Hundreds of people file into the Restart Academy’s food court at the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) every day, as former inmates smilingly prepare their dishes at affordable prices.
In front of the food court is a board listing the names of the academy’s outstanding students. Credits were given to those with remarkable self-improvement, exceptional cooking skills, and devotion to the team, etc.
“We are not just training but also empowering them,” Thanachai Sundaravej, Senior Manager for Social Partnership and Public Engagement at the TIJ’s Office for the Bangkok Rules and Treatment of Offenders, said about the academy’s approach towards its students who have diligently worked in the food court.
Thanachai decided to join TIJ, which is affiliated with the United Nations, and started this academy after he got an opportunity to attend TIJ Executive Program on the Rule of Law and Development (RoLD)’s Class 3. What he has learned from the class was so inspiring that this former author stepped forward to work for TIJ.
The Restart Academy first focused on food services because it was developed based on a food-cart project, which TIJ implemented earlier to help former inmates reintegrate into society.
“But next year, we will offer more types of training including traditional Thai massages,” Thanachai said.
Restart Academy
Currently, about 20 former inmates have worked and got on-the-job training at the Restart Academy’s food court, which was launched in January. While they are paid for their work and even get a share of profit to promote the sense of ownership, they can also access various other training prepared by the academy at the end of workdays. The training, supported by partners such as the King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang and Chefs for Chance, aims at enriching their skills, promoting their good emotional health, and allowing them to explore their interests.
“In the past, we organized training that we thought would be good for them. But these days, we have also listened to what they are interested in,” Thanachai explained.
The Restart Academy seeks to ensure former inmates, many of whom locked behind bars for so long that they could hardly adjust to current society, reintegrate smoothly and safely to life outside prisons.
Thanachai admitted that sometimes he knew from the start of recruitment process that some applicants were still struggling to give up drugs yet decided to offer them opportunities for the purposes of reducing the risk of harm to society and of helping these former convicts give up their drug abuses.
“Aligning with TIJ’s stance, we intend to offer opportunities,” he said.
He therefore is proud to see that the opportunities given are meaningful, with many staff members successfully kicking drug-abusing habits. Voluntary drug tests among staff have yielded clean results. Moreover, several staff members have also become more responsible.
“Some didn’t show up for work just because they had a fight with their partner in the beginning. But they don’t do that kind of thing anymore after we communicated with them and explained that their action could shove heavy workload to their colleagues,” he said.
According to him, by the time the students are ready to graduate, they will have enough vocational and social skills to work outside the academy.
Thanachai hoped what the Restart Academy and TIJ had done would become models for others to use and help curb reoffending rates in the country.
On average, about 200,000 convicts have been released from jail every year. But within the first year, 15% of them reoffend. In the second year, the reoffending rate soars to 24 to 25%. Statistics, in all, show about one third of those released from jail will go behind bars again within three years.
Speaking via TIJ Just Right Channel, a student of the Restart Academy recounted how she broke into tears after trying but failing to secure a job as a former inmate.
“I can’t help wondering if it was because I was just released from prison,” she said.
Sharing his story, another student said he had many ideas about earning a livelihood but everything required capital and “second chances” were hard to find.
Chontit Chuenurah, TIJ Director of Office for the Bangkok Rules and Treatment of Offenders, said TIJ Academy was creating a safe space for former inmates to start anew.
According to Thanachai, the food court has now been operated under a social enterprise with the help of several entrepreneurs. Food tastes, food presentation, and hygienic standards – apart from affordable prices – are so good that this venture is preparing catering services too.
At present, the starting price for a Restart Academy’s dish is just Bt35.
TIJ: Princess’ Initiative
The Restart Academy is just a part of TIJ’s services that have also covered model prisons in Thailand and overseas, research, and training for laws enforcers for the promotion of rule of law, crime prevention, and criminal-justice process improvement.
Kamonrat Chulasukont, a deputy executive director at TIJ, said her institute was borne out of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha’s initiative.
In response to the princess’ initiative, the Abhisit Vejjajiva-led government passed a royal decree to set up TIJ in 2011. The princess had served as the TIJ chief advisor for Enhancing lives of Female Inmates” (ELFI) project, which proposed new rules for the treatment of women prisoners and paved the way for the Bangkok Rules.
Known formally as the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, the Bangkok Rules are the first set of universal guidelines addressing the treatment of women in the justice system.
“After the UN adoption of the Bangkok Rules, we have also achieved several milestones,” Kamonrat said, “We are expanding our services to cover more groups of people in need of help, not just women but also other groups of vulnerable people,” Kamonrat quipped.
