Klong Prem

Klong Prem Central prison is a high-security prison in Bangkok, taking in custody of male offenders whose sentence term is not over 25 years. With its general capacity to incarcerate 4,984 offenders, the prison currently holds of 5,000 offenders in the centre prison, both Thai and foreign nationals. The greater complex houses up to 20,000 inmates. Within the complex, the other adjacent facilities sharing the same perimeter with Klong Prem Central Prison are the Central Correction Institution for Drug Addicts (Bumbudt Pisek or Bombat) and Central Correctional Hospital.

Address

Klong Prem prison33/2 Ngam Wong Wan Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, ThailandTelephone: [phone]Facsimile: [phone]

History

Klong Prem Central prison was originally a temporary prison established in 1944 as a consequence of demands during World War Two when Thailand was at war with Britain and the United States. In 1959 has changed to a vocational training centre for those, in the words of the Thai corrections department, “who act and behave as gangsters.”

In 1960 the old Klong Prem prison on Mahchai Road (now Rommaneenart Park) had become especially overcrowded. The Interior Ministry established a temporary prison within the same compound by dividing one part into a vocational training centre and the other part into the Lardyao temporary central prison.

In 1970 the Interior Ministry permanently separated the two parts from each other and moved prisoners from the former prison to the current site. In 1972 the Interior Ministry ordered that the Lardyao prison be upgraded to Klong Prem Central Prison and the old prison has been renamed Bangkok Special Prison. Nonthaburi 1 Road , Nonthaburi Province 11000 , Thailand ]

Bangkok Prisons

Klong Prem is one of the two major capital-city prisons, along with Bangkwang. (Although Bangkwang Prison in Bangkok’s Nonthaburi district was the first to take on the nickname, "The Bangkok Hilton", this name has been applied to the larger Klong Prem complex, including the Women’s Prison. Bangkwang (aka The Big Tiger) holds inmates whose sentences are above 33-years, some of whose Western inmates frequently draw journalists’’ attention to the minor distinction of being first.) The Bangkok Hilton is also the title of the 1989 TV mini-series with Nicole Kidman playing a young Australian imprisoned for drug smuggling. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096540/] Internet Movie Data Base listing]

Visiting Klong Prem

Klong Prem Central Prison allows the family of inmates to visit according to the following schedule. The building in which a prisoner is held determines which days visits are held. Conducted from 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday. Mondays: Building 1 - 5Tuesdays: Building 4 & 14 & the cook houseWednesdays: Building 3 and the hospitalThursdays: Building 2/9/7Fridays: Building 6

Bumbudt Drug Remand

BOMBAT PISEK PRISON Note inmate’s building number33/2 Ngam Wong Wan RoadChatuchak, 10900

Visiting Days: Monday to Friday Buildings 1-5Foreigners must bring their air tickets for maximum visit time.Morning sessions : from 9.00 till 11.00Afternoon sessions: from 13.00 till 18.00

Contact visits: from 9am to 3pm Family of foreign inmates should contact the respective embassies for a cover letter.

Foreign Prisoners at Klong Prem

Foreign prisoners are concentrated in building 2, and those prisoners may have contact visits for several days providing visitors can demonstrate they have travelled from another country. Security precautions have increased since the 1996 breakout of a foreign prisoner from Building 6. A British-Australian inmate remanded for drug charges, escaped at night to then fly from the nearby Don Muang airport to Singapore before the alarm was effected. This escape is apparently the only reported successful break-out in decades, yet had wide ramifications for security at the prison. The escape is detailed in the book of that name published in 2008 in the UK.

References

External links

* [http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/l-klongprem.html] Foreign Prisoners Support Site
*ESCAPE Paperback by David McMillan: 320 pages Publisher: Mainstream Publishing (3 Jul 2008) Language English ISBN-10: 1845963458; ISBN-13: 9781845963453 [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1845963458 Amazon listing]
* [http://www.correct.go.th/klong.htm] Thai government site