FRESH rioting broke out at Krabi prison at 5.30 p.m. today (Dec. 17) with the male prisoners setting an old dormitory at the rear ablaze after having already burnt the officers quarters and kitchen last evening with this sparked by a move to transfer most of them to prisons in neighbouring provinces, Thai Rath newspaper said.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Naphanwut Liamsanguan, head of Provincial Police Region 8, Pol. Maj. Gen. Chaiwat Ouikham, head of Krabi police, Mr. Chaiwut Buathong, Krabi district chief, and Mr. Charoon Nakkaew, head of Krabi prison, are all closely monitoring the situation.
They arranged for a police battalion to move in to control the riot-hit prison with correctional officials from neighbouring provinces also travelling there.
Trouble started at 5.30 p.m. when health officials went in to screen some prisoners who were being moved to other prisons. They soon ran out because the prisoners who had been rioting last evening set fire to a dormitory with the blaze quickly engulfing the building because it was an old one.
Some prisoners tried to escape from the jail but police units have surrounded the compound. Special operations unit of Provincial Police Region 8 and the Corrections Department are going to go in and put a stop to the rampage..
There are 2,423 inmates in this prison with 263 being female who had earlier been moved to Krabi Noi temporary prison.
Of the 2,160 male inmates it was planned to move 1,400 to separate prisons in Phuket, Phang Nga and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces with 400 to be transferred today and the remainder tomorrow to avoid night transfers which could trigger chaos.
After that talks were to be held with the 20 ring leaders with three of them having already separated from the group.It was planned that if the rest did not stop causing trouble then force was to be used to stamp it out but this then led to the prisoners starting another fire.
CAPTION:
An old prison dormitory ablaze after more rioting rocked Krabi prison. Top photo: Siam Rath, Home Page photo: Thai Rath
Read earlier report: Krabi Prisoners riot to go out for Covid treatment
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