To seek better care for COVID-19 patients in Thailand jail, inmates riot, set fire

In order to seek better medical care for COVID-19 patients in jail, numerous inmates rioted and set fire at a prison in southern Thailand, the officials said on Friday.  

As per Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, around 400 inmates at main provincial prison at Krabi went violent on Thursday night. It happened when a core group demanded that inmates infected with coronavirus be removed from the facility for better treatment.  

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Police Maj Gen Chaiwat Ouikham said that they began destroying property in sleeping area and setting fire, as per the ‘Bangkok Post’ newspaper.   

As the riot escalated, around 300 police and other security personnel were sent to the facility.  

After overnight negotiations, provincial Governor Puthipong Sirimat finally agreed to send 14 inmates with severe Covid symptoms for treatment.  

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The three inmates, who had tried to climb over the prison wall, were injured after being hit with rubber bullets. No deaths were reported in the incident.  

After calm was restored on Friday, provincial heath staff provided ATK tests for inmates and found that around 200 were infected, said Puthipong.  

In an attempt to ease overcrowding, female inmates were being sent to other prisons.  

(With inputs from agencies)