Justice in the way you dress

The good news for inmates in Thai prisons is that they could one day be wearing more cheerful attire – almost trendy, in fact. Imagine trading in the sombre brown T-shirt and sloppy short trousers for a cool, smoke-shade tee with pastel-blue pockets and matching knee-length shorts. A small, stainless steel bracelet with a computer chip storing personal information would replace the old chains around the ankles.
The bad news is that prison authorities haven’t the slightest intention of making any such changes. But you never know: This is one of those prison reforms on which convicts really shouldn’t give up hope.
The prison apparel described above won a design competition last Saturday organised by iLaw, a non-profit rights organisation. Recent Thammasat University graduate Klaokwan Odton and Mahidol University PhD candidate Akara Metasuk topped 37 other entrants to each get the Bt2,000 cash prize.
The contest wasn’t about fashion design, though, so much as inmates’ rights. Its concept was “A prisoner is a human”, and iLaw specifically asked for clothing that was not only unisex and fit in with prison life practically but also “respected inmates’ rights”.
Akara’s “no uniform” deconstruction, with its minimalist ID bracelet, caught the judges’ fancy as an inspirational leap forward from handcuffs. “I think prisoners should be able to wear any outfit they like,” he said. “Just wearing this hi-tech bracelet, the officials will know where are they. The usual prisoner uniform separates them out from society, but the prisoner is human and he or she should be treated as a normal people.”
Klaowan’s casual costume – all practicality and cool colours – is designed as a psychological boost for inmates, likely to improve their mood. “Prisoners have a lot of different activities every day, so I chose a smoky colour because it’s easy to clean,” she said.
One of the judges, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, which deals with justice and rights, pointed out that most Thais “judge” inmates as guilty and that’s that. “It doesn’t matter is they wear different colours – they’re already judged – unless we can change this misconception,” she said.
Joining Pornpen on the jury were Thantawut Twewarodongul, who spent three years in Bang Khwan Prison before being cleared of lese majeste, and Srinakharinwirot University fashion lecturer Panchana Soonthornpipit.
Known to his fellow red shirts as Noomrednon, Thantawut concurs that inmates shouldn’t have to wear a uniform at all. He understands, though, that it’s helpful in managing the prison population. “I was wearing a T-shirt and jeans when I was taken to jail and they cut my jeans into shorts,” he says, which automatically distinguishes prisoners from guards.
“It was the only outfit I had for a long time, until they started giving me dirty recycled uniforms,” he adds.
While male inmates wear the loose shorts, women wear a sarong with their tee. They all change into blue uniforms when they meet their lawyers or see a doctor and dress in yellow for family visits. Trips to court require the sober, dark brown top and bottom and heavy ankle chains, but no shoes.
“The costume reflects the social stature and the prisoner’s uniform names him as guilty,” Panchana noted.
“Wearing the prison uniform feels so bad,” Thantawut said. “The worst thing was that it showed society had already judged me from my uniform, even though I was later acquitted.”
Pornpen acknowledged, nevertheless, that the uniform, as offensive as it is in terms of human rights, is essential in helping authorities separate the prisoners from other people in the vicinity. Thailand’s prison population currently numbers 230,000, she said, and it costs Bt30 per day to house and feed every one of those inmates.
While prisoners soon realise how important hygiene is behind bars, Thantawut said, “The clothes were really dirty – sometimes they’d only be cleaned once a month.”
“Inmates need the principles of human rights to be applied. For one thing, the government should provide special area for the older inmates.”
As happened with Thantawut, “not every inmate is found guilty when the case goes to trial”, Pornpen pointed out. “The government should treat them as innocent until proved guilty – that’s the fundamental principle of human rights.”
 UNIFORM RULES
- Regulations initiated in 2013 require inmates to wear blue tops with navy-blue trousers and, for court appearances, brown tops with dark-brown trousers. There is no restriction on the kind of top, just the colour. On weekends they can still wear whatever they like.
- When relatives come to visit, inmates must wear yellow. When meeting lawyers, prison officials, foreign diplomats and police investigators and while attending classes, undergoing training and visiting the hospital, they must wear blue.
- Inmates with assigned duties must wear white tops (short or long sleeves) and dark-blue shorts. Those working at public services outside the prison such as dredging sewers must wear dark-blue shorts and long-sleeved dark-blue tops with the words “Public Service” on the back and possibly the penitentiary’s name.
- The court clothes are called chute-aug-san (“visit court”), a round-neck T-shirt with no pocket, buttons or zip and the pants a darker brown, similar in appearance to fisherman’s trousers but shorter, with side pockets and a string-tie at the waist.
- Inmates under 60 years old remain shackled throughout the court hearing. Older inmates can request to be unshackled in writing beforehand.