Talk capital punishment after justice reform

In this photo taken on Tuesday, members of Amnesty International converge outside Bang Khwang Central Prison, holding up placards to denounce the execution of a convict, the first in almost nine years. kitja Apichonrojarek

A day after convicted killer Theerasak Longji was put to death, my teenage daughter asked me at our dinner table what I thought about it.

I told her the man had caused another person to die a horrendous death.

"But, Dad, that's his life we took. How could we do that?" she asked.

We continued our discussion for a little while but did not get into a deep philosophical discourse.

I'm glad, though, she did not express her views on social media because I'm sure that she would have been savagely trashed by strangers and possibly by friends as well.

Survey after survey has shown most Thais are in favour of capital punishment. I might add that they are ready to defend it with a passion.

Emotions run high on social media platforms discussing the issue. It was almost like the red- and yellow-shirt confrontation again except on this issue the pro-death penalty camp is clearly in the majority.

This is quite a phenomenon. Imagine using this issue as a tool to reconcile the differences between the reds and yellows.

Could this be the reason the military regime decided to carry out the first death sentence in nearly a decade?

No, I don't think so although it's hard to understand why this case was selected to end the nine-year hiatus when there are about 200 other cases which have already exhausted all appeals.

It's interesting that Thais are ready to express their strong opinions in favour of the death penalty in such large numbers. At the same time, they are ready to launch unrestrained verbal attacks against those opposing capital punishment.

They are not willing to hear that capital punishment has been found in study after study to be ineffective at deterring crime or that prisoners also have human rights and deserve to be treated humanely.

This is not a moral issue, they will say. This is the society's need to punish cruel and inhumane crimes.

What people want is retribution as severe as the crime committed by the prisoners or more. In other words, what they want is revenge, something they believe will assuage the grief or hurt caused to the victims' families.

Many people believe death by injection is too merciful for criminals convicted of heinous crime. They want to see more brutal methods used in executions.

For most Thais, the main purpose of prisons is to punish, not rehabilitate. They believe in the "an eye for an eye" type of justice.

In a perverted way, that kind of attitude, to me, amounts to a rebuke or condemnation of the justice system, which most people see as discriminatory against the poor and disadvantaged, and favouring the rich and social elite. But besides the fact that the poor makes up the bulk of prison populations, most people also complain about the leniency inherent in the system.

They say most prisoners never serve the whole sentence they were given because of numerous occasions when "promotions" are made to cut their sentences short.

However, most people are probably unaware that Thailand has the highest prison population and incarceration rate among Asean countries and the world's highest incarceration rate of women, according to a recent report by the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights. Most prisoners have been convicted on drug charges.

In my opinion, one of the most important factors contributing to public frustration and disillusionment with the Thai justice system is inconsistent, selective and unpredictable law enforcement.

I strongly believe that consistent and non-selective law enforcement could be the key to assuage people's feelings of frustration and restore their faith in the justice system without resorting to demanding capital punishment.

The current reality, however, tells a sad tale of poor people stuffing prison cells while the rich and powerful always find ways to either walk away scot-free or get a slap on the wrist.

Personally, I'm not entirely against capital punishment. I believe there are people whose deeds are so vile and evil and detrimental to mankind that they deserve the ultimate punishment. But first we must ensure that the justice system is capable of delivering justice equally and consistently.

Among the deeds deserving the most severe punishment, in my opinion, are public corruption -- the cancerous scourge of the country -- and the armed usurpation of people's democratic rights.