Thailand's Women Prisoners Turn to Virtual Reality to Prepare for Life After Release

A Student Project Connects Prison Life With the Outside World

At Lat Yao Women's Prison in Bangkok, a virtual reality project launched in June 2024 is helping incarcerated women prepare for everyday life after release. Led by Kuntee "Get" Poolvoraluk, a student aged 17 and a senior at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, the initiative combines vocational training, mental health support and practical guidance through affordable headsets that use smartphones.

Get developed the program with fellow students Punn Sutivong and Kunpol Poolvoraluk. Their aim is to help women acquire useful skills and prepare emotionally for returning to their families and communities, while addressing problems that can draw former prisoners back into custody.

The project responds to a particular challenge in Thailand. According to the Thailand Institute of Justice, the country has the world's highest incarceration rate for women and ranks fourth in the total number of women prisoners, behind the United States, China and Russia. Most women in prison are serving sentences for low level drug offenses, and 82% are mothers.

For those women, returning home can involve much more than leaving a prison gate. Employment, family relationships, public transport and social acceptance all affect whether they can rebuild their lives. More than one third of released prisoners return to custody within two years, often amid limited job opportunities and difficulty gaining acceptance.

As of July 5, 2025, the Thai project remains at an early stage. Feedback from participants and prison staff has been encouraging, while its longer ambition is to reduce reoffending by addressing a lack of skills, social isolation and emotional trauma.

Why Mothers Are Central to the Project

Thailand's prison population places considerable pressure on families as well as the prison system. The 82% of women prisoners who are mothers often served as the main caregivers for their children or elderly parents before incarceration. Their absence can leave relatives struggling with care and financial responsibilities.

Women also face difficulties of their own when they return. Alongside economic hardship, they may encounter stigma, meaning the lasting negative judgment attached to having been in prison. Reuniting with a family that has struggled during their absence can bring emotional challenges as well as relief.

Get's interest began with thinking about what a mother's imprisonment would mean to a child. Explaining the personal reaction behind his decision to act, the student said:

I couldn't imagine growing up without my mother.

Learning about female incarceration and the number of people returning to custody led him toward virtual reality as a way to connect prison life with the outside world. His project places practical preparation and emotional support together, reflecting the fact that returning home involves both.

What Women Can Practise Through Virtual Reality

Virtual reality, usually shortened to VR, creates an immersive digital experience that a person views through a headset. In this project, smartphones provide the technology inside affordable headsets, making the system more accessible to prisons working with limited resources.

The program allows women to encounter situations they may face after release within a controlled environment. Examples include navigating public transportation, attending a job interview and managing everyday tasks. Practising these situations can help women prepare for decisions and interactions outside prison.

Get and his collaborators also created digital guides and tutorials, including help with Bangkok's evolving public transport system. For someone preparing to return to the city, understanding how to move around is a practical part of regaining independence. The resources are intended to reduce the anxiety and confusion that can accompany release.

Emotional preparation is another part of the approach. The project seeks to help women work through concerns about reconnecting with family and confronting social stigma. Vocational learning gives them skills to draw on, while mental health support addresses the feelings that can make the transition difficult.

The project's development sits within a longer effort to improve rehabilitation for women:

• Before the pilot, Thailand adopted the United Nations' Bangkok Rules as a framework for prison management that responds to women's needs.
• In June 2024, Get and his fellow students launched the VR pilot at Lat Yao Women's Prison in Bangkok.
• By July 5, 2025, early feedback was encouraging, with the project still working toward its longer goal of reducing reoffending.

Making the Project Work Inside a Prison

Prison security rules, limited funding and the need to train staff all create difficulties for a technology project. Equipment and activities must fit the prison environment, while the people delivering the program need the ability to use it effectively.

Get's team approached those practical problems through collaboration and a funding idea tied to work skills. Punn Sutivong designed blueprints for bags that women in prison could manufacture and sell. The activity generated revenue for the project and provided manufacturing experience that participants could use after release.

The bag initiative connects two parts of rehabilitation: sustaining the program and helping women develop useful abilities. Its emphasis is on giving participants the means to do something for themselves, rather than relying on charity alone.

Some women have asked for virtual experiences that reconnect them with places they remember, including walking through Bangkok's Chinatown. Those requests show that the technology's appeal extends beyond formal lessons. Familiar surroundings can offer a sense of connection and hope during incarceration.

Participants have reported greater confidence, practical skills and hope for the future. Prison staff have also given encouraging feedback. The project combines those personal responses with an ambition to make preparation for release more useful and accessible.

How the Bangkok Rules Shape Rehabilitation

Women account for just under 7% of prisoners worldwide, yet their needs can receive limited attention within prison systems. Penal Reform International identifies histories of trauma, caregiving responsibilities and restricted access to education or vocational training among the barriers women face.

Thailand has adopted the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, commonly called the Bangkok Rules. They provide a framework for responding to women's circumstances, including family connections, mental health support and opportunities to develop skills.

Rehabilitation that responds to gender means designing support around those needs. For a mother preparing to return home, learning a job skill may be necessary alongside rebuilding family relationships and managing emotional distress. The Thai VR project brings these practical and emotional concerns into the same program.

The initiative aligns with the Bangkok Rules through vocational training tailored to women's interests and needs, mental health resources, emotional support and preparation for family reunification and social reintegration. Its wider goal is to help women take part in family and community life again.

Prof. Dr. Kittipong Kittayarak, Executive Director of the Thailand Institute of Justice, described the role society can play in welcoming former prisoners:

The best thing our society could give [former prisoners] is an opportunity to be a member of a family, and to be welcomed back into society to live their lives without an irremovable stigma.

What California's Programs Add to the Picture

In California, the nonprofit Creative Acts has introduced VR programs in women's prisons and solitary confinement units. Participants experience scenes from everyday life and travel, then use art therapy to process the emotions that arise.

The combination gives the virtual experience a second stage. Participants first encounter a scene through the headset, then work with their reactions through creative activity. Emotional awareness and hope for the future are among the changes prisoners have described.

Prisons have reported a 96% reduction in disciplinary infractions among participants in those programs. Disciplinary infractions are breaches of prison rules. The figure concerns conduct while in custody; the Thai project's longer goal concerns whether women return to prison after release.

Sabra Williams, founder of Creative Acts, explained how the virtual experience and the subsequent art activity work together:

The VR stirs up the triggers and the trauma and the emotions—and then the art transforms.

Supporters of VR rehabilitation point to improved mental health, reduced reoffending and greater readiness for life outside prison as benefits of the approach. California's experience also shows why emotional support matters when immersive scenes bring difficult memories or feelings to the surface.

Digital Rehabilitation Brings Responsibilities

The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, known as UNICRI, is exploring digital rehabilitation with the Government of Japan. Their Digital Rehabilitation Project includes VR among the tools being considered to improve rehabilitation outcomes around the world.

The project calls for technology that respects human rights, is used ethically and remains accessible to vulnerable groups, including women and people with disabilities. Staff training, ethical guidelines and continuing evaluation are central to that approach.

Inside prisons, security and data privacy require careful management. Technology can collect information about people or be used in ways that increase surveillance and control. Critics of digital rehabilitation warn about those risks and argue that digital programs cannot replace broader criminal justice reform.

For the Thai initiative, responsible use involves managing security concerns and the potential for misuse while keeping rehabilitation at the centre of the work. The same attention is needed when deciding who can participate and how staff support them.

Accessibility also affects whether an initiative can reach beyond a small group. The use of affordable smartphones and headsets makes the Thai approach easier to consider in prisons with constrained budgets, while training and support remain necessary parts of delivering it.

How Success Will Be Judged

Get's project ultimately seeks a sustained reduction in recidivism, the term for returning to offending after release. Tracking participants over several years will be necessary to understand their outcomes. As of July 5, 2025, no such results or timetable for an evaluation had been given.

The longer assessment will need to follow what happens when women leave custody and face the pressures the program is intended to address. Lack of employment, social isolation and emotional trauma can all complicate the return to community life.

Confidence and practical preparation are valuable early responses because they relate directly to that transition. A woman may need the ability to navigate the city, seek work and reconnect with relatives. The project's lessons and emotional support are intended to make those tasks less daunting.

A sustained reduction in returns to prison could make the initiative a model for other countries facing similar challenges. Its early stage also means the work of maintaining the program and following participants will be central to understanding its lasting value.

Funding and Acceptance Will Shape Expansion

Many VR rehabilitation programs rely on donations or outside funding, making their continued operation a concern. Partnerships involving government agencies, nongovernmental organisations and private businesses will be important to sustaining and expanding such initiatives.

The Thai team's bag production idea offers one way to connect funding with useful work. Wider expansion would also depend on keeping equipment accessible, training staff and maintaining the support that helps participants use the experiences constructively.

Get and his collaborators hope eventually to extend VR support to other vulnerable groups, including immigrants at Thailand's borders. They also want the technology to be available to anyone who could benefit from it. Get described his view of its possibilities:

Virtual reality lets you escape physical constraints and create a new reality.

For women leaving prison, opportunities outside the headset remain essential. Employment, supportive families and communities willing to welcome former prisoners all affect whether preparation can translate into a stable life. The initiative brings together technology, skills and emotional support, while lasting reintegration depends on cooperation beyond the prison walls.

Key Points

• The VR pilot began at Lat Yao Women's Prison in Bangkok in June 2024, led by Kuntee "Get" Poolvoraluk with Punn Sutivong and Kunpol Poolvoraluk.
• Thailand has the world's highest incarceration rate for women, according to the Thailand Institute of Justice; 82% of women prisoners are mothers.
• The program uses affordable headsets with smartphones for vocational learning, practical guidance and emotional preparation for release.
• Bag designs developed by Punn support fundraising while giving participants manufacturing experience.
• The Bangkok Rules place women's family connections, mental health and skills development within rehabilitation.
• California prisons have reported a 96% reduction in disciplinary infractions among participants in Creative Acts programs combining VR and art therapy.
• The Thai project's early feedback is encouraging, with outcomes after release requiring tracking over several years.
• Continued funding, privacy safeguards, trained staff, employment and social acceptance will shape the program's lasting contribution.