The Corrections Department has introduced full-body scanning technology for searching female inmates following complaints over human rights violations during physical body searches.
The department yesterday demonstrated how its new security technology works at Central Women's Correctional Institution (CWCI) in Chatuchak district of Bangkok.
The correctional facility has one of the 11 full-body X-ray scanners the department has purchased at a cost of over 10 million baht each, said Korbkiat Kasiwiwat, director-general of the department.
Five more machines are expected to be purchased in the next 12 months, he said.
This was the first time a full-body scanner, similar to those used at major airports, was installed at the jail, he said, adding the main purpose of using the scanner was to prevent the smuggling of illegal and prohibited items into detention facilities.
The model currently used by the department is efficient in detecting objects even if they are hidden in some parts of the body that are difficult to detect by a simple body search, he said.
Complaints lodged against department staff over alleged violations of inmates' rights occurred during a time when physical body-searches had triggered criticism over rights protection, he said.
With these scanners, the warders no longer have to touch inmates' bodies, he said.
Before the department decided to invest in the full-body scanners, growing criticism over its lack of protection of inmates' rights had led the department to suspend body searches at the CWCI, said Chadaporn Raksasap, director of the CWCI.
The decision had set back the detention facility's security measures.
Only a day after the body search measure was halted, about 300 tablets of illicit drugs were smuggled into the CWCI, officers later discovered.
The number of prohibited items found inside the detention facility increased after that, she said.
Since the new scanner was installed at the CWCI on Nov 19, someone had been caught trying to smuggle in an amount of cash, but that was it, she said.
The CWCI is home to 4,825 inmates, the vast majority (3,676) detained in drug cases, she said.
The facility, however, has a capacity to hire only 162 officers including five male ones, she said.
The CWCI also takes care of young children dependent on their detained mothers, so the CWCI also serves as a substitute "daycare facility" for those mothers, she said.