Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra won't be eligible to be detained outside of prison if she returns to the country as she has yet to meet new criteria for the soon-to-come alternative prison detention programme, said Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong on Tuesday.
Yingluck received a five-year sentence in August 2017, but, under the new regulations for detention by the Department of Corrections (DoC), only convicts with jail terms not exceeding four years may qualify for the new detention programme, said Pol Col Tawee, echoing a previous assertion made by DoC director-general Sahakarn Phetnarin.
Yingluck, 57, was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison back in 2017, when she was found guilty by the Supreme Court's Criminal Case Division for Holders of Political Positions for failing to stop corruption in her government's rice-pledging scheme, which caused the state about 500 billion baht in losses.
She has been living abroad since then.
However, when asked to confirm whether Yingluck would become eligible were her sentence to be reduced following a petition, the minister declined to comment.
The minister cited the need for Thailand to comply with international corrections standards as justification for pursuing the policy, saying most prisons in the country are about 90 years old on average, and about 50 of them are now in very bad condition.
Due to limited budget, only one new prison can be built each year, leaving the current facilities overcrowded, he said.
"Several other countries have adopted similar programmes," he said.
A recent study conducted in Thailand showed prisoners who have been allowed to be detained outside of prison have a significantly lower rate of reoffending than those who served their full sentence in prison, he said.
Vehemently dismissing growing speculation that this detention option has been brought in specifically to facilitate Yingluck's return to Thailand, the minister said, "The new option wasn't tailor-made for any specific person but for all who are eligible to receive it."
While the new detention programme appears to have won approval by most in public hearings, there are some loose ends to tie up before it can be unveiled, said the minister.