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Kalyanasuta, Kanokpun and Suriyawong, Atchara. The Criminal Justice System and Community-Based Treatment of Offenders in Thailand

Responsibility for the administration of criminal law in Thailand is shared by several governmental organizations (e.g., the police, the courts, the correctional department, etc.). The authors of this paper describe in some detail the functioning of these organizations, and in general terms the standard process of administering criminal justice when an offense has been committed. They also identify in broad terms the sentencing options available to a judge, from the death penalty to imprisonment to fines and loss of property. Their presentation of the criminal justice system in Thailand includes a portrait of its current state, its problems, and possible solutions to those problems. Against this background, the authors then look specifically at community-based treatment of offenders in Thailand. While informal justice alternatives have been widely used for a long time in Thailand, formal criminal justice community solutions have only appeared recently in the legal system. The authors examine the details of this formal community-based treatment of offenders in terms of parole, good time allowances, public work allowances, and probation.

Kittayarak, Kittipong. Restorative Justice: The Thai Experience

In this paper Kittipong Kittayarak, Director General of the Department of Probation in the Ministry of Justice in Thailand, surveys the Thai experience with restorative justice. After an introduction to the basic ideas and principles of restorative justice, he states that it is not a new approach in Thailand; rather, it is a familiar concept well established in Thai traditions and culture. Elements of it still function in traditional communal justice in rural areas. Hence, with shortcomings in the conventional criminal justice, it is not surprising to see growing interest in restorative justice in Thailand. With all of this in mind, and in the Thai context, Kittayarak examines shortcomings in conventional criminal justice; the need for more community involvement in criminal justice; the rights of victims; recent criminal justice reform; and the introduction of restorative justice in Thailand.

Kittayarak, Kittipong. A Brief Outline of the Current Situation on the Protection of Victims of Crime in Thailand

Early in history, criminal law was essentially law for victims. Victims of crime were the center of the administration of criminal justice. Most criminal sanctions aimed at providing redress to the victims, typically in the forms of compensation and restitution. The concept of crime as a "private wrong" has been replaced by the emergence of the notion that crime is an act against the well being of the state and thus needs "public prosecution". The importance of the role of the victim of crime was limited to that of a "witness". Over the past few centuries, the defendant and the State evolved as the two parties with legal standing in criminal proceedings. The victims were virtually forgotten and became, in the words of Bard, “the party without institutionalized voice in the legal process." The changing paradigm during that period was based on the following premises: 1. A crime is primarily an offense against the government rather than a private wrong. 2. The government, because it acts for the good of the citizenry, cannot be held accountable for its mistakes or negligence in the administration of criminal justice. 3. Specially trained professional officers are better at controlling crime and seeing that justice is accomplished than the private citizens or victims of the offenses. 4. Victims are useful to the system as information sources and witnesses; their interests are not important to the system and could interfere with the efficient administration of justice. 5. Because of the great power of the state and the potential for abuse, persons accused or suspected of committing a crime need to be protected with an array of procedural rights and privileges. This “new paradigm‿ which has remained the mainstream thinking of the criminal justice systems around the world for a long time until the older ideas have been rekindled only recently by the movement for the protection of crime victims. (excerpt)

Ua-amnoey, Jutharat and Kittayarak, Kittipong. Restorative Justice: A Paradigm Shift in the Thai Criminal Justice System

The rise of restorative justice in the Thai criminal justice system has been a relatively recent phenomenon. The authors begin with an examination of how Thailand came to view restorative justice practices as acceptable within their arguably punitive justice system that has traditionally not allowed space for the consideration of the victim or the community. There are examples of restorative justice practices that have taken place in traditional Thai villages, but during the colonization period the Thai criminal justice system shifted away from an Eastern philosophy toward the Western system of "legal positivism." At the dawn of the 21st century, Thailand’s crime and correctional facility problems had reached such epidemic proportions that in 2002, after being convinced of the promise of restorative justice, the director general of the Department of Probation launched the first restorative justice seminar in Thailand. In 2004, the First National Master Plan of Criminal Justice, which incorporates restorative justice programs, was accepted by the prime minister’s Cabinet. The rise of restorative justice in Thailand provides a good illustration for any country seeking to add restorative dimensions to its criminal justice system. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Roujanavong, Wanchai. Restorative Justice: Family and Community Group Conferencing (FCGC) in Thailand.

Director General Wanchai, of the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection, reviews the recent development of Family and Community Group Conferencing in Thailand. Before the introduction of a Western legal system, disputes were traditionally settled through an informal mediation committee in the village community. The Ministry of Justice began to train staff for a FCGC project after observing similarities with the New Zealand approach to family group conferencing. Existing laws, and a radio address by the prime minister, have lent support to implementing restorative practices in Thailand. The article describes some of the FCGC process and statistics as it has used by the Department with children since 2003.

Claassen, Ron. Thailand Trip Report

In this document, Ron Claassen, director of the Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific University, reports on a trip he and his wife made to Thailand at the end of 2003 into early 2004. They went to participate in the defense of a doctoral dissertation by Angkana Boonsit at Thammasat University in Bangkok. Boonsit’s dissertation was on restorative justice in Thailand, with a particular emphasis on the use of restorative justice in cases of domestic violence. Claassen sketches Boonsit’s work for her dissertation, meetings he had with Thai officials concerning restorative justice, and potential directions for restorative justice in Thailand.

Kittayarak, Kittipong. Restorative Justice in Thailand

In Thailand, like in many other Asian countries, restorative justice is not a new approach but a familiar concept well entrenched in the Thai traditions and culture. Many elements of restorative justice still remain in the traditional way of communal justice in some rural areas. With such solid background in the Thai culture and increasing problems resulted from the shortcomings of conventional criminal justice, it is not surprising to see a growing interest of restorative justice in Thailand. In my presentation, I will examine the experience of Thailand in implementing restorative justice to the Thai criminal justice process. Although restorative justice has been reintroduced in Thailand only recently, and an attempt for its implementation is only in the beginning stage, restorative justice has been very well received by the criminal justice communities and the public. There are also many indications that it is likely to be adopted as a viable alternative to the formal criminal justice process in various types of offenses. (excerpt)

Ua-Amoney, Jutharat. Restorative Justice: A paradigm shift in the Thai criminal justice system

Restorative justice has recently become popular as a social movement in Thailand. This social phenomenon has been relatively successful in North America, Europe, and Australia in terms of bringing crime victims and communities together and diverting less serious crimes and young offenders from the mainstream system. Thus, this study aims to find out how the global trend of restorative justice has emerged in Thailand and reformed the authoritarian regime of the Thai criminal justice system. This paper discusses the causes and consequences that combined to affect the rise of restorative justice in Thai society and changed the ideological view of the government as a result. This research shows that restorative justice came to Thailand from both outside-in forces and inside-out forces. The former influence comes from the international or state system that defines United Nations activities, the movement of the global civil society in restorative justice and the adoption of the idea by the change agents in the Thai criminal justice system who attended the United Nations' Congress and expert group meetings. Even more influential, the inside-out forces come from the declination of the retribution paradigm in the Thai criminal justice system and the powerful movement of the change agent in gradually extending this idea through various strategies. The result of these influences is that the Cabinet's resolution of 10 February 2004 accepted this idea of restorative justice and the Ministry of Justice has begun to implement it in Thailand. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Restorative Justice for Juveniles and Adults in Thailand

In 2004, Thailand introduced restorative conferencing as a response to juvenile offending. This approach has subsequently been expanded for use in domestic violence cases and with adult offenders through the Department of Probation. In this article, Wanchai Roujanavong, Director General of the Department of Probation, describes the introduction of restorative justice into Thailand, its legislative support, and outcomes to date.

Restorative Justice in Thailand: Lessons Learned

The Thai government began experimenting with restorative practices in 2003 with the implementation of family group conferences for juvenile offenders. In 2004, the probation services began a pilot project using restorative justice in 11 probation offices. Angkana Boonsit from the Thai probation Department shares her experiences and lessons learned in implementing restorative justice in Thai cultural setting. This speech was originally given at the at the ‘Restorative Justice in Emerging Countries’ ancillary session at the 11th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

Responding to Juvenile Crime in Thailand

Families and victims to get their say and Families are to get rehab role are two headlines appearing in the Bangkok Post in June. The articles refer to an announcement by the Juvenile Observation and Protection Department of its plans to institute family group conferencing with juvenile offenders beginning July 1. The Department hopes to lower the number of juveniles held in detention centres through this programme.