His hands shape a crescent moon above a swimming naga on a plywood board made mainly of sawdust and glue. He doesn't pay attention to the boisterous group around him as he concentrates on adjusting the waning moon. His eyes are fixed on nothing but the plywood before him.
Top and above Paintings by inmates fill a holding room at Thon Buri Remand Prison before being sold. Some of the works command high prices with proceeds going to inmates who also make other crafts such as bangles.
Wichit, 40, is one of the top 10 craftsmen trained at Thon Buri Remand Prison. He was sentenced to six years in jail for separating a minor from her parents and has two more years to serve.
Before being sent to jail for depriving a child of parental care, Wichit was harnessing his skills in painting. In prison, he didn't hesitate to sign up for the chang sip mu (10 categories of craftsmen) Thai classical art training course as soon as he learned of it.
The training is paying off as he is rapidly honing his painting skills. A company owner who bought one of his art works sold at a fair organised by the prison, was so impressed that he tracked Wichit down, only to find that he is an inmate.
The businessman even promised Wichit a job when he is released. Wichit, however, felt it necessary to turn down the offer because he believes he will be better off as an independent artist.
He realises that the skills he has attained will put a lot of demands on his time, but striking out on his own as a painter will not require a great deal of money.
One of the masterpieces he is creating is of a swimming naga, which he began two weeks ago. Each day, he spends up to five hours in the prison studio before retiring to his cell.
Wichit finds he works faster than other inmates as he can conjure up an image he is painting. It means he doesn't have to constantly shift his eyes from the art work to a picture of the subject.
“I normally spend 700 to 800 baht buying sawdust and glue. In return, I earn 4,900 baht from a finished piece. Sometimes, on a larger-scale piece, I put in around 10,000 baht and can sell it for between 50,000 and 100,000 baht.”
Part of the money goes to the prison for the cost of training.
Fellow inmate, Aod, who has been at the same prison for only three months, is also learning to sculpt for the first time and finds joy in the activity.
Beautiful sculptures created by his fellow inmates inspired him to start training. It seemed difficult at first but got easier as he learned the techniques. The key to success, he says, is to keep calm and focused.
Aod counts himself lucky to have a teacher from the Royal Traditional Thai Crafts School for Men who is showing him the ropes. Painting and sculpting are just two of the crafts taught at the prison.
“Aside from making us relaxed and calm, the arts training also helps me to earn some money,” said Aod, who is serving time for a drug offence. Inmates, he said, need the savings to restart their lives after their release.
Phirun Sri-iamsaart, an art teacher from the College of Fine Arts who taught at Thonburi Remand Prison two years ago, said different courses offered by the programme take different lengths of time to complete, ranging from 300 hours to 800 hours.
She has always been amazed to discover how easily her students perform in specific types of craft that normally demand a great deal of attention to detail, such as fruit carving and weaving.
“The prison has efficient security measures in place and I don’t feel any different teaching the inmate students to students elsewhere,” she said.
Introduced in 1997, the arts training programme at Thon Buri Remand Prison began with two courses — oil painting and moulding — to interested prisoners. The training is on a voluntary basis.
Eight years later a formal learning centre was established in Area 5 of the prison that specialised in the study of chang sip mu.
Traditional Thai craftsmen can be divided into 10 groups including painting, drawing, sculpting, carving, engraving, moulding, lacquering, metal beating and plastering.
So far this year, 106 inmates have completed one or more training courses currently taught by one instructor from the College of Fine Arts and another from the Royal Traditional Thai Crafts School for Men.
The Department of Corrections wants the centre to be a model for occupational training for other prisons nationwide, said Wiwati Raengkhetklang, head of Thon Buri Remand Prison’s occupational training division.
Situated on 100 rai of land and divided into six zones, Thon Buri Remand Prison holds around 6,000 prisoners. Area 1 is for those prisoners who are nearing the end of their sentences while Area 2 is where those convicted of serious crimes are housed.
Area 3 is designated for first-time drug convicts while Area 4 is for convicts who are repeat drug offenders.
Area 5 is set aside for new inmates and Area 6 is for those with long prison terms to serve.
Only inmates with less than six years left of their jail terms are allowed to undergo the chang sip mu training course.
“For many inmates who can earn money from the sale of their art pieces, the money comes as an incentive for them to keep improving their artistic skills,” said Kanok Karunamitr, chief of Thon Buri Remand Prison.
Apart from the chang sip mu course, there are other occupational courses for inmates to choose from such as Thai kick-boxing and cooking classes.
The prison also runs a business that assembles shoes for export to the Middle East. About 500 inmates in Area 1 produce 2,000 pairs of shoes a day.
The inmates who prove to have impressive occupational skills normally are contacted by certain companies that want them as staff when they are discharged from prison.
“[Before the training] I couldn't believe I would ever be capable of sculpting a Buddha image. Now that I can do it, I want to do more because it gives me peace of mind, as though I were practising meditation while working,” said one inmate.
“No other inmates in the same prison zone believe me when I tell them I am sculpting a Buddha image at training,” said the inmate as he puts the finishing touches to the Buddha image he and two others are working on.
They agreed to name the image Phra Phong Yong Chong, which has one syllable taken from each of their names to symbolise unity.
A bas relief made of wood is produced by an inmate that depicts the rural way of life. photos by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd
