Sex offenders will be treated with chemical castration in Thailand after lawmakers approved procedure

• Criminals at risk of reoffending will be offered the choice of chemical castration
• Undergoing the procedure allows for a reduced prison sentence
• Poland, South Korea, Russia and Estonia have chemical castrations in place 

Sex offenders will be offered chemical castration in Thailand in a bid to cut down reoffending after lawmakers approved the controversial procedure.

Criminals who are considered likely to commit more sex attacks after their release will be given the option of the injection, which lowers their testosterone levels, in return for a reduced prison sentence.

The procedure will require the approval of two doctors and the offenders will still be monitored for 10 years and made to wear electronic bracelets. 

Sex offenders will be offered chemical castration in Thailand in a bid to cut down reoffending after lawmakers approved the controversial procedure

The bill, which the lower house passed in March, was approved late on Monday by 145 senators, with two abstentions. It still requires another house vote, then royal endorsement.

Of 16,413 convicted sex offenders released from Thai prisons between 2013 and 2020, there were 4,848 who re-offended, according to corrections department figures.

If approved, Thailand would join a small group of countries that use chemical castration, among them Poland, South Korea, Russia and Estonia, plus some U.S. states.

‘I want this law to pass quickly,’ Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said on Tuesday. ‘I don’t want to see news about bad things happening to women again,’ he said.

The bill still requires another house vote, then royal endorsement. Pictured: Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn

Jaded Chouwilai, director of the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that addresses sexual violence, among other areas, said use of chemical castration would not tackle sex crime.

‘Convicts should be rehabilitated by changing their mindset while in prison,’ he said.

‘To use punishment like execution or injected castration reinforces the idea that offender can no longer be rehabilitated.’

Last year, Pakistan announced that rapists convicted of repeat offences would face castration.

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