The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) deserves a praise for launching a probe into another case of a wealthy recipient of privileged treatment who spent a month in a special patient room on the 14th floor of Police General Hospital (PGH).
NHRC last month sent a letter to the medical chief officer of Police Hospital General asking for clarification about the medical treatment and diagnosis provided to Vonnarat Tangkaravakoon, a defendant in an embezzlement scandal at Stark. He stayed for 29 days in May last year.
This independent body last year launched similar probe into the case of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra who served an entire jail term at a private ward on the 14th floor. In his case, the commissioners found irregularities and recommended the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) investigate malfeasance.
In the latest case, the commissioners are probing into the procedures the medical staff at PGH and the Department of Corrections (DoC) use in providing treatment to inmates and defendants. Above all, the commissioners want to know whether officials treat all inmates equally.
Commissioners are asking the PGH for a tour of the 14th floor and private patient wards where Mr Vonnarat and Thaksin stayed, and the special ward where all inmates and defendants are assigned to stay when they receive treatment at PGH. In the previous probe, the commissioners were not allowed to look at the 14th floor.
Under standard practice, inmates or defendants are supposed to receive medical treatment at the Corrections Hospital of Bangkok Remand Prison in Bangkok.
Only when the Corrections Hospital does not have enough resources to handle the serious case, will patients be referred to affiliated hospitals; and following treatment they are usually sent back to the correction systems immediately.
One glaring example is the case of serial killer Sararat "Aem Cyanide" Rangsiwuthaporn who was only given a few days to recover at Police General Hospital after she suffered a miscarriage due to preeclampsia.
For the case of Mr Vonnarat, a tycoon from one of the richest families in the country, the PGH medical staff agreed to let him to stay for 29 days at a private room on the 14th floor, before having him sent back to prison.
The question is then, why did they not send him, or former PM Thaksin, to stay at the designated space for inmate-patients under Department of Corrections' custody?
Mr Vonnarat was arrested in February last year and denied bail for fear he would flee. While in custody, Mr Vonnarat developed several health problems, including an inflamed mass in his groin, and was treated at the Corrections Hospital on Feb 13 last year. Later he was transferred to PGH, where he underwent testicular surgery in May last year. He stayed there for almost a month.
It is hoped that the medical staff will help clear the air. Without clarification, the 14th floor of PGH will inevitably become jargon to describe double standards. Without a clear inspection and monitoring, it could be a redoubt for the rich where wealthy inmates can check in to avoid spending time in jail.