22 September 2001 :

Death row is so overcrowded with the most inmates it has ever seen that more jail cells are being made available to separate prisoners and keep them from conspiring with each other, the Corrections Department said.
Bang Kwang Central Prison now accommodates 337 prisoners sentenced to death, said Nutthee Jitsawang, a deputy director of the department.
Fifteen have exhausted all appeals and are awaiting execution, while 261 have appealed to the Appellate Court and 61 to the Supreme Court, said Sura Panthusakorn, the director of the maximum-security prison.
Five out of those awaiting execution, 174 out of the 261 currently appealing, and 33 out of the 61 in front of the Supreme Court were found guilty of violating the Narcotic Act, Sura said.
Under the current administration of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the number of narcotics offenders has soared, because it has stepped up the war against trafficking in illicit drugs. The fast-track justice policy on drug cases, he said, was also a major contributor to the surge in the penitentiary's charges.