The Justice Ministry has set a target of cutting the number of repeat offenders by 10% over the next three years, after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha voiced concern over the high rate of return to crime.
It plans to conduct a thorough analysis of all inmates, collecting huge amount of information on their behaviour and social circumstances to find the reasons why they recommit crimes.
To achieve their goal, Gen Prayut urged justice officials to make use of "big data", such as the national criminal record database to help in the analysis, permanent secretary for justice Wisit Wisitsora-at said after a meeting between senior ministry officials, chaired by the prime minister.
The ministry will combine information it has with that gathered by the Royal Thai Police Office in order to have a clearer picture about prisoners.
This will allow officials to come up with measures to deal with individual inmates, which should help cut the number of repeat offenders, Mr Wisit said.
About 17% of inmates released from prisons turn back to crime during the first year. The percentage increases to 22% and 27% in the following years, he said.
His ministry wants to reverse this trend and he said big data analytics will help officials complete their goal.
National Human Rights Commissioner Chatchai Suthiklom pointed to one social factor that can increase the likelihood of an ex-convict re-offending. Many who face discrimination at work are likely to commit crimes again, he said.
This observation was backed by a former drug convict who said many former inmates recommit crimes after finding they are not welcome back into society.
Corrections Department chief Naras Savestanan also expressed concern over the number of repeat offenders with regard to the worsening overcrowding problem in prisons.
The prison system can handle a combined capacity of 217,000 inmates, but the actual number of prisoners has surged to 300,000.
Mr Naras said overcrowding and a lack of correctional staff to conduct rehabilitation activities were among the causes of re-offending. He said his department is facing an acute staff shortage with only about 10,000 correctional officers to oversee prisons nationwide.
Meanwhile, yesterday's ministry meeting also discussed plans to ensure that all people obtain equal access to the justice system, Mr Wiisit said.
The Justice and Interior ministries are working together to make sure there is no discrimination between rich and poor in how justice is served, Mr Wiisit said.
