Juvenile centre to remain open

The Baan Kanchanapisek Vocational Juvenile Training Center, which is operated by juvenile justice specialist Thicha Nanakorn, has been decided not to shut down.

On Wednesday, Justice Minister Pol Col Tawee Sodsong and Director-general of the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection ( DJOP), Pol Lt Gen Prawut Wongsrinil, met with Ms. Thicha at Baan Kanchanapisek in Nakhon Pathom to talk about the budget cuts being made for hiring juvenile experts.

That may result in the closing of the adolescent center and the resignation of Ms. Thicha as its director.

Pol Col Tawee emphasized the need for a program to prevent younger people who have “made a error” from ending up in the same routine and for bringing high-quality people back to society.

He claimed that Baan Kanchanapisek is capable of carrying out this mission, and that the government’s restrictions prevent them from achieving the desired level of shift.

The office is fully funded by the department, whereas Ms. Thicha’s position as a adolescent expert is a legal servant’s position and must be evaluated during budgeting, according to Pol Lt Gen Prawut, who stated that the center is regarded as part of the DJOP despite the fact that it is a privately owned organization.

However, the data on Baan Kanchanapisek’s performance recently submitted to the Office of the Civil Service Commission ( OCSC ) for assessment was insufficient, resulting in the news about the budget cut, he said.

After Pol Lt Gen Prawut confirmed that the information on the immature center’s achievement had been approved by the OCSC, which will help the center to remain operating, the discourse between officials from the DJOP and Baan Kanchanapisek led to a positive outcome.

Baan Kanchanapisek receives an annual expenditure of about 8 million-baht provided by the government. Over the past 20 times, Ms. Thicha has cared for nearly 2, 000 young prisoners.