The Corrections Department expects to sign agreements next year with Malaysia and Ukraine on the transfer of prisoners to serve out their terms in their home country.
Department director-general Pol Col Naras Savestanan said Thailand already has prisoner transfer agreements with 38 countries. Malaysia and Ukraine are next.
The agreements allow convicted foreign nationals to serve part of their prison term in Thailand and then, if eligible, to serve the balance in a jail in their home country.
Agreements with Malaysia and Ukraine are expected to be signed next year, Pol Col Naras said.
Thailand started transferring prisoners in 1990. To date, 1,199 foreign inmates in Thailand have benefitted from the programme, he said.
The prisoner transfer scheme gives inmates an opportunity to return to their own cultural environment and be close to their families during the remainder of their sentence. This helps prepare them to return to society when finally released, Pol Col Naras said.