Thailand is on track to introduce chemical castration as a means of combating sex crimes after lawmakers passed a bill to give some offenders the right to choose the procedure in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.
The bill, initially approved by the House in March, was approved on Monday night (11) in the Senate, where it still needs a new vote before being endorsed by the king and become law.
Under the bill, offenders deemed to be at risk of recidivism can be given the option of receiving injections that lower their testosterone levels, in exchange for a shorter prison time, provided they pass the approval of two doctors. The idea of ​​the procedure is to decrease the sex drive of individuals, according to Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin.
Violators would be monitored for ten years and also required to wear electronic monitoring wristbands.
Of the 16,413 convicted sex offenders released from Thai prisons between 2013 and 2020, there were 4,848 who reoffended, according to Department of Corrections data.
If the law is passed, Thailand would join a small group of countries that use chemical castration, including Poland, South Korea, Russia and Estonia, as well as some US states.
“I want this law passed quickly,” Thepsuthin said on Tuesday (12). “I don’t want to see news about bad things happening to women again.”
Jaded Chouwilai, director of the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, a non-governmental organization that addresses sexual violence, said the use of chemical castration would not fight sex crime. “Convicts must be rehabilitated by changing their mindset while in prison,” she said.
“Using punishments like execution or injected castration reinforces the idea that the offender can no longer be rehabilitated.”
