Homepage > Thai Youth Issues > On the Juvenile Beat

Date: 14th April 1997, The Nation

The juvenile crime rate is soaring, says Khunying Smon Bhuminnarong. What happens to young offenders after the law catches up with them? Tamarind Jova finds out.

Fifteen years ago, in a slum in Bangkok's Yommaraj area, police caught 14-year-old Kai (not her real name) in possession of a sizeable amount of heroin. The case still sticks in the mind of Khunying Smon Bhuminnarong, an associate judge at the Juvenile and Family Court.

An informant had given Kai's name to the police. Her house had been searched twice before but no drugs had been found. On the third visit, however, a policeman turned upside down a ''table" fashioned from plastic yoghurt containers and out poured a stream of pure white powder ? grade A heroin.

Although part of the state's law enforcement machinery, Smon's main duty is to protect the welfare and rights of juvenile delinquents. After a defendant has undergone the mandatory physical and psychiatrist examination, Smon then has to seek as much information as possible on the child's family and school background.

In Kai's case, the fact-finding mission revealed that the girl's parents regularly left her alone with her younger brother for long periods of time. Her mother, a street vendor, worked in another part of Bangkok; her father sold ready-made clothes in upcountry areas.

When the money her parents had given her began to run out, Kai started collecting used cans and bottles to earn a little cash to support herself and her brother. But the work was hard, dirty and brought in little. Then a friend told her how she could make some ''big money" and pretty soon Kai was making pick-ups and deliveries for a local heroin dealer. All her friends were doing it so what harm was there in joining them?

''I asked the court what we should do in Kai's situation because it was clearly a case of her struggling to survive," Smon recalls. The court ruled that Kai had been forced out of necessity to make a decision and that her parents were negligent in not being there to support her or provide guidance.

She was not jailed as an adult offender would have been, but instead sent to an Observation and Protection Centre (OPC), of which there are now five in the Bangkok metropolitan area, for rehabilitation. After two years of non-formal education ? which included music lessons and sporting activities ? Kai was released. The court ordered that at least one parent stay at home and take care of her and her brother.

But that was 15 years ago; things have changed drastically in the interim and cases like Kai's are no longer unusual.

''Glue-sniffing [and the use of] heroin, amphetamines and marijuana are much more common these days. This, coupled with the increase in the number of family breakups has caused the juvenile crime rate to soar," Smon says.

According to statistics compiled by the Central Juvenile Court, the number of child delinquents in Bangkok has risen from 2,194 in 1984 to 5,681 in 1996; an increase of more than 250 per cent in the space of 12 years. In the past, theft was the most common offence that came before the Central Juvenile Court.

''Today it's drugs," Smon says grimly.

She points to the increased use of amphetamines by adult factory workers working double shifts to make ends meet.

''When child factory workers see the adults taking amphetamines, they do the same. Some teenage motorcyclists, following the example set by adults, also start taking speed. Some of the young amphetamine users who have appeared in the juvenile court are just too out of it to know what's going on around them," says Smon. ''When you talk to them, it's as if you're talking to a wall. Everything is blurred ? their mental abilities, their vision, their speech."

Youngsters living in slum areas are especially vulnerable. Teenagers, distressed by poverty and minimal employment prospects often take to solvent abuse or pool their money to buy more expensive drugs in order to forget, for a while, the the dead-end situation in which they find themselves. Parents involved in the trade drug, either as users or pushers, get their children to pick up or distribute supplies.

The Juvenile and Family Court tries to take account of the environment and circumstances in each case. If the parents are considered to be concerned, responsible guardians, the court may reduce the rehabilitation period for individual defendants ? but parent counselling is still an important part of the programme.

Explains Smon: ''In cases where a child or teenager commits a premeditated murder, the court may hand down the maximum prison term. But this usually only occurs when the judge and two associate judges have determined that the child committed the act as an adult would, by the use of reasoning and advance planning."

Non-criminal cases involving juveniles that come before the courts include parental custody in divorce cases, inheritance rights for minors, and access to official documents for children born out of wedlock. The last situation is all too common. Although there have been attempts to reduce red tape and make it easier for children without proper papers to enrol in the state education system, school administrations still make it difficult for applicants without proper birth certificates and house registration documents to enrol for classes.

Prior to 1952, convicted juvenile delinquents were sent to a prison on Koh Si Chang off Sri Racha where they often had to share a cell with adult offenders. Children sent down for minor offences like theft mingled freely with hardcore criminals. But after the establishment of the Juvenile and Family Court in 1991, judges were empowered to send minors to rehabilitation centres rather than to prison.

Juvenile offenders are currently divided into two categories: Eight to 13 year olds; and those between 14 and 18 years of age. Judges appointed to the Juvenile and Family Court are expected to have a strong background in the legal profession while associate judges are drawn from a wider range of occupations.

When a minor is arrested, the police are required to notify the head of the Observation and Protection Centre division, as well as the father, mother, guardian or the person with whom the child was residing. The initial inquiry must be completed within 24 hours of the arrest. The minor is then taken to an OPC. While being transported from police holding cells to the OPC, children between the ages of eight and 13 are not put in chains (unless the maximum penalty for the crime of which they are accused exceeds 10

years) but this draconian regulation has still not been waived for 14 to 18 year olds.

In line with the Criminal Procedures Code, a probation officer is assigned to every inmate. He or she is responsible for finding out as much information about the case as possible; through interviews with the child, with his/her parents, guardians, other members of the family, and teachers. In addition, every minor undergoes a full physical examination and psychiatric assessment and the findings are included in the report eventually submitted to the court.

The defendant must be brought to trial within 30 days of his/her arrest. In criminal cases, a minor cannot be represented by a lawyer although he/she may retain a legal adviser.

The rehabilitation programmes at OPCs, which are run by teachers, social workers, psychiatrists and doctors, include non-formal education, instruction in moral values, art, music and sporting activities.

The five OPCs scattered around Bangkok were all built about 45 years ago and conditions there are deteriorating fast. Paint is peeling off walls; electrical wiring and plumbing are in urgent need of replacement; but, as the number of crimes committed by minors increases, the most pressing problem is a lack of space.

Help came from an unexpected benefactor. The Japanese government donated Bt100 million to fund the construction of a spacious new OPC on more than 100 rai of government-owned land at Klong Yong in Nakhon Pathom. The centre is now up and running and boasts modern teaching equipment and other useful facilities.

But a lot more needs to be done.

Says Smon: ''While the OPC at Nakhon Pathom is a blessing, we need to construct another building just to keep up with the increasing number of juvenile delinquents."

Perhaps spurred into action by the generosity of a foreign government, the Treasury Department has come up with an idea.

Later this year, it will mint a special set of commemorative coins in gold, silver and copper ? all bearing the likeness of HM the King in a judge's cap and gown ? to raise money for the renovation and operational costs of the five OPCs in Bangkok.