Prison boss rejects LGBTI jails

The Pattaya Remand Prison has a separate cell for transgender prisoners who have gone through sex change surgery. (EPA file photo)

The idea of setting up a prison exclusively for transgender inmates has been dismissed as impractical by the Corrections Department, which says other measures are in play to accommodate them.

Department director-general Korbkiat Kasiwiwat said such inmates account for just 1% of the total inmate population of 300,000 nationwide, so there was no need to set up separate prisons for them.

He said calls were made for transgender inmates to be grouped in special areas or placed in a separate prison out of respect for their diverse sexuality.

However, special zones have been designated to house them in prisons where their numbers are large enough to justify this.

These include Min Buri Prison, Klongprem Central Prison and the Pattaya Provincial Prison, according to Mr Korbkiat.

The department chief said warders prioritise the safety of inmates and strive to protect transgenders from sexual harassment when behind bars.

Relocating them to prisons with a different or less suitable environment could have an adverse psychological effect on them, he said.

Also, if they are relocated far from their home provinces it could hamper their families' efforts to visit them, the department said.

Mr Korbkiat said 34 transgender inmates nationwide have undergone sexual reassignment surgery.

They have all been put in female prisons, he added. Typically, transgender inmates are sent to prisons according to their sex at birth.

But they can be transferred to jails suited to their preferred sexual state depending on the decision of the court and the opinion of psychologists as to whether it would benefit their welfare.

According to department sources, transgenders tend to be abused by male inmates.