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MAKING MONEY BEHIND BARS

Women prisoners are finding work in a massage shop to pay for their children's education

Story by CHEEWIN SATTHA, CHIANG MAI

Female prison inmates, who have been allowed to work as masseuses, are using the money they have made to send their children to school, and many say they will continue in this line of work after being released.

The project is the brainchild of Naowarat Thanasrisutharat, the director of Chiang Mai women's prison, which runs a massage shop with inmates and former inmates as masseuses.

The shop, next to the prison, is meant to be a place where inmates can sharpen their skills after completing a massage course inside the jail.

The shop has become very popular with foreign residents and tourists, who are happy to support the prisoners and help them start new lives.

Mrs Naowarat said in many cases, both parents are locked up, leaving their children without any financial support. Their financial troubles eventually prompted her to launch the massage project.

At present there are 10 women prisoners working in the massage shop whose earnings are funding their children's tuition fees, uniforms and textbooks.

The new school term will start next month.

Each masseuse earns 4,000-5,000 baht a month, she said.

Rianthong Panyadee, 48, said her eldest child graduated from university using the money she made from giving massages.

Her second child is studying in university and two others are still in high school.

Mrs Rianthong was released three months ago after doing eight years on drugs charges.

''I took massage training in prison. After I was classified as a good prisoner, I had the chance to work in the massage shop, making money to send my children to school,'' she said.

''The ex-convict is not welcomed in society. I have nowhere else to go, so I come back to work here.

''Now I make 17,000-18,000 baht a month. Money is no longer an issue for me,'' she said.

Mai Panya, 47, also gave up looking for a new job after two months. She still works at the massage shop.

The former convict, who has served a 12-year jail term for drug offences, said she had to take care of her 70-year-old mother, her two children and two nephews.

''When I was still doing time, I didn't have much time to work in the shop. Now I have more time to work and my children have more money for their studies and can eat better food,'' she said.

Bangkok Post