Siriporn Thaveesuk, drug convict and WBC female light-flyweight champion, steps out from the Women’s Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts yesterday, after the Corrections Department granted her early parole.

With tears of joy at the chance of a new start, she urged youths not engage in crime and said she was ready to defend her world title.

Siriporn - who won the title by defeating Ayaka Miyano of Japan in April and was to be included in the "Guinness Book of Records" as the first prisoner to claim a world title - still has 21 months remaining on her sentence and must report to the Corrections Department each month.

At 9.59am, Siriporn said farewell to her fellow inmates and stepped outside the facility amid intense news coverage by Thai and international media. Corrections Department chief Nathee Chitsawang was also there to send her off.

The 24-year-old Siriporn thanked the Corrections Department and the WBC for giving her the opportunity to box.

Siriporn said she plans to complete her high-school education via the non-formal education system and get a decent job. But for the time being she did not know what to do besides boxing, so she would stick to the sport.

She said she would first focus on defending her title. Her first bout will be against a Japanese contender in late July.

Siriporn thanked the Women's Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts' director Siriporn Chutikulung - who has adopted her - for guaranteeing her early parole. She also said she would visit her grandmother in Lop Buri, as both her parents were dead.

Siriporn said she would stay at a Correctional Institution official residence in Pathum Thani and practice at the Sor Siriporn Gym. She said she felt good about that prospect because she had lived in the facility for a long time with her friends and it felt like home.

Nathee said that Siriporn's early parole was granted because she had served two thirds of her sentence, had less than three years remaining and had behaved very well.

Siriporn could travel to box and defend her title anywhere, depending on whether foreign countries granted her a visa or not. He added that the female boxer remained as an instructor for the Sor Siriporn Gym.

The Pathum Thani Institute's director, Siriporn said she adopted the boxer because of her good behaviour and her potential to be a good example to society and to bring recognition to Thailand. She said she would support Siriporn in her education and in whatever job she wanted to do.

WBC president Jose Suleiman sent his congratulations to Siriporn on her release and urged her to be a good example to Thai society.

The boxing champion was sentenced to a 10-year jail term on drug charges and had served seven years before her remaining sentence was reduced to 21 months. Her life story - which has already been documented on Singaporean television - will be made into a movie by a Thai film company and a Discovery Channel documentary.

Film producer Pichai Noirod said he himself was a convicted drug felon, jailed in Bang Kwang Prison for 19 years from 1982 to 2001. He understood prisoners' feelings and he wanted to make a film about Siriporn's life so that people would realise that convicts can change their ways and do good for society.

Pichai said the movie would be funded by a Bt20 million budget. Investors include the famous movie villain, Krung Sriwilai.

He said Siriporn would be paid Bt100,000 for her story and another Bt100,000 for starring in the movie. The film should be released late this year or early next year, he added.

The Nation

PATHUM THANI