The number of death-row inmates in Thailand's Bang...

The number of death-row inmates in Thailand's Bang Kwang Prison reached a record high of 690 since the government took its tough stance against drug traffickers in 2001.
Natthee Chitsawang, deputy director-general of the Corrections Department, said the number of condemned prisoners at Bang Kwang had risen from about 300 to 690, with up to 40 new death-row inmates admitted to the facility each month.
The Corrections Department expressed concerns that the two-fold increase and insufficient staffing levels at the facility could prove to be an explosive combination.
"It's dangerous to have nearly 700 prisoners carrying death sentences together at the same prison while staff numbers are limited," Natthee said.
"Apart from the security risks, we have to keep them under close watch as many are drug offenders who often attempt to continue their illicit trade while in custody."
Most of the condemned at Bang Kwang were appealing their sentences to higher courts, with only about 20 of them awaiting execution.
In a bid to alleviate the overcrowding, Khlong Phai high-security prison in Nakhon Ratchasima might be authorised to admit and execute death-row prisoners from the North and Northeast, Natthee said. The department was also considering allowing Nakhon Si Thammarat Prison to accept condemned prisoners from the South.
Natthee added that the Corrections Department was ready for a change in execution methods from death by shooting to lethal injection.
The House of Representatives was deliberating a bill that would pave way for the introduction of fatal jabs for convicts sentenced to death.