Thailand
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- constitutional monarchy; note - interim military-affiliated government since May 2014 Constitutional monarchy - provisional military government since May 2014
- CONSTITUTION
- many precedents; final draft concluded on March 29, 2016, approved by referendum on August 7, 2016, signed by the king on April 6, 2017; note - the final version has several amendments not reflected in the one adopted by the referendum (2016)
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on the civil system with influences of English common law
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- In transition; following the military coup of May 2014 - National Legislative Assembly or Sapha Nitibanyat Haeng Chat
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court, judges appointed by the King
RELIGIONS
94.6% Buddhists; 4.6% Muslims; 0.7% Christians; 0.1% others
From the country
- JULY 13, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Kittisak Wongchan and brother-in-law Danai Wongrian...
Kittisak Wongchan and brother-in-law Danai Wongrian were sentenced to death by the Chiang Rai provincial court for possessing approximately one million methamphetamine pills and 20 kilogrammes of heroin
- JULY 4, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Pong Ketsiri, 64, was executed by a firing squad in...
Pong Ketsiri, 64, was executed by a firing squad in a Bangkok prison after being convicted of smuggling 275lb of heroin into Thailand
- JUNE 28, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Foreign prisoners' chances of clemency under a Royal...
Foreign prisoners' chances of clemency under a Royal Pardon from Thailand's King may have ended under a tougher government stance against drug traffickers
- JUNE 27, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed the government's...
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed the government's intention to deny drug traffickers on death row the right to request a royal pardon
- JUNE 26, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A convicted drug trafficker was executed by a firing...
A convicted drug trafficker was executed by a firing squad at the Bangkwang Maximum Security Prison, raising to six the number of drug convicts executed since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government took office in February
- JUNE 25, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, following His Majesty...
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, following His Majesty the King's comment in favour of harsh punishment for drug traffickers, said that there will be no more royal pardons in drug cases
- MAY 31, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Court sentenced to death two Singaporeans...
The Criminal Court sentenced to death two Singaporeans convicted of attempting to smuggle heroin out of the country and related charges
- MAY 1, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Hands off Cain said in an article published in the...
Hands off Cain said in an article published in the "Bankong Post" it was horrified at Thailand's new policy of making an example of drug traffickers by executing them publicly
- APRIL 27, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Following the execution of five drug traffickers Amnesty...
Following the execution of five drug traffickers Amnesty International's Secretary General wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister of Thailand urging him to use his executive powers to issue a moratorium on the use of the death penalty
- APRIL 26, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Mark Tarmthai, a philosophy lecturer at Chulalongkorn...
Mark Tarmthai, a philosophy lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, speaking at a seminar on the death sentence and drug problems organised by Amnesty International (Thailand) and the Union of Civil Liberty, said the government should set up a committee to
- APRIL 25, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Speaking at the UN Commission on Human Rights during...
Speaking at the UN Commission on Human Rights during the vote on the resolution on the death penalty, a representative of Thailand said that his country had conducted a public hearing on the question of the death penalty in 1999
- APRIL 25, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
An opinion poll conducted by Assumption University...
An opinion poll conducted by Assumption University found that the death penalty in Thailand has the support of 88