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However, Cook & Coff, located in Khao Khuen Lan, a city in eastern Thailand, is not an ordinary coffee shop.
Open to the public, this institution is managed by the Thai Department of Corrections and is run day-to-day by prisoners.
Tup* is 26 years old and is the man who prepared today’s drinks. He spent six months in a maximum security prison in Khlong Phai, in northeastern Thailand, before being transferred to Khao Khuean Lan, a more open facility, where he learned to be a coffee barista.
Every day after his shift serving customers finished at 3 p.m., he returned to prison. Slowly he relearned how to become accustomed to the outside world again.
In 20 days, Tup will be released. He looked forward to meeting his mother. If he could help it, he would invest in a coffee machine and start his own business.
Reintegration
The stigma carried by prisoners in Thailand often makes reintegration back into society a challenge.
To ease this burden, Thailand seeks to reduce reoffending through rehabilitation, not punishment.
That Kyoto Model Strategyadopted by UN Member States in December 2025, provides a comprehensive framework for the process.
A person walks behind a barbed wire fence at a penitentiary in rural Thailand.
They stressed that breaking the cycle of crime requires addressing the root causes of poverty, lack of education and social exclusion, and not just imprisoning criminals.
Social deficiencies
“The real problem lies with society,” said Thitiphan Manuchantrarut, director of the Khao Prik Agricultural and Industrial Penitentiary in Sikhio, northeastern Thailand.
“Lack of money leads offenders to drug trafficking. If they had learned the skills we teach them in prison at an early age, in the real world, they might not have turned to drug trafficking. They might not have ended up in prison.”
Re-offending is also a challenge. “Most of the prisoners returned to context,” added Manuchantrarut. “If, instead of returning home, they are given the opportunity to work elsewhere, to change their initial circumstances, it is unlikely they will re-offend.”
UN assistance
Prison skills training offers a second chance to inmates willing to reform. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) work with Thai authorities to support programs that ensure that change goes beyond policy documents.
UNODC is also working with Thai authorities to improve prison management and conditions.
At the facility where Tup spent his early twenties, the prisoners – most of whom were poor – had to pay to get drinking water.
UNODC installed a water purification system that turns water from a nearby lake into drinking water.
A UNODC staff member looks across the lake where drinking water is produced.
In addition to installing water systems, UNODC’s role in Thailand also includes connecting prison directors with community resources and helping develop frameworks that enable reintegration.
Nelson Mandela’s Rule
The improvements were guided by Nelson Mandela’s Rulea universally recognized blueprint for prison management in the 21st century.
Named after the first South African President Mandelaa global icon of resistance to Apartheid – who spent most of his life in prison and is commemorated by the UN every year on 18 July – These regulations outline minimum prison conditions, provide guidance and set clear benchmarks for prison staff on how to uphold safety, security and human dignity.
They focused on providing better care to inmates by establishing mandatory training for prison officers and promotions based on their performance.
“You won’t waste a penny if you invest in Nelson Mandela’s rule,” said Sukanya Thainoy, a former training academy director.
“This is basic support for officers. With trained officers, the treatment of prisoners will improve, then prisoners will respect them, respect their professionalism. This is what creates a safe space for prisoners and officers.”
A worker at Cook & Coff prepares popcorn.
Thailand’s prison system holds 310,000 people. Across the country’s 143 correctional facilities, prison managers are implementing a shift in mindset, guided by international frameworks such as the Nelson Mandela Rules and the recently adopted Kyoto Model Strategy for Reducing Reoffending.
“If prison officials smile, inmates will smile, then society will smile,” said the president of Songkhla Central Prison in southern Thailand, Permpol Thiendusit. “Detainees know. They can feel whether their rights are being respected or not.”
*Names have been changed to protect the identities of interviewees
