Young Offenders' Rehabilitation

According to a report in the Pattaya Mail, rehabilitation training for young offenders, such as those "rounded up" in Sunee is to be changed:

Training for rehab camp is changed to be more effective ....Most children taking part in previous Sai Yai Rak Camps reverted to old habits .... Training at the 4th Sai Yai Rak Camp that is due to start at the end of April and which is designed to rehabilitate vagabond and delinquent children back into society has been modified in an attempt to make it more effective than the previous three camps proved to be. .... the camp .... will take 30 youngsters .... the previous three camps had been closely monitored after they were completed and they had not achieved the desired objectives. The underlying reason was that the children taking part had not been willing to join the course. After completing the training, they had returned to their same habits and nothing had changed ....
Camp 4 will provide seven categories of training. Nine hours will be devoted to education on the dangers of narcotics and contagious diseases. Psychotherapy and individual consultations on morality and self-determination would take up 116 hours. There will be 29 hours devoted to activities to develop will power. Occupational training will take up a further 36 hours, and the remainder of the time will be divided into social education, community projects and educational visits, such as to the Prabat Nampu Temple in Lopburi.

36 hours of "occupational training" is, sadly, unlikely to give those invoved much real chance to make something of their lives.

I heard some pretty horrific tails about the previous camps for young offenders. Hopefully, the abuse and bullying of the inmates that went on earlier will be a thing of the past.
What actually happens at these camps to help the youngsters sent there is only the first part of the problem. The vast majority of them will come from broken homes, or have no homes at all, which is why most of them were found on the streets in the first place. It is no good simply to throw the children straight back into the community once they have done their stint. Its only a short ride back to Pattaya where they will immediately pick up there old lifestyle. The most vital part of whatever the Thai authorites to will happen the minute they are released from Sattahip. My guess will be that nothing at all will happen. What should happen is that some how or other these kids are looked after, sent to school, found a home,, hopefully well away from the attractions of Pattaya.

Lester,

sadly you are right - it is simply a face saving exercise, no more.

[Lunchtime O'Booze]

so it sounds like they work exactly like probation boards work in the US and UK..ie: absolutely useless.

so it sounds like they work exactly like probation boards work in the US and UK..ie: absolutely useless.

Not really sure if I see the connection as the aim of the camps is to rehabilitate during a set period (ten weeks), at the end of which they are all automatically "returned to society", while the probation boards are, as far as I am aware, there to assess if an offender has been rehabilitated and is ready to be "returned to society".

[ceejay]

[/quote]Not really sure if I see the connection as the aim of the camps is to rehabilitate during a set period (ten weeks), at the end of which they are all automatically "returned to society", while the probation boards are, as far as I am aware, there to assess if an offender has been rehabilitated and is ready to be "returned to society".[/quote]

I don't know anything about the US legal system, but in the UK it is parole boards that assess whether an offender is "ready to be returned to society"

The probation service deals with supervising offenders in the community with a view to rehabilitation and re-integration into "useful" society. A probation order may be made "stand alone" after a conviction, in combination with a prison sentence, or as a condition of parole. With the exception of life prisoners, released on licence, who are subject to supervision by the probation service for the rest of their lives, probation orders are for a fixed period and aimed at rehabilitation, so Lunchtime's comparison is valid.

And, as Lunchtime says it is pretty useless - sadly more concerned with ticking boxes and meeting "targets" than doing the job.

[quote="Lunchtime O'Booze":zajh17qr]so it sounds like they work exactly like probation boards work in the US and UK..ie: absolutely useless.

Not really sure if I see the connection as the aim of the camps is to rehabilitate during a set period (ten weeks), at the end of which they are all automatically "returned to society", while the probation boards are, as far as I am aware, there to assess if an offender has been rehabilitated and is ready to be "returned to society".[/quote:zajh17qr]

From my limited knowledge of how the parole/probation boards work in the UK I do know that it is the Parole Boards that decide if the offender is ready to be released and 'returned to society' whilst it is the Probation Boards who act in a supposed supervisory capacity to keep in contact with the offender once the offender has been released and 'returned to society'.