Thailand: Rights Priorities for New Government

Click to expand Image Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul after a press conference at Parliament in Bangkok, September 3, 2025. © 2025 Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo (Bangkok) The new Thai government should reverse the trend of past administrations and take concrete action to uphold human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on November 12, 2025. Anutin took office on September 7 following a parliamentary election and royal endorsement.“The Anutin government should make human rights a priority and demonstrate a commitment through swift and effective action,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should revoke abusive laws, end the repression of fundamental rights, and exonerate all those prosecuted for peacefully expressing their views.”Since the 2014 military coup, Thai authorities have imposed tight restrictions on viewpoints critical of the government and dissident opinions. They have prosecuted nearly 2, 000 people for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful public assembly. At least 284 people have been prosecuted on draconian lese majeste (insulting the monarchy) charges. The authorities have often held critics of the monarchy in pretrial detention for months without access to bail. The Thai government should reform the lese majeste law, adopt a moratorium on prosecution and pretrial detention under the current law, and ensure that any amnesty bill adopted by parliament includes amnesty for critics of the monarchy, Human Rights Watch said. The government should also immediately dismiss all pending Covid-19 restriction-related charges. The nationwide enforcement of emergency measures to control the spread of Covid-19 was lifted in October 2022, but at least 1, 469 people are still being prosecuted under the charges related to those measures. The killing and enforced disappearance of human rights defenders and other civil society activists remains a serious blot on Thailand’s human rights record. Cover-ups have effectively blocked efforts to pursue justice, even in high-profile cases, such as the ethnic Lahu activist Chaiyaphum Pa-sae, the ethnic Karen activist Porlajee Rakchongchareon, and the Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit. The authorities have failed to protect rights defenders from reprisals by government agencies and private companies using strategic lawsuits against public participation (known as SLAPPs). The Thai government should immediately curb the abuse of the judicial system to harass and punish critics and whistleblowers. In November, United Nations human rights experts expressed concerns about reports of death threats and online attacks against Senator Angkhana Neelapaijit, a former national human rights commissioner, and Human Rights Watch adviser Sunai Phasuk as a result of their comments regarding possible international humanitarian law violations in the recent Thailand-Cambodia border conflict. Prime Minister Anutin should enforce measures to end torture and enforced disappearance in line with the law on the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance. Numerous allegations of police and military torture and other ill-treatment have gone unpunished. None of the outstanding cases of enforced disappearance have been resolved, including cases of nine exiled Thai dissidents who were abducted in neighboring countries during the previous government of Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha. The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has raised concerns about enforced disappearances in the context of transfers of dissidents between Thailand and neighboring countries. Thai authorities in recent years have violated the international prohibition against refoulement, that is returning refugees and asylum seekers to countries where they are likely to face persecution, torture or other serious ill-treatment, or a threat to life. Thai authorities have forcibly returned asylum seekers and refugees from Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Turkey, Vietnam, and other countries. This inhumane practice undermines Thailand’s reputation as a safe haven for people fleeing war and persecution. In February, the government of then-Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sent 40 Uyghur men to China, where they could face torture, arbitrary detention, and long-term imprisonment. After the murder of a former Cambodian opposition parliament member, Lim Kinya, in Bangkok in January, many critics of the Cambodian government living in Thailand have expressed concern for their safety. The Thai government should be commended for a new policy that went into effect on October 1 allowing Myanmar refugees in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border to work legally. The Thai government should introduce a protection framework for more recent arrivals from Myanmar, whether they are in border areas or elsewhere in Thailand.“Prime Minister Anutin has a chance to chart a new path for Thailand by ending ongoing human rights abuses,” Pearson said. “The new Thai government should quickly adopt a clear plan to address human rights issues and implement it.”.