History of Chiang Mai City Prison: Transition of Prison Styles by the Siamese Influences under the Western Colonial Powers

Abstract

In the period of traditional Lanna in 19th century, Chiang Mai was a major city in Lanna region and was a vassal state of Siam. Under traditional custom, a vassal state only sent a tribute to the supreme power which was Bangkok and had a full rightfulness to govern their own territories. However, in the second half of the reign of King Rama V, there was the establishing of new governance system which tried to centralize the country. Consequently, there were many centralization policies enacted in the country. The modern prison of Chiang Mai City was constructed under the Siamese centralization policy. The transition of such style greatly impacted the concepts of punishments under the correctional system in the country. This research aimed to study the development of prisons from the customary system to the modern one in terms of physical changes, utilizations and relevant concepts. The research conducted by using empirical study in the actual site, gathering information from relevance documents and interviews, the conclusion of this research came from comparing both sources. It found out that Siam and Chiang Mai had developed some correction methods related with architecture. The impacts of administrative reforms on the architectural styles took part in corrections in terms of both punishment and confinement. Apart from the obtained results to achieve the study purposes, it was found that modern prisons in Bangkok and Chiang Mai represented different signs regarding their construction and existence. The modern prisons in Bangkok indicated an attempt to create equality in parallel with the Western nations during the colonial era. Meanwhile, the modern prison in Chiang Mai signified its surrender to the Siamese powers influencing Lanna since it imitated the architectural style from Siam.