Prison inmates to pay their last respects

Inmates in prisons across the country will be given the chance to lay dok mai chan, or funeral cremation flowers, to bid farewell and pay tribute to the late monarch.

Activities will take place until Sunday in 143 detention facilities, Pol Col Naras Savestanan, director-general of the Department of Corrections told the media yesterday.

Activities will not be limited to only flower-laying.

The department will also put on exhibitions honouring the late King inside prison buildings for visitors, he said. Alm offerings, merit-making and sermons by monks will be organised for prison guards.

Detainees will also chant prayers for at least 30 minutes, said Pol Col Naras. The department will also provide facilities for non-Buddhist inmates to pay respect to the late King, in accordance with their respective faiths.

Inmates would also be allowed to lay dok mai chan flowers in designated areas inside their prisons.

Some provincial governors earlier gave well-behaved inmates and those serving light sentences the opportunity to spruce up areas set aside for replicas of the royal crematorium.

Monarchs in Thailand have played a key role in helping prisoners, and have been perceived by inmates as “life-givers”.

Thai law since the reign of King Rama VI has given inmates a legal avenue to seek a royal pardon to lessen sentences.

For inmates, a royal pardon is a new lease on life. Royal pardons result in the release of inmates serving light sentences, reducing prison terms for others and commuting death sentences to life imprisonment.

After ascending to the throne in 1946, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej granted royal pardons more 30 times during his 70-year reign.

In July last year, the late King granted royal pardons for the last time in which 30,000 inmates saw their sentences reduced or were released.

His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun last Dec 10 issued a royal decree granting a royal pardon to prisoners to mark his accession to the throne.