batik painting, crafting and many other lessons. Meanwhile, the Corrections Department also offers loans for prisoners to start up their own businesses, as well as employment opportunities to prevent former inmates from returning to prison.(TNA)