Over 12,000 inmates pardoned by Thai King

BANGKOK, December 7 (TNA) - Over 12,000 inmates across Thailand will be freed Thursday, under His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s royal pardon this year. Director-general of the Thai Ministry of Interior's Corrections Department Police Colonel Suchart Wongananchai told Thai News Agency (TNA) that his department has been prepared for the release of the inmates, based on the 2011 royal pardon decree endorsed by His Majesty the King and published in the Royal Gazette on December 3, on the auspicious occasion of the revered Thai monarch's 84th Birthday on December 5. Police Colonel Suchart said that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will preside over the event, set to be taken place at Klong Prem Central Prison at 8am amid 2,766 inmates and their relatives, representing the overall pardoned prisoners. Thailand's Ministry of Labour, in the meantime, will immediately provide job opportunities to the released inmates; while a booth will also be set up at Klong Prem Central Prison to welcome the ex-prisoners to register for skill training programmes sponsored by the ministry's Department of Skill Development. According to the Corrections Department chief, inmates who are eligible for the royal pardon this year are those who were not charged with drugs trafficking, arson and murder and who have no more than one-year jail term left. (TNA)