The Bangkok Post has reported that Min Buri Prison in Bangkok will be used to house LGBT prisoners under a new scheme by Thailand’s prison authority.

Kobkiat Kasiwiwat, the deputy permanent secretary for justice, said that dedicated prisons for LGBT inmates would protect them from abuse by other prisoners.

Mr Kobkiat was speaking after a meeting Tuesday at Pattaya Remand Prison which was attended by officials from the Office of the Ombudsman, Justice Ministry and human rights activists. 

Thailand’s Department of Corrections has said that about 4,500 of the nation’s 300,000 prisoners have agreed to be classified as LGBT. 

As transgender females in the country are not officially recognised as women they are usually interred in male prisons. 

Pattaya Remand Prison chief Chartpon Arphasut, who also attended the meeting, said LGBT inmates are  vulnerable to abuse.