A National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) official has urged companies and state agencies not to judge former convicts on their past mistakes but instead welcome them to the workforce as a way to discourage them from recommitting crimes.
The idea, recently floated by rights watchdog commissioner Chatchai Suthiklom, came as authorities supervising prisons nationwide plan to change prison names to "training centres" to improve inmates' images.
Speaking at a Nation Building Institute forum, Mr Chatchai stressed "there is a need to expunge the negative social perception of former convicts". When well-behaved inmates are granted a pardon, many people "fear" their release, but this reaction will simply push them back into criminal activity, Mr Chatchai said.
He said certain rules may also need to be relaxed to allow former convicts to enter the workforce more easily. At present, convicts who are released from jail must wait five years, during which they must also commit no crimes, before being considered for work again at state agencies.
Mr Chatchai said if authorities are still required to check whether inmates have criminal records, they should do it on a case-by-case basis, together with taking applicants' abilities into consideration.
Types of crime should be taken into account, and those who committed minor crimes should be given another chance, added Mr Chatchai, who is also a former director-general of the Department of Corrections.
As for former convicts aged less than 18, the law says their criminal records must be deleted. But that does not always occur in practice because of system glitches, resulting in youngsters facing discrimination in the workplace, Mr Chatchai said. As a result, many turn back to crime.
The majority are drug convicts who "return to jail repeatedly," Mr Chatchai said.
Phanuwat Sisuwan, 24, who once served a jail term on a drug charge, admitted many former convicts recommit crimes after they find they are not welcome back into society.
Prison authorities are also aware of the negative image of former convicts, so are planning to make their detention "sound more pleasant".
Prisons could be renamed as "training centres" for adult inmates, and "sports centres" for younger detainees, said Uthai Thapasa, chief of the Correctional Institution for Young Offenders in Pathum Thani.