Atthawit urges parliament to solve prison overcrowding by building a prison at sea, proposing to convert abandoned oil rigs into high-security prisons to eliminate privileges for elites and gray capital groups. Tags: [prison overcrowding, oil rigs, high-security prison, Atthawit, parliament, elite privilege, gray capital]
On 6 May 2026, during a parliamentary session, Dr. Atthawit Suwanpakdee, a party-list MP and deputy leader of the Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party, debated a motion on justice and quality of life for inmates. He proposed an innovative approach to the penal system to tackle long-standing overcrowding by introducing a new option for managing high-profile prisoners, especially the “gray Chinese” and “VIP inmates” often accused of receiving special treatment. He suggested converting abandoned oil rigs into SuperMax high-security prisons.Tags: [parliament session, Dr. Atthawit Suwanpakdee, prison reform, overcrowding, high-profile prisoners, gray Chinese, VIP inmates, SuperMax prison]
Atthawit added that currently, there are 60 abandoned oil rigs remaining from a total of 190 that have ended their concession and have yet to be dismantled. Normally, private companies must pay hundreds of millions of baht per rig for dismantling. The government can use these funds to convert the rigs into prisons immediately. Each rig can accommodate about 300 inmates, isolating them from outside contact and making escapes difficult.Tags: [abandoned oil rigs, dismantling costs, government budget, prison capacity, inmate isolation, escape prevention]
"We do not need to build new prisons on land that consume space. Using abandoned oil rigs is a way to repurpose existing resources for maximum security and effectively address internal prison favoritism," said Dr. Atthawit. He noted that Bangkok's prisons are overcrowded beyond capacity, especially in the intake wards where detainees await trial. He proposed that the government allocate budget to "renovate existing facilities" rather than build new ones, and use electronic monitoring (EM) devices to reduce inmate numbers partially. The key is efficient prison space management that is fair to all parties.Tags: [prison overcrowding, resource management, Bangkok prisons, intake wards, budget allocation, electronic monitoring, prison fairness]