You are here:
WorldLII >>
Databases >>
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child - States Parties Reports >>
2005 >>
[2005] UNCRCSPR 11
Database Search
| Name Search
| Recent Documents
| Noteup
| LawCite
| Download
| Help
Thailand - Second periodic report of States parties due in 1999 [2005] UNCRCSPR 11; CRC/C/83/Add.15 (31 May 2005)
UNITED NATIONS
|
|
CRC
|
|
Convention on the Rights of the Child
|
Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/83/Add.15 31 May 2005
Original: ENGLISH
|
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF
REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE
CONVENTION
Second periodic report of States parties due in 1999
THAILAND[*]
[**]
[7 June 2004]
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
Introduction 1 - 13 3
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION 14 - 83 7
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD 84 - 129 24
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 130 - 193 32
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 194 - 249 44
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE 250 - 316 56
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE 317 - 370 68
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES 371 - 482 77
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES 483 - 650 99
Introduction
- The
importance of child rights has continuously been recognized in Thailand
since the country became a signatory to the Convention
on the Rights
of the Child (CRC) on 12 February 1992. The Convention entered into
force on 26 April 1992 and Thailand has implemented
the provisions set forth in
the Convention since then. Thailand’s initial report on the
implementation of the Convention (CRC/C/11/Add.13)
was completed and submitted
to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in August 1996 and the Thai
delegation went to Geneva to
answer the questions asked by the Committee in
October 1998.
- The
preparation of Thailand’s second report followed the principles advocated
during the preparation of the initial report and
this report covers the period
from the initial report until 2000. All key stakeholders were encouraged to
take part, in order to
obtain all information needed, which should be reliable
and reflect the real situation. A working group for preparing the second
report
was appointed, which included children, youth and experts in various fields from
both governmental and non-governmental sectors.
The preparation of the second
report has strictly followed the guidelines and concluding observations made by
the Committee on the
Rights of the Child. Public hearings were organized to
collect responses from civil society and the general public concerning the
draft
report.
- Apart
from involving children and all stakeholders in preparing the second report,
another important action taken was that the children
had an opportunity to
prepare their own CRC report independently, with strong support from the
organizations concerned, including
the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF). The children’s version would reflect the implementation of
the CRC in Thailand
with real pictures and transparency. The children’s
report provides another analysis of child rights from Thailand to be submitted
to the Committee on the Rights of the Child along with Thailand’s second
country report.
- The
contents of this report consist of the implementation of the Convention by the
Government, the non-governmental sector, the business
sector, local
organizations and international organizations in Thailand such as UNICEF, the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Labour
Organization (ILO). This second
report was prepared during the years 1999 to
2000, five years after the first report. There have been a lot of major changes
concerning
legal measures to comply with the Convention. New implementation
measures, developments, problems and vital statistics could be
summarized as
follows:
New laws. The Constitution of the Kingdom of
Thailand of 1997 focuses on providing greater freedom to its citizens, laying
down provisions on rights and liberties,
equal rights which are in line with the
provisions set forth in the CRC, and guaranteeing human dignity. It was
intended that children
should be able to enjoy these rights as well.
The National Human Rights Commission has also been established as an
important mechanism
to monitor the implementation of such rights. A new law was
the National
Education Act of 1999, which allowed all children to study free of charge for
a longer period with many kinds of assistance from the Government.
The Labour
Protection Act of 1998 has increased the minimum age for legal employment from
13 to 15 years of age so that children
can have more years to develop to their
highest potential. The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act 1996
focused on punishing
those who are involved in exploiting children sexually,
whereas the children who are trafficked would be given greater protection
and
treatment as victims. The Measures in Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking
in Women and Children Act of 1997 extended its
protection to both boys and
girls, compared to the previous law that provided protection for girls only.
The Money Laundering Control
Act of 1999 aimed to prevent the offences of
benefiting from commercial sex and drugs. A number of decentralization
laws, favourable
to coordination and local participation, have been passed.
These included the Act on Restructuring the Local Districts into Municipalities
of 1999, the Act on Tambon (subdistrict) Council and Tambon Administration
Organization (TAO) of 1994, the Act on Provincial Administration
Organization of
1997 and the Public Organization Act of 1999. The Criminal Procedure Code
Amendment Act (No. 20) of 1999 aimed to
protect children who are in the justice
system, particularly in the case of interrogation of children and child
witnesses. According
to this Act, a social worker, psychologist or person
requested by the child must be present at the court proceedings. The Boxing
Act
of 1999 stipulated the minimum age of those aspiring to be a boxer must not be
younger than 15 years of age;
Code on children. The Bill on Child Protection was submitted to
Parliament at the time of the preparation of this report. (The bill was passed
by
Parliament in August 2003 and will come into effect at the beginning of next
year.) It emphasized child protection with the participation
of social
institutions close to the child rather than emphasis merely on legal
measures;
Draft laws. A draft amendment of the penal code prohibited execution
of any child below 18 years of age and increases the age of the child
for
the purposes of criminal punishment. The Regulations of the Ministry of
Education of 2000 prohibited caning in schools. In
addition to this, another
major measure was the adoption of the Eighth National Economic and Social
Development Plan (1997-2001),
focusing on people-centred development by which
children will receive more benefits from this plan. The National Child and
Youth
Development Plan was then laid down in line with the National Economic and
Social Development Plan focusing on a child-centred approach.
The coverage was
for all children, including children in especially difficult circumstances,
ordinary children and especially talented
children.
- In
addition to the establishment of plans and legal measures, the Government of
Thailand has tried to implement these plans and measures
by translating
them into concrete actions. Many projects, activities, mechanisms, and
awareness-raising campaigns on child
rights have been undertaken. Some of the significant activities were:
providing assistance for adoption of orphans; providing education
for disabled
children with more facilities for daily life; providing greater access to
education for street children; reducing the
number of child labourers and
displaced children fleeing from war; providing registration for displaced
children fleeing from war
and for the children of minorities, enabling them to
enjoy more rights; reducing the number of child smokers; eradicating
malnutrition
(at severe levels) through nutritional campaigns; reducing the
number of births through family planning; and reducing the HIVinfected
pregnancy
rate through HIV prevention campaigns for pregnant women. In addition, it is
likely that more children will have an opportunity
to study. The Government
has also publicized the Convention to the public through a variety of
media. It is hoped that the public,
including the children themselves, will
have a better understanding of child rights.
- In
line with the provisions of the Thai Constitution of 1997, there were some new
mechanisms enabling implementation of child rights. These include the
establishment of the National
Ombudsmen, the establishment of the Bureau of
National Education Reform to implement the National Education Act of 1999 and
the establishment of the National Counter Corruption Bureau.
- Thailand
is also preparing to be a State party to other international conventions such as
the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects
of International Child Abduction and
the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, the Refugee Convention of 1951,
ILO Convention
No. 138 (1973) concerning minimum age for admission to
employment, the conventions against drug trafficking and the Rome Statute
of
International Criminal Court. Thailand is also preparing to make agreements at
the regional level, including bilateral agreements,
to deal with problems
concerning alien children. It is hoped that these measures would help to
promote implementation of the Convention
in Thailand.
- Although
Thailand has adopted a number of measures and significant actions on child
rights, it has only been able to achieve its goal,
at a certain level. This was
partly due to the economic crisis that has affected the country since 1997.
Moreover, child rights
were quite new for many officials, while the problem
of law enforcement impedes the process of some activities.
- Lack
of CRC awareness among some groups of people was one major obstacle in
implementing the Convention. Child rights were then not
taken into
consideration during the policy and planning process in some areas of
development. There were also difficulties in implementing
some legal measures,
as some officials were not sufficiently aware of them. For example, the
Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution
Act of 1996 and the Measures in
Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act of 1997 were
not effectively
implemented, as many of the officials concerned did not
understand them and/or paid little attention to these laws. The problem
of
children in the sex business and transnational trafficking in children became
more serious.
- Forums
for children to express their opinions are still rare, as the children
themselves do not have their own organizations at a
national level. The
productions of children’s books are not
yet actively promoted. There are not enough child psychologists. These
loopholes lead to other types of problems concerning children.
Neglected
children are increasing in numbers, due to the economic crisis.
- Some
children still have to be under the same judicial procedures as those of adults.
The establishment of juvenile and family courts
and juvenile and family
divisions in ordinary court do not yet cover the whole country. The numbers of
child detainees in observation
centres is higher now, whereas provision of
assistance in education and probation need more improvement to be in accordance
with
the number and complexity of the problems. More importantly, drug-related
problems are becoming more serious, particularly because
there are some
officials involved in the process. Some disabled persons, especially in rural
areas, do not have access to public
services. Almost half of employees still do
not have access to social security funds. Recreation facilities are still
limited,
and there is much difference in schooling standards.
- There
are key changes concerning vital statistics such as an increase in the total
population from 58.8 million people in 1993 to
61.7 million in 1999, whereas the
number of children and youth decreased. For example, the number of
children aged 0-14 years decreased
from 18.5 million in 1992 to 16.10
million in 1999, while youth aged 15-24 declined from 12.27 million to 10.49
million for the same
period; there were 16.85 million children in total aged
0-18 years in 1999. In general, the status of the children has improved.
For
example, regarding nutritional status, babies with birth weight of less than
2,500 grams decreased from 9.04 per cent in 1992
to 7.20 per cent in 1999
and there was a decrease of malnutrition at all levels. As for health
status, more children were immunized
and the mortality rate
per 1,000 live births decreased from 31.4 in 1991 to 24.6 in 1999.
The number of medical personnel also increased.
In relation to educational
status, the numbers of school enrols as well as completion rate at almost all
levels were on the rise.
However, the economic situation may be on a downward
path due to the economic crisis since 1997.
- In
conclusion, this report has been prepared with contributions from all
stakeholders to the greatest extent possible and with strict
consideration of
the guidelines of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. One significant
feature is preparing the children’s
report along with Thailand’s
second report. Overall, there have been changes in line with the Convention, in
favour of the
child’s interests, especially the introduction of new major
laws, bills and the amended laws to increase the effectiveness
of the
implementation of CRC. However, the good principles applied have benefited the
rights of the child to some extent only, due
to the negative impact of the
economic crisis and other related problems. The Government of Thailand has
a strong commitment to
improving CRC implementation to the maximum extent
possible. (For the purpose of simplifying the contents of the report which
will
appear in the subsequent chapters, a table of Thailand’s response and
follow-up to the recommendations and concluding observations
made by the
Committee on the Rights of the Child on Thailand’s initial report
(1992-1996) is hereby attached (see annex, table
4). The details of the
contents then follow in the subsequent chapters. This report covers the period
until 2000 only; updates
will be prepared
later.)
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
General situation
- This
section attempts to respond to the general guidelines, particularly their
paragraphs 11-23, regarding the format and contents
of periodic reports
submitted by the State parties under the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, based on the general guidelines
of the CRC.
- The
Royal Thai Government has organized a number of meetings and seminars to review
Thailand’s position regarding the reservations
to article 7 and article 22
of CRC. The meetings, held at both national and international levels, with wide
participation from governmental
organizations, non-governmental organizations,
the media and children, provided forums for discussion and exchange of views on
the
issue. There were divided opinions, both for and against the
withdrawal of the reservations at those meetings.
- However,
at the Consultative Meeting with related agencies held on 11 June 1999, there
was general agreement that Thailand should
seriously take action towards the
removal of the reservation to article 7 (right to nationality), based on the
following principles:
- − Accept
that the genuine objective of article 7 of CRC aims at encouraging States
parties to take appropriate action to ensure
that all children who live in their
territories are given the right to their respective nationalities, and that
none are left stateless;
- − Agree
to review the withdrawal of the reservation to article 7 by implementing the
following:
- − Examine
proper procedures and approach to recommend the withdrawal of the
reservation;
- − Consult
with related agencies for common understanding in implementing the necessary set
of actions leading to every child
being granted a nationality according to their
mother or father;
- − Thoroughly
work out practical operational guidelines to ensure smooth and effective
delivery of aimed results after Thailand’s
removal of the
reservation;
- − Hold
another consultative meeting among related agencies to assess achievement and
review problems and obstacles encountered
in the course of fulfilling the
duty-bound obligations after Thailand withdraws the
reservation.
- As
with Thailand’s stand on the reservation to article 22, the general
recommendation is that Thailand should withdraw the reservation.
Such a
recommendation was drawn from the National Conference on “Facing the new
millennium: child rights and displaced persons’
situation in
Thailand” held on 11-12 October 1999, attended by related government
agencies and
non-governmental organizations, both local and international. The reason
given for Thailand’s withdrawal is that, although
the country has made the
reservation, it has acted to render humanitarian assistance to children who fled
from fighting and conflicts,
and other displaced children. A further
recommendation from the conference is that Thailand should look for solutions to
the problem
of displaced persons by forging closer collaboration with other
countries to achieve a mechanism at the international level, since
the problem
involves other countries in the different stages of solution, e.g. repatriation,
provision of assistance and resettlement
in third countries.
- In
addition, Thailand organized a regional conference on the same topic
on 2628 January 2000, with participation by representatives
from the
governmental and nongovernmental sectors, as well as youth participants from 14
countries in Asia and the Pacific. The
conference made the following
observations:
- − The
issue of displaced children is a global problem that deserves greater attention
and cooperation among nations to seriously
find more effective measures to
tackle the problem;
- − Displaced
children should not be considered as criminals or offenders, but as victims
instead;
- − There
should be public awareness and participation of all parts of the society to help
and protect these children victims.
States should set up extensive service
units to provide assistance to these children;
- − Preventive
measures should be implemented. States should support and promote human rights,
child rights, democracy, peace,
sustainable development and environment
protection.
Problems
- The
reason why Thailand maintains its reservations to CRC is mainly the political
unrest in neighbouring countries, which has pushed
periodic flows of displaced
persons into Thai territory, as well as a large influx of foreign labourers and
illegal immigrants.
Thailand has so far taken the responsibility of looking
after the welfare of these people on humanitarian grounds, despite the strain
on
its budget in the midst of a long economic slump after the crisis. At the
consultative meetings among related agencies to look
at the pros and cons of
withdrawing Thailand’s reservations to CRC, there were arguments against
the withdrawal. Yet the effort
to work towards the withdrawal is still
pursued.
Solutions
- Cooperation
should be sought from international organizations in terms of budget and various
forms of assistance to help bring about
the withdrawal of the reservations.
There should be further consultative meetings among related agencies to study
plausible procedures
and approaches that are favourable to the withdrawal of the
reservations. A working group may be specially set up to review the
reservations in detail.
Revision of national legislation
- A
study has been undertaken to compare the provisions of CRC and the Thai laws
related to child and youth development, and the findings
of the study have
been documented. Thailand’s National Policy on Children and Youth and its
Long-Term Plan for the Development
of Children and Youth have consequently been
drawn up by following the standards and norms of CRC. In addition, a
Sub-Committee
on Adaptation of National Legislation on Children to
the provisions of the New Constitution and the Convention on the Rights of
the Child was established in 2000. It has the objective of revising, modifying
and drafting
related laws and ministerial regulations pertaining to the
development, assistance, protection, correction and rehabilitation of
children,
in conformity with the Constitution of the Royal Kingdom of Thailand (1997) and
CRC.
Promulgation of new laws and amendment of existing laws to
conform to the Convention
- Regarded
as progress from what was stated in Thailand’s replies to the list of
issues sent to the Committee on the Rights of
the Child, the following new laws
came into force:
- − The
National Education Act of 1999 (see chapter VII);
- − The
Money Laundering Act of 1999 (see chapter VIII);
- − The
Modification of Criminal Procedure Code Act (No. 20) of 1999 on Investigation of
Child Witness (see chapter VIII);
- − The
draft Child Protection Act could be considered as a “Code on
Children”, since the Act covers provision for
all forms of assistance to
children and their families categorized under this Act or other relevant laws to
receive welfare from
the State. The Act also covers protection, care,
development and rehabilitation of children and their families, including
the development
of children’s disciplined behaviour. A referral
system will be applied, from welfare to protection and behavioural
development.
- The
Task Force for Drafting the Child Protection Act is composed of academics,
lawyers, doctors, social workers, representatives from
related governmental and
non-governmental organizations. This draft law has been approved in principle
by the National Youth Bureau
(NYB)[*] under the
chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister.
- Moreover,
action was taken to draft a new law related to children and youth. A draft
law to amend the Criminal Code attempts to modify
the provisions of article
76 bis of the Criminal Code, in order that no convicted person below 18 years of
age shall be sentenced
to capital punishment or life imprisonment. This
amendment act is being drafted.
Problems
- The
process of revision and modification of legislation in Thailand has to follow
steps and often takes a long time. Some legislation
related to children and
youth is still not in compliance with CRC, e.g. laws relating to displaced
children, as suggested by the
Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Solutions
- Further
emphasis should be placed on the revision of laws on children and youth,
to examine their compliance with CRC, and it should
be disseminated to
legislators and officers concerned, so that they will realize the
importance of laws on child protection and assistance.
Thailand’s Constitution and other laws on
children
- The
Constitution of the Royal Kingdom of Thailand of 1997 contains clear provisions
on care and protection of children, youth and their families.
It embraces
the principle that guarantees the people’s rights and freedoms, and their
right to protection, with provisions
on basic rights, freedoms and
non-discrimination. The Constitution calls for the establishment of
an Extraordinary Committee to consider draft legislation that substantially
relates to children, to
consist of representatives of NGOs on children. It
also calls for the appointment of a National Committee on Human Rights, and
a
Parliamentary Ombudsman for Child, Youth and Family.
- With
this new Constitution put into effect, a number of new laws on children as
outlined above have been promulgated.
Applying the Convention directly in Thai courts
- It
is not possible to apply the CRC provisions directly in Thai courts and local
agencies. The provisions have to be adapted and
enacted into local laws first,
in order to be put into effect. However, Thailand adheres to the principles and
provisions of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child by ensuring that all
draft legislation relating to children and youth are in compliance with
them.
The CRC - any incompatibility with Thai laws
- Many
parts of the Convention are in line with Thai legislation, but there are some
laws that need to be improved to comply with it.
There have already been
attempts to amend such laws for stricter compliance with the Convention, as
outlined earlier. However,
there are some
laws, which were enacted after Thailand ratified CRC, which still do not
comply with the provisions of the Convention. One example
is the Boxing Act of
1999, which allows children over 15 years of age to practise boxing, and also
children under 15 years of age
to practise boxing on condition that they wear
protective gear.
Existence of any Thai law conducive to raising awareness of
child rights
- At
present, very few Thai laws raise awareness of child rights more than the CRC.
However, there are provisions in the National Education Act of 1999, which
attach great importance to the rights of the child. The provisions stipulate
that the State must provide a minimum
12-year basic education to every child
free of charge. The Act calls for all parties in society to take part in the
management of
the educational system. It gives an opportunity to parents who
choose and are ready to provide “home schooling” to their
children.
The “homeschool education” aims to develop each child’s
individual potentials based on his skill, interest
and need, and according to
each family’s readiness. The Act also allows home schoolchildren to
re-enter the formal education
system. Nowadays, there are a number of parents
who opt to arrange this homeschool system of education for their
children.
Whether and how Thai court decisions apply the principles
and provisions of the Convention
- The
Act Instituting the Juvenile and Family Courts and Juvenile and Family
Procedures of 1991, which sets judicial proceedings for
children, is amongst the
other Thai laws which are consistent with the principle and provisions of the
Convention. This Act embraces
the principle of the best interest of the child
with respect to the protection of children and their families. A child who
has committed
a violation of the law shall not be regarded as an offender,
considering that he is under age and victimized by a corrupt environment;
his
wrongdoing is not committed out of malice. The child can repent and
express willingness to undergo correction and rehabilitation
under adults’
care and supervision. The child need not be charged, if he gives consent to be
under the care of the authorities
concerned. Any court hearing involving a
child will be conducted in strict confidence with the presence in court of only
the child’s
parents, relative or guardian. However, in practice, there
are still cases of child offenders who have to undergo court proceedings
like
adults, especially in provinces where the Juvenile and Family Court does not
exist.
- Moreover,
in the Thai legal system, it is not possible for the provisions of CRC to be
directly invoked before the courts. However,
the Juvenile and Family Courts
could interpret laws in conformity with the principles and provisions of the
Convention, especially
the principles of the best interest of the child,
non-discrimination, and that the child should live with his parents.
Recovery and rehabilitation for children in cases of
violation
- Assistance
is provided to children whose rights have been violated, using a more integrated
and multidisciplinary approach. By means
of coordination and referral among
agencies concerned, the children are provided with prompt and comprehensive
assistance.
- The
assistance includes:
- − A
24-hour hotline centre to receive reports of violations and to coordinate with
the authorities concerned, both in the public
and private sectors, for their
assistance to the affected children;
- − A
Special Task Force whose function is to provide prompt assistance to child and
woman victims of violations;
- − Fact-finding
investigations to determine the appropriate assistance to the child victim of
violation:
- − In case
of general physical abuse, the parents or guardian of the child will be warned
and counselling will be given to them,
so that the child can continue to live
with them;
- − In case
of serious physical or sexual abuse, the child victim will be separated from the
family, or away from his/her home
environment for protection. He/she may be
sent to an emergency home, a welfare centre or an NGO which can provide him/her
with protection,
medical care and rehabilitation to bring him/her back to normal
so that he/she can lead a normal life in society;
- − In case
of a child’s rights being violated under the Labour Protection Act, legal
measures according to the law are
taken. Employers will be ordered to rectify
their action within a given period. If by that time, the employer has not
complied,
further legal action will be imposed on him; he will either be fined
or a lawsuit filed against him to demand the child’s legitimate
rights by
law, e.g. to be paid wages due, overtime payment, public holiday compensation,
etc. Assistance will also be given to child
workers who have been dismissed
from their workplace, by providing a temporary shelter, repatriation, help
in finding a new job,
and providing further vocational training for better job
opportunities.
Problems
- Child
victims of violations, or persons who witness violations have no information
about where and how to report and to get assistance.
Lack of awareness and
concern is common in the communities where violations occur; a number of
violation cases go unreported. There
is fear of offenders’ influence.
Authorities’ assistance, cure and rehabilitation services are not
extensive and effective
enough.
Solutions
- Enforcement
of the Child Protection Act should be promoted and training provided for all
officers concerned to understand the spirit
of the law and how to exercise it.
Efforts should be made to stimulate and raise public awareness about child
rights violations
to get more
community participation in solving problems that affect children and their
respective communities, as well as to enhance and expand
the multidisciplinary
integration approach of work to provide protection and assistance for children
to cover all provinces nationwide.
National strategies for children under the framework of the
Convention
- Thailand
has formulated a National Plan for Children and Youth Development under
the framework of the National Economic and Social
Development Plan, which
is updated every five years. Implementation is currently being carried out
under the “Eighth National
Economic and Social Development Plan” of
1997-2001. This can be regarded as an implementation step to formulate a
national
agenda and strategies for children under the framework of CRC, since
the plan attaches great importance to child rights. Moreover,
the current
National Plan for Children and Youth Development is a result of studies on the
real situation of problems, and based
on review of the past implementation by
related agencies. After several brainstorming workshops involving all parties
concerned,
a clear direction has been set for the development of children and
youth, categorized in three groups, namely the children in especially
difficult
circumstances group, the general group and the talented group. The following
set of objectives have been laid down in
the Plan:
- − To
enhance children’s and youth’s potential to achieve desirable
qualities;
- − To
improve on the social environment, making it conducive to the development of
children and youth;
- − To
develop a multilateral system of administration and management to encourage
collective participation from various parties.
- A
National Plan of Action has been mapped out to ensure smooth implementation of
the National Plan for Children and Youth Development
with tangible results. A
sub-committee was set up to formulate such a plan of action, comprising
qualified persons and representatives
from related agencies working on child and
youth development both from the public and private sectors. The aim is the
administration
and management of child and youth development work to encourage
coordination and collaboration among agencies concerned to achieve
a
comprehensive master plan. Effort has also been made to link the National Plan
for Children and Youth Development with other specific
theme-based development
plans, as well as plans of action of the ministries and provincial development
plans for the benefit of monitoring
and evaluation work, and for resource
allocation in line with the National Economic and Social Development Plan.
- Furthermore,
the Ministry of Justice has come up with a Plan for the Protection of the Rights
of Children, Youth and Family for 1997-2006.
The plan aims to protect children
both in and outside the juvenile court system, and their families. The children
are categorized
into three groups, namely child offenders, marginalized children
at risk of breaking laws, and children who are victims of abuse,
child labour
and sexual exploitation. With this plan in place, equal
protection for these groups of children can be exercised on an extensive
scale, involving the participation of the families of the
children and youth
concerned in all stages of planning and implementation. This Plan for the
Protection of the Rights of Children,
Youth and Family is likewise supported by
a Plan of Action.
- For
the children in the especially difficult circumstances group, a separate plan
has been drafted, which aims to solve their problems
and enable them to lead
normal lives, and also to prevent the marginalized high-risk group of children
from falling into the same
trap. This Draft Plan on Problem Solution for
Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances is being circulated to all
agencies
concerned for their consideration.
Problems
- Although
various plans have been made for the development and protection of children and
youth, following the same steps in the formulation
of national strategies, there
is still a lack of specific national strategies for children directly under the
framework of CRC.
Solutions
- There
should be joint consideration of and a decision to work out specifically the
National Strategies for the Development and Protection
of Children and Youth
directly under the framework of CRC.
Government agencies related with the Convention
- There
are many relevant governmental bodies related with CRC: the Ministry of
Justice, Central Juvenile and Family Court, the Ministry
of Education, the
Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labour
and Social Welfare, the National Security
Council, the Office of the
Attorney-General, the Office of the National Police, Office of the Council of
State, Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration, etc. The National Youth Bureau
(NYB) is the central body to coordinate both the public and private sectors.
The
Sub-Committee on Child Rights has been appointed to set direction for
the implementation to help realize the goals of CRC.
Effective cooperation
- Thailand
has undergone major improvement in governmental administration by focusing on
decentralization of power to rural areas, to
empower them to look after their
own affairs. The setting up of Tambon (subdistrict) Administrative Offices
(TAO) is one step taken
in this direction, and is in line with the Act on
Tambon Council and Tambon Administration Organisation of 1994. The Act attaches
a duty and responsibility to such bodies to support the development of women,
children, youth, the elderly and the disabled. This
can be regarded as a
mechanism at the local level to monitor the implementation of
CRC.
- In
addition, there are 13 networks of youth, formed to carry out social service
activities, e.g. the Pineapple Eyes radio news network
featuring local
youth news reporters to act as watchdogs on drugs and environmental protection
issues. The network now has 11,287
youth members in all local areas combined,
and another 117 members in educational institutes.
Systematic collection of data and statistics on children
and child rights
- During
1999 and 2002, implementation took place to set up an Information and IT Centre
on Children and Youth, which has become a national
centre supporting the
implementation of children and youth development work at all levels. The
National Information and IT Centre
on Children and Youth has been set up to
serve the following purposes:
- − To be
the centre of information and IT, and a think tank of ideas on child and youth
development;
- − To
collect and store comprehensive data, statistics and ideas on child and youth
development at national and subnational levels
for use in support of
decision-making at different levels, from the policy level down to the
implementation level by the public sector,
NGOs, as well as the children and
youth themselves;
- − To
develop and build a network of data and IT on children and youth, and develop an
effective information service provision
system for the centre;
- − To
compile indicators relating to child and youth development work through the
network.
Follow-up and monitoring
- Apart
from the Sub-Committee on Child Rights, which has functioned to monitor the
implementation of CRC, there also exists the Sub-Committee
for Monitoring and
Evaluation of the Core Action Plan of the Declaration for Thai Children. This
Sub-Committee appoints a Task Force
to compile indicators for the
monitoring and evaluation of the governmental agencies concerned with regard to
their child development
work performance. The indicators compiled fall into
three categories, namely health, education and children in difficult
circumstances.
In 1999, some data compilation was carried out using the
above sets of indicators. The remaining work was expected to be completed
in
2000.
- There
are other subcommittees whose functions relate to the monitoring of the
implementation of CRC, e.g. the Sub-Committee on the
Development of Youth Laws.
Otherwise, follow-up to and monitoring of CRC implementation is usually carried
out by government officials
under the agencies concerned, e.g. the Ministry of
Labour and Social Welfare for child rights regarding
labour.
- Moreover,
an annual report on the status of children and youth in Thailand has been
compiled for submission to the Government.
Independent body to promote and protect child
rights
- Referring
to the report that Thailand has drafted an Act on Children Ombudsman, there is
no need for further action on that, since
the Thai Constitution of 1997 already
stipulates the appointment of a National Human Rights Commission and a
Parliament Ombudsman, which can be regarded
as two independent bodies that will
perform the tasks of promoting and protecting the rights of children as
well.
Cooperation among civil society, NGOs and a mechanism to
monitor progress
- Thailand’s
Eighth National Economic and Social Development Plan sets a strategy to promote
civil society processes in every
province. These will each become a forum or
mechanism to gather ideas and opinions from various sectors in setting the
direction
for the development of their respective province, as well as to gain
support and participation from civil society. The civil society
process was
piloted in 16 provinces during 1995-1997, and has so far expanded to 25
provinces, with a plan to further expand to other
provinces. The civil society
movement varies from one province to another, and may concern issues like
natural resource conservation
and ecotourism, drug prevention, etc. This civil
society movement now evolves at every level, from the central administration
down
to provincial, district, subdistrict and village levels. These civil
societies have played an important role in the various aspects
of development,
e.g. public health, community business and environment. They have been
well supported by government agencies at
all levels to participate in the
planning for the development of their respective localities and regions.
- Apart
from these civil societies, there has been more cooperation among governmental
organizations (GOs), NGOs and the communities.
Through this cooperation,
several pilot projects pertinent to the child and youth development work have
been carried out, e.g. the
pilot project to build and strengthen the
community network to protect child abuse and sexual exploitation, and the Youth
United
for Community Services.
- A
survey and collection of data on existing networks for children and youth
development has been carried out and found that there
are 20 central
administration networks, 5 regional networks and 13 youth networks, totalling 38
networks.
Coordination between economic and social
policies
- The
Budget Bureau is the agency undertaking coordination between economic and social
policies. The Budget Bureau is also responsible
for supervising budgets
implemented by government agencies to be congruent with economic circumstances.
Currently, Thailand and
the International Monetary Fund have jointly mapped out
macroeconomic targets to reduce the impact of the economic crisis on people
and
society.
- In
addition to this, the National Economic and Social Development Board has
readjusted the conceptual framework of Thailand’s
Eighth National
Economic and Development Plan (19972001), based on a people-centred development
approach/philosophy. The four additional
strategies then have been set out
as:
- − Economic
recovery and maintenance of economic balance;
- − Reduction
of the impact of the economic crisis on people and society, in particular by
helping the unemployed in rural and
urban areas, development and provision of
assistance for the disadvantaged who have less access to education and health
services,
prevention of social problems, and promotion of good values,
etc.;
- − Restructuring
the economy, focusing on industrial and agricultural structures, promotion of
service and tourism industry,
etc.;
- − Expediting
administration/management system reform, in particular bureaucratic reform,
education system, and public health
system, etc. to be more
concrete.
Budget allocation for child development
- The
process of allocation of the national budget is as follows:
- − Setting
goals for national budget allocation, based on the Eighth National Economic and
Social Development Plan (1997-2001);
- − Comparison
analysis of overall development plans, including the macro plans and programme
structure;
- − Prioritizing
programmes/organizations/needs;
- − Adjusting
the proportion for budget allocation based on programme structure and economic
circumstances.
- Although
Thailand had been hit by an economic crisis, the budget allocated for child
development, focusing on education, health and
social services, was the first
priority annually during 1993-2000. It can be seen that the proportion of
the budget for social development,
34.73 to 45.14 per cent, was much higher
compared with the budget allocated for other areas of development. For
example, 17.63 to
22.69 per cent has been allocated for economic development; 16
to 20.43 per cent allocated for national security and internal peace
and
order; 11.19 to 15.51 per cent allocated for overall administration;
and 11.17 to 14.59 per cent allocated for debt payment.
- The
budget allocation for social development continuously increased during 19931997.
However, due to the economic crisis, the budget
decreased to 44.63 per cent in
1998 and 44.30 per cent in 1999. In 2000, the budget
increased once again to 44.32 per cent (see
table 1 below).
Table 1
Budget allocation for plan structure (fiscal years
1993-2000, in millions of baht)
|
Budget
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
A. Economic development (in per cent)
|
124 216.4 (22.18)
|
130 536.8 (20.89)
|
153 068.6 (21.41)
|
191 391.4 (22.69)
|
212 921.0 (21.64)
|
219 476.7 (22.35)
|
150 759.3 (18.27)
|
151 610.6 (17.63)
|
1. Agriculture
|
57 849.8
|
59 935.4
|
69 942.1
|
78 293.8
|
84 464.0
|
76 184.6
|
60 932.9
|
67 068.1
|
2. Industry and mines
|
2 032.2
|
2 135.8
|
2 266.8
|
2 663.6
|
3 181.3
|
3 694.6
|
3 230.2
|
3 659
|
3. Communications and transportation
|
48 430.4
|
53 450.9
|
64 549.9
|
88 488.5
|
98 191.4
|
111 777.8
|
66 444.5
|
60 165.6
|
4. Commerce and tourism
|
7 058.4
|
4 485.8
|
5 365.0
|
6 835.7
|
7 037.5
|
7 084.7
|
6 911.20
|
5 490.90
|
5. Science, technology, energy and environment
|
8 845.6
|
10 528.9
|
10 944.8
|
15 109.8
|
20 046.8
|
20 734.7
|
13 240.5
|
15 227.0
|
B. Social development (in per cent)
|
194 478.7 (34.73)
|
240 334.0 (38.45)
|
274 670.7 (38.42)
|
354 557.5 (42.05)
|
444 205.7 (45.14)
|
438 264.8 (44.63)
|
365 481.8 (44.30)
|
381 154.7 (44.32)
|
6. Education
|
109 869.7
|
124 541.0
|
137 273.5
|
171 914.1
|
216 318.2
|
227 390.3
|
209 926.7
|
222 416.1
|
7. Public health
|
36 407.4
|
44 398.7
|
52 596.1
|
64 938.3
|
75 885.7
|
75 568.7
|
62 546.3
|
65 744.0
|
8. Social services
|
48 201.6
|
71 394.3
|
84 801.1
|
117 705.1
|
152 001.8
|
135 305.8
|
93 008.7
|
92 994.6
|
C. National security and internal peace and order (in
per cent)
|
114 400.4 (20.43)
|
125 355.0 (20.06)
|
131 757.4 (18.43)
|
148 565.2 (17.62)
|
164 269.3 (16.69)
|
166 728.8 (16.98)
|
131 976.7 (16.00)
|
138 696.8 (16.13)
|
9. National security
|
89 066.4
|
95 248.4
|
99 986.0
|
108 015.6
|
119 642.9
|
115 862.1
|
87 297.4
|
88 690.5
|
10. Internal peace and order
|
25 334.0
|
30 106.6
|
31 771.4
|
40 549.6
|
44 626.6
|
50 866.7
|
44 679.3
|
50 006.30
|
D. General administration (in per cent)
|
64 354.7 (11.49)
|
69 915.5 (11.19)
|
110 921.0 (15.51)
|
100 482.8 (11.92)
|
114 984.3 (11.68)
|
112 435.3 (11.45)
|
100 413.8 (12.17)
|
109 531.3 (12.74)
|
E. Debt payment (in per cent)
|
62 549.8 (11.17)
|
58 858.7 (9.42)
|
44 582.3 (6.23)
|
48 203.1 (5.72)
|
47 619.5 (4.84)
|
45 094.4 (4.59)
|
76 368.5 (9.26)
|
79 006.30 (9.19)
|
Total (in per cent)
|
560 000 (100)
|
625 000 (100)
|
715 000 (100)
|
843 200 (100)
|
984 000 (100)
|
982 000 (100)
|
825 000 (100)
|
860 000 (100)
|
Measures to ensure equal access to social services for all
children
- The
National Child and Youth Development Plan, under the Eighth National Economic
and Social Development Plan, stipulated its goal
as being that “all groups
of children and youth including children in especially difficult circumstances,
general children
and talented children, shall have an equal opportunity to
well-rounded development in line with their age and capability”.
Among
others, two strategies that have been set for developing the potential of
children and youth are:
- − Develop
the potential of children and youth to have desirable capabilities: by
developing their intellect, knowledge and
capability; speeding up expansion of
opportunity for basic education to less developed areas and to the children in
especially difficult
circumstances; preparing children and youth to be ready for
new economics by providing them with education and vocational training
along
with knowledge on marketing and management;
- − Create
an enabling environment for child and youth development: by improving
laws and justice for children including legal
measures for child rights
protection; establishment of juvenile and family courts; labour protection;
establishment of a network
of agencies for child rights; a plan for development
of personnel for child rights protection; a plan for dissemination of related
laws to children and youth to enable them to be aware of their own rights; and a
plan for conducting research on how to develop laws
on child rights
protection.
- In
response to the measures taken to ensure that children, particularly those who
belong to the most disadvantaged groups, are protected
against the adverse
effects of economic policies, including the reduction of budgetary allocations
in the social sector, in 1999
disadvantaged groups were put under protection of
the Government. This can be seen in the budgetary allocation for education by
which the Thai Government allocated 1,666 million baht to special education and
educational welfare for children in especially difficult
circumstances.
Another 11,688.5 million baht was allocated for special target groups, i.e.
children and youth, hill-tribe people,
the five southern provinces, and HIV/AIDS
prevention and care.
International cooperation
- There
has been an effort from several sectors to push for international cooperation in
assisting children and women from being exploited.
In the governmental sector,
for example, the National Commission on Women’s Development, as the focal
point on this issue,
has mapped out the national policy and operational plan for
eradication of trafficking in children and women. There is the Sub-Committee
on
Combating Trafficking in Children and Women of which representatives from GOs
and NGOs are members. Likewise, the NGO sector
has established the Coordination
Committee on Alien Children to study the problems concerning alien children. A
great effort has
been made in repatriating displaced children to their home
countries. The Committee coordinates with governmental and non-governmental
sectors in countries of origin to give assistance in repatriating the children
back to their homes and community safely. In connection
with this, the
authorities concerned in the countries of origin are invited to the
- meeting
to work out an effective and concrete coordination. However, each country still
has its own problems, particularly as regards
legislation measures and
unprepared personnel. Each country then has yet to develop its own system based
on best practices in Thailand
where the governmental and non-governmental
sectors are strongly cooperative in solving the problem.
- One
of the measures taken to ensure the effectiveness of the birth registration
system in the Asian region is the establishment of
the Asian Birth Registration
Committee, with four founding countries, including the Philippines, India,
Pakistan and Thailand. The
responsibilities of the Committee are enhancing the
effectiveness of the birth registration system in Asia for a higher rate of
birth
registration, implementing CRC in the region, particularly articles 7, 8
and 22, and following up the birth registration system in
each country. In
2000, there was a regional meeting to develop the birth registration system in
each country.
- Thailand
has received financial and technical support from other countries in terms of
experts, scholarship, training, material and
funding. Most of the support goes
to agriculture, community and social development, education and general
administration. Those
who have provided such support include Japan, Canada, the
United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and
private organizations. In 1998, Thailand received funding totalling 4,402.2
million baht.
- There
are also United Nations organizations giving support to Thailand, such as
UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM and ILO in terms of support for
organizing seminars,
training, study visits, research on child and youth, etc.
- With
regard to the measures taken to follow up on the achievements in the
implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action
of the World Summit
for Social Development, Thailand has integrated some parts of the Declaration
into its Eighth National Economic
and Social Development Plan (1997-2001). In
addition, the Cabinet’s resolution on 20 July 1998 stated that the
National Committee
on Social Welfare, of which the Minister of Labour and Social
Welfare is the lead agency, would coordinate and monitor the implementation
of
the Plan.
- The
National Committee on Social Welfare then appointed the Sub-Committee on
Coordination and Follow-up to the Implementation of the
World Summit for Social
Development. The Sub-Committee, chaired by the Deputy Minister of Labour and
Social Welfare, appointed a
working group to prepare the country report and
organized the preparatory meeting for the General Assembly’s special
session
to follow up the implementation of the World Summit for Social
Development. This working group is responsible for reporting the
outline of the
country report to be presented to the General Assembly and to explore the
reaction made by agencies concerned from
GO and NGO sectors which will be used
for the full final report.
Dissemination of the Convention to the public
- Three
thousand (3,000) copies and another 20,000 pocket copies of the Thailanguage
version of CRC have been made and published for
distribution. CRC has also been
translated into northern dialect, in the forms of books, videos and pictures,
and into Malayu and
Yawi, as well as into Braille for the blind.
- The
Federation of Trade Unions, Burma (FTUB) has made posters in the Karenni and Mon
languages for distribution to displaced persons
living along Thai-Myanmar
borders.
- Thailand
has disseminated CRC to a wider extent and in various ways to raise awareness
about child rights among the public, including
among children. This includes
seminars, training, public hearings at the regional level, dissemination through
print material, television,
radio, newsletters, CD-ROMs, etc.
- Students
in the Thai school system also have learned about CRC, which is integrated in
a subject called “life skills enhancement”,
as one issue of
civic duty, for students of grades 16 and integrated into the school
curriculum for students from grade 1 up to the
lower secondary level in
extension schools. In addition, the Office of National Primary Education has
printed 28,000 copies of CRC
in cartoon and simplified versions, with
participation of children, distributed nationwide. The Child Rights and
Educational Aid
Centre, the Office of Permanent Secretary of Education Ministry,
has printed 10,000 copies of CRC in pamphlets and has produced 3,000
copies on
cassette, distributed to schools nationwide. Some NGOs also helped produce
pamphlets to be distributed to the public.
Education on the Convention for professional
groups
- The
following are training courses conducted as a means to educate public officials
and other professional groups working with and
for children on
CRC:
- − Training
courses for junior officials working for youth and youth administrators by the
National Youth Bureau;
- − Two
training courses for senior administrators by the Office of National Primary
Education Commission, including a workshop
on child rights protection network at
the provincial level and a workshop on child rights protection;
- − Training
courses for judges and associate judges by the Ministry of Justice;
- − Training
courses for public prosecutors by the Office of the Attorney-General;
- − Training
courses (with CRC incorporated) for Sub-District Child Development Committees
and the training courses for childcare
officers by the Department of Community
Development;
- − Training
courses for public welfare officials at all levels by the Department of Public
Welfare.
Participation of non-governmental organizations
- Non-governmental
organizations in Thailand have continuously and actively participated in
conducting awareness and education campaigns.
Training courses and awareness
and education campaigns have been conducted for their personnel. For example,
the Foundation for
Child Rights Protection Centre and the Foundation for Child
Protection, which work for abused
- and
neglected children, conducted a project for protecting children from sexual
abuse by using plays, videos and other activities.
The purpose was to encourage
children to realize their inner feelings about outer stimulus and respond to it
appropriately. The
children are expected to ask assistance from adults they
trust. Meanwhile, adults are educated to give appropriate assistance when
asked.
- Moreover,
the Task Force for Children organized training on CRC for university students
all over the country, including at the Police
Cadet Schools. The training was
coordinated with NGOs such as the Foundation for Women, Child Rights ASIANET,
the National Council
for Child and Youth Development (NCYD), the Holt Sahathai
Foundation, the Young People’s Development Center (YPDC), and the
Foundation for the Better Life for Children. The Network for Street Children
organized training on child rights protection for the
public.
Children’s participation
- Thai
children were given an opportunity to take part in the implementation of CRC.
Child representatives, as the members of the CRC
Preparatory Committee, are
involved in preparing Thailand’s second periodic country report on CRC.
Four regional meetings
for children on CRC implementation were convened at four
regions of Thailand, namely north, central, north-east and south. There
were
398 children from 76 provinces who participated in the meetings. In
addition, the national meeting was organized in Bangkok,
which 85 child
representatives across the country attended. In this particular meeting, the
Task Force on Preparing the CRC Report
(children’s version) was
established, by which 27 representatives were elected to be the members of the
Task Force. The children
who attended the national meetings also had an
opportunity to voice their opinion regarding the preparation of such
report.
- Apart
from this, Thailand has organized “the Child Rights Forum” annually
since 1989. The Forum provides an opportunity
for children to send messages
expressing their views and needs to adults and the public. There are about 300
children who attend
the Forum every year.
- The
National Council for Child and Youth Development has supported the organization
of training courses for child rights volunteers
by the Foundation for Young
Buddhists’ Development. The training aimed to enable child rights
volunteers to have skills in
providing assistance and helping abused children
solve their problems. The children then established their own organizations
called
the “Pineapple Eyes Movement” and the “Child Rights
Network for Children”, which were administered by the
children
themselves.
Problems
- The
dissemination of CRC does not cover some other relevant groups and lacks
monitoring and evaluation to assess the understanding
and awareness of the
targeted groups.
Solutions
- The
dissemination of CRC should be extended more widely, along with information on
the monitoring and evaluation process. Children
should be provided with more
opportunities to participate in various meetings.
Report preparation and dissemination of the
Convention
- The
process of the preparation of the second periodic report was as
follows:
- − Eight
working groups responsible for gathering information and data relevant to the
eight chapters of the report were appointed
in response to the general
guidelines made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the first
periodic report;
- − Meetings
for the Sub-Committee on Child Rights and all eight working groups were
organized to consider the draft report and
to give recommendations for further
revision to the draft report;
- − Meetings
between the Sub-Committee on Child Rights and representatives of related
governmental and non-governmental organizations
were organized; the media, the
public and youth from across the country to give comments and recommendations to
the revised report;
- − The
final report to the National Youth Commission was proposed for approval;
- − The
report was translated into English to be submitted to the Committee on the
Rights of the Child.
- With
support from UNICEF and related agencies, school libraries and academic
institutes nationwide were sent documents such as Thailand’s
initial
report on CRC, both in complete and summary versions (in English and Thai);
Thailand’s replies to the list of issues
sent by the Committee on the
Rights of the Child on the first periodic report; and Thailand’s answers
to the questions asked
during meeting with the Committee.
- Thailand
puts great importance on the dialogue with the Committee on the Rights of the
Child, as well as the questions and concluding
observations made by the
Committee. The details were then taken into account during the meeting at the
implementing and national
levels, so that the Government and policymakers can
work out an appropriate plan of action regarding this matter. A press
conference
was also organized to inform the public about the outcome of the
meeting between the Thai delegation and the Committee regarding
Thailand’s
initial report. Publicity on this matter is regularly sent to the
media.
Conclusion
- Since
Thailand’s initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child,
Thailand has taken action in conformity with the
World Declaration and the
Convention in terms of implementing CRC. Thailand has revised its related laws
and regulations and come
up with the following
progress:
Education. Children will be better taken care of as a result of
education policy stipulating that every child shall receive basic education
at
least 12 years provided by the Government in terms of quality and
coverage;
Law reform. It is considered that the highlight of Thailand’s
implementation of CRC is its laws and justice for children. A number of
laws
related to children and youth have been revised or established with the emphasis
on providing a wider scope of protection to
children and youth, more up to
date, and be able to deal with more diversified and complex types of offences as
at present;
Administration. Child networking and models of child and youth
development to be carried out by governmental and non-governmental organizations
have been established, with an emphasis on society’s cooperation. Local
people are also encouraged to participate in the development
process and voice
their comments and suggestions on the matters relating to them. The
formation of community networking and organization,
and civil society at the
provincial level are promoted. However, the greatest importance is placed on
children’s participation.
Children and youth are encouraged to
participate in various activities in terms of social protection, remedy and
development. The
main purpose is to enable them to develop themselves through
the process of learning by practice and to be aware that they have vital
roles
to play for the betterment of their communities, societies and the country.
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD
- In
accordance with paragraph 24 of the general guidelines, the information provided
in this chapter refers to the differences between
Thai national legislation and
the Convention with respect to the definition of the child, as well as the
minimum legal age as defined
in specific aspects of Thai laws and
regulations.
- Thailand’s
initial country report under the Convention included the definition of the
child as defined in the country’s
national laws and plans at the
time. The age limits vary due to two factors: the social situation at the
period of issuance and
the intention of the legislation. The initial
report also provided information regarding the minimum age for the following:
legal
and medical counselling, medical treatment or surgery, marriage,
sexual consent, voluntary enlistment in the armed forces and conscription
into
the armed forces - these remain unchanged. The following information outlines
matters whereby minimum age requirements have
been changed or newly
introduced.
1. Age of compulsory education
General situation
- The
National Education Act came into force on 20 August 1999. Section 17 states:
“A nine-year compulsory education is provided to a child as soon as
he enters the age of 7. His or her basic schooling lasts until the
child reaches the age of 16, except where he or she has completed
the ninth year
of compulsory education.”
- The
compulsory education period has been extended from six years of primary
education to nine years, adding three years of compulsory
lower secondary
education and resulting in a minimum school-leaving age of 15 years old.
- In
1990, Thailand endorsed the World Declaration on Education for All and has since
laid down policies and frameworks for basic education
for all children in the
National Education Plan of 1992. During 1990-1998, an evaluation of the
effectiveness of this policy was
conducted; it was found that the gross
enrolment rate of 90 per cent of the population of age range 6-11 years
fluctuated between
89.16 to 94.18 per cent. About 9-10 per cent, or
600,000 children still lacked access to basic education, the majority of
those
belonging to underprivileged groups. It was also found that early
school-leavers numbered 31,294 and the children repeating a year
of education
were 2.73-3.73 per cent of the school population.
- The
percentage of the population in the age range of 12-14 years entering lower
secondary education increased from 39.6 in 1990 to
72.6 per cent in 1998, with
an upward trend. The implementation of the basic education policy has
progressed with the hope that
it will meet the target given in the National
Education Act of 1999, which stipulated that the nineyear compulsory basic
education period would be fully effected by 2002.
Problems
- In
terms of quantity, the operation appears to be successful, but quality-wise,
some problems have been defined:
- − Provision
of education: Some underprivileged children do not have access to
educational services due to a lack of flexibility and diversity in the
methodology
of education is provided;
- − Efficiency
of education: The rate of students who drop out of school early or
repeat a year of schooling is quite high.
Solutions
- Educational
institutions should be able to provide education in various forms: formal,
nonformal and informal methods. Continuing
education should be promoted using a
comparative system whereby credits gained in one system can be transferred to
another.
- Individuals,
families, organizations, communities and institutions should be encouraged to
provide more appropriate education that
meets students’ requirements. The
State should provide benefits in terms of information on parenting skills, and
education
to children or persons under the Government’s care. Financial
support in the form of rebates or tax exemptions should be introduced.
- Special
rights must be granted to the disadvantaged, ensuring that they have equal
access to schooling, and obtain the same level
of education as other students.
2. Age of admission to employment
General situation
- The
Labour Protection Act of 1998 was enacted to replace Revolutionary Announcement
No. 103 of 1972, in order to upgrade the quality
of life for workers and to set
minimum standards in work conditions. Several changes have been made to the
previous legislation,
particularly with regard to child labour. Major changes
were introduced with regard to the age criteria set for employment, ensuring
consistency with the age at which a child completes his or her compulsory
education as specified in the National Education Act of 1999. Section 44 of the
new Labour Protection Act raised the minimum age for employment to 15 years of
age; previously, the minimum age was 13.
- Specific
legal duties of employers are outlined in the Act relating to the use of child
labour. According to section 45, if an employer
employs a child aged less than
18 years, a report must be made to the labour inspector within 15 days of the
child beginning work.
Also, at cessation of the child’s employment, the
employer must report to the labour inspector within seven days. Sections
47 and 48 state that the employer is prohibited from allowing child employees to
work during the hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., nor
may they work overtime or during
holidays. Sections 49 and 50 and the sixth regulations of the Ministry of
Labour and Social Welfare
(1998) specify the types and places of work for which
child labour may not be employed. Section 52 states that a child employee
has
the right to attend training programmes and seminars, allowing opportunities for
professional and personal development (see details
in chapter VIII).
Problems
- The
Labour Protection Act of 1998 may have a particular impact on children living in
poverty, particularly if their families rely
on the income generated by the
child workers. There are difficulties of enforcement; some illegal work
establishments are very small,
making inspections difficult.
Solutions
- For
a poor and disadvantaged child not yet 15 years of age, in addition to further
educational opportunities, vocational training
should be provided before the
child enters the workforce. Financial support in terms of capital funding
should be provided to assist
them in developing their own businesses.
- A
network of local social mechanisms could be created to investigate illegal
establishments: for instance, voluntary village labour
investigators nationwide
and a network of agencies and organizations could inform the public on
issues of child labour.
3. Age of participation in hostilities
- There
is no stipulation in law for the age of participation in hostilities, but
according to Thai law, the minimum age for conscription
into the armed
forces is 21 years. Those who have completed their third year of military
training in the reserves - the majority
of whom are over 18 years of age -
will be allowed to enter the military reserve corps.
4. Age of deprivation of liberty
- Most
of these matters were addressed in chapter II of Thailand’s initial
country report regarding the Convention. As for the
age at which children with
behavioural problems or children with problems in need of rehabilitation should
receive institutional
care, reception homes will admit children aged 5-18 while
child welfare homes will admit children aged 718 years (see details in
chapters V and VI).
5. Age of criminal responsibility
- This
issue was also addressed in Thailand’s initial country report under the
CRC. At present, studies and consultations are
in process with academics, legal
experts, governmental and non-governmental organizations working with
children, with the aim of
increasing the age at which criminal penalty is
imposed, that is, from 7 to 10 years old.
6. Age of capital punishment and life imprisonment
General situation
- If
a young person over the age of 17 commits a crime, he or she may be sentenced
to capital punishment or life imprisonment, depending
on the severity of
the offence. Thai law allows the court to exercise its discretion in
imposing the penalty. Section 76 of the
Criminal Code states, “For a
person aged 17 years but not over 20 years ... if the court deems fit, it may
decrease the degree
of penalty for that offence by one third or by half of the
total.”
Problems
- Article
37 (a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child forbids capital punishment
or life imprisonment for a child. Therefore,
the above criminal law is
contradictory to the provisions in the Convention, as there is allowance for the
court to impose the reduced
penalty or the full penalty. In practice,
the court normally exercises its discretion in favour of a reduced penalty if
the offender is a child.
Solutions
- A
new criminal law act is being proposed in order that capital punishment and life
imprisonment cannot be imposed on children aged
below 18 years.
7. Giving testimony in court, in civil and criminal
cases
- Thai
law does not stipulate a minimum age for people giving testimony in court.
However, according to section 95 of the Civil and
Commercial Procedure Code, the
person giving testimony must be able to understand and answer the questions
asked, and must be the
person who saw, heard or knew about which he or she is
testifying. According to section 108 of the above-mentioned law, it is not
imperative that Buddhist monks and novices (under the age of 20) give
testimony at all. Section 112 says that a child aged under
10 years does not
have to swear an oath before testifying (see chapter VIII for further
details).
8. Lodging complaints and seeking redress before a court or
other relevant authority without parental consent
- In
terms of lodging complaints, a child can do so without parental consent.
However, in executing a judgement, parental consent is
needed, as mentioned in
section 21 of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Code. In filing a case seeking
redress before a court however,
a child may do so only with prior consent from a
parent or guardian, as stated in section 56, Civil and Commercial Procedure
Code.
- In
seeking redress from any relevant agencies in an action, the young person needs
to comply with section 22 of the Civil and Commercial
Procedure Code. If a
child wishes to take the case to court seeking redress, they must comply with
section 56 of the Civil and Commercial
Procedure Code; that is, the child must
first gain consent from his legal guardian.
9. Participating in administrative and judicial proceedings
affecting the child
- In
this respect, Thai law stipulates in sections 5 (1) and 6 of the Criminal
Procedure Code and section 56 of the Civil and Commercial
Procedures Code that a
legal guardian is required to represent the child in court. The child will not
take part directly in civil
or commercial cases. If the child is the
injured person and would like to act as a witness, according to the Criminal
Procedure
Code he has to be sworn as a witness. This is the highest degree of
involvement that a child under 18 can have in the practice concerning
court
procedure (see chapter VIII for details).
10. Giving consent to change of identity, including change of
name,
modification of family relations, adoption, guardianship
Change of identity, including change of name
- The
Civil Registration Act of 1991 section 14 states that “a person whose name
appears in the population register - or their legitimate representative
if the
owner of the record is a child - may request the Registrar ... (2) to add, erase
or update any information contained in the
data of the population register in
order to render it correct and true”.
Modification of family relations
- The
Civil and Commercial Code, Book 5, Code 2 on parents and children stipulates the
specific age in connection with family relationships
as follows:
- − In
lodging complaints denying the status of lawful child, section 1545 stipulates
that, “If the fact becomes known to
the child that he or she is not the
biological child of the man who is the husband of his/her mother, the child may
request the prosecutor
to bring the case to court for the denial of his or her
status as lawful child. However, if this fact becomes known to the child
before attaining sui juris (20 years of age in Thailand), the prosecutor
shall not file the case in court until a period of one year has lapsed, starting
from
the day the child comes of age. If the child becomes aware of the truth
after coming of age, the prosecutor must not file the case
in court until
one year has lapsed from that day. It is prohibited to file a case at all
if a period of 10 years has lapsed from
the day the child knew the
truth”;
- − Lodging
complaints for adoption. Section 1556 states that “Regarding the action
for adoption of a child, if the child in question is not yet 15 years of age,
a legitimate representative shall act on behalf of the child. After the child
reaches the full age of 15, he may enter into action sua sponte without
consent from his legitimate representative.”
Adoption
- The
Civil and Commercial Code, Book 5 on the family, stipulates the minimum age for
adoption in its chapter 4 on adoptive children,
in particular regarding consent
to, and termination of, an adoption:
- − Section
1598/20 states, “If the adoptive-child-to-be is not less than 15 years
of age, he or she must give his or her consent”;
- − Section
1598/35 states, “Regarding the complaint for the termination of an
adoption, if the adoptive child is less than 15 years old, his parents by birth
are entitled to lodge complaint before the court. If the adoptive child is
over 15 years of age, he can do so without consent from
anyone.”
Guardianship
- The
Civil and Commercial Code section 1598/9 states that, for a person aged
over 15 years but under guardianship, his relative or
a prosecutor can
lodge a complaint before the court seeking termination of guardianship due to
negligence or unfair execution of
duty on the part of the guardian.
11. Having access to information concerning the biological
family
General situation
- As
described in answer No. 10 in Thailand’s replies to the list of issues
(1998: 19), a child wishing to obtain information
regarding his or her
biological family must have a legitimate representative submit the request on
his or her behalf in order to
gain access to information in the population
registration history. In the case of an adoptive child, though the law does not
stipulate
any exact direction on this, Thailand has complied with international
principles allowing such children to submit requests for information
about his
or her biological family with consent from the adoptive parents.
- The
procedures for requesting information on a child’s biological family run
as follows: as is stipulated in section 14 of
the Civil Registration Act of
1991, the owner of the biodata pertaining to section 12 of the Civil
Registration Act or a legal guardian (if the owner of the biodata is still a
young child) may submit a request to the registrar. Then the latter
may copy
and certify the copy of the biodata for the child. Section 25 of the Official
Information Act of 1997 also states that a person has the right to know about
private matters concerning themselves. If a person makes a request
in writing,
the government office in charge of record keeping must allow that person or
their representative to inspect or access
a copy of his or her personal
information.
- In
addition, regulations established by the Service Unit, Local Administration
Department, requires that a person wishing to check
his biodata must show a copy
of his or her identity card or house registration containing his or her name.
If a child wishes to
know about his or her biological parents, he or she may do
so by themselves or through a legitimate representative at the Population
Registration Office or the Service Unit of Local Administration Department in
Bangkok and the provinces.
Problems
- Sometimes
the adoptive family may not give consent for the child to learn about his
biological parents for fear that the child may
want to return to his or her
natural family.
Solutions
- Efforts
have been made by the Department of Public Welfare to rectify such problems.
Training has been provided to adoptive families
regarding permission to let the
child know about his or her biological family in accordance with age-specific
appropriateness and
ability to accept the truth.
12. Legal capacity to inherit and to conduct property
transactions
- The
Constitution and the Civil and Commercial Code state that conducting personal
property management depends on each individual’s legal ability.
That is
to say, a person may conduct property transactions when he or she is no longer a
child and has come of age at 20 years.
While a child and not yet of age,
property transactions can be conducted with the consent of parents and/or
guardians. The minimum
age for conducting property transactions is therefore 20
years or where majority is attained through marriage. Some exceptions do
exist
whereby a child can conduct property management, such as in making a will or
receiving property.
13. To create or join associations
- Definitions
under this area have been outlined in Thailand’s initial report and
Thailand’s replies to the list of issues
(1998: 20). The Eighth National
Children and Youth Development Plan (1997-2001) promotes the formation of
groups/clubs/centres
in accordance with the best interests of children, to be
managed or run by the children themselves (see chapter IV).
- Book
1 of the Civil and Commercial Code on the creation of associations and
foundations does not mention the age requirement of the
founder or members,
leaving the matter to the discretion of the members of the founding team to
decide upon the statute of the association
or the foundation. In order to
obtain permission to create an association or foundation, the founder must be a
person who has come
of age, that is, 20 years of age. To be a member,
however, does not require this age specification, and will depend on the rules
and regulations of that association or
foundation.
14. Choosing a religion or attending religious
schoolteaching
- Thailand
does not impose minimum age specifications for upholding a religion. Usually, a
child follows his parents’ faith.
The Constitution states, “A
person has full rights in upholding any religion, sect or doctrine. He or she
is free to comply with religious
practices or rituals in accordance with his or
her beliefs, as far as this is not contradictory to duty as a good citizen nor
against
the good moral or peaceful existence of the people.” This is an
affirmation of citizens’ rights in Thailand.
15. Consumption of alcohol and other controlled
substances
General situation
- In
article 20 of the 294th Announcement of the Revolutionary Party of 1972, it is
prohibited to sell or provide alcohol or cigarettes
and other addictive drugs to
children (i.e., persons aged under 18 and not yet married). It is also
prohibited to persuade children
to drink or smoke or consume any addictive
drugs, except for medication purposes. The Tobacco Product Control Act of 1972
also prohibits
the sale of cigarettes to persons aged less than 18. Other
addictive drugs are already considered illegal.
- Despite
the existence of the law prohibiting the sale or disposal of alcohol and
cigarettes to minors, a great number of children
are still addicted to alcohol
and cigarettes as well as other drugs. Agencies responsible for law enforcement
must ensure that strict
and severe suppression is conducted.
16. Entering a boxing competition
General situation
- The
Boxing Sport Act of 1999 was promulgated in Thailand with some provisions
concerning children. The minimum age for registering
as a boxer is 15 years.
To organize a boxing sport competition for children under 15 years of age, it is
imperative that full security
equipment be provided. This is to protect
children from possible injury. However, concerns have been expressed among
people working
for the welfare of children both in the governmental and
non-governmental sectors, including academics and experts; it is thought
that
children may not have the psychological and physical maturity required for this
type of sport, and that their development may
be affected.
- To
fully understand the issues surrounding children in boxing, a survey was
conducted at the end of 1999: it was found that a large
number of children
do participate in this sport. About 75 per cent of the total number of boxers
are under 18, with 51 per cent under
15 years. These children enter boxing
between the ages of 8 and 12 years; some child boxers enter the ring at the age
of 12. Although
their general standard of living and health are reasonably good
in terms of welfare and safety, the majority do sustain injuries
from the
practice and are affected physically and mentally; they may suffer general
injuries, such as muscle pain, dizziness, vision
blurring and chronic muscle
inflammation. In addition, most children do not have health insurance.
- Field
doctors experienced in taking care of boxers feel that the sport is detrimental
to child health in several ways: physical growth
may be stunted; the children
feel tired and weak as a result of weight control measures; head injuries may
cause delays in terms
of intellectual development and other areas of
development. Such doctors propose that children should be at least 15 years old
before
entering boxing. In terms of educational achievement, children engaged
in boxing perform slightly worse academically. Some teachers,
however, say that
these children have accelerated development in terms of personality, discipline,
courage and selfconfidence. Other
teachers differ in opinion, believing that
boxing may have long-term negative affects in terms of health, intellect and
motivation
to pursue their studies; that is, children seriously engaged in
boxing may show less interest in lessons in the classroom.
Problems
- Boxing
is an activity that poses risks to the health, safety, and physical and
intellectual development of children participating
in the sport. There are
currently limited legal provisions to protect young boxers, particularly for the
age range under 15 years.
Solutions
- It
is proposed that an amendment to the Boxing Act 1999 be made to increase the
minimum age for registration as a boxer to 18 years.
While the changes to the
Act are pending, special protective measures in welfare and safety should be
provided to young boxers aged
1518.
- The
above-mentioned law should be revised and amended to provide benefits and
protection to children aged below 15 years serving as
trainee boxers. This
should begin at the initial stage when young boxers are selected to become
trainees in the boxing training
camps.
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
A. Non-discrimination
General situation
- This
section responds to the general guidelines, paragraphs 25-47. The Constitution
of Thailand of 1997 is regarded as having provisions highly congruous with
the Convention on the Rights of the Child in many areas,
including
non-discrimination, consideration for the best interests of the child, right to
life, survival and development, and the
right to express an opinion. Such
principles have been implemented by the relevant agencies in terms of legal
rights and practices.
- The
Constitution states in section 30 that all people are equal according to the law
and are equally protected by the law. It also states that discrimination based
on
age, sex, birthplace, race, language, physical condition or health, personal
status, economic or social position, creed, education
and political ideology not
contradictory to the provisions in the Constitution is unacceptable. In order
to prevent and eliminate discrimination, as well as to reduce discrepancies in
economic, social and geographical
status, Thailand has undertaken the
following measures.
1. Education
- The
Thai Government has established many provisions to ensure that all children are
educated on a non-discriminatory basis. It has
launched the National Education
Act of 1999, which stipulates that 12 years of quality education must be
provided free of charge to every child. Children who have not
been registered
in a household can be enrolled in school. For impoverished children, in
addition to scholarships and small grants,
during the budget year of 1998,
the Government allocated 13,000 million baht to the “Loans for Education
Programme” for
supporting students in schools throughout the country.
- Support
has been provided to bridge the gap in educational standards between rural and
urban schools, using distance-learning methods
with lessons relayed by satellite
from larger, wellresourced city schools to other schools, particularly those in
remote rural areas.
Non-formal education and methodologies of education have
helped to improve the delivery of education to the underprivileged and
marginalized, such as hill-tribe children, orphans and children on parole (see
chapters VII and VIII for further detail).
2. Health
- The
Thai Constitution of 1997, section 52, secures equal rights for everyone
regarding access to basic health services. The poor have the right to receive
free medical care
from State health services on a universal and efficient basis.
Thailand has launched several measures to provide primary health care
to
children and youth in both rural and urban areas. There are health centres all
over the country and mobile health units provide
services to communities in
remote areas, including hill-tribe and minority communities as well as
impoverished areas. Facilities
provided include pre- and post-natal services;
every mother and child is given a health record book containing information on
immunization
and child physical and mental development during different age
periods, as well as a personal vaccination history.
3. Provision of welfare to children and youth
- The
Thai Constitution of 1997, section 53, states that children and youth with no
parent/s or guardian are entitled to care and education from the State. The
Department of
Public Welfare, the government office responsible for the
provision of services to children under 18 years living in difficult
circumstances,
undertakes three types of service: placing children in
institutions, with families, and in foster homes (further details are provided
in Thailand’s replies to the list of issues of 1998 and in chapter V.
- In
addition, in order to systematize and upgrade the efficiency of care and
protection for children in difficult circumstances, a
new Act on Child
Protection and a plan of operation for the solution of problems concerning
children and youth in difficult circumstances
has been proposed, as mentioned in
chapter V.
4. Elimination of discrimination against girl children
- During
the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing 1995, the following
objectives were proposed for the Platform for Action
to eliminate discrimination
against girl children:
- − Elimination
of discrimination against girl children in all forms and issuance and
enforcement of appropriate legislation ensuring
equality of children inheritance
status, regardless of gender;
- − Elimination
of discrimination against girl children in education, development of skills and
training;
- − Elimination
of discrimination against girl children in health and nutrition;
- − Elimination
of exploitative child labour and protection of young women needing
employment;
- − Strengthening
the family role in upgrading the status of the girl child.
- Thailand’s
participation in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women has resulted in a
number of actions dealing with
this matter. For example, at its meeting on 26 November 1996, the Cabinet
agreed that restrictions
on the percentage of female students and male students
entering universities under the Ministry of University Affairs and other
tertiary-level
institutes should be abolished.
- Nevertheless,
discrimination still exists in education. The Ministry of University Affairs
reported that in 1998, several State universities
still imposed restrictions on
the percentage of places for female students. Of the 36 branches of study where
discrimination still
existed, 33 branches imposed restrictions based on
percentages. One branch allowed only male students in its classes, and two
branches
admitted only female students, stating that this was necessary due to
the nature of the profession or the requirements of the labour
market.
5. Prevention and elimination of attitudes and
prejudices
due to society, race or ethnicity
- Thailand
does not have any laws that allow discrimination or prejudice based on
membership of a religious group. Once a child is
born on Thai soil, he or she
is entitled to the basic rights accorded by law and will be granted basic social
services regardless
of sex, age and religion, without discrimination. Thailand
has also granted hospitality to non-Thai persons in terms of the right
to access
basic services and to be treated with dignity, without discrimination.
- In
addition, the Thai Government has also established measures to preserve the
identity of minority or ethnic groups. The Ministry
of Education has set up a
flexible programme and timetable to suit the situation and conditions of each
locality, allowing for the
participation of community members in the development
of appropriate curricula and educational materials. Students have the
opportunity
to use local dialects and maintain traditional practices in
preservation of their cultural identity, such as wearing local costumes
indicating their religion or tribe, to
school.
Problems
- The
Constitution states that 12 years of education should be provided to all
children, as well as standard health care and other government services,
on
an equal basis and without discrimination. In practice, however, the Government
is still not able to implement those provisions
efficiently due to the
country’s economic downturn.
- Some
groups of children, particularly children in difficult circumstances, do not
have access to the same government services as children
belonging to other
groups in society. This is due to the inadequacy and inflexibility of the
services with respect to some groups
of children.
- Some
of the provisions in Thai legislation need to be amended because they are
incongruent with the Constitution - for example, the law pertaining to granting
nationality to children of aliens, refugees and displaced persons. Such a law
infringes
the rights of alien and Thai children.
- Several
governmental and non-governmental agencies are engaged in the compilation of
data on children and youth. However, there is
no networking amongst agencies,
resulting in the duplication of work, and lack of cooperation in terms of
information-sharing leads
to under-use of the collected data.
Solutions
- If
the budget is not adequate, priorities should be set according to the importance
of each project (programme), in order to provide
guidelines for future budget
allocation:
- − Widening
the use of basic data on children in difficult circumstances and children in
general in policy planning and guidelines
for assistance. There should be a
greater diversity of services for children;
- − Strengthening
the dissemination of knowledge and awareness-raising mechanisms regarding the
significance of law enforcement
to government officials;
- − Conduct
a close follow-up of the enforcement of the relevant law.
B. Best interests of the child
General situation
- Thailand
takes into account the principle of “the best interests of the
child” in terms of relevant policy and legislative
development. The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997 deems it the duty of the State to provide to
the child facilities in education, health and protection in many
areas without
any discrimination.
- In
addition, the Thai Constitution and some Thai laws contain provisions aimed at
providing special protection to the child, such as the Prevention and
Suppression
of Prostitution Act of 1996 which protects children under 18 years
of age from sexual exploitation, and the
- Measures
in Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act of 1997
which provides wide protective measures against
the selling, buying,
trafficking, luring or procurement of boys as well as girls. There are also
measures against the trafficking
of women and children, both locally and
internationally: the fourteenth amendment to the Penal Code of 1997
concerning indecent acts committed on both girls and boys; the Labour Protection
Act of 1998 which increased the minimum age for employment from 13 to 15
years; and the twentieth amendment to the Criminal Procedure
Code of 1999
regarding the testimony of a child aged below 18 who is either the injured
person, the witness or the accused during
the interrogation. Taking of evidence
from a child must be conducted in an appropriate place in the presence of a
psychologist,
a social worker or a prosecutor.
- However,
most pieces of legislation do not explicitly mention that they were developed
with the principle of “the best interests
of the child” in mind. It
is hoped, however, that if the draft Act on Child Protection is implemented, it
will become the
single most effective legislative tool that directly pursues the
best interests of children in Thailand, without discrimination.
- Besides
the above legislation, other activities undertaken in the best interests of the
child are described below.
1. Establishing the policy and plans
(a) The policy and plans on development
- At
present, Thailand is using the National Youth Policy of 1994 as its main
guideline for effective operation in governmental and
non-governmental offices
in terms of activities on child development. However, in order to bring the
present national policy on
youth into line with the current and constantly
changing national and global situation, the Government has taken a new direction
and adjusted its strategy on child development, profiting from brainstorming
among scholars, academics, people working in child development
work, and
children and youth themselves. A new national policy on youth was implemented
in 2002.
- The
National Plan on Children and Youth Development during the Eighth National
Economic and Social Development Plan 1997-2001 has
established the major goal
that all parties in society should participate in child development based on the
Convention, and that
every group of children should benefit equally.
- The
Eighth National Plan emphasizes human development, with children and youth
being placed at the centre of development. More services
have been
extended to cover the underprivileged groups in society. Participation by
children and youth at all levels of development
is encouraged. Achievement has
been seen at a certain level, although the impact of the unexpected economic
crisis has affected
children and young people in various ways in terms of
services from the State; budget allocations have been delayed and plans
adjusted.
- In
the policy and plans for developing the institution of the family, problems with
childrearing are cited and policies aimed at benefiting
the child have been
enacted. Emphasis is now placed on the development of the family’s,
the community’s and society’s
capacity to maximize the development
potential of children and youth. Details can be found in chapter V.
(b) National housing policy
- The
National Housing Authority does not have a direct policy on the promotion or
development of the child. However, preschool centres
have been set up to
provide day care to children whose parents have to be away at work. Various
types of activities are organized
during holidays and special occasions to
promote unity in the community. Examples are activities on Children’s Day
and Mother’s
Day. Children are encouraged to form groups and launch
activities beneficial to the community. Moreover, according to the Town and
Country Planning Act of 1975, open spaces or multipurpose areas must be
provided in housing estates or commercial complexes. Such spaces can be
transformed
into public parks, recreation areas, sports grounds, etc. so that
the residents of such places can make use of the areas. This will
aid in the
enhancement of public spaces and as such provide an appropriate environment for
child development.
(c) Policy on transportation
- The
Government has arranged to provide benefits to the child in the family, school
and society as follows:
- − The
Automobile Act of 1979: provisions are made in section 46 (1) that in order to
obtain a driving licence, a person must
be over 18 years of age and to obtain a
licence to drive a 30 cc motorcycle, the minimum age is 15 years;
- − The
Land Transport Act of 1979: the Central Committee for the Control of Land
Transport Fares has set up a fare reduction
scheme for students in grade 9 and
below travelling in school uniforms.
(d) Policy on environment
- With
regard to policies on the promotion and conservation of the environment, there
is no direct policy or plan of operation guided
specifically by the principle of
“the best interests of the child”. However, there is support for
activities for children
through campaigns, which raise children’s
awareness of the value of a clean and healthy environment so that they will help
in terms of conservation based on principles of sustainable development. Some
of the programmes initiated are, for instance, the
Children Love the Northeast
Forest project and the Youth Club for the Environment project. The Environment
Promotion and Conservation
Act of 1992 provided facilities for research and
study in support of activities for the environment among children studying at
various
levels - primary, secondary and higher learning. This includes actions
to encourage the building of more public parks serving as
rest and recreational
areas.
2. Budget allocations
- In
1998, the year of the economic crisis, children and youth were affected by
delays in allocations from the budget, and by the fact
that many families were
affected by job losses. The plan of operation for 1998, in accordance with
the Eighth National Child and
Youth Development Plan, whereby child-centred
development is the focus, is divided into two parts:
(a) The Child
and Youth Development Plan was developed in response to the economic crisis; a
plan set up to meet the exigencies of
the situation. In this plan, a total
of 246,487.9 million baht was made available for the following:
(i) Opportunities for procurement of work for young people;
(ii) Financial support for education;
(iii) Development and assistance to underprivileged children;
(iv) Child rights protection;
(b) Thirty-four plans of operation
in line with the Children and Youth Development Plan for the fiscal year 1998,
with a total budget
of 35,187.94 million baht. For the budget year 1999, a
total of 825,000 million baht was allocated, divided into two parts:
(i) 157,464 million baht (19.09 per cent of the national budget), was earmarked
for education and social services;
(ii) 31,539 million baht (3.82 per cent of the national budget), allocated
not with any specific purpose but with children and youth
as specific
beneficiaries. The budget was intended to cover six areas: agriculture;
trade and tourism; science, technology and energy; health; internal security;
and the Government’s general administration.
- From
the above, it can be seen that the Thai Government deems it important that the
development of children and youth bear in mind
the principle of “the best
interests of the child”. The Government has allocated 19.09 per cent of
the total budget
for the year 1999 to lay the groundwork for development
activities for the child. Opportunities in education have been extended
to
cover children of all groups. In addition, the Government aims at developing
the physical and mental well-being of the child,
with emphasis on health
promotion and drugaddiction prevention. It can be seen that, despite the
economic crisis, the Thai Government
has not cut down on matters concerning
child development, pursuing the best interests of the child and allowing the
child to develop
to his or her maximum
potential.
3. Adoption and placement of children
- Several
governmental and non-governmental organizations assist children in especially
difficult circumstances and also children in
institutional care. These agencies
range from the Department of Public Welfare, the SOS Foundation, and the
Foundation for the Better
Life of Children. Two main services are delivered, as
described below.
(a) Children in care
- The
Department of Public Welfare has set up various homes to take care of neglected
children, orphans, street children and other children
who, for one reason or
another, can no longer live with their families. This is meant to be a last
resort for the children.
- Services
provided include the basic necessities of life, rehabilitation, medical care,
education, occupational training, social welfare
work, behaviour management,
recreational facilities, disciplinary training, ethics and morality, job
procurement, as well as follow-up
when the child has left the institution. Some
NGOs also provide similar services.
(b) Assistance to children and families within the
community
- Services
provided include counselling of the child and the family, funds to start
incomegenerating activities, welfare for the family,
money for child support,
assistance for medical, and education costs, and other forms of financial
assistance which enable the child
to remain living in the family.
- In
1990, the Department of Public Welfare set up a pilot programme to help foster
families in land settlement areas under the Department’s
jurisdiction.
Coordination, training, seminars and field trips stressing the theoretical and
practical aspects of being a foster
parent were conducted. This helped to
prepare all parties, and included a process of familiarization for foster
families and children
prior to placement.
- Follow-up
is conducted through a home visit to the foster parents; evaluations are
conducted every two months.
4. The administration of justice for children
- The
Act Instituting the Juvenile and Family Courts and the Juvenile and Family
Procedure of 1991, currently in force, is aimed at
protecting and assisting
children and youth, safeguarding the interests of the young, and setting up
appropriate procedures for dealing
with young people who have broken the law.
The main principle is to allow the young to have an opportunity to redeem
themselves
and undergo rehabilitation and self-reflection, which will increase
self-knowledge and personal awareness. Emphasis is not placed
on the penalty or
punishment, as is the case with adults (details are in chapter VIII).
5. Measures in dealing with displaced persons and
migrants
- There
are a large number of displaced persons from neighbouring countries living in
Thailand. They can be divided into two groups.
The first are those who have
fled their own country due to internal unrest, fighting or political threat.
The second group are
those who have come to Thailand for economic reasons.
Under Thai law, both groups are considered illegal immigrants. In practice,
however, Thailand gives assistance for humanitarian reasons to those seeking
asylum. Temporary refuge is provided, along with assistance
in terms of food
and shelter, as well as basic health care and protection for their property and
personal safety. Once the situation
has stabilized enough to allow for a
safe passage home, these people are repatriated to their own country under the
supervision of
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees and NGOs under a joint agreement.
- Thus,
children accompanying their parents or unaccompanied children will be treated in
the same way as their parents and other displaced
persons. They will receive
treatment based on humanitarian principles, and provided with accommodation,
food, education, health
and medical care. Such services are provided by NGOs
under the close supervision of the Government (see chapter VIII for further
details).
6. Mechanisms for follow-up
- The
Constitution provides for the creation of independent bodies to handle the
followup of national operations. They are the Ombudsmen and the
National Commission for Human Rights. Nevertheless, the mechanisms for
follow-up of national policy implementation
have not been working in a concrete
way yet.
7. The training curriculum for those working for
children
- Governmental
and non-governmental agencies have utilized the principles and substance of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child
as guidelines for operations concerned
with children; training has been provided to create awareness about child rights
in accordance
with the Convention. Seminars on various topics concerning the
Convention have been organized for people who work with children,
such as
academics, lawyers, physicians, judges, attorneys, prosecutors, teachers, social
workers, psychiatrists, social welfare officials,
representatives of the media,
religious leaders and community leaders and others who work with matters
pertaining to children to
provide them with knowledge and an understanding of
child rights.
Problems
- Despite
the fact that several Thai laws have been amended and updated to bring them into
line with the Convention, there are still
a number of constraints on the
enforcement of those laws and regulations, meaning that some groups of children
are not treated appropriately.
- Although
Thailand has set up a number of policies and development plans to serve as
guidelines for the agencies working for children,
in practice, implementing
agencies and some local people still lack thorough knowledge and understanding
about child rights. This
has resulted in discrepancies in practice, as well as
discrimination.
- In
implementing activities for the maximum benefit of children in the family,
school and community, not enough coverage is attained.
Some groups of
children are still lacking in services from the Government, such as those living
in remote rural areas and those
suffering from physical abuse.
- Many
activities are not organized specifically to meet the needs of
children.
Solutions
- Law
enforcement should be encouraged to treat children from all groups equally,
bearing in mind the principle of “the best interests
of the
child”.
- Knowledge
of child rights should be widely disseminated among agencies and organizations
working in child-related fields.
- Cooperation
among governmental and non-governmental agencies and communities
in conducting joint operations that result in the greatest
benefits for
children should be strengthened, and child participation in the organization of
activities should be encouraged.
C. Rights to life, survival and development
General situation
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997 guaranteed the provision and promotion of
standard and effective heath services for all. The health services
operation as
provided under the Eighth National Social and Economic Development Plan
(1997-2001) was found to have achieved many
goals at a certain level. Maternal
and child health problems were reduced to a certain extent. The service
emphasized health promotion,
disease prevention, access to standard health
service and rehabilitation to enable people to achieve good physical and mental
health
and live happily in society.
- The
School Lunch Fund Act of 1992 operating in primary schools will continue,
allowing children to receive adequate food and reducing
the malnutrition
rate among children. Scholarships and loans for education are provided to
impoverished students so that they can
continue their studies from primary level
to university level, in addition to the free 12-year basic education (see
chapter VII for
further details).
- Regarding
the measures undertaken to ensure the registration of the deaths of children,
including the causes of death, the Department
of Local Administration, Ministry
of the Interior, is responsible for the issuance of death certificates when such
deaths are reported.
The certificates will state the cause of death; however,
in some cases, the death of a newborn infant is not always reported to
officials. In case of death from unnatural causes, investigation by a team of
government officials, comprising the police, health
or medical workers and local
administration officials, will be undertaken.
Measures to prevent children from committing
suicide
- In
Thailand, suicide is on the rise. Suicide rates have increased from 6.3 deaths
per 100,000 persons in 1992 to 8.1 deaths per 100,000
persons in 1996.
Regarding children and youth, from January to June 1998, 38 children aged
10-14 (9 boys and 29 girls) and 594 young
people (189 males and 405
females) aged 15-24 committed suicide, or 2.75 per cent and 43.04 per cent
respectively of the total number
(1,380) of suicides that year. The number of
young women attempting suicide is much higher than that of males (further
details can
be found in Thailand’s replies to the list of issues of
1998).
- Conscious
of the gravity of the problem, governmental and non-governmental agencies have
launched the following strategies to prevent
suicides:
- − Provision
of health, psychiatric and other related services by hospitals under the
Ministries of Public Health, Defence and
University Affairs and the Bangkok
Metropolitan Administration;
- − Provision
of training, guidance and assistance in crisis intervention by the Department of
Mental Health, the Ministry of
Public Health, the Ministry of University Affairs
and the Hot Line Foundation;
- − Provision
of counselling, assistance and welfare by the Department of Public Welfare, the
Department of General Education
and the Social Welfare Council
of Thailand;
- − Provision
of temporary accommodation by governmental and non-governmental agencies such as
the Association for the Promotion
of Women’s Rights, the Hot Line
Foundation, the Child Protection Foundation, the Centre for the Protection of
Children’s
Rights Foundation, the Child Foundation and the Foundation for
a Better Life for Children;
- − Reports
on coordination and assistance can be made 24 hours a day to the Mental Health
Department, the Office of the National
Police, So Wo Pho 91 Radio Station,
Television Channel 9, Ruam Duay Chauy Kan Radio programme and the Hot Line
Foundation.
- A
plan for family guidance and counselling services at the national level is being
formulated to promote the strengthening of family,
society and human rights
protection. Such a plan should help to reduce the rate of suicide and
strengthen families, making children
and youth stronger in body and
mind.
Problems
- Despite
the fact that policy and planning for development is focusing on the child, some
groups of children, especially children in
difficult circumstances, are not
receiving the assistance and services required to allow them to develop to their
full potential.
- The
fast-changing pace of society is causing confusion in the minds of the young.
Families have less time for their children, widening
the generation gap between
family members with the result that young people may be less able to cope with
the pressures of today’s
rapidly modernizing Thailand.
Solutions
- These
include plans to:
- − Further
develop and extend child-focused activities to enable all groups of children to
access services and assistance with
cooperation from everyone concerned, such
that all children will reach their full developmental potential;
- − Strengthen
the emotional and psychological well-being of the child, providing him or her
with the necessary problem-solving
and coping skills required to live
successfully in society. Advice and parenting skills should be provided to the
family.
D. Respect for the views of the child
General situation
- Thailand’s
initial report outlines the policy, legislation and procedures that allow the
child to express his or her views in
school, the courts and the community by
promoting the establishment of clubs, associations and youth centres, and
arrange for child
forums to allow the child the opportunity to express
his/her views on themselves and society.
- With
that in mind, the Constitution of Thailand of 1997 stipulates that a person has
the right to express his/her views, through freedom of speech, including written
publications and communication via other means. Every person reaching 18 years
by 1 January of an election year has the right to
vote.
- Other
measures supporting the child’s right to express his or her views and
opinions
are:
- − Judicial
procedures regarding children. The Civil and Commercial Code governing the
family stipulates that the court takes into consideration the happiness and best
interests
of the child if the parents divorce. There are some provisions that
allow the child to participate in legal procedures: in the
case of an adoption
by a man; in revoking the status of guardianship; and in the registration and
cancellation of adoption. A child
can attend court, unless a case is deemed to
be detrimental to him or her;
- − Social
measures have been implemented including raising family and public awareness
through campaigns regarding the rights of the child, particularly
the child’s right to express his or her views. There has also been
dissemination of the principles and provisions of the Convention
to
institutions and organizations concerned with children, especially among various
branches of the mass media;
- − Raising
an understanding of the Convention. The Convention has been
incorporated into the law curriculum of institutes of higher learning. Training
and education regarding the
Convention has been provided to professionals
working with children such as teachers, police, immigration officers, judges,
prosecutors,
military personnel, physicians, health workers and social
workers;
- − Listening
to children’s views. Governmental and non-governmental
organizations are aware of the importance of children’s views, and
measures are promoted to
allow the child to express views about self and
society. Forums for children to express their opinions are organized every year
both in central Thailand and the provinces. Activities for the promotion of
youth clubs in and out of schools are
supported.
- The
“Child Participation on CRC” programme, supported by UNICEF, was
launched at the local and national levels, with several
meetings attended by
children, enabling them to understand and gain knowledge about the Convention.
Opinions and views of the young
were sought for the report on the implementation
of the Convention, and the children’s continued interest in participating
in activities on child rights can be summarized as follows:
- − Children
expressed interest in participating in the reports on the implementation of the
Convention, and indicated that they
would like to make a children’s
report. Subjectmatter proposed by them included problems and recommendations on
child rights;
- − Children
proposed activities in connection with the Convention, such as campaigns and
dissemination of knowledge in schools,
communities and local areas;
- − Children
suggested that they should be networking together in order to inform, provide
counselling and assistance and problem-solve
regarding the violation of child
rights.
- On
the tenth anniversary of the Convention, Child Rights ASIANET, the National
Youth Bureau and the National Council for Child and
Youth Development, under the
auspices of UNICEF, held a national conference, “Promotion and protection
of child rights in Thailand:
a challenging lesson”, to provide a
forum and opportunity for children to express their views and needs to the rest
of society.
Problems
- Some
aspects of Thai culture obstruct the expression of opinions by children. Some
people are not willing to accept children’s
views. This makes the child
afraid to express any views that contradict those of adults. Activities
allowing the child to express
his or her views are still limited, and receive
inadequate publicity.
Solutions
- Widespread
campaigns could be organized to increase the acceptance of children’s
opinions by the public. These could cooperate
with agencies in the organization
of forums for the child to express his or her opinions on a wide scale, at the
local, national
and international levels.
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
- This
section responds to the general guidelines, paragraphs 48-61. The Thai
Constitution of 1997, chapter 3, sections 26-65, secures the rights and freedoms
of the Thai people, and are largely consistent with international principles on
human rights and
the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These rights are
concerned with the protection of privacy, religious freedom, the expression
of
opinions, the rights to a basic education, to health care, to protection against
violence and discrimination, and also the right
of the child to be protected and
cared for by the State, as specified in section 53.
- Chapter
6, sections 7 and 8, of the Constitution provide for the creation of independent
monitoring bodies, that is, the Ombudsmen and the National Human Rights
Commission, to monitor
and evaluate operations and activities by government
agencies, offices or officials and State enterprises concerning the
above-mentioned
rights and liberties. Also in the “watchdogs”
mandate is the power to investigate those operations that contribute to
human
rights violations, in particular, operations relating to policy proposals,
dissemination of information on human rights, and
promotion and coordination of
civil rights among governmental and non-governmental organizations and other
organizations working
in human rights. As the broader issue of human rights
measures encompasses the issue of child rights, legislation enacted pertaining
to this matter also leads to progress in the protection of child rights.
- In
practice, provisions stipulated in the Convention are included in the Eighth
National Plan on Children and Youth Development (1997-2001),
which has led to
the adoption of guidelines for implementation in judicial matters among agencies
at the local, provincial, regional
and national levels. The Juvenile and Family
Court, as well as other courts, have adopted the Convention as a framework for
legislation-related
matters concerning children. The details are described
below:
A. Name and nationality
General situation
- At
present, Thailand has a broad national system in place covering child
registration. In principle, each child is registered at
birth with a name
and birth certificate, whether the child is of Thai nationality or not; there
are, however, large numbers of children
without birth registration. This is due
to several reasons, the main ones being unawareness of the law and process for
birth registrations;
lack of awareness of the significance of or the benefits
attached to birth registration; and problems arising from corruption among
some
officials. The Department of Local Administration, the Ministry of the
Interior - the office responsible for central registration
- is
attempting to solve those problems through the mass media. Utilizing public
information announcements and knowledge dissemination
campaigns, the Government
is attempting to inform the public about the process of birth registration and
its importance in terms
of the civil benefits. Annual training for personnel
engaged in providing registration services is provided to ensure knowledge
and
understanding of the issues surrounding birth registration, and that the
procedures and regulations are followed.
1. Registration of birth
- The
Civil Registration Act of 1991 and the regulations of the Central Registration
Office on Civil Registration, 1992 stipulate the time frame and process for
registering a birth in the home and outside of the home of any child with or
without Thai nationality. The report of the birth must
be made to the
registration officer of that locality within 15 days of the birth. Upon
registration, the registrar will issue a
birth certificate as evidence of the
birth. Birth certificates are classified into three categories: (1) a birth
certificate called
Tor. Ro. 1 is issued to a child
- with
Thai nationality and whose birth is reported within the time stipulated; (2) a
birth certificate called Tor. Ro. 2 is issued
to a child with Thai nationality
and whose birth was reported outside of the time frame; and (3) a birth
certificate called Tor.
Ro. 3 is issued to a child without
Thai nationality.
- All
three categories of birth certificate give specific details about the child:
identity number, given name, surname, gender, time
and date of birth,
nationality, birthplace, name of parents, address of parents and name of the
reporter of the birth. The steps
for registering the birth of a child either in
or outside of a hospital are as follows:
(a) Birth in a hospital.
A paper certifying the birth is issued by the hospital to the parents and then
submitted to the local registrar
with the request for a birth certificate. The
local registration office will issue the birth certificate and add the name of
the
child to the house register;
(b) Birth outside the hospital. The father, mother or house owner must
report the birth to the village headman or the kamnan. A birth report
will be issued and forwarded to the local registrar who will issue a birth
certificate as in (a).
- Hospital
doctors or directors of heath stations can issue papers certifying a birth,
which can be used as evidence to obtain a birth
certificate. Thai
nationals and aliens with birth report evidence can use such documents in
contacting government offices. Such
agencies -governmental and
non-governmental - have taken measures to inform the public of their rights
and responsibilities in connection
with birth registration.
- Since
December 1995, the Civil Registration Service has been updating the birth
registration system, and currently 505 provincial
registration offices in 75
provinces and the Bangkok Metropolis are computerized, thus expediting the
registration process. All
district and local registration offices will be
computerized in the near future. Mobile services for remote communities and
areas
will also be provided.
- For
displaced children fleeing armed conflicts and other displaced children, the
Ministry of the Interior has set up a registration
service for displaced persons
residing in temporary displaced persons camps along the borders in Mae Hong Son,
Tak, Kanchanaburi
and Ratchaburi. Details of each family are listed as follows:
size of family, names, nationality, sex, dates of birth, dates of
death, and
photographs. The data contained therein will be updated monthly. A newly born
infant will be added to the family registration.
2. The acquisition of Thai nationality
- Details
relating to this matter were provided in Thailand’s initial report and
Thailand’s replies to the list of issues
of 1998, which addressed aspects
related to the Nationality Act of 1992. This states that offspring of at
least one parent holding
Thai nationality acquire Thai nationality
automatically. For those born in Thailand but without that prerequisite for
Thai nationality
- such as children of illegal immigrants or persons
temporarily residing in the
- country
and children of displaced persons or minority groups - section 2 of the
Nationality Act of 1992 allows them to apply for Thai
nationality on an
individual basis. However, some Thai children still face problems relating
to lack of birth documents, leading
to an inability to register, and subsequent
non-recognition as Thai nationals.
- Birth
documents will be issued for children born to illegal immigrants in Thailand,
and hence the child will not be deprived of basic
benefits such as health, a
basic standard of living and education in particular, as this contributes to
improving the quality of
life for all people. The Thai Government also
provides educational assistance to children in neighbouring countries adjacent
to
the Thai border. Cambodian children can attend schools in border areas in
Thailand and will be equally treated without discrimination.
This is based on
the principle of peaceful coexistence among people in the same country,
neighbouring countries, and the same and
neighbouring regions in the
world.
3. The child’s right to know and be cared for by his or
her parents
- There
are two pieces of legislation supporting the child’s right to information
relating to the identity of his or her parents.
Section 25 of the Official
Information Act of 1997 states that a person has the right to access personal
information held in government records. Once that person makes a request
in
writing, the government office in charge of that information must allow access
to those documents or a copy thereof. In ensuring
that the child knows his or
her parents, section 14 of the Civil Registration Act of 1991 stipulates that
the person who appears in the records, as in section 12, or a
representative of that person, if a child,
may request the registrar to copy and
certify his or her registration records.
- Regarding
the child’s right to be cared for by his or her parents, the Civil and
Commercial Code, Part 5, on Family, stipulates
that parents are responsible for
providing adequate care and education to their children, and that it is the
right of the parents
to have guardianship of their children. Section 53 of the
1997 Constitution of Thailand stipulates that children without any guardian
have the right to be cared for and educated by the State,
more specifically,
by the Department of Public Welfare. Some of the
non-governmental agencies providing alternative care for children include the
Holt
Sahathai Foundation, the SOS Foundation, the Centre for the Protection
of Children’s Rights Foundation and the Slum Infants
Foundation (see
chapter V for further details).
Problems
- Some
people, Thai and non-Thai, especially hill-tribe people, are not familiar with
the law and the procedures involved in registering
a birth. Some people are
unaware of the importance and benefits of reporting a birth in terms of access
to health care and education.
Some people, due to poverty or a nomadic
lifestyle, relocate to other towns or regions to find work, and may not have
time to complete
the registration process.
- Lack
of professional service, corruption and discriminatory treatment from officials
may cause difficulties for some people wishing
to register a birth. For example
some officials may require an unofficial “fee” or request more
papers than are actually
necessary in order to register a birth.
Solutions
- The
public must be informed of the importance and benefits of the registration of
the births of their children, including the rights
and entitlements derived from
the registration. Information must be provided to the village heads and the
kamnan so that this can be passed on to the villagers. Information
regarding the procedures must be disseminated for registering a birth.
Consciousness-raising training of officials must be organized so that they can
comply with the Ministry’s directives and regulations,
and offer a
better service to the public. And evaluations must be conducted, with a view to
the continuous improvement of the accessibility
of the nationwide population
registration system, especially with regard to the registration of the highland
people living in 20
provinces.
B. Preservation of identity
General situation
- Thailand
has no law governing the preservation of identity, but at the same time people
are not deprived of their right to preserve
their identity and culture. This
was reported in the initial report and Thailand’s replies to the list of
issues of 1998.
The Official Information Act of 1997, section 23,
specifies governmental agencies’ practice on the management of personal
data. Article (2) states, “An attempt must
be made to obtain direct
information from the owner, particularly if such information bears a direct
effect on that person.”
Article (5) states, “Appropriate security
systems must be provided to safeguard such personal information to prevent
inappropriate
usage or usage which may negatively affect the owner.” This
also includes the protection of the personal rights of the child
about whom the
information refers.
- The
Government has implemented a new policy (1999-2003) with a special focus on the
five southern provinces in terms of strengthening
human and social development
alongside the preservation of local culture and identity and the local way of
life. Support has been
given to encourage public participation in the
development of the locality, as well as cooperation with the Muslim population.
Islamic
schools teach a general mainstream curriculum in conjunction with
Islamic religious education; the curriculum and the systems of
learning and
teaching have been adjusted to be congruous with the Islamic way of life and
culture, for children and adults at all
levels, be it school, vocational or
higher learning.
- The
Government is aware of the significant vulnerability of hill-tribe minority
groups, who live in 20 different provinces in the
central north and west of
Thailand. A policy on the implementation of development and assistance to
hill-tribe people was formulated
in 1951 with the Department of Public
Welfare serving as the core implementation agency (details in chapter VIII
of Thailand’s
initial report and this report).
C. Freedom of expression
General situation
- Regarding
freedom of expression, the Thai Constitution, section 39, states, “A
person shall enjoy the liberty to express his or her opinion, make speeches,
write, print, publish, and make expression
by other means.” There are
provisions in Thai legislation and other measures in place which support public
and family awareness
regarding the child’s right to freedom of expression
as well as the promotion of opportunities to exercise this right in school
and
out of school, including those children under the care of institutions.
Opportunities are open for young people to form groups
or clubs, which can
express representative views or thoughts freely (refer also to chapter
III).
- In
addition, the main intention of the Official Information Act is to allow the
people access to information concerning the work of the Government, and thereby
be able to express a fully informed
opinion on government matters; this is
a significant step in support of an accountable and transparent democracy.
Access to official
information is crucial in providing support to the child in
his or her quest for knowledge and the receipt of this knowledge without
prejudice.
Problems
- Despite
changes in the methods and ideas by which a child is raised in Thailand,
Thai families retain some core traditional values,
such as respect for
elders - the young must be obedient, grateful and humble, and not demonstrate
aggression. Such an attitude can
work against the child’s right to
freedom of expression, with children afraid to act in a way that adults might
consider disrespectful.
Solutions
- Campaigns
to sensitize families and the public about the child’s right to freedom of
expression, as a valued member of the family
and society, with the right to
express opinions and feelings on matters affecting them, should be
conducted.
D. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
- This
issue was addressed previously in Thailand’s initial report, chapter VIII,
and Thailand’s replies to the list of
issues of 1998. Section 38 of the
1997 Constitution states that a person has the right to follow any religion,
sect or creed. A person has the right to perform religious rites in accordance
with his or her beliefs as long as such actions are not contrary to his or her
duty as a citizen or to the law and order and ethics
of the people.
- At
present, government policy allows religious teaching to be conducted side by
side with general and vocational subjects. Qualifications
obtained from
religious classes can be considered equivalent to the qualifications obtained in
general education, and are recognized
by employers when applying for jobs. Some
workplaces provide space for religious rituals, such as prayer rooms for Muslim
employees.
E. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly
General situation
- This
was reported in chapter III of Thailand’s initial report. Section 44 of
the 1997 Constitution states that a person is free to join a peaceful
and unarmed assembly. Section 45 states that persons have the freedom to
assemble together and form an association, union, federation, farmers’
group, non-governmental
organization or other kind of group.
- The
National Plan for Children and Youth Development of the Eighth National Economic
and Social Development Plan 1997-2001 promotes
the formation of groups according
to the interests of young people, to be administered by young people themselves.
Governmental and
non-governmental organizations have continuously undertaken the
task of promoting and establishing groups, youth centres and assemblies
for
children and youth of all age groups in schools, in the community and in
institutions of learning, as can be seen in the following:
- − There
are 6,987 rural youth centres with 1,122,381 (as of September 1998) members aged
15-25 under the Department of Community
Development. Activities include
leadership training and incomegeneration training;
- − There
are 100 youth groups supported by the Department of Accelerated Rural
Development with 3,000 members aged 15-25 each
year. Activities and promotional
functions include the provision of basic knowledge in assembly and short courses
in occupational
training;
- − Young
farmers groups supported by the Department of Agricultural Extension number
7,039 with 136,857 members (December 1998)
aged 10-35. Activities conducted
include leadership training and income generation for youth;
- − Bangkok
Metropolitan youth centres number 26 with 232,152 members (December 1998)
aged below 25. Activities include recreation
and sports, occupational training
and development service to the community.
- Besides
the promotion of activities among children and youth at community and local
levels, governmental and non-governmental organizations
have joined forces in
organizing annual national forums such as the child rights forum, the youth
forum and the youth federation
with attendance by children from all over the
country. They share and exchange views and ideas, as well as presenting the
outcomes
of their local community activities, the problems and obstacles
encountered, and suggestions regarding policy to be conveyed to the
Government
and concerned agencies.
Problems
- National
forums for children and youth provide the opportunity for children to present
their own problems and related opinions and
exercise their right to freedom of
expression in a democratic way. Nevertheless, most of the time, such activities
are initiated
not by children themselves but by adults or people engaged in
child-related work. There is no organization run solely by young people,
making
it difficult for them to carry on this work on a continuous basis.
Solutions
- Governmental
and non-governmental organizations have proposed the creation of a national
child and youth council, which would serve
to promote and implement the
principle of the best interests of the child. Such a body would be responsible
for initiating the organization
of a forum by children, for children.
F. Protection of privacy
General situation
- With
regard to the right to protection of privacy of the Thai people, including
children, the Thai Constitution of 1997, section 34, states that “... a
person’s family rights, dignity, reputation or the right to privacy shall
be protected.” Personal
information disseminated to the public,
whether in words or in pictures, is prohibited as a violation of the right to
privacy. A
person is protected against prying, snooping, spying and any
other annoyance, providing, however, that such protection does not amount
to
infringement on other people’s rights or violates law and order and the
proper conduct of the people.
- The
Official Information Act of 1997 contains a provision giving protection to
personal rights; personal information cannot be used by the State without
the consent
of the person concerned. Exceptions are made for gathering routine
population data, statistics or household registration information,
or in
connection with legal cases and court matters. The twentieth amendment to
the Criminal Procedure Code of 1999 provides protection
to the child during the
process of investigation in that the investigating official may use an audio or
video recording of the witness.
This would be set up in a special place for the
interrogation of a child witness or plaintiff, with the attendance of a
psychologist
or a social worker during the trial.
- With
regard to children in institutional care, the Observation and Protection Centre
under the Central Juvenile and Family Court has
established regulations
governing the operation of training centres, under which there are no special
measures for the protection
of the privacy of the child. Officials closely
supervise the time and the number of visitors, as well as contact with outsiders
either in person or by post. This is thought to be in the best interests of the
child or for the trial.
Problems
- The
issue of rights and freedoms, especially the right to privacy, is something
quite new to Thai society. Many officials do not
realize the importance of the
matter; agencies do not have regulations promoting and protecting
children’s privacy.
Solutions
- Training
and information dissemination regarding the rights and freedoms outlined in the
Constitution, especially the right to privacy, should be provided to agencies,
organizations, institutions and members of the public responsible
for the care
and protection of children.
G. Access to appropriate information
General situation
1. The production and dissemination of information,
books
and materials for children
- The
Ministry of Education is the major government agency responsible for the
publication and distribution of children’s books
in the promotion of peace
and happiness in society and the physical and mental health of the child.
Activities include the following:
(a) The promotion of the
production of children’s books. The National Book Development Committee
organizes an annual book
fair and competition. In 2000, the thirtyeighth year
of the book fair, 338 titles published in 1999 entered the competition: 6
were
for children aged 3-5; 29 for children aged 6-11; 97 for children aged 12-14; 43
were beautiful books for children and 5 were
cartoons. In 1999, the committee
launched a competition for the best translated books printed between 1996 and
1999. The source
languages of the books included English, French, German,
Chinese and Japanese and the target language was Thai. A total of 107
titles
entered the competition: 9 were for children aged 3-5; 18 for children
aged 611; and 54 were for the 12- to 14-year-old group;
(b) Supplementary reading books. The Department of Curriculum and
Instruction Development has produced and selected a number of
external reading
books to enable students at all levels to supplement their education and
learning on various subjects. There are
about 2030 books for each subject.
The school is responsible for the selection and procurement of books under each
subject title
for the school library; the students should not need to buy
them;
(c) Community learning centre. The Non-Formal Education Department has set
up 8,601 community learning centres all over the country
to assist people
in the community to take advantage of education and training opportunities.
Knowledge from outside the community
will be integrated with the knowledge
inside the community, encouraging members of the community to continue lifelong
learning.
The centres are staffed with qualified teachers who provide a
diversity of learning materials and mediums such as documents, books,
textbooks,
newspapers, periodicals and electronic media such as radio, television and
equipment for receiving satellite programmes.
- Writers
and publishers hold prime place when it comes to the production and distribution
of children’s books. Some Thai books
have been published but the number
is not large, due to financial constraints. This has given rise to an influx of
Japanese cartoons,
some of which contain pictures and stories portraying
violence or pornography. These are on sale in kiosks or shops in the streets.
Their price is not high as the printers do not have to spend a large sum of
money on them.
2. National cooperation in the production, exchange
and
dissemination of information and materials
- There
has been some cooperation among Asian-Pacific countries in this respect in
several programmes such as the project for cooperation
in the production and
dissemination of children’s books. Members of UNESCO joined forces in
producing books of good quality
and of interest to children. These were used
for cultural and value exchanges, as well as to enhance better understanding
among
children and people within the same region. The original versions were
written in English, with a total of 28 titles produced in
January 2000. These
books have been translated into 37 languages with a total production of 4
million copies. Each member country
is responsible for the translation and
production in their own language.
3. Developing appropriate guidelines to protect children
from
exposure to media and information harmful to them
- The
legislation currently applied, such as the Printing Act of 1941, the Penal Code,
section 287, and Revolutionary Announcement No.
3, 1976, are rather obsolete and
unable to adequately address crimes associated with modern communication
technologies such as the
Internet. A large number of pornographic pictures,
films and magazines are in circulation with the mechanisms of justice unable
to
catch up with them.
- Some
agencies, such as the Foundation for Child Development, are aware of the impact
exposure to harmful information through the media
might have on children. The
Foundation, in cooperation with academics and others interested in the issue of
the media and children,
have organized several activities such as a study of the
impact of the mass media on the child. Aside from forums regarding these
issues
- allowing professionals and members of the public to raise concerns - a series
of workshops have been organized to create
knowledge and understanding as to
appropriate selection and supervision of material for parents and teachers in
the Bangkok metropolitan
and rural areas. The Foundation also supports the
development of suitable material for children, such as production of radio
programmes
by children and for children, and public awareness campaigns
regarding the importance of the issue and impact of media on children.
- In
addition, UNICEF has consulted with academics, the media, and agencies and
organizations working with children to plan and formulate
programmes to
sensitize the mass media to the significance of their role in providing
knowledge for child development without violating
child rights. In 1999, a
media awareness-raising conference was held to sensitize the media to child
rights issues.
Problems
- In
terms of entries in the book contest each year, the number of cartoons aimed at
the 311 year age group is quite small. The production
and sale of
children’s books still face some financial constraints, resulting in a
comparatively small number of such books
being produced for general sale.
- Legislation
and regulations governing the media are somewhat obsolete and do not cover
modern communication technologies. Children
lack judgement in selecting
appropriate and useful information.
Solutions
- Various
categories of writers, particularly writers of children’s books, are very
much in demand. Sources of funding to support
the sale and production of
children’s books need to be found. The relevant legislation needs
updating, particularly in terms
of penalties and the components of criminal
liability. A campaign should be undertaken to provide knowledge to parents
regarding
the supervision of children in accessing age-appropriate materials, in
particular mechanisms - such as computer programmes - which
prevent Internet
access to pornography or other indecent material.
H. The right not to be subjected to torture or other
cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
General situation
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997 protects the right to human dignity, human
rights and personal privacy. Slavery cannot be imposed on adults
or children.
People may not participate in unethical laboratory or medical experiments.
According to criminal law, penalties involving
severe torture or punishment of
children are forbidden, and such treatment is not a procedure in the Thai
judicial system.
1. Awareness campaigns
- In
Thailand, awareness campaigns to prevent torture or other inhuman punishment of
children have been conducted on a continuous basis
in families, schools and
communities. Regulations are in force prohibiting the use of children in
experiments which may affect their
physical and mental well-being. In 2000, the
Ministry of Education issued regulations on the promotion and protection of
child rights
in schools. Other regulations prohibiting severe punishment of
pupils and students were also issued in that year. A “Forum
for
Children” is organized annually by governmental and non-governmental
organizations to publicize this issue and to campaign
for awareness among people
who are engaged in child-related work at all levels.
2. Educational and training activities
- Attempts
have been made to increase the knowledge and skills of people who are engaged in
child-related work such as social workers,
physicians, lawyers and others in the
judicial system involved in the care of children, as well as youth leaders in
schools and clubs
nationwide. With increased knowledge and capacity, the
mechanisms and processes in place for the protection for children will become
more effective. Training has also been provided for government officials and
non-governmental staff. Manuals have also been printed
and distributed, such as
the Manual on the Provision of Assistance and Protection to Children, published
by the Department of Public
Welfare for its staff and the general public. The
Child Rights Protection Network was established, with collaboration from
governmental
and nongovernmental organizations, to provide protection to
children. There are child rights
- protection
centres staffed by multidisciplinary teams of volunteers willing to work for
children. A Child Rights Network was also
established, run by children
themselves, to provide knowledge on the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
and follow-up on cases
of violation of child rights in communities and
localities.
3. Cases where children have been victims of such acts
- Torture
or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of children is
an offence in accordance with criminal law. Children
can lodge complaints
against the offenders and cases can be tried with penalties imposed on the
violators. Governmental and nongovernmental
organizations are ready to provide
assistance in dealing with such cases.
4. Measures adopted to prevent impunity for
perpetrators
- Generally,
in law, the offenders are held responsible, but in practice, some problems do
occur in law enforcement due to some officials’
dishonesty.
5. Measures adopted to ensure the physical and
psychological
recovery and reintegration of children
- Many
governmental and non-governmental organizations are ready to provide assistance.
These include the Department of Public Welfare,
the Centre for the Protection of
Children’s Rights Foundation and many other organizations working to
protect child rights
on a multidisciplinary basis. Sessions of periodic
training are provided to create awareness, knowledge and understanding of
integrated
approaches to child protection work in metropolitan and rural areas.
Legal assistance and rehabilitation is provided, and children
subjected to
torture or violence receive treatment from medical doctors and psychologists.
There are permanent and emergency homes
for children, where they can be admitted
for such treatment. The eventual aim of the treatment programme is eventual
reintegration
of children with their own families - where appropriate - when
they are physically and psychologically ready.
6. Independent monitoring system
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997 states that an independent body called the
Ombudsmen is responsible for the receipt and investigation of complaints
regarding impunity for perpetrators who are government officials. An Ombudsmen
Act accompanying the Constitution was enacted with effect from 15 September
1999. The committee selecting the Ombudsmen has searched through governmental
and non-governmental
organizations for highly qualified appointees. Two such
persons have already been appointed. The Constitution stipulates that the
number of Ombudsmen must not exceed three. The service was formally announced
and began accepting complaints
at the beginning of 2000.
- The
Constitution, however, does not specify that one of the three Ombudsmen should
bear particular responsibility for child-related matters. This
has been a
source of disappointment among people engaged in child welfare-related work, and
attempts have been made to persuade the
committee to select at least one
inspector with a specific and proven interest in child-related issues.
- In
addition to the independent body of parliamentary inspectors, the 1997
Constitution also stipulates that a human rights commission be established, that
is, an independent body to investigate and report on violations
of human rights.
The commission’s additional functions would be to monitor and evaluate
policy and legislation development,
and to put forward proposals to parliament,
the Cabinet and the public regarding amendments for the improvement of laws,
rules and
regulations in the promotion and protection of human rights.
- The
Human Rights Commission Act was promulgated and came into effect
on 26 November 1999. The commission comprises 11 members including
the chairperson; selection from the 22 nominees shortlisted from the initial
list of 200 eligible and suitable persons is under way.
It has been stipulated
that commission members must demonstrate a remarkable performance in protecting
human rights, with particular
consideration for gender cooperation. Commission
members should represent both governmental and non-governmental organizations.
From the 22 nominees, several are well known in the field of child-related work,
particularly those from the non-governmental sector;
it is hoped that this
committee will be effective in dealing with the investigation of child rights
abuses.
Problems
- Some
people still lack respect for child rights. Problems exist in law enforcement.
Independent mechanisms for direct assistance
to children are inadequate. Many
victimized children are afraid of lodging complaints, as most offenders are
members of their own
family or people close to them.
Solutions
- Awareness-raising
campaigns regarding the prevention of torture and violence to children,
especially in the family and community,
should be strengthened. Periodic and
continuous training should be organized for people in child-related work to
ensure awareness
of their role in the development and care of children,
particularly in terms of applying nonviolent methods of punishment. The law
should be strengthened to make it more effective in practice, and independent
assistance mechanisms for children should also be strengthened.
Child
assistance networks in communities should be expanded to provide more systematic
assistance to children subject to abuse,
torture and violence.
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
A. Parental guidance
General situation
- The
majority of Thai families have three to five family members, most of whom are
farmers or employees. In general, both the father
and mother seek employment
outside the home out of financial necessity. Increasingly, the family and local
community have been less
able to take care of children due to economic
constraints, social conditions, culture, tradition and changing values. This
has led
to increasing problems for children, especially for the
- underprivileged,
including those of child abuse, child labour, child prostitution and HIV
infection. At the same time, some children
may have behavioural and
psychological problems due to inappropriate child-rearing - either raised too
strictly or suffering due
to neglecting.
- The
family survey conducted by the Department of Public Welfare in 1999
targeting 69,463 communities showed that 9.11 per cent of
families were
composed of father, mother and children. Results showed, inter alia,
that 23.51 per cent of children under 10 years
lived with their parents;
55.62 per cent of the families had no child with a disability; 95.64 per cent of
children never sought
to escape from home; 73.61 per cent of family members were
aware of their fundamental rights and responsibilities; and 87.02 per
cent had
knowledge about social service providers.
- Consistently,
surveys on the health condition of Thais (1996-1997) showed with respect to
domestic violence that 10.5 per cent of
6- to 12-year-old children had
experienced the problem; 6.6 per cent were violently abused; 0.2 per cent
experienced sexual abuse.
The statistics revealed a trend in the family
problems of Thais.
- Consequently,
Thailand has adopted measures to guide family responsibilities in the
regard:
- − The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997 stipulates that children and young people are
entitled to protection of their fundamental rights and liberties.
These include
basic services from the State such as education, health care, etc.;
- − Section
1564 of the Civil and Commercial Code states that “parents are bound to
maintain their children and to provide
proper education for them during their
minority”;
- − The
National Plan for Children and Youth Development under the Eighth National Plan
(1997-2001) was the framework for the
strategy on facilitating an environment
for the proper development of children, embracing the family and community
approach.
- Furthermore,
counselling services are provided by governmental and non-governmental
organizations regarding parenting and family problems,
as well as education
programmes for parents and children to raise awareness of child rights.
- At
the national level, policies have been set to develop guidance and counselling
networks for families, to improve the quality of
services, and to enable
governmental and nongovernmental organizations to collaborate efficiently in
offering counselling and family
therapy to families and communities. Five plans
have been established to facilitate the policies: Prevention of Family Problems
Plan; Guidance and Counselling Services for Families Plan; Personnel Development
Plan; Research Plan; and Development of Surveillance
Systems Plan. Those
responsible include governmental and non-governmental organizations, civil
organizations and the media.
Problems
- Some
families and communities still lack knowledge and understanding regarding child
rights, and may not view raising and educating
children to develop to their full
potential as a priority. The solidarity of the community has decreased, which
adversely affects
the way community members care for one another.
- There
is an inadequate/disproportionate number of skilled personnel in both
governmental organizations and NGOs to address the increasing
severity of the
problems:
due to the economic crisis, funding from both governmental
organizations and NGOs has decreased, meaning that many development programmes
and projects have been discontinued. Furthermore, budgetary allocations have
not always been distributed in terms of need, and therefore
have not always
reached the most vulnerable groups.
- Guidance
and counselling services for families lack direction, are unsystematic and
inadequate, as well as understaffed. The local
administrative councils have so
far not received support for their work to develop programmes for children and
families.
- The
Eighth National Economic and Social Development Plan is facing a budgetary
crisis, and therefore not all projects can be implemented.
Evaluation focuses
on the work undertaken instead of the impact on the children, and the approach
is not holistic.
Solutions
- Governmental
organizations and NGOs should aim to concretely, continuously and effectively
implement policies and plans for child
and family development programmes without
reducing the budget.
- The
competent institutions and agencies should provide education that improves
workers’ skills in child and family counselling
and community development
in order to produce enough skilled personnel.
- Government
programmes should aim to provide knowledge, create understanding and offer
appropriate guidance on parenting skills to
parents, people involved in
children’s upbringing, and local administrative organizations.
- Family
activities focusing on child development should be organized and promoted by
local government administrations and community
organizations.
Community-initiated projects should be implemented, with local management that
is integrated and cooperative representing
governmental organizations and NGOs,
with a budget that is coherent and transparent. Plans should be based on
increasing self-reliance
within the family and the community. There should be
specified indicators to gauge the success of a project by measuring the outcomes
and the benefits to the target group.
- The
State should encourage local administrative organizations to carry out their
duties as indicated in the Local Council and Local
Administrative Council Acts
of 1994.
B. Parental responsibilities
General situation
- In
order to raise public awareness about parental responsibilities to children and
their development, legal measures have been established
as
follows:
- − The
Civil and Commercial Code, Book 5 regarding the family, stipulates that parents
should look after and provide adequate
education for their children;
- − The Act
Instituting the Juvenile and Family Courts and the Juvenile and Family
Procedures of 1991 were aimed at the rehabilitation
of children and
juveniles;
- − The
Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act of 1996 has a clause that
punishes guardians who play a role in luring
children and teenagers into
prostitution.
- Nevertheless,
at present there is no systematic data collection to reflect how effective these
legal measures are. In addition, there
are three measures that assist parents
in the upbringing of their children, namely: childcare services, assistance and
development
for children and academic institutions.
1. Childcare services
- Childcare
centres have been established to relieve the burden of working parents or
guardians and provide the child with appropriate
activities in a stimulating
environment to prepare the child for school.
2. Assistance and development for children
- Various
programmes are targeted towards assistance and development for children from
impoverished families, including those by Government
at national, regional and
local levels.
- Various
programmes are targeted towards assistance and development for children in
welfare centres, including those by Government
at national, regional and local
levels.
3. Academic institutions
- The
National Institute for Child and Family Development has been established within
the structure of Mahidol University as a centre
of expertise for the issue.
Its mission and responsibilities are to develop a body of new knowledge,
personnel training, networking,
information and knowledge dissemination, to be a
supportive body for children and family development, capacity-building for
children
and youth, as well as coordinate with organizations working in the
field at community, provincial and national levels.
- Awareness-raising
of basic principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
e.g. nondiscrimination, best interests of the
child, respect for the
opinions of the child, the right to survival, life and development and so on.
Activities under this category
included training of personnel in the agencies
working for children and youth and projects on family development.
- Family
counselling services are available at both private and public institutions,
e.g. hospitals, medical schools in the provinces,
provincial offices,
mental health centres, public welfare centres. There are also some
philanthropic entities making the service
available for underprivileged children
such as children with disabilities, drug addicts, HIV/AIDS-infected children,
etc.
Problems
- There
are no universal standards for data collection agencies working with children.
The private sector minimally cooperates in providing
assistance, especially
to working parents employed in the private sector.
- Due
to the economic crisis, NGOs have not received subsidies and the number of
children and families who are suffering financially
has increased, meaning that
welfare services have been inadequate. State measures and mechanisms that
require high numbers of skilled
staff and are time-consuming, such as family
guidance and counselling services, cannot be effectively realized because of
lack of
skilled personnel.
- Sexual
inequality and double standards lead to problems such as the sexual exploitation
of women, the stigmatization of women becoming
pregnant outside marriage, and
child abandonment.
- Enforcement
of laws against alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and pornography is not yet
effective. There is no integrated approach
among agencies and some problems
with the decentralization of power to the community level.
Solutions
- The
State should encourage the private sector to participate in assisting their
employees with the provision of subsidized childcare.
The State should expedite
the strict enforcement of laws on alimony and child support for the single
parent.
- The
State should support the establishment of adequate family counselling services,
with emphasis placed on quality and ease of access
to the services. The State
should encourage kinship networks in order to address the problem of child
abandonment by providing financial
and other necessary assistance.
- The
State should create a social security net for children and young people. The
State should effectively enforce laws related to
children. The State should
produce, develop and motivate people to join the profession of family guidance
counsellors and therapists.
C. Separation from and reunification with parents
General situation
- Legal
measures and the law stipulate that the child has to stay with his/her parents.
If the child is to be separated from them,
it must be done within legal
procedures and by order of the courts.
- There
are many agencies, responsible such as:
- − The
Office of the Royal Thai Police;
- − The
Office of the Attorney-General;
- − The
Division for the Protection of Child Welfare;
- − The
Department of Public Welfare;
- − The
Central Juvenile and Family Court;
- − Other
private agencies.
- In
cases of child rights abuse, the following legal measures can be
taken:
- − Report
to the police or the Department of Public Welfare to investigate and seek legal
action against the violators, as well
as to provide appropriate assistance and
protection for the child; or
- − Report
to the non-governmental agencies involved to coordinate with the police and the
Department of Public Welfare to help
the child.
- Concerning
divorce, the law stipulates in section 1502 that a divorcing couple between
themselves state in writing who will be the
custodial parent. If agreement
cannot be reached, the courts decide based on who is deemed to be the most
suitable guardian, and
the best interests of the child.
- In
separating the child from his or her guardian, the court will allow all parties,
including the child, to participate and express
an opinion. There are measures
that guarantee the rights of the child to maintain personal relationships with
both parents, and
to be able to directly and continuously communicate with the
non-custodial parent. If a guardian should behave inappropriately,
the court
may reissue a custody order taking into account the best interests and happiness
of the child.
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997 stipulates the right to freedom to travel; this
enables a child to maintain a personal relationship with parents
who live in
another province or abroad.
- There
have been amendments to and the introduction of new laws and regulations that
benefit the child (see Introduction). Because
Juvenile and Family Courts are
not yet universally operational throughout Thailand, some children are
incarcerated in correctional
facilities during court proceedings and after
sentencing.
Problems
- If
a child has been separated from his or her parents because of criminal
behaviour, the court usually releases the child to the care
of his or her
guardians, contingent upon whether the guardian provides bail, even though no
bail may be required. This is to avoid
further problems and accusations of
discriminatory treatment. Temporary release is only granted after careful
consideration of the
best interests of the child.
- The
rehabilitation system is inefficient and ineffective due to many problems. For
example, there are no means by which to help families
rehabilitate young
offenders, and the family may not perceive its role as important in the
rehabilitation process. A network has
recently been established for the
community and other related local agencies to participate in monitoring the
child’s behaviour.
Solutions
- A
fund for the temporary release of young offenders has been established so that
they can take part in appropriate community activities.
Existing problems in
the detention system should be further examined in order to improve the quality
of rehabilitation provided,
and to ensure that child rights abuses
decrease.
- Alternative
options should be considered in some cases, such as transferring young offenders
from correctional facilities to observation
and protection centres so that the
child can engage in community service. Training regarding the spirit of the law
under the temporary
release scheme should be provided to administrative
personnel of the observation and protection centres.
D. Illicit transfer and non-return
General situation
- Due
to the economic crisis and the present social situation, children have become
more vulnerable to being lured into prostitution,
international human
trafficking, illegal labour and kidnapping.
- Legal
measures that Thailand presently employs to protect and address these problems
are the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution
Act of 1996, the Measures in
Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act of 1997 and
the Labour Protection
Act of 1998. The Money Laundering Control Act of 1999
stipulates that the trafficking of women and children is illegal.
- In
terms of administrative measures, a subcommittee has been appointed to
investigate the problems surrounding international human
trafficking in order to
create action plans and to seek cooperation nationally, bilaterally and
multilaterally. In addition, an
agreement of common guidelines has been drawn
up, to be utilized by both governmental and non-governmental organizations, to
expand
assistance for women and children of both Thai nationality and other
nationalities alike.
Problems
- In
practice, it has been difficult to arrest offenders - that is, the traffickers
and people smugglers. This would indicate that
the policies designed to protect
women and children from exploitation have only limited effectiveness in
practice. Kidnapping children
for the purpose of exploitation involves complex
methods and procedures; this makes the crime difficult to combat.
Solutions
- The
Government should rapidly act to amend laws to eliminate loopholes and issue
tighter laws to prevent the illegal removal and non-return
of children, while
ensuring that the laws are strictly enforced by police. The Government should
create local community networks
to monitor this problem.
E. Recovery of maintenance for the child
- The
decision on child support payments rests solely with the court, and is usually
based on the following factors: the financial
status of the child support
payer, the status of the recipient and the circumstances.
- The
following progress has been made:
- − An
amendment has been made to section 114 of the Instituting Juvenile and Family
Court and the Juvenile and Family Court Procedures
Act of 1991, in order that
the best interests of the child are taken into consideration first and foremost.
Due to this, larger sums
of child support are being negotiated through the
courts;
- − A
system for the collection of the relevant data is being developed, classifying
the data by sex, age, nationality, profession
and the education levels of both
children and parents to secure the recovery of maintenance for the child;
- − A study
is presently under way in order to help parents and children with problems
arising from single parenting.
F. Children deprived of their family environment
General situation
- The
State currently runs programmes and initiatives covering the following
areas:
- − The
promotion of family stability, to strengthen the family’s ability to bring
up their offspring without State intervention
or assistance;
- − The
location of temporary (foster families) and permanent (adoptive families)
families for children as quickly as possible,
when necessary;
- − The
provision of welfare homes and care, in terms of the four basic needs for
survival.
- The
following progress has been achieved in welfare homes:
- − The
quality of life for children in welfare homes has improved through various
projects such as promoting educational opportunities
through the Thai Com
Satellite;
- − Welfare
and vocational centres for children and young people have been established for
training in agriculture and for those
with learning disabilities or other
special needs.
Problems
- The
number of abandoned children is increasing every year and legal measures are not
conducive to giving protection and assistance
to abandoned children. It is
difficult to locate their records, which unnecessarily delays the arrangement of
a foster family placement
or adoption for them.
Solutions
- Kinship
networks should be developed to prevent child abandonment. The law should make
it mandatory to report any violation of child
rights to the proper agencies. An
independent agency should evaluate various institutions and be given the
authority to take appropriate
action when any misconduct has occurred which
leads to child rights’ abuses. Employers should consider the quality of
life
of their employees and their families in terms of scheduling and adequate
leave.
G. Adoption
- At
present, Thailand has no bilateral or multilateral agreements in accordance with
article 21 of the Convention. However, consideration
is currently being
given to the ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and
Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry
Adoption and a working committee has been
appointed to study the advantages and disadvantages of this convention.
- The
follow-up of intercountry adoption is based on the principle of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child that entitles children
to receive information about
their original families so that they may establish ties with them. Furthermore,
a Native Land Visit
Programme has been created to give children the opportunity
to learn about their homelands. Progress has been achieved in finding
adoptive
families for many orphans, including those who may be infected with HIV and
children with disabilities.
- Ministerial
regulations regarding child adoption have been amended in accordance with the
Constitution and the present situation. At present, the Office of the Council
of State is considering them. The amendments are:
- − Direct
paternal or maternal blood relatives and the person the child was left with are
exempt from a trial period;
- − The law
is being amended to allow a foreigner who is single to be able to adopt children
so those children with special needs
may have improved opportunities to be
adopted;
- − To
expedite adoption, the clause specifying that a foreigner must reside in
Thailand or in a third country for not less than
a year before filing for
adoption has been eliminated.
H. Periodic review of placement
General situation
1. Welfare homes
- Welfare
homes are designed:
- − To
provide and promote education, both formal and vocational, according to
potential and intellectual ability;
- − To
assist, rehabilitate and facilitate development, physically, mentally, socially,
spiritually and emotionally, through individual
or group counselling and careers
guidance;
- − To
provide specialist staff to help children with learning problems and to develop
quality educational programmes;
- − To find
temporary and permanent replacement families (foster and adoptive
families);
- − To
provide care for children similar to that of a family.
2. Children and youth observation and protection
centres
- Children
under the care of these centres are raised separately according to gender and
age. In addition, officials need to demonstrate
compassion, forgiveness and
tolerance, to imbue virtue, to show understanding and to be positive role models
for the young people.
- Governmental
and nongovernmental organizations responsible for finding a place to look after
the children include:
- − Governmental
organizations such as the Department of Public Welfare, the Ministry of Labour
and Social Welfare, the Children
and Youth Observation and Protection Centres
and the Ministry of Education;
- − Nongovernmental
organizations such as the Foundation for Children, the Holt Sahathai Foundation
and the Centre for the Protection
of Children’s Rights
Foundation;
- − Independent
organizations such as the National Human Rights Commission, the Ombudsmen, the
Administrative Court and the media.
- Each
organization has its own procedures and criteria for accepting children,
depending on each organization’s objectives.
In accepting children, the
following issues are given consideration: the circumstances of the child and
the status of the family,
for example, orphans, abandoned children, poor
children, vagrant children, HIVinfected children and abused children.
Statistical data
- The
number of children under the care of the 21 government welfare homes is
increasing every year, i.e. from 4,508 in 1998 to 4,550
in 1999. The
number of children and juveniles sent to Observation and Protection Centres is
sharply increasing, i.e. from 20,419
in 1997 to 41,704
in 1999.
Problems
- The
number of child and juvenile offenders is more than the Observation and
Protection Centres can accommodate. The budget allocated
to promote vocational
training and physical and mental health is substandard.
Solutions
- The
Government should increase the funding allocated to Observation and Protection
Centres, as well as seek donations domestically
and overseas. Vocational
training projects for children and youth should be promoted. The local
community and NGOs should take
part in looking after the children to prevent
repeated offences.
I. Abuse and neglect, including physical and psychological
recovery and social reintegration
- Legislative
and other measures relating to article 19 of the Convention are:
- − Thai
criminal and family laws;
- − Other
laws related to child protection under this article, such as regulations on the
protection of the rights of the child,
the youth and the family issued by the
Office of the Prime Minister and the draft for the Child Welfare and Protection
Act;
- − Regulations
for filing complaints by children themselves;
- − Intervention
by authorities in the case of child abuse, neglect and abandonment;
- − Parenting
programmes and other measures that promote non-violence in the discipline and
rearing of children;
- − A
public campaign to prevent violence, abuse and abandonment;
- − Systems
to monitor and prevent family violence in its various forms have been
established. For example, counselling services
for the family have been
established as well as measures to improve their quality;
- − There
is no holistic approach to the collection of data due to the sensitive nature of
the information.
- The
following steps have been taken to comply with article 19, paragraph 2, of
the Convention:
- − To
increase effectiveness in implementing the social development project, Thailand
has developed the Third National Social
Welfare Development Plan,
1997-2001;
- − Indicators
have been set for basic social welfare needs;
- − Opportunities
have been provided for minorities to actively develop appropriate services for
their communities;
- − Agencies
have been established to protect people, including underprivileged and
marginalized groups;
- − Centres
have been set up for filing complaints and for receiving counselling and basic
assistance;
- − Social
welfare and assistance in areas such as health, housing, insurance and
recreation has been provided;
- − Children
are now protected by the court during trial processes;
- − The law
stipulates that personnel working with children must report suspicions of abuse
to the proper authorities for legal
action;
- − A
helpline has been created to provide counselling for children who are victims of
violence, exploitation and abandonment;
- − Special
training has been provided for professionals working with
children.
- To
comply with article 39 of the Convention, the following steps have been
taken:
- − Legislative
measures have been enacted to suppress child abusers such as the Measures in
Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking
in Women and Children Act of 1997 and
the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act of 1996;
- − Practical
measures have been implemented to rehabilitate and return children to their
families. Such measures include the
provision of comprehensive assistance and
counselling for children rescued from prostitution, shelters for vagrant and
sexually exploited
children, and allowing the NGOs to operate certain types of
shelters to help with vocational training for women and
children.
Progress and future plans
- Thailand
has issued a Plan of Action for the Prevention and Eradication of Commercial
Sexual Exploitation, 1996, as well as issuing
two pieces of legislation about
the trafficking of women and children, namely the Measures in Prevention and
Suppression of Trafficking
in Women and Children Act of 1997 and the Act
Amending the Penal Code (No. 14) 1997. Furthermore, a subcommittee was
appointed in
February 1998 to address the issues surrounding the international
trafficking of women and children.
- National
and regional conferences were organized in order to seek guidelines and
cooperation to protect and assist children seeking
refuge from war, displaced
children and children who are victims of international trafficking.
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
A. Children with disabilities
General situation
- At
present, data on children with disabilities are still neither comprehensive nor
complete. Surveys from different agencies such
as the Ministry of Education and
the Health Promotion Fund reveal different figures and lack
consistency.
Laws, policies and regulations
1. The Constitution of Thailand of 1997
- According
to section 55, a person with a disability is entitled to receive access to
public services and other types of assistance from the State. In addition,
section 80, paragraph 2, says that the State must assist the elderly, the poor,
the disabled and underprivileged to enable them to achieve quality
of life, to
be self-sufficient and to live in harmonious society.
2. Regulations of the Ministry of Labour and
Social Welfare
of 1994 and 1999
- The
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare issued four regulations about the rights
of people with disabilities. For example for every
200 employees there must be
at least one disabled employee. In the case that employment is not offered to a
disabled person, that
business must contribute to the Rehabilitation Fund for
the Disabled. Furthermore, the regulations categorized the various levels
of
disability and specified the services a disabled person should receive.
Finally, the regulations also specified the types of
buildings, places,
transport, or other public services that must have facilities for the
disabled.
3. Emergency decree on customs
- There
has been an amendment to make all types of equipment for the disabled exempt
from import duty, including value-added tax.
4. National Education Act of 1999
- Section
10 states that everyone has equal rights and opportunities to receive quality
and free basic education for at least 12 years. People
with physical, mental
and emotional disabilities have the right and the opportunity to receive free,
special education from birth
or from the day of diagnosis.
5. Resolution of the Council of Ministers
- The
Cabinet has resolved that people with disabilities should be given the
opportunity to receive vocational training at any training
centre and are
eligible to sit for examinations to become a government official or State
enterprise employee, and to establish facilities
for disabled access to every
office providing services to people.
6. Government policy
- It
is government policy to take care, rehabilitate and enhance the abilities of the
disabled through education, vocational training,
employment and recreation so
that they may live as independently as possible in society.
7. Regulations and practices
- People
with disabilities have identification cards, and can borrow up to 20,000 baht
from the Rehabilitation Fund to be used for the
purpose of establishing their
own business. Those who cannot earn a living and are indigent are entitled to
500 baht per month.
8. Declaration on the Rights of People with Disabilities of
1998
- The
purpose of the Declaration is to serve as a guide for the public and private
sector, as well as the disabled themselves, with
regard to their rights and
access to services.
Services
1. Medical rehabilitation
- Medical
rehabilitation is offered in hospitals at the community, district and provincial
levels with emphasis placed on the effectiveness
of the rehabilitation. Medical
rehabilitation of the disabled follows these guidelines:
- − Emphasis
on resources and knowledge (people centred/holistic approach);
- − Emphasis
on prevention of disabilities (prevention approach);
- − Development
of liaison between agencies (referral service);
- − Professional
development of medical staff.
2. Education for the disabled
- During
the past year the provision of education to children with disabilities has had
an extremely high profile in Thailand. The
year 1999 was proclaimed “The
Year of the Thai Disabled” in order to promote education for disabled Thai
children. Children
with disabilities have been educated in increasingly
dramatic numbers, from 17,646 in 1996 to 30,625 in 1997.
- Action
plans for education for the disabled promote effective education at all levels
of disability, as well as the integration of
the disabled into mainstream
classes.
- Curricula
have been developed to address the learning needs of the disabled. An example
of this is the curriculum developed for autistic
students with the cooperation
of parents and educational agencies. It was also introduced into informal
education in 1999.
- Emphasis
has been placed on the decentralization of education to the provincial levels,
focusing on the integration of the disabled
into the mainstream classrooms in
the best interests of the disabled.
- Training
has been provided to staff engaged in special education, although there is still
a lack of qualified teaching staff.
3. Occupation
- The
disabled may enrol in special vocational training centres and other training
centres. Efforts have been made to promote employment
in independent
enterprises, government agencies and State enterprises, as well as the liberal
professions.
4. Social aspects
- The
public is educated about the abilities of the disabled through the media.
Regarding participation of the disabled, according
to the Rehabilitation of the
Disabled Act of 1991, a disabled person must be included in committees or
subcommittees in order that
people with disabilities may take part in all
types of activities at all levels and that their views are represented, in
particular
in the drafting of the Constitution of Thailand of 1997 and policy
and plan formulation. Based on the aforementioned Cabinet resolution, today
various agencies have
built or adjusted infrastructure in order to accommodate
the needs of the disabled. For example, the Telephone Organization of Thailand
has designed public phone booths for the disabled.
5. Exchange of information
- An
information centre for the disabled has been established in the Department of
Social Welfare in cooperation with the National Electronics
and Computer
Technology Centre (NECTEC) to collect and distribute information domestically
and internationally. NECTEC is also looking
at the types and availability of
communications equipment for people with disabilities in Thailand.
6. Cooperation between international organizations
- In
terms of cooperation with the many international organizations that work in this
field, one of the most important is the World
Health Organization
(WHO).
Problems
- Data
on the disabled differ and lack coherence because they are collected from
various agencies and are not standardized. There is
no central agency to liaise
between the public and the private sectors to meet the objectives in serving the
needs of the disabled.
- At
the community level, people with disabilities have difficulty in accessing
services provided by the State, and in obtaining information
about their rights
and entitlements. Medical rehabilitation services are not always integrated and
comprehensive. Emphasis is often
placed on services that rely on technology and
highly skilled staff, rather than on the role of the family and
community.
Solutions
- Agencies
responsible for academic cooperation need to develop a system for information
collection about the disabled so that centralized
data systems are coherent, and
in accordance with the Rehabilitation of the Disabled Act of 1991. Further
research about the disabled
should be supported. There is a need to improve the
infrastructure of the agencies involved, as well as to give support in terms
of
resources and academic training.
- It
is also necessary to expedite the fostering of positive attitudes and equal
opportunity guidelines regarding disabilities in relation
to the family, the
community, society at large, and the relevant authorities. Focus should be
placed on the development of the potential
of the family of a disabled person,
so that family members can become aware of their potential and ability, and that
the disabled
can feel confident that they will have equal access to the services
provided by the State.
B. Health and welfare services
General situation
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997, section 82, stipulates that the State must
provide health services and care for every person as a constitutional right.
The Seventh and Eighth
National Economic and Social Development Plans promote
access to standard health-care services to enable people to live physically
and
mentally healthy lives.
- Today
Thailand has just completed the stage of basic health-care development in
accordance with the Eighth National Economic and Social
Development Plan and is
about to embark on the next stage, which will aim to combat diseases stemming
from social and economic conditions.
- The
infant mortality rate has rapidly decreased during the past three decades and it
is expected that this rate will continue to decrease
to a ratio of 21:1,000 by
2001 in accordance with the Eighth National Economic and Social Development
Plan.
- In
terms of the care provided to pregnant women, the mortality rate has rapidly
decreased since 1990 to a ratio of 17.6:100,000.
A major cause of death among
pregnant women is haemorrhaging. In 1998, about 88 per cent of pregnant women
nationwide received prenatal
check-ups four times during their pregnancy as
standard.
- Thailand
has always been concerned about malnutrition among children and has taken steps
to prevent this by follow-up height and weight
checks every three months until
the age of 5. If a child is found to be malnourished, the child will
receive assistance from health-care
personnel. This intervention has been
tremendously successful. Details of malnutrition in Thai children is as
follows:
- − Protein
Energy Malnutrition;
- − Iron
deficiency anaemia (mostly found in children and pregnant women from the south
and north-east);
- − Iodine
deficiency disorder (IDD): it is expected that the IDD problem will be
eliminated due to a campaign to iodize salt.
- Since
1979, the Department of Health has promoted breastfeeding in order to encourage
the bond between mother and child, and to decrease
the risk of infant mortality
or contracting infectious diseases, as consistent with campaigns by UNICEF and
WHO.
- Diseases
that pose major problems for children are the genetic condition thalassaemia
and HIV, contracted by mother-to-child transmission. A 1996 report revealed
that 1 per cent of the total population suffers from
thalassaemia, and about
50,000 married couples are at risk of giving birth to a child with severe
thalassaemia. Each year about
12,125 newborn babies are at risk of contracting
this disease. At present, medical tests are provided to detect patients with
thalassaemia
and pregnant women who may be carriers of thalassaemia in order to
offer consultation.
- The
number of children born with HIV who have been infected through their mothers
is about 3,000 per year. The prevention programme
for this disease
comprises the administration of zidovudine (AZT) medication and the
abstention from breastfeeding. These measures
have helped to decrease the
percentage of infected children born of infected mothers from 25 to 7.5 per
cent.
- Thailand
has always prioritized immunization programmes and with the decrease in
the rates of illness and mortality of children aged 0-5, the Ministry of Public
Health has included
immunization in its policy. Child immunization has
increased and this, in turn, has decreased the number of deaths and illnesses
associated with tetanus, polio, measles and other acute respiratory infections,
and diarrhoea.
- During
the past two decades, Thailand has offered integrated health services in the
prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of serious
diseases. Furthermore, the
State has promoted healthy behaviour among the population and have included
integrated health care in
hospitals, communities and homes. These measures have
contributed to a certain level of success for the health care provided for
children.
Problems
- Economic
and social changes have impacted on behaviour and health. Less
than 90 per cent of the migrant population such as hill-tribe
people and those living along the southern border have received vaccinations.
Provision of education to some groups of citizens
is hampered by a lack of
knowledge in the local dialect and a limited budget.
Solutions
- There
should be a campaign to raise awareness among the population about the health
problems caused by not following some simple changes
in behaviour. Suitable
infrastructure should be developed to ensure as much as possible that those with
less opportunity have access
to vaccination programmes provided by the State.
There should be mobile health units to provide health-care services for people
in remote areas, the migrant population, and people in slums.
C. Social security, childcare services, and
facilitation
- Thailand
has three systems to ensure social stability, namely, the provision of social
welfare services offered by the State using
the national budget, social
assistance given to those in need, and social insurance whereby people with
income have to contribute
to a central fund.
1. Laws and regulations
- The
social stability system that Thailand uses emphasizes the potential and the
environment of the child and the benefits that the
child’s guardian should
receive. The laws and regulations are as follows:
- − The
Social Security Act of 1990 and the amending Acts of 1994 and 1999;
- − The
Compensation Fund Act of 1994;
- − The
Remuneration and Pension Fund for Government Officials and Permanent
State Employees;
- − Funds
for Victims of Car Accidents;
- − Funds
for Health Insurance Cards;
- − Provident
Funds;
- − Village
Assistance Centres;
- − Regulations
of the Department of Social Welfare.
2. Social security
- The
Social Security Acts of 1990, 1994 and 1999 have included provisions for the
following cases:
- − Illness;
- − Childbearing;
- − Invalidity;
- − Death;
- − Child
support;
- − Old
age.
Once employees have resigned from work, they are
still protected for six months in the following cases: illness, invalidity,
childbirth
and death.
3. Childcare services for working parents
- The
State has supported the establishment of preschool services both in rural areas
and overcrowded urban communities. In assisting
working parents, the State has
taken the following steps:
(a) Determined the ratio of students
living in the neighbourhood of a school whom the school has to admit;
(b) Encouraged schools to provide insurance against accidents to all
students, the parents contributing to the insurance;
(c) An entitlement of 150 baht per month will be paid for two children under
6 whose parents’ workplace has more than 10 employees
and whose father or
mother has contributed to the social insurance fund for 12 months.
- The
policies and measures implemented thus far have enabled children to receive
better care, as well as increasing stability for families
where the father,
mother or guardian is ill, an invalid, disabled, old or
pregnant.
Problems
- Social
security does not cover small workplaces that have less than 10 employees. The
Fund for Health Insurance Cards lacks effective
income-testing procedures,
allowing those who are better off to receive greater benefits than those who are
not. Health-care provision
for those in need such as the elderly, war veterans
and the disabled tends to be less adequate. This indicates an injustice in
public
health-care services.
- Funds
to assist villagers may be blocked by administrative problems due to a lack of
systematic analysis; those who are in need of
real assistance may not receive
their entitlements. Children in single-parent families are still neglected by
the State. There
is no follow-up, evaluation and reporting system in order to
assist parents with childcare.
Solutions
- Social
security should also cover workplaces that have fewer than 10 employees,
including irregular work and the agricultural sector.
In order to set up a
system of incometesting, it is suggested that the poverty line proposed by the
National Economic and Social
Development Board be used. There should be
follow-up and evaluation of social security projects to make them more efficient
and
comprehensive.
D. Living standards
General situation
- In
principle, every child is entitled to a reasonable standard of living. In
accordance with the Constitution of Thailand, it is the responsibility of the
State to create laws and regulations to realize this.
- At
present, under the Eighth National Economic and Social Development Plan, people
are considered central to, and the benefactors
of, all social and economic
development. In addition, the public has a role to play in the determination of
economic, social and
political policies.
- The
fact that Thailand has ratified international agreements such as the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and ILO Convention
No. 182 has led to
improvements and the implementation of laws and regulations meeting
international standards in accordance with
those agreements.
1. Indicators for living standards
- Living
standard indicators for Thais have been developed at the family, community and
national levels according to the Eighth National
Economic and Social Development
Plan. These indicators include (1) the basic needs of the family, (2) social
indicators, (3) child
and youth development indicators, and (4) child rights
indicators.
2. Criteria to evaluate the financial status of parents or
guardians
- Thailand
has no criteria to determine the level of salary necessary for ensuring child
development. However, a poverty line, a minimum
wage, and the targeted salary
for the rural population have been determined; and these are used as guidelines
to evaluate the financial
status of parents or guardians.
3. Assistance rendered to families for child-rearing
- The
Department of Public Welfare has set up branches in the provinces, village
assistance centres and mobile units to offer emergency
assistance in cases such
as fire, flooding and the threat of war.
- In
offering assistance to families, authorities will base the aid on the needs of
the family so that the needs of the child can be
met adequately. Financial
assistance is given to cover education and basic needs.
4. Measures for other assistance
- Concerned
governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations have put in place
the following measures:
- − Volunteer
teachers for homeless children projects;
- − Emergency
shelters;
- − Assistance
and rehabilitation for victims of natural and man-made disasters;
- − Donation
centres of the Department of Public Welfare to assist those in need;
- − Assistance
for people in distress in public places;
- − Assistance
for the elderly;
- − Assistance
for the homeless, beggars and formerly incarcerated prostitutes;
- − Encouraging
participation of the private sector in offering assistance to society;
- − Creating
settlements and a sense of self-sufficiency for people who are landless;
- − Development
projects for hill-tribe people.
5. Projected success in living standards progress
- At
present Thai people have more security in life. Every child is entitled to 9
years of free compulsory education and 12 years of
basic education. Thailand
has become more experienced in creating instruments to measure and improve
living standards.
Problems
- Services
by the State, rehabilitation and social participation are not universal.
Various agencies lack cooperation in data collection
resulting in ineffective
use of the budget.
Solutions
- The
State should provide social welfare services to all groups of people by
prioritizing overcrowded communities and rural areas.
All agencies, both at the
national and local level, should have a common plan for data
collection.
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
A. Education, vocational training and guidance
General situation
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997 places a strong emphasis on education.
Sections 42, 43 and 81 specifically refer to the right to education and
training, as well as the academic freedom of the people. The National Education
Act of 1999 was proclaimed to advance educational reform, and guarantees access
for all to at least 12 years of education provided free
of charge by the
Government. The implementation is scheduled for completion within five years of
the proclamation of this act.
A royal decree on the setting up of the Office
of Educational Reform was issued to pave the way for the provisions stated
in the
National Education Act of 1999.
- In
1999, the Ministry of Education was able to provide education to at least
80 per cent (13,179,000 persons) of school-age children
in the age
range of 3-17 (total 16,493,000). Those who remain without access to
education number about 3,314,000. The detailed
figures are as follows:
2,404,000 (75 per cent) of the 3,192,000 preschool children aged 3-5 years were
enrolled in school; about
6,100,000 (94 per cent) primary schoolchildren, aged
6-11 years, receive some education out of a total numbering 6,497,000; of the
3,364,000 lower secondary schoolchildren in the age range of 12-14 years, some
2,685,000 (80 per cent) receive education and of the
3,440,000 upper secondary
school (in general and vocational streams of education) aged 1517 years, a total
of 1,990,000 or 58 per
cent receive some education.
- With
the above statistics in mind, the Ministry of Education is aiming to increase
preschool attendance rates by 6-7 per cent each
year, until full attendance is
achieved by 2002. At primary school level, an increase of 2 per cent per year
is planned, for lower
secondary a 5 per cent increase per year,
while an 11-12 per cent improvement in attendance per annum for upper
secondary-level students
will be aimed at.
- In
1999, increases of over 100,000 students in the disabled and disadvantaged
children category were enrolled in schools; this figure
is expected to increase
further. Basic curriculum, manuals, teaching and learning tools were
updated in 2001, and are now in use at primary levels 1 and 4, and
secondary levels 1 and 4. The materials will be available for
primary 2 and 5,
and secondary levels 2 and 5 in 2003, and then at every level in 2004.
- The
following legislative, administrative and budgetary, measures were adopted in
order to recognize and secure the child’s
right to education, and to
progressively realize this right on a non-discriminatory basis.
1. Legislative measures
- These
include: the Constitution of Thailand of 1997, the National Education Act of
1999 and a royal decree establishing the Office of Educational Reform. These
have given rise to major changes, allowing the extension
of six years’
compulsory education to nine years. Chapter 2, section 10, contains a
clause on child rights including the rights of children who are physically and
mentally handicapped, underprivileged
and disabled children and children with
special talents.
2. Administrative measures
- The
administration of the Thai education system is undergoing extensive
reform:
(a) The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of University
Affairs and the Office of the National Education Commission will merge
into one
ministry under the name of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and
Culture, in order to create unity and eliminate
duplication and waste in
personnel and resources. This will be beneficial to future policy planning and
implementation;
(b) Government decentralization will shift administrative power to schools,
educational regions and institutions, allowing increased
autonomy for local
administration. This will increase the speed of administrative procedures and
improve quality and the ability
to fulfil the needs of the local area and
community. Resource and budget allocation for education will be distributed to
various
educational institutions on an equal basis and in an appropriate
manner;
(c) Societies, communities and families will begin to take responsibility
for education by working with their local government administrations,
resulting
in the development of diversified, area-specific curricula. It will also
provide the impetus to increase awareness about
the importance of education, and
the responsibility of society to participate in meeting the educational needs of
their own communities.
3. Budgetary measures
- Chapter
8, section 60, of the National Education Act of 1999 upholds education as a
matter of the highest priority for the sustainable development of Thailand, and
an extremely generous
budget has therefore been allocated to various educational
programmes. Examples include the general subsidy for individuals in compulsory
education, basic education in both Government and private sectors, educational
loans, low-interest loans for private institutions,
and the creation of a
pool of funds earmarked for education development by the Government and private
sector.
Progress in education
1. Guaranteed quality education
- The
Office for the Standardization and Evaluation of Education was set up as a
public agency mandated to develop the criteria for
external evaluation of
educational quality and management. Every five years, at least one quality
evaluation will be conducted.
Teachers and educational personnel will have
to undergo some reforms; basic frameworks have been developed, for example in
the areas
of the licensing of the teaching profession, salaries, welfare and
development funds. Four institutions out of a total of 24 have
left the
management jurisdiction of the Ministry of University Affairs. More will
follow. A systems development research project
is being conducted in
cooperation with the Asian Development Bank and UNESCO.
- The
National Education Act states in chapter 6 that there must be a system to ensure
and standardize the quality of education. The Ministry of Education has
ensured
that the quality of education in Thailand will be a major target in educational
reform, using three main processes:
- − Quality
control. This is a process whereby teachers utilize fixed standards and
preparation plans in various aspects of the
curriculum. It is arranged in
conjunction with continuous follow-up;
- − Checking,
revision and improvement of the quality of education by the institutions
themselves with the assistance of the regional
offices or head offices for
monitoring from a holistic point of view;
- − Evaluation
and certification of the quality of education. This process is conducted by
external public agencies to evaluate
and certify the quality of education in
such institutions.
- The
Department of Curriculum and Instruction Development is responsible for the
evaluation, using the testing formula in all subjects
of primary 6, secondary 3
and secondary 5.
2. The measures adopted to ensure respect for the
general
principles of the Convention
- Along
with the Constitution and the acts on education as mentioned above, provisions
are also made to guarantee the general principles of the Convention.
Children
and youth are mentioned in articles 53 and 80. The National Education
Act of 1999 also guarantees the child’s right to development without
discrimination. In some sections of the Thai Constitution, although no direct
mention is made of children and youth, sections 4, 5, 53, 86 and 190 provide
wide coverage of protection to people of all age groups.
3. The proportion of the budget earmarked for
education
- During
the past decade, a high percentage of the national budget has been earmarked for
education, that is, about 3.5 per cent of
GNP, or 25 per cent of the annual
budget. During the years 1990-1999, the annual budget allocation to
education has increased by
15 per cent, with the highest allocation occurring in
1997, with an amount of 202,864 million baht or about 4.3 per cent of
GNP.
After the economic slowdown, a cut of 0.57 per cent was imposed in 1998,
which was the first time the education budget had been
cut.
- Primary
education is allocated the highest percentage of the education budget,
about 44 per cent during 1990-1999. This trend is
continuing:
30,589.6 million baht were spent in 1990, increasing to 81,662.4 million baht in
1999, or a 18.33 per cent increase
per head per annum.
- From
1997 to 1999, the Government spent an equal amount for preschool and primary
school students. The money allotted to them has
been increased on a yearly
basis during these three years: 11,259 baht, 12,257 and 12,582 baht per head
respectively. For secondary
school students, the amount is less: 8,415 baht,
8,913 baht and 8,645 baht per head per year respectively. Expenses for
vocational
students are higher than general stream students, that is 14,445
baht, 14,070 baht and 12,715 baht per head per year respectively.
The highest
expense is for students at the tertiary level, with an increase of 11 per cent,
that is 24,060 baht, 22,835 baht and
25,433 baht per head per year.
- The
above data demonstrate the Government’s attempts to allocate budget
according to necessity. In comparing the budgets for
economic measures,
security and education, during the past nine years (1992-2000) a larger amount
was paid for education: 86,576.9
million baht in 1992, 207,316 million
baht in 1999 and 222,416.1 million baht in 2000.
4. The Government’s awareness of the cost of
education
- Efforts
have been made by the Government to provide free education. In the area of
government subsidies, the present Government has
provided exemptions for basic
costs, such as tuition fees for primary education in government schools and
tuition fees in lower secondary
classes in government extension schools. Funds
have also been allocated to provide teaching and learning materials for students
at each level. Other expenses are allocated depending on goals and necessities,
including special costs incurred such as for health
care, textbooks, uniforms,
supplementary food (milk), lunches (as in the School Lunch Fund Act of 1992) and
transportation. The
expenditure is allotted in accordance with necessity and
target groups classified by the level of education. The Government also
provides total expenses to impoverished students in private schools.
- There
are other forms of government subsidy in education such as student loans.
Since 1996, impoverished students have been able
to obtain loans for
education. There is also an Asian Development Bank loan available for students
suffering from the impact of
the economic downturn. However, some problems
arise such as corruption, delays in delivering the loan causing some students to
quit
school, and the misuse of loaned money by some students.
- In
terms of governance, the most outstanding problem, especially for the Ministry
of Education, is the centralization of budget allocation.
Inequality and
inefficiency are common, caused by the complexity of beaurocratic processes. It
is therefore appropriate that budgetary
allocation powers be decentralized.
5. Measures adopted to ensure that children can be taught in
local,
culturally diverse or minority languages
- The
language of central Thailand is the official school language both in the formal
and non-formal systems of education. However,
local dialects such as hill tribe
and Yawi are also allowed. Teachers with knowledge of local dialects are
assigned to teach students
in those areas. Details can be found in
Thailand’s replies to the list of issues sent by the Committee on the
Rights of the
Child in 1998.
6. Mechanisms developed to ensure all children’s access
to education
- Section
10 of the National Education Act of 1999 states that every person has equal
rights and opportunity in obtaining 12 years of quality education, although this
is not
operative for every child due to the inadequacy of the budget and its
management. In the past, the Ministry of Education and other
agencies
responsible for the provision of education, both in the Government and private
sectors, as well as non-governmental organizations
working with children, have
provided assistance to children in especially difficult circumstances. A
bilateral provision of education
to children is encouraged. Children are sent
to study or train at general schools or adult schools. Some personnel are
dispatched
to teach in the communities where children live. The same standards
apply to the non-formal as to the formal systems of education.
Centres for the
protection of and assistance to children in education are provided. Other forms
of assistance are: street teachers,
welfare schools, village schools, provision
for education in the homes for boys and girls and the Sema for Life
project.
7. The steps taken to ensure and assess the quality
and
sufficiency of teaching staff
- Currently,
the average student-teacher ratio is 20:1 and there are teacher shortages for
subjects such as mathematics, science, physics,
chemistry, foreign languages and
computer science. The Ministry of Education is encouraging teacher recruitment
for these subjects,
yet that has not been enough. In 1998, out of a total of
70,164 graduates, only 2,245 teachers were qualified to teach the target
subjects. Nevertheless, the number of teachers qualifying seems to be
increasing. The draft plan of criteria and methodology for
the development of
teachers as civil servants in three areas - namely teaching, administration and
demonstration - has been developed.
The upgrading of teacher capacity is done
in various ways: training, field trips, research for development, brainstorming
sessions
and public hearings on a regular and continuous basis.
8. The measures adopted to provide adequate
educational
facilities, accessible to all children
- Generally,
textbooks are produced at reasonable cost by the Ministry of Education. Some
are distributed free of charge or issued
on loan to every student in primary and
lower secondary level, amounting to quite a saving for the parents. These books
are delivered
before the beginning of the school term. Price rises for
textbooks are curbed and some are sold at reduced prices.
9. Non-formal education
- Section
15 of the National Education Act of 1999 states that Thai education includes
nonformal and informal education to allow more choices for the public. The
patterns
for these two types of education are:
1. Non-formal
education. This involves a great deal of flexibility. The substance and
curriculum varies to meet the requirements and problems of each individual
group. Activities include:
1.1. Literacy promotion. The learner will be able to think, act and solve
problems in a self-taught programme under the guidance
and supervision of
volunteer teachers who can teach both youngsters and adults;
1.2. Continuing education. This is a service in general education
prescribed by the Ministry of Education. The curriculum is divided
into three
levels: primary, lower secondary and upper secondary. Teaching and learning
activities stress accessibility of facilities
to students under the following
three methods: (i) distance learning using the Thai Com distance communication
learning by satellite
provided by the Department of General Education (Klai
Kangwon School) to provide an opportunity to schools in remote and inaccessible
areas with few teachers; (ii) self-study; and (iii) classroom learning in which
the learners choose the method of learning they like.
Credits obtained can be
transferred to general and vocational streams of education;
1.3. Non-formal learning opportunity extension. This provides education for
all in compliance with the learning opportunity extension
policy set up
by the Ministry of Education. Those who are not covered by the formal
school system can choose either of the following
two curricula:
(i) nonformal education curriculum No. 30 - lower secondary level, a
distance learning system. Two subjects in each
course will be provided free of
charge per semester until graduation. This is to provide education to civilians
and military men
on duty; (ii) the curriculum for vocational certificate (Po.
Or. 33) for people engaged in independent vocations in their own locality.
The
students pay a 20 baht registration fee and all books and equipment necessary
will be provided by the Department of Non-Formal
Education;
1.4. Education to further occupational skills. This aims to upgrade the
standard of living of people, to solve national problems,
particularly
unemployment, and environmental problems, and to equalize income
distribution;
1.5. Education to provide information. Services come in the form of
libraries for the province/district/tambon/village reading centre,
study centre
and audio-visual centre;
2. Informal education. The learner takes the subject he or she is
interested in, in accordance with his/her capacity, readiness
and opportunities.
The credits can be transferred. At present, an education network has been set
up under the following categories:
2.1. Community-based education. This takes the form of public libraries and
village reading centres;
2.2. Learning centres. Centres for lifelong learning are formed by the
NonFormal Education Department in governmental organizations
and nongovernmental
organizations and other organizations;
2.3. Dissemination of knowledge via various systems of communication
media. Various forms of educational technologies are brought in to
supplement lessons. These include education through television and radio;
2.4. Education Science Centre. This is an open and lifelong education
centre with interactive media, films, videos, computers and
training
programmes.
10. System or initiatives to provide early development
education services
- The
Cabinet’s resolution allows for the provision of basic education from
primary to upper secondary level. However, the Government
has placed emphasis
on early childhood education (0-5 years). Communities or local organizations
are encouraged to take part in
the management of this level of education.
The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare,
in particular, have collaborated with community committees
and the private
sector in setting up early childhood development centres and nurseries for young
children. Children aged 2-6 years
attending these centres will participate in
age-specific development activities, and will be well cared for while their
parents go
out to work. Government support is provided in terms of remuneration
for personnel, supplementary food and developmental equipment
for disadvantaged
children.
11. Illiteracy rates in children
- According
to a comprehensive study by the National Economic and Social Development Board,
illiteracy rates by age among children in
Thailand are as
follows:
- − Below
18 years: the illiteracy rate among the 6-11 age group is 21.6 per cent;
in the 12-14 age group it is 1.5 per cent; and among the 15-17 year age
group it is 1.7 per cent;
- − Over
18 years: the illiteracy rates for the 18-24 age group is 2.2 per cent; for
the 2529 age group, 3.1 per cent; and for the 30-39 age group,
4.0 per cent.
(School registration rates at the national level are not available. Therefore
enrolment rates are used.)
12. Enrolment rates
- The
survey of children and youth by the National Statistical Office during 1992-1997
found that enrolment in primary education was
100.1 per cent and increased to
105.8 per cent in 1997.
- The
net enrolment rate in primary education, however, remains at 77.0.
About 23.2 per cent enrolled in the wrong group, meaning that
23.2 per cent of children who do not belong to the primary school
group (6-11 years) have come to study with this group; most of
these
pupils are older.
- For
lower secondary students, during 1992-1997, enrolment rates have increased
from 59.3 per cent in 1992 to 91.7 per cent in 1997.
The net enrolment
rate is not as high, although it increased to 55.1 in 1997 from 36.5 per cent in
1992, possibly due to the rapid
implementation of the policy extending the level
of compulsory education. Enrolment in the wrong age group has also increased,
from
22.8 per cent in 1992 to 36.5 per cent in 1997.
13. Non-enrolment and dropout rates
- An
improved situation is found regarding non-enrolment rates of preschool
children (35 years). This rate has decreased from 83.1
per cent in
1992 to 64.2 per cent in 1997, representing a reduction of 2,950,000, meaning
that the total number of children not enrolled
is 2,050,000. This can be
deemed a success in terms of quantity; however, the Eighth National Economic and
Social Development Plan
aims at a 90 per cent enrolment rate of preschool
children by the year 2001.
- During
1992-1997, the rate of school dropout among lower secondary students decreased,
from 18.7 per cent in 1992 to 6.6 per cent
in 1997. During the same period, the
rate of dropouts from upper secondary levels also decreased, from 58.2 to 29.6
per cent.
14. Literacy rates
- The
average literacy rate among the population aged 14-50 increased from 93.19 per
cent in 1990 to 97.8 per cent in 1999.
15. Making higher education accessible to all
- Each
child has the right to receive higher education depending on his or her ability,
regardless of gender, age, religion, colour,
race or urban/rural area, both in
the Open University and the formal university system. In the formal university
system, the entrance
examinations are open to all. Under the Open University
system, the candidate may enrol in any faculty on the basis of his or her
own
interests and choice.
16. Mechanisms to make educational and vocational
information
and guidance available and accessible to all children
- Thailand
has long provided an educational and vocational guidance service. At present,
the ratio of careers teachers to students
is 1:300. A committee for the
improvement of guidance
- to
educational institutions has been formed. Improvement has been made in the
areas of vocational tools, equipment for guidance,
and funds earmarked for
career guidance. Personnel improvement is carried out in the form of training
and workshops, and further
research to develop guidance work.
- Children
receiving the service will obtain information and guidance services on tertiary
education and vocational choices from the
public information activities of the
agency. Guidance units provide information dissemination services during
outside learning sessions,
and children are encouraged to come and visit the
service, which provides counselling and information technology access. However,
the number of students benefiting from the service is small, as students are
reluctant to use the service, possibly for cultural
reasons. There are
counselling and guidance units in various agencies and institutions.
Development plans have been formulated;
with the first plan (1992-1996) having
ended, the second plan (1997-2001) is now in operation.
17. Measures to encourage regular attendance at school
and
to reduce dropout rates
- Thailand
has always been aware of the importance of school attendance. This is reflected
in the increasing education budget and also
in moves towards regular school
attendance of all children, and the reduction of dropout rates. The following
are examples of incentives
provided to students to encourage them to attend
school:
(a) Funds for education. The Government obtained loans
from the Asian Development Bank during the economic crisis. From these funds,
1,000 million baht have been allotted to help prevent students from dropping out
of primary, lower secondary, Buddhist, general education
and lower secondary
schools. A total of 328,593 students have received scholarships in a total
amount of 1,356,805,000 baht. At
the end of the 1998 school year (31 March
1999), 136,593 students in excess of the estimated number applied for student
loans, bringing
the budget to 470.6 million baht more than the amount estimated.
Additionally, 13,000 million baht had been allotted as loans to
educational
institutions nationwide (those under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Education and other agencies, with the exception
of the Ministry of University
Affairs);
(b) Lunch programme. In 1992, the Government set up a school lunch
programme, allocating 5 baht per lunch per child per day throughout
the 200 days
of the school year. The amount was increased to 6 baht in 1999.
- For
the lunch programme during fiscal year 1998 or academic year 1997
(October 1997March 1998), a total of 642,628 pre-primary students
received
321,309,000 baht and 1,539,235 primary school students received 769,617,500
baht. In academic year 1998 (MaySeptember 1998),
844,302 preschool students
received 422,151,000 baht and 2,024,565 primary school students received
1,012,262,500 baht. In fiscal
year 1999 and academic year 1998
(October 1998-March 1999) 412,764,000 baht were allotted to 687,940
preschool students and 1,008,475,800
baht to 1,680,793 primary school
students. In academic year 1999 (May September 1999), 687,943 preschool
children were allotted
412,765,800 baht and 1,885,864 primary school
students were allocated 1,131,518,400 baht. For fiscal year 2000
- and
academic year 1999, the 738,542 children enrolled in preschool were allotted
886,224,700 baht; 1,848,662 primary students were
allotted 2,221,763,700
baht plus an additional amount of 470,000,000 baht from other sources.
This was for the formation of school
lunch funds in primary schools, and
revolving funds for the promotion of products to be used in lunch
programmes.
- Children
in the non-formal system, including rural children in the 3-6 year age group
attending the young child centres run by the
Department of Community
Development, were allotted 5 baht a day towards the cost of their lunch. In
fiscal year 1996, 231,000 children
received assistance in this form. In 1999,
the number increased to 310,000. Other government agencies also provided school
lunches
such as the Department of Religious Affairs, the Department of Public
Welfare and the Royal Thai Police.
- Supplementary
food (milk) programmes. The Government provides milk
to 5.3 million children ranging from preschool to primary 4 throughout
the school year. Efforts have
been made to continue providing this
supplementary food despite the economic crisis. Each child is provided with at
least 200 cc
of milk, costing 5 baht per day. Schools under this programme
include those administered by the Office of the National Primary Education
Commission, the Department of General Education, the Department of Religious
Affairs and the Office of the Private Education Commission
under the Ministry of
Education. In addition, other government agencies such as the Bangkok
Metropolitan Administration, the Department
of Local Administration, the Border
Patrol Police Command and young child development centres under the Department
of Community Development
also provide supplementary milk for children.
- The
Ministry of Education has designed its budget in support of the supplementary
food programme as follows:
- − The
Department of Religious Affairs. In 1998 and 1999, milk was provided to 219,000
and 211,000 children respectively, in
preschool centres in temples and
mosques;
- − The
Department of General Education. In 1998, milk was provided to
15,898 children in nursery schools and primary grades
1-4 in welfare and
special schools; in 1999 this increased to 23,905 children;
- − The
Office of the National Primary Education Commission. All children studying
in preschool and primary grades 1-3, numbering
4,053,894, were given free
milk. This number increased in 1999 to 4,845,330, to include students in
preschool and primary 4. In
2000, a budget of 5,002,723,800 baht was
allocated to supply milk to 1,749,888 preschool and 3,268,400 primary
school students.
- Contributions
and assistance have been provided by the private sector in terms of
scholarships, luncheon funds and donations of school
materials to children and
schools. This has helped improve opportunities for children to be
educated.
18. Information on children who do not enjoy the right to
education
- The
right to an education is a constitutional right in Thailand; however, some
children do not have access to any schooling. This
group includes children in
especially difficult circumstances - namely the disabled, the poor,
slum-dwellers, street children, child
labourers, children living in remote
areas, children in institutions and children from the hill tribes. Governmental
organizations
and non-governmental organizations, for instance the Ministry of
Education, the Department of Public Welfare, the Royal Thai Police,
the
Foundation for Children and the Wat Sakaeo Foundation, have extended their
services to cover such children.
- During
1990-1996, the number of children assisted has been on the increase, from 33,199
in 1990 to 59,908 in 1996 - an increase of
about 80 per cent. If classified by
level of education, at preschool level the increase was from 2,179 in 1990 to
9,002 in 1996,
or an increase of 313 per cent; at the primary level it went
from 38,539 in 1990 to 40,348 in 1996, or an increase of 5 per cent;
at the
lower secondary level it went from 3,181 in 1990 to 11,230 in 1996, representing
an increase of 253 per cent.
- The
above figures show that every year more and more children in especially
difficult circumstances are able to gain access to education
at various levels,
although there are some particular groups of children still lacking this
opportunity. Examples are children who
live in the street, near the bus
terminals, under flyovers and in construction sites. Several NGOs have lent a
hand by providing
optional education, proactive education and informal education
for these children.
- Some
duplication is found among the target groups of the NGOs as there is no central
database. The exact numbers of children cannot,
therefore, be confirmed.
Children who miss out on the opportunity to be educated can be enrolled in
non-formal education schools,
particularly at the basic education
stage.
19. School discipline
(a) Legislation
- Legislation
related to discipline applying to public and private schools conforms to
the general principles of the Convention and
most particularly the
provisions of articles 19 and 37 (a). Punishing children by beating
is prohibited, according to the Ministry
of Education’s Regulations,
2000.
(b) Monitoring systems
- The
administration of school discipline is monitored through scheduled meetings
where a team of administrators develops and evaluates
the regulations at regular
intervals. Each student must be informed of the rules of the school, as laid
out in the school handbook
or code of conduct, as a protection of their rights
and the rights of others. The students and student committees must have a
participatory
role in defining some rules and regulations for the
school.
- The
mechanisms for reporting complaints are via meetings with the administrators of
the school. Problems and solutions are recorded,
and parents are informed at
the parent-teacher association meetings or the annual school meetings. If any
violation of child rights
is made by the school administration, teachers,
parents and students may file complaints against the school or its supervisory
agencies.
The Ministry of Education has also set up a centre to protect and
assist children in education, and complaints can be filed at this
centre.
(c) Independent monitoring mechanisms
- Parents
and students are able to pursue any unresolved complaints or unsatisfactory
procedures through education columns or programmes
in the media, allowing public
scrutiny and an opportunity for the relevant authority and the school to
respond. Opinions and comments
may be delivered in writing to the comments
boxes in existence in most schools.
20. Administrative or judicial proceedings relating to
education
- Legislation
providing for opportunities for the child to participate in administrative or
judicial proceedings relating to education
- such as contributing to the rules
and regulations of the school, college or university - is promulgated by school
boards or committees,
the members of whom are elected.
- The
Ministry of Education provides the opportunity to students to enrol in the
school of their choice, whether it be close to home,
or otherwise. There is no
policy to exclude students from schools, except in cases of drug addiction.
Penalties, however, are imposed
in stages to allow students the opportunity for
self-improvement. If a case comes to the final stages, instead of expulsion
from
school, the Ministry may order that the student be transferred to another
school.
21. International cooperation
- Thailand
is open to providing rights and opportunities for education and cooperation and
sharing of knowledge, as can be seen in the
Constitution of Thailand of 1997,
sections 42 and 43. Thailand has been a member of ASP (UNESCO Associated
Schools Project) since 1958. Cooperation in the study of science and culture
is
conducted on a continuing basis. Special agreements in certain areas have been
made, enabling the Ministry of Education to supervise
scholarships and funds for
training on a continuous and yearly basis.
- Bilateral
and regional projects have been organized, such as the Young People’s
World Heritage Forum in Bangkok in 1995. Youth
representatives were sent to
attend the World Heritage Youth Project in 1997 in China. This has received the
support of UNESCO.
Problems
- The
provision of such a diversity of student-focused educational management means
that concerned personnel and teachers will have
to improve and harmonize various
aspects of teaching and learning objectives.
- With
the advent of child-centred education, new teaching methodologies need to be
introduced and need to be understood by administrators,
teachers, communities
and parents. This will not be accomplished in a short period of time.
- Communities
and societies are not yet aware of their participatory role in education
management along with educational institutions.
Parents do not bring their
children to be enrolled in schools despite the service provided.
- The
non-proactive character of education makes it difficult for some children in
especially difficult circumstances to obtain an education.
Inequality in
obtaining education among children of diversified groups exists despite the
Government’s policy of education
for all. Not all children are able to be
in school.
- The
family situation and the economic environment still play an important role in
the educational achievement of children. Even regarding
basic education,
financial problems pose obstacles, causing students to leave school early or to
become unable to attend school at
all.
- Fixed
timetables and semesters do not agree with the time available to some groups of
children, such as street children and children
living in building sites.
- The
number of teachers who directly deal with students is diminishing for various
reasons, including civil service reform allowing
teachers to seek early
retirement with special benefits. A number of teachers have taken up this
opportunity, thus causing an abrupt
shortage of manpower in the school system,
severely affecting educational standards.
- Regarding
the quality of the teachers, problems arise because of a lack of commitment on
the part of some people entering the teaching
profession, resulting in the fact
that they later ignore their proper duties and tasks. Teachers are also
expected to be leaders
in other projects of the community in addition to their
role as teachers; this has resulted in less time for their work with
students.
- It
has been found that despite a higher budget for education than in other fields,
the greatest portion of the funds is spent on salaries
for teachers; these are
nevertheless much lower than those of other professions.
- There
exist a high number of discrepancies in the quality of education in different
areas, particularly in subjects such as mathematics
and science. There is a
lack of equipment and education materials, for instance in science and
technology.
- Attendance
in the wrong age group has caused a delay in graduation for these students,
making them enter the labour market later than
usual. It also affects their
overall standard of education, which then affects the overall standards of the
labour force of the
country.
- The
Government sometimes cannot arrange for educational facilities in remote areas
with small numbers of people. Children from such
areas have to travel to nearby
communities, thus causing them difficulties in travelling to and from
schools.
- Parents
prefer to have their children studying in well-known schools although there may
be other perfectly adequate schools closer
to home. The children themselves
have to devote much of their free time studying in “cram” schools or
classes, causing
them greater stress. At the same time, some schools may have
vacancies but the parents do not want their children to go there.
Such schools
are then left with smaller numbers of students than expected.
Solutions
- The
National Education Act and its related laws and regulations should be made known
to the public, in order to create understanding and awareness of the rights
and
duties as described in the Act and related regulations. Education reforms
should be further publicized, alongside a greater
degree of decentralization of
power for the benefit of the local people.
- Knowledge
and information should be provided to personnel in educational management to
enhance understanding of their role and duty
so that they can work effectively.
A proactive style of educational management should be introduced with more
emphasis on participation
in order to provide greater access to children in
especially difficult situations such as street children and children in various
homes for children.
- There
is also a need to:
- − Prioritize
provinces with education problems, in order to define targets, distribute
further resources and improve service
to needy target groups;
- − Set up
emergency support measures such as provision of subsidies or assistance to
target groups of poor families and children.
This is to ensure educational
access for all;
- − Improve
educational systems and management;
- − Build
up efficiency in compulsory education;
- − Allow
children the opportunity to study at any time.
- The
manpower in the teaching profession must be evenly and appropriately
distributed. The recruitment system must be adjusted to
encourage people with a
positive attitude to join the profession. Emphasis must be placed on the policy
that teaching is of great
importance.
- Vehicles
must be provided for in order to facilitate the flow of work. Another option is
to arrange for a mobile teaching unit.
Various groups of underprivileged
children may be placed in boarding schools rather than in day schools.
- The
Government should consider providing extra funds for teachers in addition to the
usual remuneration. The standards in every school
should be standardized and
improved until they are equal or nearly equal. Retired teachers should be
encouraged to participate in
the
- administration
of education. Information should be disseminated to parents regarding the
importance of education for their children.
The Government should amend tools
measuring the emotional quotient (EQ) and the morality quotient (MQ) in a way
that conforms to
Thai traditions and culture.
B. Aims of basic education
1. Respect for the
child
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997, section 81, stipulates that the State must
provide education, training and support for the acquisition of knowledge in
conjunction with good
ethics. Therefore, the National Education Act of 1999 has
defined three core characteristics for education in Thailand, namely: lifelong
education for all; education administration
with participation by all; and
continuing development of the process of learning.
- The
school has become the administrator of student-centred learning, aiming to
facilitate the realization of every student’s
full potential in terms of
intelligence, knowledge, morality, physical health with a long-term vision in
work and in coexistence,
as well as lifelong learning. The State is now
supporting services in educational institutions to enable this concept to
materialize.
Schools address the educational needs of the child and encourage
the child to explore his or her own abilities, aptitudes and interests
so that
he or she can later use these skills in the development of the quality of his or
her life. At the same time, students should
be happy while in school. Several
schools, such as Triam Udom Sueksa (Pre-University) School and St. John
College, are implementing
this programme.
2. Teaching human rights in schools
- The
current curriculum has incorporated the teaching and learning of the rights and
duties of citizens in a democracy, as well as
the current political situation,
problems and development of neighbouring countries in terms of human rights.
Although the concept
of human rights may not be directly defined, knowledge of
such matters is being introduced into the teaching and learning process
under
that title. Some agencies, for instance the Office of the National Primary
Education Commission, have conducted comprehensive
surveys of teachers’
understanding on child rights. A Teacher-Protecting-Children-Network and a
survey of children on child
rights issues have been instigated.
3. Cultural identities, respect and values
- With
regard to sections 23 and 27 of the National Education Act of 1999 and the plan
for a policy on the development of man, society, religion, art and culture,
several agencies have implemented
policies on the development of strengthened
cooperation among families, communities, educational institutions and religious
organizations,
in order to impart to students knowledge and understanding of
religion and ethics. The National Culture Commission of Thailand has
implemented several projects such as the project on the development of
subjective emotion in Thai society for teachers in Thai educational
institutions. Activities include:
- − The
organization of academic seminars, the publication of testing and evaluation
handbooks for use in institutions, and the
printing and distribution of
textbooks on Subjective Emotion;
- − A
project entitled “Major dimensions of personnel development in educational
institutions”;
- − Projects
promoting the handing down of knowledge of Thai music in schools, with teacher
seminars and printing of handbooks
on the teaching of Thai music;
- − A
project on handing down Thai heritage and ethics along with the production of
materials for use in connection with the project
at the primary school
level;
- − A
project to train children in the performing and visual arts.
- The
Department of Curriculum and Instruction Development of the Ministry of
Education has created a handbook on the promotion of learning
and skill
development for life to youngsters both at the pre-primary, primary and
secondary levels (1997) and the vocational level
(1998).
4. Responsibility, friendship, peace and equality
- The
National Education Act of 1999, sections 7 and 24, are fundamental measures to
prepare the child for a free society with an awareness of peace. Knowledge must
go side by side with
good ethics, especially with regard to living in Thai
society without discrimination towards different communities, religions or
ethnicities. There is the freedom to accept and learn from each other’s
religious practices.
5. The development of respect for the natural
environment
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997, section 79, the Environment Act of 1992 and
the National Education Act of 1999, sections 7 and 23, have legislated for the
promotion, protection, maintenance and awareness of the need to preserve nature.
At pre-primary level up
to secondary classes and in every educational
institution, efforts have been made to encourage children to learn and get
involved
in environmental activities. Youth groups and clubs are engaged in
activities in the study and preservation of the environment in
schools and
communities. The networking of such activities has been launched among students
at university level with cooperation
from the private and business sectors.
Activities held are diverse, such as arranging exhibitions and
debates.
6. Training provided to teachers
- During
1997-1998, the Ministry of Education organized a professional development
project for teachers working in government schools.
Standards and criteria were
set as well as the techniques for potential analysis of teachers in government
service. The Department
of Instruction and Curriculum Development organized
training sessions for administrators and
- teachers
in many educational institutions under the programme for “full potential
development” and “life-skill training”
for preschool,
secondary and vocational students. Manuals and exercises for self-learning
were produced to enable the child to learn
how to think, act and solve problems
and equip themselves with qualities such as perseverance and restraint.
Follow-up and evaluation
on the use of the manual and exercises were
conducted in a study entitled, “The results of activities on quality
promotion
and value creation instrumental to the development of concepts in
ethics, such as honesty”.
- The
Office of the National Education Commission announced that 1999 was the year of
implementing the National Education Act of 1999, and that the year 2000 was the
year of the glory of Thai education. There were four levels of preparation for
teachers:
- − A
council of deans of education was created, incorporating teachers from 50
institutes of higher learning nationwide;
- − Teachers
with expertise in the following three categories were recognized for
their achievements: prototype teachers who
emphasize student-centred
learning (126 teachers were named in that category in the years 1998-1999);
national teachers who have
conducted valuable research; and teachers with
expertise in folk wisdom (30 teachers). This category represents experts on
issues
concerning their communities;
- − Strengthening
the promulgation of legislation on licences for the teaching profession and
teaching administrators;
- − Honouring
good teachers through awards.
- Moreover,
since 1997, some government agencies not directly dealing with education have
organized training for teachers and other
relevant professionals, in order to
better facilitate the personal development of the capacities of children in
various ways. The
Office of Local Administration held a seminar of Islamic
committees nationwide to impart knowledge - as prescribed in the policy
for the
promotion and development of mental values and ethics as well as aesthetics - to
children and the general public. Also held
were: a seminar of the Assembly for
the Land of Dharma and the Golden Land, Buddhism promotion week, training for
youngsters in
the Land of Dharma and the Golden Land project.
- The
Community Development Department held seminars among tambon administration
organizations and women’s development committees
at all levels (tambon,
district and province), with about 5,398,553 attending across rural areas, in
order to increase knowledge
about ethics, peaceful coexistence in the same
society, and kindness to children and the young. The Department of Religious
Affairs
held seminars for chief monks (abbots, provincial chiefs of abbots,
provincial education officers, mentor monks and chief tambon
monks in all
provinces). These participants will, in turn, share their knowledge when they
serve as members of the teaching team
of monks giving ethical instruction to
students and people in the communities. The Department of Fine Arts organized
short-term
and long-term courses on dances, music and art to teachers and the
public. The National Youth Bureau formulated a training course
for those who
work with young people, regarding the development of their potential,
personality and capacity, both as a whole and
in particular areas.
7. Revision of school policies and curriculum
- Policy
and curricula for the development of the school and the formulation of
programmes of learning have been adjusted following
examination in light of
article 29. In 1999, for instance, a study was undertaken concerning the
trend of youth development in the
twenty-first century, the results serving as
relevant data in the formulation and adjustment of education policy for
children.
- Regarding
the implementation of activities to update various aspects of the curriculum,
the Ministry of Education has introduced several
programmes, such as the general
education stream through distance learning, which is taking place in 119
schools. Another programme
involves the extension of basic education at
secondary level through distance learning, which is currently utilized by
170,000 students.
Another 10,680 students received vocational education
certificates through this programme. Learning and teaching activities for
53,669 target groups were developed. In addition, there are programmes for the
disabled who can participate in occupational training
in 8 special schools and
12 educational regions. Tapes are produced for four compulsory
subjects and manuals are developed for the
administration of general, nonformal
education for the disabled.
8. Relevant programmes and materials used
- The
Ministry of Education has provided support in the procurement and production of
materials used, for instance, in the programme
for the development of books in
education. This is to develop teaching materials in various ways, such as in
the presentation of
new styles of books, multimedia, references, library
development, management style and effective networking of learning. These
activities
have resulted in many changes in education.
- Examples
of this can be seen in the establishment of the “Chaloem Ratcha
Kumari” public libraries. According to the plan,
71 libraries will open;
at present, 52 are officially in operation. There have been 632 district public
libraries established.
Another programme develops the teaching of science,
applied science, mathematics, technology and the environment. There is also
a
programme for establishing science centres and networks for education, a project
to establish a research institute in chemistry,
the Phra Chomklao Science Park
at Wa Ko project, and a project to promote gains in students’
capacity.
9. Peer education and peer counselling
- Under
peer counselling programmes, networks of clubs are formed in educational
institutions at the regional, national and international
levels, with the
encouragement of government agencies, educational institutions, teachers, and
local and international NGOs. The
essence of counselling lies in education and
counselling on matters relevant to the development of fellow students. Usually,
the
networks are formed among students at the secondary level and above.
- An
example is the “language doctor” group at Satri Witthaya School,
helping younger students with language proficiency.
A move that is quite
progressive in terms of Thai education is the formulation, apart from
groups within the school, of inter-school
groups. Since 1997, 97 schools
have run this type of network.
- Benchamabophit
School is a leader of one such network. Students manage the group while
teachers act as advisers. Activities are
divided into five
areas:
- − Friends
in study (help coaching in academic work);
- − Buddies
(close friends to bare one’s heart to);
- − Leadership
building within the group;
- − Helping
on family matters (providing help if the friend has family problems);
- − Safeguarding
the community (organizing activities to create awareness on various matters in
order to prevent problems in schools).
- In
addition, there are networks specializing in certain areas, both at the national
and international levels, and their activities
are widely recognized. These
include: AIESEC Thailand; T-CARP (Thailand Collegiate Association for the
Research of Principle);
YFWP (Youth Federation for World Peace Thailand); the
YPLE (Youth Centre for the Promotion of Better Life and Environmental
Awareness);
the five-province youth network in the south; the
child-protecting-home network; the grannies and granddads group; the Andaman
youth
group and the Samila youth promotion group.
10. Conformity with standards of administration
- At
present, the Ministry of Education has stipulated in the ministerial regulations
that educational institutions are to provide services
in areas of safety and
health. Support is given in terms of recruitment of doctors and nurses to
undertake health checks on a regular
basis. Services provided are usually
dental health checks, and immunization or vaccination shots for primary
students. Minor illness
or injuries are attended to in coordination with nearby
health stations or hospitals. Children attending school may receive yearly
health insurance against accidents - although not all schools are covered, more
and more schools are joining the scheme.
- As
a safety precaution, educational institutions hire security guards or set up
rosters for officials to check on visitors to the
school.
C. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities
General situation
- The
Constitution of Thailand of 1997 states in section 4 that human dignity,
personal rights and freedom shall be protected, and in chapter 5 that Thai
nationals, regardless of origin, sex
or religion, shall be equally protected by
this Constitution. Chapter 4 of the National Education Act of 1999 states that
the people will be provided with knowledge of religion, art, culture, sports and
Thai folk wisdom. In chapter
9, it is stated that the State will provide
infrastructure for the transmission of radio, television, telecommunications and
other
forms of communication for use in formal, non-formal and informal
education, and other forms of learning, such as about religion,
art and
culture.
- In
terms of legislation, an example is the National Youth Act of 1978, which
supports and provides children with the right to rest,
leisure, play and
participation in recreational and cultural activities. Programmes and plans to
promote and support the physical,
mental and intellectual development of
children have been implemented. The promotion of activities in sport and
culture beneficial
to children has been initiated and strengthened by both
Government and private sectors.
- There
are three types of activities: (1) services by the State which are provided
free of charge or at a small charge; (2) services
provided by clubs or organized
by individuals who wish to contribute to public service in sports, recreation or
art; (3) services
provided by business enterprises with fees charged. The
Ministry of Education has also included this issue in the Eighth Plan for
the
Development of Education, Religion and Culture (1997-2001) with the Office of
the National Culture Commission in charge of the
organization and promotion of
national culture activities.
- Moreover,
the reforms in the arts, culture and religion will be inclusive of education
reform; offices of education, religion and
culture will be established all over
the country to link their work with that of educational institutions and
religious and cultural
offices. These will, in turn, be linked with district
and tambon cultural councils in various educational areas, creating wide
opportunities
for the promotion of cultural activities among children. In
conclusion, the outcomes of education reform implementation can be summed
up as
follows.
1. Organizations of leisure within the formal education
system
- The
State has declared that primary school students must attend classes 180 days per
year and secondary school students, 200 days.
There are two terms a year,
and schools hold classes five days per week. Saturdays and Sundays are
holidays. There are five to
six classroom hours in a day. At primary school
level, classes for each subject last from 20 to 50 minutes (depending on the
subject),
while a class session at secondary level lasts 50 minutes for each
subject. Each day the school will set aside 50 minutes as a period
for
relaxation. During this period students participate in 1 of 15 activities
provided by the school, as selected by the student
depending on his/her
interest. These activities range from art, culture and recreation to other
intelligence-stimulating activities.
The children themselves may request other
subjects that interest them in addition to these 15 activities.
- Every
day, three breaks are provided: morning recess, the lunch hour and an afternoon
break - a total of about 1.5 hours per day.
Long vacations are provided twice
per year, the first being from mid-October to early November (20 days) and
the second from early
April to mid-May (45 days). During these vacations,
children may read comic books, watch television, listen to the radio, travel
upcountry, return to their hometowns, take field trips, attend camps and engage
in other activities they like.
2. Organizations established for recreation, leisure, resting
and art
- The
Study on Models of Youth Centres found that there are three categories of youth
centre in the country: urban/rural, formal/non-formal
(education) and private
(volunteers for development).
- Recipients
of services provided by these centres range from very young to 25 years of age.
A diversity of activities are provided
taking into consideration the needs and
interests of the recipients. The activities organized range from play, sports,
reading centres,
home economics, dance, the arts, or special activities of
interest to the children such as computers, languages and the environment.
These centres are named in accordance with the office that supervises them,
or the name of the area, such as BMA youth centres (numbering
26),
municipality youth centres (numbering 146) and tambon youth centres (numbering
5,531 with 499,258 members), inclusive of 6,270
tambon sports centres.
- In
conclusion, related agencies usually have legislation, measures, plans, projects
and activities to support children in their leisure
time. There is time for
recreation, play and fun without any obligations. Both officials and parents
look after them and support
them in both the formal and non-formal education
systems. The Government is supporting further study and research into leisure
activities
for young people in order to improve these services in areas such as
management, decentralization and responsiveness to the needs
of the
children.
- Moreover,
many private and business organizations are currently taking part in organizing
facilities for recreation, entertainment,
art and culture, counselled by the
government sector. Shopping centres are arranging forums for children to
express their acting
talents. Art contests are held. The Government has also
arranged for more parks in urban areas, temple grounds and sports grounds
in
urban and rural areas.
- The
Government has also laid the foundations for sustainable support of leisure,
recreation, art and culture in a way that provides
quality to such ventures.
Formal education in these activities has been conducted. Before 1996, the
results were few, particularly
in terms of sports and recreation. Since 1997,
however, the Government has set up core agencies and allocated funding for such
activities.
- The
Ministry of Education has set up six schools for sports in the provinces. These
schools are open to students at the upper primary
level (primary 4-primary 6),
lower secondary (secondary 1-secondary 3) and upper secondary (secondary
4-secondary 6). Application
and selection are based on natural ability in
sports and the Government covers all costs until the students complete the
course.
The Education Office, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration,
has undertaken an experiment by establishing a special school for children
gifted in sports. Subjects relating to sports are taken side by side with
general subjects. The Government has also encouraged
government education
institutions to set aside certain public spaces as rest areas with recreational
facilities for children and
the community.
3. Funding of cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure
activities
- The
Government has set up and provides funding to agencies responsible for the
abovementioned activities. In 1999, the Department
of Physical Education, for
instance, was allotted a budget of 2,307.3 million baht, an increase of 1,968
million baht from 1998.
The Department of Fine Arts in 1999 received 1,258.7
million baht. The Office of the National Culture Commission in 1999 received
258.2 million baht. Other government agencies, such as the Tourism Authority of
Thailand, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration,
the Department
- of
Community Development, the Sports Authority of Thailand, local municipalities
and tambon administration organizations all have
plans for the promotion of
tourism and field trips for children every five years. In addition, there are
programmes for sports and
recreation for children. This indicates that the
Government has allotted funding for recreation, leisure, sports, culture and art
with an upward trend.
4. Cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure
activities
- The
Government has supported campaigns and programmes in support of activities in
the arts, in culture, recreation and leisure both
at regional and local levels.
This is to ensure that child rights awareness will spread from the family, to
the school to the community.
This trend is on the increase and is evident in
the areas of sports and recreation, and art and culture.
1. Sports and recreation
- Besides
support to sports and recreation, as discussed above, the Government also
provides support to develop young peoples’
abilities and to assist them in
achieving excellence, such as in top-level international tennis and golf
tournaments. In 1998, Thailand
hosted several international sports
activities, such as the ASEAN Games, the SEA Games and the Fespic Games.
- This
is an important move in support of the search for excellence in children.
Children of varying backgrounds and abilities, including
gifted children and
children in especially difficult circumstances, all participated in the
activities and spent their time in a
beneficial way. The recruitment of
volunteers for physical education is currently a pilot project initiated by the
Government (the
Department of Physical Education). The 3,627 graduates of this
project went on to serve as volunteers teaching sports in 21,938
villages and
village primary schools with financial support from the Government.
2. Art and culture
- The
Government, with the cooperation of the business sector, has strengthened and
supported the organization of art and culture activities
on a continuous basis,
such as the Thai Heritage campaign (1997) and the Culture for Development Decade
(1997-1998). Both are programmes
in continuation of the Thai Culture Year
programme (1996). Other regular programmes conducted by the Government are:
the formal
and informal integration of culture into educational processes, using
Thai national artists as instructors or through the mass media;
learning;
culture-related work contests at the national and local levels; displays and
exhibitions of regional culture at the National
Culture Centre; cultural shows
by famous artists with free admission to children; support to children with
special talents in cultural
arts to work or be trained with outstanding artists;
cultural exchange activities at the local, national and international levels;
the preservation and propagation of a Thai national identity and the propagation
of that identity to the world; the promotion of
Thai culture envoys and Thai
culture centres in foreign countries.
Problems
- Places
to hold activities are limited in number; venues cannot be found in most urban
and rural areas. And there is:
- − Lack of
personnel to conduct these activities on a continuous basis;
- − Lack of
public information for children who constitute the target group;
- − Obsolete
material and equipment that lack continuous maintenance.
Solutions
- Allocation
of funding by the Government should create new venues for the activities,
as well as:
- − Production
and acquisition of sufficient quality personnel for the work;
- − More
information disseminated to children about places where events and activities
are held;
- − Regular
maintenance and acquisition of diverse and modern equipment and materials;
- − More
quality participation from the private sector in activities in sports and
recreation on a continuous rather than a short-term
basis.
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
A. Children in emergency situations
1. Children and
refuge
General situation
- Political
unrest during 1997-1998 in Cambodia led to renewed influxes of
some 60,000 displaced persons into Thailand. They were allowed
temporary refuge in Surin, Trat and Sisaket provinces. Initial relief
assistance was provided by international agencies as well
as local officials and
Thai NGOs. Education assistance was provided to the displaced children, using
Cambodian textbooks provided
by UNICEF. When the situation normalized,
the displaced persons were gradually repatriated voluntarily with the
assistance of UNHCR.
By early April 1999, all displaced persons were
successfully repatriated.
- Regarding
displaced persons from Myanmar, who have entered Thailand since July 1999, UNHCR
has set up field offices in Mae Hong Son,
Tak and Kanchanaburi provinces to
monitor their situation. Ninety-seven thousand, seven hundred and sixty
refugees, of whom 83,784
are Karens and 13,976 are Kannis (as of
31 December 1999), were given temporary refuge in 12 camps along the
western border of Mae
Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi provinces.
- Following
the tripartite meeting held in July and August 1999, displaced persons
from Laos, were given assistance towards repatriation
during
September-December 1999. As of 31 December 1999, only 53 Lao
displaced persons remained at the Na Pho site.
- Although
Thailand is not a signatory to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
of 1951 and the Protocol relating to the
Status of Refugees of 1967, in
practice, the Royal Thai Government provides protection to displaced persons
based on humanitarian
principles. Details will be described in subsequent
passages.
- During
the period 1986-1994, Thailand adopted a Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) to
determine the status of displaced persons and
asylum-seekers from Indo-China.
Since its termination in 1994, there have been no national procedures directly
relevant to granting
refugee status to asylum-seekers. However, the screening
of displaced persons for status determination has been carried out instead
by
UNHCR. In practice, all aliens (including displaced children) entering Thailand
without official documents are classified as
“illegal immigrants”
under Thai law and are subject to arrest, prosecution, detention and
deportation. This practice,
unfortunately, is still not in conformity with the
principles of family reunion.
- Although
displaced persons and asylum-seekers have no legal status in Thailand,
effectively barring them from enjoyment of their civil
and political rights, in
1999 the Ministry of the Interior, in cooperation with UNHCR, completed the
registration of all asylum-seekers
who had been given temporary refuge at
special camps. Personal data, including date of birth, names of relatives, etc.
were computerized,
allowing for further addition of other information, such as
date of death. The computerized data system makes possible classification
by
age group. The Ministry of the Interior and UNHCR registered 99,657 displaced
persons from Myanmar in all nine shelters along
the Thai-Myanmar border
from March to May 1999. Data on unaccompanied minors will be compiled in the
near future.
- Based
on UNHCR figures, as of December 1999, there were a total of 48,914 displaced
children, of whom 28,931 were boys and 19,983
were girls. Most of them were of
Burmese nationality.
- All
displaced children in camps had access to primary education and health-care
services. The total number of Karen children enrolled
in school was 24,353, of
whom 12,297 were boys and 12,056 girls.
- Children
born in the temporary shelters receive no official certificates, even though
they were born at local hospitals. However,
these children are allowed access
to basic necessities, such as health care, immunization and medicines. They
also have access to
education, organized by committees in the temporary
shelters. NGOs provide support in regard to teaching personnel, learning
materials
and stationery. There are also centres providing care and assistance
to unaccompanied minors with support from NGOs.
- Seminars
and field visits to temporary shelters in Tak Province were organized for senior
government officials. National and regional
conferences on displacement and the
rights of the child were organized in October 1999 and in January 2000 to
exchange information
on the
- current
situation of displaced children and to put forward concrete recommendations for
better protection of these children. This
report in itself is part of the
evaluation mechanisms. It is expected that complete mechanisms will be
developed following discussions
with concerned agencies.
New progress
- Since
the first report was submitted, there have been several new developments as
follows:
- − Faster
entry procedures. The Royal Thai Government has recently set up special
procedures to deal with displaced children
seeking refuge at temporary shelters.
It is required that all displaced children stand trial for illegal entry before
being allowed
refuge at the Maneeloy Centre. Previous practice involved
separation of the children from their parents and detention in observation
and
protection centres for an average duration of three to six months before being
allowed to stand trial. With the new procedures,
displaced children only need
to be dealt with at the police station level and are released within a matter of
hours to the care of
the head of the temporary shelter;
- − Registration.
Displaced persons from Myanmar in refugee camps were officially registered.
This practice has made it possible
to obtain correct figures of the displaced
persons and to disaggregate data of accompanied and unaccompanied minors, along
with other
personal details, including names and addresses of their relatives.
The information has greatly facilitated the family tracing and
reunification
process;
- − Consideration
of withdrawing the reservation made to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and becoming a State party
to other related conventions. Additionally, national
and regional consultations on “Challenging the new millennium: the rights
of the child and the issue of displacement” held in October 1999 and
January 2000 respectively, recommended, inter alia, that
countries should
withdraw reservations made to the Convention and that countries that had not
signed the 1951 Refugee Convention
and the 1967 Protocol should do so.
Problems
- Thailand
is not a party to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and has no
other domestic laws related to refugees.
As Thailand made reservations to
articles 7 and 22 of the Convention, the protection for displaced children is
not officially or
legally covered by this international law in the country.
- Displaced
persons/asylum-seekers in Thailand do not enjoy any economic rights due to their
lack of legal status. Displaced children
are not eligible to enrol in school in
Thailand. However, those who are allowed temporary refuge in temporary shelters
are provided
with primary school education tailored to suit their particular
context.
- Currently,
there is no official registration at birth for children born at the temporary
shelters, even if they were born at hospitals
in town and their births are
reported to the provincial authorities. Thus, displaced children lack identity
papers/official documents.
Solutions
- As
has been noted, the main obstacle to providing proper and timely protection to
displaced children emanates from the fact that Thailand
has not acceded to any
of the international instruments concerning refugees. At present, the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs is placing
considerable importance on this matter. The
Ministry has therefore set up a committee to consider the possibility of
accession to
the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Illegal entry into Thailand for economic reasons
- Apart
from displaced persons fleeing from internal armed conflicts or political
instability, there are illegal immigrants from neighbouring
countries who enter
Thailand for economic reasons. This group is a major problem confronting
Thailand and one that is becoming more
serious. This section will focus on
displaced children in general, primary assistance given to them, problems and
recommendations.
General situation
- According
to the statistics of the National Security Council 1997, it was found that there
were 740,000 alien workers in Thailand,
mostly from Myanmar. The estimation
made by the Population and Social Institute, Mahidol University, found that 25
per cent of them
were children. It was estimated that about 100,000 child
workers were scattered throughout the 43 provinces that were authorized
to
accept alien workers during the years 1992-1996. In the years 1995-1997
there were 14,525 illegal migrant children under the
care of the Immigration
Office. Most of them were Myanmar, Cambodian or Laos. In the years 1997-1998,
there were 530 child beggars,
of whom 496 were from Cambodia and 34 from
Myanmar.
- Most
of child immigrants who have entered Thailand illegally are unskilled labour
working in the sex industry, the services, construction,
fisheries and
agricultural sector, and small factories. Young female sex workers could earn
as much as 6,000 baht or more per month
whereas some small children earn only
20-30 baht per day for about 10-14 hours of hard labour under unsuitable and
hazardous conditions.
- Different
people, starting with agents, exploit these children in various ways. They are
not able to ask for justice and have no
other alternatives. If they are abused,
tortured or exploited while in Thailand, they are assisted by police or
governmental or
non-governmental organizations. These organizations collaborate
in providing assistance to victims in terms of interrogation, repatriation,
recreation activities, mental rehabilitation and others.
- However,
it is necessary for the Immigration Office to return these children back to
their home countries, as they do not have legal
status in Thailand. In
addition, the number of detainees exhausts the budget and capacity of the Thai
Government to accommodate
them in the Immigration Centre. Insufficient
cooperation from the countries of origin also poses another difficulty for the
repatriation.
Problems
- As
mentioned in the previous report, illegal immigrants are considered to be a
burden on the national administration, politics, economy
and security. They are
seen as competing with the Thai people for employment and being linked to the
drug problem in the country.
Solutions
- The
effective measures in assisting displaced persons in Thailand must be based on
humanitarian principles and clear policies of all
stakeholders concerned. It is
necessary to encourage the countries of origin to take responsibility in
accepting their citizens
back home and to set up measures, which can be put into
practice, to deal with the problem and to ensure implementation accordingly.
All returnees must be ensured of their total safety upon their departure from
the destination country and arrival in their home
country.
- Development
of an economic zone along the borders facing the problems should be initiated in
order to accommodate more labour.
2. Children in armed conflicts
- As
Thailand has neither internal nor external armed conflicts, there have not been
children in armed conflicts or children in recovery
and social reintegration
pursuant to the general guidelines, paragraphs 123-131.
- In
regard to paragraph 125: the minimum age by law for conscription, pursuant to
Military Service Act (1954), indicates that every
Thai man who has attained the
age of 20 years will be recruited into the armed forces or can volunteer to do
so. This practice is
thus in line with the provision of article 38.
B. Children involved with the system of administration of
juvenile justice
1. The administration of juvenile justice
- The
number of juvenile offenders put on trial at the juvenile and family court
increased from 10,061 in 1993 to 30,669 in 1997. The
children involved with the
juvenile justice system gained more protection with the promulgation of the 1997
Thai Constitution. More details are outlined in the following sections.
- Major
laws, such as the Criminal Procedure Code, have been revised to provide more
protection for children. In areas where there
are Juvenile and Family Courts or
Provincial Juvenile and Family Courts or Juvenile and Family Sections, child
offenders are protected
by the Act Instituting Juvenile and Family Courts and
the Juvenile and Family Court Procedures of 1991. At present there are 24
Juvenile and Family Sections and 10 Juvenile and Family Courts. Expansion of
the Juvenile and Family Courts is planned to cover
all provinces throughout the
country. In the provinces where there is no Juvenile and Family Section,
efforts are made to apply
similar proceedings.
- In
Thailand, a juvenile offender shall be immediately informed of the charge
against him or her and an investigation shall be completed
within 24 hours. His
or her parents or legal guardians shall be informed about the arrest
promptly.
- In
addition, Thailand has revised the Amended Criminal Procedures Code (No. 20)
of 1999, which came into effect in September 2000,
concerning the
notification of charges. If an offender is below 18 years of age, the
investigator must ask the offender whether
he or she has a lawyer. If the
offender does not have his or her own lawyer, the Government shall provide one
(art. 134 bis). Moreover,
article 133 bis is also applied if the crime
committed carries a penalty of imprisonment of three years or more, or if the
crime
committed carries a penalty of less than three years’ imprisonment
and the injured child or child witness requests a lawyer,
or if the crime
committed involves an assault on a child below 18 years of age. The
investigation of the child as an injured party
or witness shall be done
separately and appropriately taking into account his or her age. In such an
investigation, either a psychologist,
social welfare officer, or another person
requested jointly by the child and prosecutor shall be present at the
investigation.
- Upon
the arrest of a child or young person alleged to have committed what the law
considers to be an offence, the public prosecutor
shall file charges with the
Juvenile and Family Court within 30 days. If the charge cannot be entered into
the court system within
30 days, and the child is charged with a crime carrying
a maximum sentence of between six months and five years, then the public
prosecutor shall submit a motion to the Court for a postponement of the filing
deadline. Each postponement cannot exceed a period
of 15 days and postponement
cannot be granted more than twice. If the sentence facing the child or young
offender is more than five
years of imprisonment, the petition for a 15-day
postponement cannot be granted more than four times.
- If
the case has not been brought to trial, bail can be granted at the Observation
and Protection Centre. If the case is already at
trial, bail shall be requested
at the court.
- According
to the Criminal Procedure Code, article 172, paragraph 2, the child or young
offender is free to decide whether to confess
or to deny any charges against him
or her in his or her testimony to the court. To aid in this testimony, the
court provides the
child with a legal adviser if the child does not have one.
The court shall pay the full costs of the legal adviser. In the case
where
the child or youth offender confesses to having committed the crime and the
crime carries the penalty of less than five years’
imprisonment, if the
parents or guardians of the child are present, the court will pass its judgement
immediately. If the crime
committed carries a penalty of over five
years’ imprisonment, the public prosecutor must bring in a witness for
interrogation
in support of the confession. If the offender denies the charge,
both the public prosecutor and the offender have the right to bring
in witnesses
to support the testimony. The Juvenile and Family Section of either the appeal
court or the Supreme Court has the authority
to review a verdict made by a lower
judicial body.
- The
Criminal Procedure Code, article 13, stipulates that the proceedings or
investigation pertaining to the case shall be performed
in Thai. However, if
necessary, an interpreter will be hired. In addition, article 13 also
stipulates that, if necessary, a sign-language
interpreter shall be
arranged.
- Protection
of a child’s right to privacy is embodied in many Thai laws, including the
Act Instituting Juvenile and Family Courts
and Juvenile and Family Procedures of
1991 and in the draft Act on Child Protection. Article 97 of the Act
Instituting Juvenile
and Family Courts and Juvenile and Family Procedures
stipulates that sentence shall be read in camera. In addition, article 98
of
this Act prohibits publicizing messages related to the judgements or court
proceedings, either orally or in writing, in any way that
may disclose the
identity of the accused child, unless this is done with the permission of the
court.
- However,
in practice, there have been occasional violations of the child’s rights
in this regard by some media practitioners.
Efforts have been made by concerned
agencies to curb these violations.
- Thailand
has adopted the Act Instituting Juvenile and Family Courts and Juvenile and
Family Procedures of 1991 specifically to oversee
the juvenile judicial process.
The court can either admonish and release the accused child, or let the parents,
or concerned authorities
take care of the child under prescribed conditions.
The child may also be sent to a training centre. If a child is under 14
years
old and is sentenced, the sentence may be reduced by half of an adult
sentence for the same crime. For a child who is over 17 but
not over 20 years
old, the court may order a reduction in the scale of punishment by one third to
one half of an adult sentence for
the same crime.
- The
Act Instituting Juvenile and Family Courts and Juvenile and Family Procedures
of 1991 enacted provisions regarding the care of
the child, consultation,
monitoring, advisory services, and rehabilitation and integration into society.
Under this Act, section
67 stipulates that the court overseeing the
juvenile and family case can order the juvenile to be kept in custody at the
Observation
and Protection Centre or a similar location pending trial, if the
court deems this fit.
- In
addition, section 55 stipulates that the Director of the Observation and
Protection Centre has certain responsibilities upon gaining
custody of a child
or young person if the child or young person is not temporarily released or is
not entrusted to a person or an
institution deemed suitable under section 50.
The Director of the Observation and Protection Centre shall proceed to give the
child
or young person a bath and a change of clothes and ensure that the child
undergoes physical and mental examinations conducted by
a physician and
psychiatrist, as appropriate. If the child is ill and needs medical treatment
before entering into proceedings,
the child is guaranteed such treatment in
the Observation and Protection Centre or in a suitable hospital. The inquiry
official
or the public prosecutor shall be informed of such an occurrence.
- In
regard to social work services provided to the child both before and after the
trial, section 46 stipulates that the social worker
has the power to provide
social work services and treatment to the child or young person when he or she
is in the custody of the
Observation and Protection Centre. Upon release, the
social worker can still advise the parents, guardian, or person deemed fit
for
custody on social work services and appropriate treatment for the child.
In addition, section 38 (1) stipulates that while the
child or young person
remains under the supervision of the Observation and Protection Centre, the
Director shall ensure that the
child has access to sufficient general education
for at least reading and writing, occupational or vocational
- training
suitable to their characters, and appropriate heath care. The education
programme provided at the Centre includes vocational,
general and physical
education. Moreover, even if the specified custodial period ends and the child
or young person does not have
another place to live, the court has the authority
to extend the child’s stay until the child finishes his or her
studies.
- The
number of children and young persons in the centres is rapidly increasing,
making it difficult for the centres to accommodate
all juveniles properly. This
has put a strain on the system and the children, resulting in some of the
children attempting escape
from some centres. However, efforts have been made
by some centres, such as those in Phuket and Rajaburi, to improve the living
conditions and standards of the juveniles under their supervision. New
provisions include occupational training and better physical
and mental health
care.
Training activities developed for relevant
professionals
- The
Thai juvenile justice system involves many professionals including, but not
limited to: policemen, investigators, public prosecutors,
court officers and
probation officers. The Government as well as other authorities have regularly
organized training on aspects
of juvenile justice for these professionals. For
example, the National Police Bureau organized a training course for its officers
who specialize in cases involving children. Moreover, public prosecutors,
judges and associate judges who are only responsible for
juvenile cases,
including those holding positions in provincial Juvenile and Family Courts, are
trained on children’s rights
before taking their positions.
- In
addition, Thailand has adopted a model of multidisciplinary teams that is
becoming increasingly widespread and recognized. A multidisciplinary
team
consists of professionals specializing in different fields who come together to
work on a specific area. This practice was
outlined in the Criminal Procedure
Code Amendment Act (No. 20) of 1999.
- Even
though direct training is not provided to concerned practitioners, Thailand
recognizes the importance of international instruments,
such as the Beijing
Rules, as reflected through its integration of the principles of the Rules into
its National Women Development
Plan under the Eighth National Economic and
Social Development Plan (1997-2001). Thailand has also taken action, in line
with the
United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their
Liberty, which involves children affected by the justice system,
such as
temporary release during trial and the establishment of a Legal Advisory Centre
for children and families that focuses on
rehabilitation for children on
probation. Moreover, children at the Observation and Protection Centres are
provided with general
education or occupational training by a multidisciplinary
team. This team can include vocational instructors, nurses, psychologists
and
social workers. For drug addiction cases, the children will be sent to live in
a new environment.
Progress achieved and targets for the future
- Lack
of manpower, funding and equipment continues to be a factor inhibiting progress
in this regard. A large number of cases each
year effectively delayed the
court proceedings, prolonging the time that the children remained in custody
during trial. However,
since 1999, the LAN computer system has been used in the
Juvenile and Family Court, enabling more speedy proceedings and shortening
the
period of custody during trial.
2. Children deprived of their liberty
General situation
- The
number of children who were deprived of their liberty pursuant to court
judgements between 1993 and 1997 totalled 11,481. In
1997, 3,755 children were
found guilty. Of these children, 2,612 were sent to training, 1,055 were
imprisoned and given training,
and 88 were imprisoned without access to any kind
of training.
- Legislative
and other measures. While the laws guarantee that the liberty of children is
protected, in practice there are some difficulties
with the treatment of
children of displaced persons or illegal immigrants who are in detention.
However, in some provinces, NGOs
will take the children out to be cared for
during the daytime. If the child commits an offence, efforts will be made by
concerned
authorities to process the case as swiftly as possible. The court or
the Observation and Protection Centre may decide to take alternative
measures of
releasing the juvenile offender temporarily without bail and releasing him or
her to the custody of the parents or guardians
or the person that the child is
living with, or other individuals or agencies as deemed appropriate. The court
may also exercise
its discretion of changing the penalty to training or
counselling sessions. Efforts are being made to improve the understanding
of
concerned agencies regarding these alternative measures through a memorandum of
understanding.
- Ensuring
that young offenders are treated with respect and humanity. The Act Instituting
Juvenile and Family Courts and Juvenile
and Family Procedures of 1991 has
provisions to ensure that measures provided under this law will be strictly
applied to any juvenile
who comes into contact with the justice system. Under
this law, detention of accused juvenile offenders with adults and the use
of
fetters on the juvenile offender are prohibited, unless the crime committed
carries a maximum sentence of more than 10 years’
imprisonment. The
safety and future of the accused child are taken into account when the court
passes judgement on a case involving
a juvenile offender, which focuses more on
training and rehabilitation rather than severe punishment. Consideration is
also given
to the characteristics, health and mental status of juvenile
offenders when the court passes judgement. Public release of the personal
information of juvenile offenders is also prohibited. If a juvenile offender is
in detention, he or she is allowed to receive food
from outside, to wear his or
her own clothes on weekends or holidays, to write and receive letters, which
will be first screened
by an officer, and to perform a job that is not against
the Ministry’s regulations. However, since there are provinces that
do
not yet have Juvenile and Family Courts, there are unfortunately some juvenile
offenders who receive the same treatment as adults.
- Where
a case involves a juvenile offender who is not granted temporary release during
the trial and is sentenced to training, the
court is authorized to send the
child to other rehabilitation and counselling institutes. However, in practice,
it is unlikely that
the child will be sent to other rehabilitation or
counselling institutes due to the lack of supervisory and monitoring mechanisms
for these services. Therefore, most of the children end up at the Observation
and Protection Centres, more than any other training
institutes.
- There
are some difficulties in providing a favourable environment in these centres for
the children, due to limitations concerning
competent personnel with expertise
in human behaviour, funding, and essential facilities. The efforts to encourage
children to become
good citizens are therefore unsatisfactory.
- Legal
assistance. The Act Instituting Juvenile and Family Courts and Juvenile and
Family Procedures of 1991 stipulates that the accused
can have a legal adviser
to act as an advocate whose costs the court will pay. If the accused does not
have a legal adviser, the
court shall appoint one unless the accused does not
want one, or the court deems it unnecessary.
- Currently,
no data have been collected on the number of children and youth that have
received legal assistance or other types of assistance.
Evidence shows that
most children already have their own adviser and do not require that one be
appointed by the court. In addition,
the legal adviser’s services will be
provided without discrimination as to the child’s age, sex, urban/rural
background,
society or ethnic origin.
- Contact
with family. According to article 54 of the Act Instituting Juvenile and Family
Courts and Juvenile and Family Procedures
of 1991, an alleged child offender
shall not be kept in custody in the same area or in the same room with adult
offenders. However,
in practice, this is not always possible. Child inmates
are allowed to make contact with their families through written correspondence
and visits. Officials shall check all incoming documents, visitors and other
means of contact.
- In
Thailand, the ability to standardize and evaluate the performance of
institutions/centres involved in the justice system are limited
to each State
agency. There is no systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of
rehabilitation strategies provided for juvenile
offenders across the country.
Thailand, therefore, lacks basic data and facts for formulating policies and
plans for future centres.
However, in an attempt to improve the system,
Thailand has appointed an Ombudsman and adopted the Act on the National Human
Rights
Commission to standardize and evaluate the work performances of such
institution/centres.
Problems
- At
present, budgetary constraints do not permit nationwide coverage of Juvenile and
Family Courts. If a province has no Juvenile
and Family Court, the same
procedures as applied to adults will be used. However, efforts have been made
to impose more lenient
measures through the Criminal Procedure Code that can be
applied anywhere, regardless of whether those areas have Juvenile and Family
Courts.
Solutions
- In
addition to the progress regarding the revision of the Criminal Procedure Code,
Thailand should strive to encourage the courts
in the provinces where there are
no Juvenile and Family Courts or Juvenile and Family Sections to apply the
procedures stipulated
in the Act Instituting Juvenile and Family Courts and
Juvenile and Family Procedures of 1991. Thus, children outside the jurisdiction
of the Juvenile and Family Courts can be equally protected.
3. The sentencing of children
General situation
- The
details regarding capital punishment and life imprisonment have already been
mentioned earlier in this report. In addition, the
Act Instituting Juvenile and
Family Courts and Juvenile and Family Procedures of 1991 focuses also on giving
an opportunity to juvenile
delinquents to improve themselves to become good
citizens, in lieu of punishment. Article 104 of the Act stipulates that
the court
shall have the power to take other such measures as are provided by
the law, such as training at an Observation and Protection Centre,
or any other
training or counselling institutes, or probation.
- Children
and young people will not be sentenced to death nor to life imprisonment, and no
additional prison terms will be imposed
when more than one crime is committed.
Further details were covered in the first report.
- In
addition, Thailand has been a State party to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights of 1946 since January 1997.
One significant provision of
the Covenant stipulates that a “sentence of death shall not be imposed for
crimes committed by
persons below 18 years of age and shall not be carried out
on pregnant women”. Thailand is thus amending its Criminal Procedures
Code to be in line with this provision of the Covenant. Previously, provisions
of the Criminal Procedures Code stipulated that when
“persons below
17 years of age but not yet over 24 years of age commit what the law
considers to be a criminal act, the court
shall reduce the scale of punishment
imposed for such an offence by one third or by one half”.
- In
Thailand, there have never been cruel punishments inflicted on children by the
courts. Instead of severe penalties, the court
is more likely to exercise its
power to use alternative measures as provided by the law, such as probation
orders, giving advice,
or ordering the child to do community work. Both the
community and the private sector are encouraged to take a role in taking care
of
these children as well.
Problems
- According
to the Criminal Code, article 76, it is stipulated that “if a person
below 17 years of age but not yet over 24 years
of age commits a
criminal act, the court has the power to reduce the scale of
punishment”. This means that technically, juvenile
offenders aged 17-18
years old could be subject to the death penalty although in practice, the court
has never imposed the death
penalty on anyone below 18 years of age. In
practice, there are still problems concerning the treatment and care of juvenile
delinquents
on probation, due to the budgetary and personnel constraints as well
as the increasing number of juvenile offenders.
Solutions
- The
amendment and implementation of laws to prohibit capital punishment in relation
to juvenile offenders should be expedited and
community networks and the private
sector encouraged to participate in probation programmes for juvenile offenders,
which in turn
helps bridge the gap between adults and children.
4. Physical and psychological recovery and social
reintegration of the child
General situation
- A
child victim may be adversely affected if the court sentences to prison an
offender who is the primary caregiver of the child, leaving
him or her without
proper care. Therefore, it is necessary to provide physical and psychological
rehabilitation for both the adult
offender and the child victim, to create
favourable conditions for the successful reintegration of the child. In the
past, protection
measures for a child victimized by abuse, whether by persons
within or outside the child’s family, focused only on physical
and
psychological treatment. The surrounding environment, which is a breeding
ground for the violations, was rarely addressed.
- For
the child offender, physical and psychological rehabilitation are equally
important. Proper rehabilitative measures applied without
causing depression or
stigmatization will greatly facilitate successful reintegration of the child
into society. The surrounding
environments of the child must be taken into
account in designing appropriate rehabilitative measures for the best interests
of the
child.
- According
to the Thai juvenile justice system, in passing judgement inflicting punishment
on a child offender, the court will take
into account the report of the Director
of the Observation and Protection Centre, stating facts about the child,
including his or
her age, family background, mental state, education and related
social environments.
- In
the case where the court orders a juvenile offender to undergo training, the
Observation and Protection Centres are the ones responsible
for providing care
and training for the child. At the Centre, the child will receive health care,
education and vocational training
in line with his/her individual interests.
However, the Centres still have some difficulties with providing educational
services,
such as lack of qualified teachers and flexible and appropriate school
curricula to suit the needs and levels of development of the
children, who have
failed in the normal school system.
The mechanisms established and programmes and activities
developed
- The
Observation and Protection Centres, in collaboration with other relevant
agencies, provide several programmes for occupational
training, rehabilitation
and treatment for the juvenile offenders, such as joint projects on non-formal
education; provision of education
and occupational training; development of the
Centres based on a child-friendly concept in collaboration with the Department
of Health;
a training course to promote self-discipline and moral and physical
health; and job placement.
Problems
- Occupational
training is not fully implemented due to the unclear internal structure of the
Centres. There are no interpreters for
local dialects in any of the Centres,
due to budgetary constraints. A shortage of physicians and psychologists limits
opportunities
for juvenile offenders to receive treatment.
- There
is no systematic data collection system, either qualitative or quantitative and
a lack of financial and personnel resources,
as well as teaching and learning
materials. Some of the Centres are overcrowded.
Suggestions
- Vocational
education institutes should be encouraged to develop common plans and directions
for the provision of occupational training.
An adequate budget should be
allocated for local interpreters in the jurisdiction of the court. Children in
the juvenile justice
system should have access to treatment and recovery
services from psychologists. Collection of quantitative and qualitative data
should be systematized. The focus should be on strategies to encourage children
to become good citizens and reintegrate them into
society to prevent repeat
offences. The number of children in the already crowded Centres should be
reduced by encouraging categorizing
juvenile offenders and early release
programmes based on good behaviour.
C. Children in situations of exploitation
1. Economic
exploitation of children
General situation
- As
Thailand evolved from an agricultural to a semi-industrial nation, there has
been an increase in internal migration, of farmers
and rural people moving to
Bangkok and other industrial big cities. Some of the push and pull factors
contributing to this migration
to the cities include the low prices of
agricultural products, increased demand for labour and higher wages in the
industrial sector.
- When
adults move to work in the cities they often bring their families along,
effectively disrupting the children’s studies.
These children are forced
to enter the labour market prematurely and, as a result, become vulnerable to
exploitations of various
forms.
- The
economic crisis of 1997 had significant impacts on employment including the
closure of many businesses and widespread job losses.
Many children, as well as
their parents, lost their jobs. Some families were unable to continue
sponsoring the children’s
schooling.
Measures protecting against the economic exploitation of the
child
- Article
86 of the Thai Constitution of 1997 stipulates that the State shall promote
employment for people of working age; protect workers - especially children and
women
- and provide a system of labour relations, social security and fair
wages in accordance with the Labour Protection Act of 1998.
Changes to relevant
legislation and policy are as follows:
- − Compulsory
education was extended from six to nine years, to delay entry into the labour
market;
- − The
minimum age for employment was raised from 13 to 15 years of age, making it
possible to keep children in school longer
and preventing early entry into the
labour market;
- − An
employer must notify labour inspectors of the employment of a child below
18 years of age within 15 days of hiring. The
employer must also record
any changes in the employment conditions and keep the record at the workplace
ready for official inspection
during working hours. Lastly, the employer must
notify labour inspectors of the termination of a child’s employment within
seven days of the last working day;
- − An
employer shall provide a child worker with a continuous rest period of no less
than one hour per day after four hours of
work, and the child employee shall be
provided with some additional rest periods as specified by the employer;
- − A child
worker under 18 years of age shall be entitled to take leave of not more than 30
days per year with pay to attend
meetings or seminars, obtain education or
training, or leave for another activity that is arranged by an academic
institute or a
government or private agency;
- − An
employer is prohibited from demanding or accepting guarantee money for any
purpose from a child worker and from paying
the wages of a child worker to any
other person;
- − Sexual
harassment is prohibited.
- The
Labour Protection Act also has provisions specifying the scale of punishment for
offences, as follows:
- − Sexual
harassment of a child worker below 15 years carries a maximum penalty of a
20,000 baht fine;
- − Employment
of a child below 15 years carries a penalty of up to one year’s
imprisonment, or a fine of up to 200,000
baht, or both;
- − Failure
to notify a labour inspector of the employment of a child under 18 years carries
a penalty of a fine of up to 20,000
baht;
- − Failure
to grant leave of up to 30 days per year to a child worker to attend meetings,
seminars or training programmes carries
a penalty of a fine of 10,000 baht;
- − Failure
to provide rest periods as prescribed by law, or forcing a child worker to
perform tasks prohibited by law, or paying
the child’s wages to persons
other than the child, or demanding or accepting a deposit from a child worker,
will result in
a jail term of not more than six months or a fine not exceeding
100,000 baht, or both. Forcing a child to work during prohibited
hours that
leads to harm to the child’s physical or mental health or the
child’s death carries a prison term of up to
one year or a fine of up to
200,000 baht.
- In
relation to foreign child workers, the Labour Protection Act of 1998 provides
protection for employees working on Thai territory,
including foreign labour,
regardless of sex or age. The law provides for equal protection in relation to
work contracts, working
conditions and safety at work.
- In
situations where foreign workers are employed without official permission, the
Department of Labour Protection and Welfare will
coordinate with the relevant
agencies, including the Department of Employment, the main agency responsible
for granting work permits
for foreign workers, and with the Immigration Office
or the police, to render assistance and to take action towards repatriating
these workers to their home countries.
Work harmful or hazardous to the child
- The
Labour Protection Act of 1998, article 49, sets forth the types of work which an
employer shall be prohibited from permitting
a child employee under the age of
18 to perform. These provisions are in line with the Convention on the Rights of
the Child regarding
the minimum age for employment. The types of work that are
prohibited are as follows:
- − Smelting,
blowing, casting or rolling of metal;
- − Metal
stamping;
- − Work
connected with heat, cold, vibration, noise and light the levels of which are
different from normal levels, which could
be hazardous, as prescribed in the
ministerial regulations;
- − Work
connected with hazardous chemicals as prescribed in the ministerial
regulations;
- − Work
connected with micro-organisms, which could be viruses, bacteria, moulds or
other germs as prescribed in the ministerial
regulations;
- − Work
connected with poisonous materials, explosives or inflammable materials, except
for work in fuel oil service stations
as prescribed in the ministerial
regulations;
- − Driving
or controlling of forklifts or cranes as prescribed in the ministerial
regulations;
- − Work
which uses electric or motorized saws;
- − Work
which must be done underground, underwater, in a cave, in a tunnel or in a
shaft;
- − Work
connected with radiation as prescribed in the ministerial regulations;
- − Cleaning
of machinery or engines while the machinery or engines are in
operation;
- − Work
which must be performed on a scaffold more than 10 m from the ground;
- − Other
work as prescribed in the ministerial regulations.
Hours and conditions of employment
- A
child under 18 years of age is prohibited from working during the period
between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., unless permission is granted
by the
Director-General or the child is an actor in a movie or a play or other similar
work. In such a case, the employer shall
provide the child with appropriate
rest time. If an employer violates these rights as defined by the law, leading
to a child’s
physical or psychological harm or death, the employer shall
be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year, or fined an
amount not
exceeding 200,000 baht, or both, in conformity with the principles of ILO
Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).
Preventive and remedial action
- Knowledge
is disseminated on the prevention and resolution of child labour problems
through public campaigns and the media. Issues
covered include labour laws,
child rights, and also services available for children provided by both
governmental organizations and
nongovernmental organizations. The Ministry of
Education has prepared a textbook on child labour for integration into the
school
curricula at all levels.
- Village
labour volunteer programmes have been established to provide training for
community leaders, such as teachers and village
chiefs, regarding local action
in addressing child labour problems in their communities.
- Children
are provided with knowledge and life skills before entering the labour market
through training, especially of young people
who do not continue beyond the
compulsory level of education.
- Child
labour networks have been established among relevant governmental organizations
and non-governmental organizations, employers’
organizations,
employees’ organizations, academics, the media and local communities.
- The
Labour Protection Act of 1998 also provides for some protective measures for
homebased workers. These include prohibition against
sexual harassment,
entitlement to paid annual leave for not more than 10 days per year after one
year of employment, and equal pay
for men and women for the same type of work,
with payment made in Thai baht at least once a month.
- The
Labour Protection Act of 1998 authorizes the Minister of Labour and Social
Welfare to issue special regulations, which are pending
approval, to protect the
rights of child workers in the agricultural
sector.
Coordinating and monitoring mechanism established for that
purpose
- Thailand
has mechanisms in place for monitoring child labour situations and for
protection. At present there are approximately 650
labour inspectors
nationwide. Labour inspectors are authorized to monitor employers’
compliance with the labour laws and to
ensure that employees receive their full
entitlements and basic rights, as provided by the laws. Inspections are carried
out in
two ways: one is a general inspection focusing on small and medium-sized
enterprises, which employ a lot of child workers; and the
other is conducted
upon receiving complaints, made either in writing, by the hotline, or in person.
- The
following are the findings of labour inspections in the year
1999:
- − Of the
total of 44,462 workplaces inspected throughout the country, 1,335 enterprises,
or 3 per cent, were found to have employed
child workers;
- − The
total number of employees of these enterprises was 2,268,936, of whom
11,987, or 0.52 per cent, were children (a decrease
from the first report,
which indicated that there were 95,184 child employees). When classified by age
and sex, it was found that
there were 14 employees under 13 years of age
and 140 employees aged 1314 years, of whom 64 were male and 76 were female.
The total
number of 15- to 17-year-olds employed was 11,833, of whom
3,618 were male and 8,215 were female;
- − Of the
total number of enterprises employing child workers, 525 operated in compliance
with the Labour Protection Act;
- − Of the
total number of enterprises employing child workers, 810 violated the Labour
Protection Act;
- − Actions
taken by government officials against unlawful enterprises ranged from offering
advice (716 enterprises), to issuing
orders (14 enterprises), to giving warnings
(14 enterprises), and to legal action (4 enterprises).
- The
Thai Constitution of 1997, section 334, provides for the establishment of the
National Human Rights Commission, which has the power to: (a) monitor
the
enforcement of labour law or other laws; (b) propose solutions and measures as
appropriate to concerned individuals or agencies;
and (c) propose policies and
suggestions to the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers for the
amendment of laws and regulations
to promote and protect human rights.
The relevant indicators identified and used
- Thailand
has defined five indicators for the collection of baseline data regarding child
labour in the Plan of Action for the National
Declaration on
Children:
- − Number
of child workers under 15 years of age;
- − Number
of child workers under 15 years of age as a percentage of the total population
of children of the same age;
- − Number
of child workers receiving ill-treatment;
- − Percentage
of child workers having accidents or injured as a result of their work, out of
the total child labour population;
- − Percentage
of child workers receiving occupational training and skills development and
being able to continue their education
in a non-formal
system.
International conventions and other instruments
- Thailand
has ratified the following conventions concerning child labour:
- − The ILO
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29);
- − The ILO
Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, 1965 (No. 123);
- − The ILO
Maximum Weight Convention, 1967 (No. 127);
- − The ILO
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999
(No. 182);
- − The ILO
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of 1998, which
prohibits employing a child under 15 years
of age.
- Thailand
has yet to ratify the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), which has
provisions regarding child labour in the agricultural
sector. Therefore, the
Thai Government needs to conduct a survey to gather some statistics regarding
child labour in the agricultural
sector. The results will be used as a database
for setting up some standards for the protection of labourers in the
agricultural
sector, including a minimum age for employment, and defining
hazardous work for children.
Technical cooperation and international
assistance
- Thailand
has organized programmes on child labour with technical and financial support
from the ILO (ILO/IPEC) and UNICEF, which can
be summarized as
follows.
International programmes aimed at preventing and combating
child labour
- ILO
(ILO/IPEC) provided financial support to both governmental organizations and
nongovernmental organizations for implementing 36
projects during the years
1994-1998 which can be classified into four main areas:
- − Policy
and planning, such as the development of non-formal education curricula for
child workers in urban areas and capacity-building
activities for the Ministry
of Labour and Social Welfare in terms of preventing and combating child labour
problems;
- − Training
such as seminars for employees and labour unions to improve their knowledge of
the laws and protection measures against
exploitation;
- − Provision
of services and assistance to special target groups, such as children working in
the ready-made clothing industry
in Chiang Mai, or young girls in the north who
are at risk of being lured into forced labour, etc.;
- − Research
and evaluation, such as research on the development of educational modules for
children of construction workers,
and a survey of child labour in cottage
industry.
- UNICEF
has provided financial support to the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare for
a project on development of systems and tools
for systematic collection of data
on child labour. The database will be utilized for mapping out effective
planning and programming
assistance to child workers.
Problems
- The
Labour Protection Act 1998 prohibited an employer from hiring a child employee
under 15 years of age and defined conditions for
the employment of a child. For
foreign child workers, although they are protected by the law, in practice they
faced certain difficulties.
Due to their illegal status and/or language
barriers, these children have difficulty in filing complaints to
authorities.
Solutions
- The
Royal Thai Government has adopted measures and programmes to assist child
labourers. Types of assistance include scholarships,
educational loans,
occupational and skills training, and occupational training for local people to
cushion the impact of the economic
crisis on children who had been laid-off as a
result of the crisis. In addition, there are programmes aimed at preventing the
employment
of children aged between 13 and 15 years old who have completed
compulsory education but have not continued their education by providing
them
with intensive general education or vocational education for a period of 1½
years to delay their entry into the labour
market. Another measure is the
promotion of self-employment through counselling and guidance on capital, market
information and
job placement. There are services to receive complaints and
provide assistance, such as temporary shelter and rehabilitation services
to
homeless children. There are also activities to promote children’s
learning and development, such as mobile libraries,
youth centres, sports
centres and other.
- Cooperation
is also sought from the private sector in regard to skill development training,
in conformity with the Occupation Development
Act of 1995. A private company
can provide a training programme of its own but the training curriculum must be
approved by the Department
of Skills Development. Currently there are 41
private enterprises registered as providers. To encourage greater cooperation
from
the private sector, the law has been amended to improve tax benefits as an
incentive for the companies. The Council of State has
approved the amendment,
which is pending the parliament’s consideration.
2. Drug abuse
General situation
- The
drug situation in Thailand has become more serious and drugs networks have been
expanding, along with the circulation of both
new and old types of drugs. Among
these, methamphetamine is the most serious as it is widespread among students at
all levels.
The number of children and youth arrested in connection with
methamphetamine abuse sharply increased from 973 in 1995 to 8,235 in
1997,
whereas the number of children and youth involved in other drugs such as heroin,
volatile substances, opium and marihuana has
decreased. Therefore,
methamphetamine abuse is a major drug problem in Thailand.
Legislative and other measures
- Legislative
measures taken to prevent the use by children of alcohol, tobacco and other
substances include:
- − Revolutionary
Announcement No. 132 on inappropriate behaviour of students with regard to
alcohol, tobacco and drug use;
- − The
Tobacco Control Act of 1972, prohibiting that the sale of tobacco to persons
under 18 years old.
- Relevant
international instruments to which Thailand is a State party include: the
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961, the
Convention on Psychotropic
Substances 1971, the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances 1988.
- In
1998, the Royal Thai Government issued an order of the Prime Minister’s
Office on the “Policy on the Prevention and
Suppression of Drug
Abuse”. The order outlines various measures aiming at the following: (1)
limiting the expansion of drug
abuse; (2) reducing the widespread use of drugs,
with clear target areas; (3) preventing drug abuse at all levels, from family,
educational
institutions, down to the community level; (4) treating drug addicts
as patients; (5) imposing punishment on dealers, importers,
exporters and
influential supporters; (6) strictly enforcing the sentences passed by the
court; (7) information-based suppression
and psychological operations to reduce,
eradicate and destroy drug syndicates; (8) promoting selfsufficiency through
income-generation
activities and ensuring protection; (9) multilateral
collaboration among countries; (10) putting drugs prevention and suppression
at
the top of the agenda of all government agencies; (11) providing protection to
State officials and other persons involved in drug
prevention and suppression;
and (12) imposing severe punishment on State officials who support, protect,
seek and receive benefits
from drug-related crimes.
- Measures
to raise awareness could include:
- − Educating
children and youth about the prevention, and the danger, of drugs abuse and
drugs offences, by disseminating information
through all forms of media;
- − Training
all stakeholders including children, youth leaders and teachers;
- − Providing
life skills education to develop creative and positive behaviour;
- − Conducting
seminars/meetings for students and student inspectors on preventing and
combating drug abuse;
- − Conducting
different kinds of activities for children to use their free time more wisely
such as awareness campaigns, youth
camps, counselling services, etc.;
- − Conducting
meetings between police officers and school administrators to have a school
police monitoring and combating drug
problems in schools;
- − Establishing
prevention and suppression centres in every province to coordinate the work of
governmental and non-governmental
organizations, in conformity with the order of
the Office of the Prime Minister No. 141/1998;
- − Establishing
a mobile unit to serve as a centre for life skills education for students at
primary level, supported by the
Government of Australia;
- − Establishing
a drug clinic at the community level, supported by the private sector, to
prevent drug abuse;
- − Establishing
21 drug units in Bangkok;
- − Initiating
the “White Zones School Project” or “Drug-Free School
Project” , under the Ministry of
Education; and
- − Promoting
clinics to develop and improve personality.
Assistance to children and their families
- Remedial
measures adopted can be summarized as follows:
- − Promoting
alternative activities to improve the quality of life of students;
- − Providing
counselling services to addicted students; and
- − Providing
treatment to drug addicts.
- Rehabilitative
measures can be summarized as follows:
- − Improving
the quality of life of students;
- − Providing
continuing care and treatment;
- − Promoting
rehabilitative activities, such as youth camps, to help them recover from trauma
and prevent them from returning
to
drugs;
- − Assisting
addicts with mental rehabilitation through trained personnel to help them cope
with withdrawal syndrome;
- − Organizing
rehabilitative activities in schools;
- − Providing
counselling services for students to help them to successfully reintegrate into
society and finish their studies;
- − Encouraging
drug addicts who have gone through the withdrawal process to enrol in
behavioural change programmes in hospitals;
- − Supporting
job placements to strengthen their income-earning capacity and prevent them from
returning to drugs; and
- − Using
religious principles to help cure the addicts.
- The
Royal Thai Police has the duty to provide support to schools in their drugs
prevention and suppression efforts to achieve the
ultimate goal of the
“White Zone School Project” (no selling, no taking and no supplying
of drugs in schools). Information
gained, in turn, will be used to support the
efforts of the police to tackle the organized networks of drugs dealers.
- Its
implementation process includes the following:
- − Analyse
and evaluate the magnitude of the drug problem in each academic
institution;
- − The
chief of each police station prioritizes and selects target
schools/institutions;
- − The
chief of each police station consolidates information from various sources,
including students, teachers, parents or school
personnel;
- − The
chief of each police station, in collaboration with the school administrator,
selects one police officer to act as project
coordinator;
- − The
chief of each police station, in collaboration with the school administrator,
organizes an orientation meeting with teachers,
parents and community
leaders;
- − Plans
of action and programmes/activities will be designed based on the nature and
severity of the problems, which can be
categorized as follows:
- − If
there are production facilities and distributors near the school, actions taken
will focus on suppression and awareness-raising;
- − If
drugs are sold in schools and if the drug pushers are students, they will be
warned, but if they are teachers or other
school personnel, they will be
arrested;
- − If
there are drug problems in schools, rehabilitative measures will be
adopted;
- − If the
schools are aware of the drug problems but the problems are of a limited scale,
efforts will focus on prevention and
public education on the dangers of
drugs;
- − The
chief of each police station prepares a monthly progress report to be submitted
to the Prevention Centre, detailing implementation,
obstacles and
recommendations.
Problems
- Some
State officials are involved in drug trafficking and some are afraid of the
influence of the drug trafficking rings. Suppression
is not seriously taken,
and the punishment process is slow. Public education targeting children and
youth has not been undertaken
in a sustained manner.
Solutions
- Some
solutions include:
- − Raising
awareness of State officials to be more responsible;
- − Speeding
up the punishment process;
- − Intensive
and widespread public education campaigns;
- − Encouraging
communities to organize and implement livelihood activities to supplement
income;
- − Focusing
on timely remedial and preventive measures, such as organizing field sports and
other recreational activities for
children and youth.
3. Sexual exploitation and abuse
General situation
- There
is no consensus on the number of child victims of sexual abuse, due to different
estimates made by various organizations. The
estimates of child victims of
sexual abuse in 1995 ranged from 16,276 (Ministry of Public Health) to 20,000
(Department of Social
Welfare), to 30,000-40,000 (National Commission of
Women’s Affairs).
- The
number of offenders who were arrested on charges relating to prostitution during
the period 1992-1996 was 51,532, of whom 478
were children. During the
period 1997 to June 1998, the Foundation for Child Protection rescued 415
children who had been sexually
abused, exploited and tortured.
- The
legislative measures to protect the child from sexual exploitation and other
indecent acts are: (a) the Prevention and Suppression
of Prostitution Act of
1996 (already mentioned in chapter I); (b) the Measures in Prevention and
Suppression of Trafficking in Women
and
Children of 1997; (c) the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 14) of 1997 and the
Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act (No. 20) of 1999;
and (d) the Money
Laundering Control Act of 1999.
- Thailand
has incorporated the principle of extraterritoriality into the Penal Code, which
has been revised as the Penal Code Amendment
Act No. 14 of 1997. This was
followed by the Money Laundering Control Act of 1999.
- The
Money Laundering Control Act 1999 prohibits and sets forth sanctions for money
laundering, which includes transferring, receiving,
or changing the form of
assets for the purpose of concealing or covering up the source of these assets,
or of assisting other persons
to avoid penalties or receive a lesser penalty for
the predicate offence, including offences relating to prostitution, child
prostitution
and trafficking in persons, as prescribed under the Prevention and
Suppression of Prostitution Act of 1996 and Measures in Prevention
and
Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act of 1997. Even if the crime
is committed abroad, the offender will be punished
in Thailand according to
Thai law if either the offender or a conspirator is Thai or has a residence in
Thailand; or if the offender
is an alien and committed an action in order to
commit the offence in Thailand and/or the Royal Thai Government is the injured
person;
or the offender is an alien whose action is considered an offence in the
State where the offence was committed and if that person
appears in the Kingdom
and is not extradited in accordance with the Extradition Act.
- The
Criminal Procedure Amendment Act No. 20 of 1999 prescribes the conditions for
making the child interrogation proceedings more
favourable to the child who is
an injured party, a witness or an offender. The Act was amended in conformity
with article 12 of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child and article 4 of
the Thai Constitution of 1997 concerning the right of children to be protected
by the State against violence and unfair treatment. The Act requires a
child to
be interrogated in a private and appropriate setting, to allow the injured child
or the child witness to avoid face-to-face
confrontation with an offender, in
the presence of a psychologist, social worker, or persons whose presence is
requested by the child.
The Act also calls for audiovisual recording of the
child’s testimony, which can later be used in court. There are also
provisions
concerning pretrial investigation of a child witness and the duty of
the State to provide the accused child with a lawyer. This
Act came into effect
on 15 September 2000.
- The
Plan of Action on Preventing and Combating Commercial Sexual Exploitation was
developed and implemented by national and provincial
agencies. Actions adopted
under this Plan of Action have four main components, as follows:
- − Prevention
of children and women from entering the commercial sex business;
- − Suppression
through legislative, enforcement and judicial process measures;
- − Assistance
and protection to victims; and
- − System-building,
involving development of mechanisms to supervise, monitor, follow-up and
expedite the implementation of policies
and programmes, with a focus on building
mechanisms and linkages at all
levels.
Strategy to ensure protection of children
- In
its resolution of 29 June 1999 the Council of Ministers ordered the
establishment of crisis centres in emergency units of both
State and private
hospitals to provide assistance to women and children who are victims of
violence, equipped with a multidisciplinary
team of professionals. Through
these centres, children and women can receive physical treatment and
psychological counselling from
medical doctors, nurses, psychologists and social
workers within 24 hours. At the same time the centres will coordinate with
the
police, public prosecutors, lawyers and NGOs to provide further assistance
including the referral of the victims, provision of temporary
shelter, and
rehabilitation and other remedial services.
- This
multidisciplinary approach was adopted in conformity with measures prescribed
under the Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act
No. 20 of 1999, which places an
emphasis on the provision of assistance to children and women who are victims of
crimes and violence.
It also focuses on providing medical treatment as well as
physical and psychological rehabilitation to prepare the victims for legal
procedures.
- Some
government agencies and NGOs have set up 24-hour free hotlines, such as
Hotline 1507 run by the Department of Social Welfare,
to give advice and
assistance to victims of violence.
- A
centre for protection and educational assistance helps children who are victims
of abuse, especially by personnel in the educational
system.
- Centres
for the Protection of Children and Women, established by the National Police
Bureau, deal with investigation, interrogation
and rehabilitation. The centres
work in collaboration with NGOs.
Relevant activities and programmes
- The
programmes and activities organized to ensure the recovery and reintegration of
the child victim of sexual exploitation or abuse
included:
- − A
seminar to prepare for the enforcement of the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act
No. 20 of 1999, which came into force on
15 September 2000;
- − Development
of a crisis centre in the State and private hospitals to provide assistance to
child and women victims of violence,
with a multidisciplinary team comprising
public health officers, social workers and law enforcement officers, in
conformity with
the resolution of the Council of Ministers adopted on 29 June
1999;
- − A
seminar to integrate the plans of actions of the concerned agencies, as
preparation for the enforcement of the new law on
the interrogation of child
witness, which is multidisciplinary in
nature.
Coordinating and monitoring mechanism
- There
are committees/organizations at the local, regional and national levels to act
as mechanisms for coordination and evaluation
of the performance of the
above-mentioned centres.
- There
is a special unit to take care of the child victims of sexual abuse and
exploitation, staffed with officials of the Ministry
of Labour and Social
Welfare and police officers. Regular training is provided to these
officials.
Relevant indicators identified and used
- Indicators
used for monitoring the situation of child abuse include: (1) percentage of
children who are victims of indecent acts
and/or rape; (2) percentage of raped
children who became pregnant, by age and province; (3) percentage of children
who have been
raped; (4) percentage of child victims of indecent acts
and/or rape who received physical and psychological rehabilitation; (5)
percentage
of offenders who were arrested on the charge of an indecent act
against or the rape of a child; (6) percentage of persons arrested
on charges of
indecent acts against and/or rape of a child who were previously arrested for
this crime; and (7) percentage of police
stations that have female officers
or investigators who have been trained on the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
Relevant international cooperation and assistance to foster
the prevention of all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation
- There
have been bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements concluded or acceded
to foster the prevention of all forms of sexual
abuse and exploitation of
children and to ensure effective protection of the child victims, with
cooperation from the court and law
enforcement.
- Relevant
programmes of technical cooperation and international assistance developed with
United Nations bodies and other international
organizations include a national
workshop on enhancing the capacity of social welfare and public health officers
and a pilot project
on strengthening community networks in preventing child
abuse and exploitation, with support of the Economic and Social Commission
for
Asia and the Pacific.
Problems
- The
enforcement of the laws is ineffective to some extent due to the fact that
relevant officials lack understanding and are not aware
of the importance of
such laws. There are also shortages of professionals such as psychologists,
social workers and policewomen.
Solutions
- Some
solutions include:
- − Promoting
more intensive public relations and dissemination of the laws to enhance the
understanding of relevant officials
of the importance of the laws and evaluation
of the enforcement;
- − Improving
welfare benefits for, and producing more relevant
professionals.
4. Sale, trafficking and abduction
General situation
- Thailand
and its neighbouring countries in the lower Mekong Subregion are confronted with
the problem of trafficking in, and sexual
exploitation of, children, using
Thailand as a transit country. Although there have been serious efforts at
suppression over the
past few years, the problem has continued unabated.
Efforts of Thailand included the revision of relevant laws and policies;
organization
of national and international conferences; and implementation of
various projects and activities to strengthen networks for combating
the
problem. However, there is little progress in terms of enforcement as some
police officers do not understand the whole process
and are unable to enforce
the law effectively. Although there exists a Memorandum of Understanding on
Common Guidelines of Practices
for Agencies concerned with Cases where Women and
Children are Victims of Human Trafficking of 1999, adopted by the Office of the
Permanent Secretary under the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Police
Bureau, the Department of Social Welfare and various
NGOs, achievements in this
regard are still limited, due to inadequate understanding of the MOU among some
sections of the enforcement
community.
- During
1990-1997, the number of foreign prostitutes was estimated to be
around 80,000. They came mostly from countries in the Mekong
Subregion. Of this number, approximately 30 per cent were children under
18 years old.
- The
measures adopted, including those of a legislative and educational nature, to
prevent the abduction of and the sale of or traffic
in children are as
follows:
- − The
Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act of 1996;
- − The
Measures in the Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children
Act of 1997;
- − The
Penal Code Amendment Act No. 14 of 1997;
- − The
Money Laundering Control Act of 1999.
- In
addition, there are also the Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act No. 20 of
1999 concerning investigation of child witnesses;
and the Memorandum of
Understanding on Common Guidelines of Practices for Agencies concerned with
Cases where Women and Children
are Victims of Human Trafficking of 1999.
- There
were public education and public relations campaigns aimed at preventing
children and women from falling victim to commercial
sexual exploitation, which
includes the sale, trafficking and abduction of children. Information
disseminated included lists of
organizations that can provide assistance. The
campaigns focused on encouraging public participation in prevention and in
finding
solutions to the problem; promoting new values and behaviours that
respect human dignity and gender equality; promoting family education
and
understanding of gender roles with respect to different stages of life;
discouraging sex tourism; promoting collaboration among
concerned agencies; and
awareness-raising on relevant laws and policies.
- Implementation
in regard to prevention and suppression follows the MOU, under which relevant
agencies can request budgetary support
from the Bureau of the Budget.
- There
have been a number of committees/organizations/agencies at national, regional
and local levels that function as coordinating
and monitoring bodies.
- The
Subcommittee on Combating Cross-Border Trafficking in Women and Children
organized workshops on combating trafficking in children
and women for police
officers (commissioner and assistant commissioner levels), officials from the
Department of Social Welfare and
other relevant officials from Bangkok and the
provinces.
- The
resolution of the Council of Ministers of 29 June 1999 ordered the establishment
of a crisis centre for women and children, administered
by a multidisciplinary
team, in all State and private hospitals. The main responsibility of the
centres is to provide assistance
for women and child victims of
violence.
Relevant indicators identified and used
- There
are five indicators relating to child prostitution:
- − Number
of children in the commercial sex business, by sex and province;
- − Number
of child victims, by sex, age and province;
- − Number/percentage
of at-risk children who received scholarships to continue their studies or to
attend skills training;
- − Number
of girls who receive a scholarship for their studies;
- − Percentage
of controlled zones supervised by local police stations where there still exist
entertainment places that are involved
in child
prostitution.
Problems
- There
tends to be more people involved in trafficking women and children as such
trafficking is considered less risky than drug trafficking.
- The
countries of origin and countries of destination have no clear roles in ending
the problems of trafficking in women and children
and tend to punish victims
rather than the organized networks. Victims in the countries where prostitution
is not illegal received
greater assistance than those in the countries where
prostitution is illegal.
- When
arrested, the trafficked persons will be repatriated by the State. This,
inadvertently, helps the traffickers to focus on procuring
new victims, without
having to bear the burden of repatriation. Some officials do not understand and
are not aware of the importance
of relevant laws.
Solutions
- At
the community level, countries of origin should:
- − Establish
an information centre managed by a committee;
- − Train
community leaders or volunteers to work on the problem;
- − Organize
special projects for the children in the villages emphasizing informal education
aimed at improving their knowledge
and occupational skills;
- − Organize
projects to support victims who have returned home; and
- − Provide
legal advisers in the community.
- Communities
of the countries of destination should:
- − Establish
hotlines and emergency homes to receive notification of cases and to provide
needed and timely assistance; and
- − Establish
mechanisms to link up with authorities at a higher level as well as
embassies.
- Communities
of the countries of origin and destination should:
- − Organize
public education activities to disseminate knowledge of relevant laws and human
rights; and
- − Organize
study visits or exchange programmes to learn from each other’s good
practices.
- At
the national level, activities should:
- − Focus
on punishing the traffickers and networks rather than the trafficked
victims;
- − Organize
national projects for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in women and
children;
- − Foster
closer collaboration between governmental and non-governmental organizations in
both the countries of origin and countries
of destination;
- − Establish
a national office to act as focal point for coordination;
- − Increase
the awareness of concerned officials of the importance of the problem; and
- − Monitor
and evaluate implementation.
5. Other forms of exploitation
- Both
governmental and non-governmental organizations have taken actions seriously and
continuously to protect the child from all forms
of exploitation. However, the
provisions of the related acts that are currently in force do not provide
adequate protection against
various forms of child exploitation. Therefore, the
Act on Child Protection has been drafted, taking due account of the principles
of the best interests of the child and non-discrimination, emphasizing
rehabilitation rather than imposing punishment (as has been
mentioned in chapter
I). It is expected that this bill, which is currently being considered by the
Parliament, can contribute to
the following key results:
- − An
appropriate and updated perspective on prevention, protection and care of the
child and promotion of the child’s
good behaviour, which would lead to
practical actions in line with the provisions of this bill, including the
principles of protecting
the child from domestic violence and strengthening the
capacity of family and community. This is in line with the Thai Constitution of
1997 and other international standards;
- − Effective
mechanisms to combat the problems related to child welfare and safety and the
promotion of good behaviour, in the
form of national and provincial committees
comprising representatives and experts from relevant agencies. These committees
are responsible
for planning and monitoring policies and regulations related to
children;
- − Direct
participation of society, including families, schools, communities, NGOs and
civic groups, in providing for the welfare
and safety of children and
encouraging good behaviour.
- In
addition, the draft act prohibits harmful and exploitative acts committed
against children. These provisions are intended to protect
children from being
exploited and tortured, or being lured into inappropriate behaviour. It
also prohibits any forms of publicity
which may be harmful to, and not in the
best interests of children. The dignity and privacy of the child are protected
in conformity
with the principles of the Thai Constitution of 1997 and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- The
draft act also prescribes the duties and responsibilities of officials and
individuals in reporting suspected acts of child abuse
and exploitation and in
providing needed assistance and protection to the child.
D. Children belonging to a minority or a culturally diverse
group
Hill tribes
General situation
- The
biggest minority or culturally diverse group in Thailand is the hill tribes.
Most of them live in remote and mountainous areas
in 20 provinces of the
northern region.
- According
to the data collected by the Department of Social Welfare in 1997, the total
number of highland people was 774,316, of whom
392,383 were male and 381,933
female.
- Karen
was the largest ethnic group, numbering 353,574, followed by Hmong (126,300),
Lahu (85,845), Akha (56,616), and Yao, Lawa, Thins,
Mlabri and Chao Leh
(seafarers).
- According
to the 1997 survey conducted in 17 provinces under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Social Welfare, there were a total
of 161,023 hill-tribe children,
of whom 82,336 were boys and 78,687 girls.
- According
to the survey of the Social Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University,
in February 2000, there were only 161 Chao Leh,
of whom 76 were children
(33 boys and 43 girls).
- According
to the 1996 study on Social Trends of the Highland Community in the Next
Century, it was found that the number of hill-tribe
children and youth had a
tendency to rise and that they faced some difficulties in accessing basic
services, including:
- − Education.
About 23 per cent of the total population of the hill-tribe children of school
age did not have access to study
at the primary level provided by the
Government;
- − Health
care. Most of the newborn babies had low birth weight (below 3 kg).
Parents of infants under 1 year of age did not
bring their children to be
vaccinated. Malnutrition in children under 5 remained high. Most of the 5- to
14-year-olds lacked certain
nutrients and suffered from various types of
illnesses, such as malaria, skin diseases, tuberculosis, parasitic infections,
respiratory
and intestinal infections and other common epidemic diseases caused
by unhealthy living conditions and lack of hygiene.
- Apart
from educational and health problems, other problems faced by hill-tribe people
included poverty, child abandonment, commercial
sexual exploitation, the worst
forms of child labour, drug addiction and juvenile delinquency.
The measures
- Educational
measures taken include:
- − Provision
of early childhood care in childcare centres and in schools; provision of formal
and non-formal primary education;
- − Provision
of occupational training for hill-tribe children to enable them to be
selfreliant and to have desirable values for
employment in decent occupations
appropriate to their age and maturity;
- − Provision
of scholarships to continue their
study.
- Health
measures taken include:
- − Provision
of primary health care/epidemic disease control and prevention;
- − Supporting
mobile health-care units for medical check-ups and dissemination of knowledge on
health care to hill-tribe people,
particularly women and children, providing
immunization services, first-aid kits and basic medication and referral of the
patients
who are seriously ill;
- − Provision
of lunch and supplementary food for childcare centres and temporary schools, by
seeking support from the Government
and private sector;
- − Provision
of clean drinking water for children;
- − Provision
of welfare and livelihood support for families;
- − Promotion
of the participation of families and communities in child development;
- − Organization
of children’s activities to enable them to express their point of view and
take part in social activities;
- − Organization
of occupational training for heads of family and housewives to enable families
to be self-reliant financially,
so that they do not have to leave the village to
seek employment elsewhere.
- Granting
of Thai citizenship has increased by improving the process of recording Thai
nationality in the house registration of the
highland people, in compliance with
the regulations of the Central Registration Bureau of 2000.
Ensuring the enjoyment of rights
- In
relation to development, the Thai Government has adopted a two-pronged strategy
of promotion and conservation of culture combined
with social development and
environmental and natural conservation. In 1976, the Policy of Integration was
initiated based on the
principle of respect for and tolerance of cultural and
ethnic differences, as has long been a practice among the hill-tribe groups.
Moreover, hill-tribe children have been encouraged to participate in and to have
the right to enjoy and maintain their ancient traditions,
local wisdom, art and
culture.
- The
national policy. According to the Eighth National Economic and Social
Development Plan (1997-2001), hill-tribe people are referred
to as a Thai
culturally diverse group who are less privileged and who should be developed in
order to sustain their lives with dignity
and to play a greater role in national
development, by providing them with equal protection and access to all basic
services.
- Granting
of Thai nationality. Currently there are 504,523 hill-tribe people, or
about 60.21 per cent of the total hill-tribe population,
who were listed
for Thai nationality. Those who are not listed also have the right to obtain
Thai nationality, but the procedures
will have to follow the regulations of the
Central Registration on nationality acquisition, under the House Registration
for Hill
Tribe People of 1992 and its 1996 Amendment.
- Currently,
more than half of the hill-tribe population has Thai nationality and actions are
being taken by the Government to expedite
the process of granting nationality to
the remaining population. In relation to the child’s identity, the
Government has promoted
participation and the rights of hill-tribe children to
enjoy and uphold their own traditions and customs.
- Thailand
treats its people in a non-discriminatory manner. Hill-tribe children who have
obtained Thai nationality are entitled to
the same social welfare services
provided by the Thai Government as other Thai citizens. Those who have not yet
obtained Thai nationality
are still entitled to study in both formal and
non-formal systems in the educational institutes under the supervision of the
Ministry
of Education from primary to tertiary levels. They also have access to
health-care services from any State hospital as well as to
participate in social
activities organized by governmental and non-governmental organizations,
including recreational groups, youth
groups for self and community development,
and agricultural and non-agricultural occupational training.
- In
addition, the Government has established 1,232 village welfare centres
covering 2,000 hill-tribe villages. The centres help the
hill-tribe
children to overcome their hardship to some extent. However, there are some
pockets of hill-tribe children living in
very remote areas where government
services have not reached. In this case, assistance is given by NGOs.
- The
measures adopted, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, have brought huge
benefits to hill-tribe children. Amongst these are
a better quality of life;
greater social welfare; community participation; proper and hygienic living
conditions; an unpolluted environment;
a loving and caring environment in the
families; and an opportunity to enjoy and maintain their own ethnic and cultural
beliefs and
customs without discrimination.
- The
Government has established childcare centres and encouraged families and
communities to take part in child development. Activities
are also organized
for the child to play his/her role, express opinions and develop sound values.
In addition, occupational training
is organized for heads of family and
housewives so they can be self-reliant.
- The
progress achieved includes:
- − The
granting of Thai nationality to hill tribes has been expedited;
- − The
1997 surveys made it possible to obtain accurate data on hill-tribe children by
sex and province, as well as the existence
of State agencies providing services
to these people. With funding under the Miyasawa Plan, the Department of Local
Administration
employed 16 graduate volunteers to establish a database of the
hilltribe population, on the basis of which appropriate development
assistance
will be designed;
- − Studies
on the impacts of national policy on hill-tribe development and on socioeconomic
changes in the hill-tribe communities,
for developing future plans
and actions, have continued;
- − Greater
participation of hill-tribe children and youth in social and economic
activities, particularly occupational training
for youth, life skills education
for protection against drug abuse and HIV/AIDS, and cultural and environmental
conservation has
been promoted;
- − The
preparation of the document entitled “Hill Tribe Development under the
Thai Constitution of 1997”, is to be used as a conceptual framework and
guideline for future development, in conformity with the Constitution, and as a
means to educate and disseminate knowledge and understanding of the duties and
responsibilities as enshrined in the Constitution.
Problems
- Remaining
problems include:
- − Demographic
data on hill tribes are incomplete, particularly in relation to those who remain
out of reach;
- − The
quality of education provided by some State institutes for the hill-tribe people
is not up to acceptable standards;
- − There
are still some pockets of hill-tribe children who are without a nationality,
due to a lack of knowledge of the relevant
laws and regulations on the part
of the hilltribes themselves, the government officials and NGO staff. This is
causing difficulties
in proving the legal status of a person who does not have
official documents.
Solutions
- The
Thai Government has adopted the following measures to resolve the abovementioned
problems:
- − Conducting
a demographic survey of the hill-tribe population, disaggregating data by sex,
age and province;
- − Improving
the quality of education for highland people to meet the national standards as
applied to other Thai people;
- − Expediting
the process of granting Thai nationality to all hill-tribe children, which is
expected to be completed soon.
-----
[*] For the initial report submitted by
Thailand, see CRC/C/11/Add.13; for its consideration by the Committee on 1 and 2
October 1998,
see CRC/C/SR.493-495 and CRC/C/15/Add.97.
[**] Annexes can be consulted in the files of
the Secretariat.
GE.05-42185 (E)
140905
[*] In 2003, when this report was
translated into English, the National Youth Bureau (NYB) was a part of
the Office of Welfare Promotion,
Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups
(OPP). Due to the recent restructuring of government offices in Thailand, it is
now under the new Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, which is
responsible for the well-being of all vulnerable groups
of the
population.
WorldLII:
Copyright Policy
|
Disclaimers
|
Privacy Policy
|
Feedback
URL: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNCRCSPR/2005/11.html