Thailand
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or...
- News items in the archive
- 448
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Thailand is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 448 news items on Thailand, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
SEPTEMBER 8, 2026ThailandDEATH PENALTYThailand: killer of Hua Hin hotel receptionist sentenced to death
DECEMBER 23, 2024ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: BIKER GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR PATTAYA MURDER
A member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club on December 20, 2024 was sentenced to death and two others given life imprisonment in Thailand for the murder of a German property broker whose dismembered body was found in a freezer in Pattaya last year.
NOVEMBER 21, 2024ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: WOMAN ACCUSED OF POISONING 15 PEOPLE WITH CYANIDE SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Thai court on November 20, 2024 sentenced Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, known as Am Cyanide, to death for the premeditated murder of one of the 15 victims she is accused of poisoning, only one of whom survived.
SEPTEMBER 16, 2024ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: EX-PM THAKSIN SHINAWATRA GETS ROYAL PARDON
Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has received a royal pardon, ending his parole on August 11, 2024, according to his lawyer, Winyat Chartmontri.
- JULY 2, 2024ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE AGAINST FORMER DEPUTY MINISTER BANYIN
The Supreme Court on June 27, 2024 upheld the death sentence issued against former deputy commerce minister Banyin Tangpakorn by the lower courts for premeditated murder of a construction businessman back in 2015.
FEBRUARY 25, 2024ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: 18 SENTENCED TO DEATH, 1 GETS LIFE IN PRISON BRAWL CASE
Eighteen individuals on February 22, 2024 received the death penalty with one sentenced to life imprisonment in a landmark ruling at the Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court in Kanchanaburi province.
MAY 18, 2023ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: MAYOR SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER LAND ACTIVIST’S MURDER
The Lower Court sentenced the former Mayor of Wang Wiset district to the death penalty on May 17, 2023 over the murder of a lawyer and land rights activist in Trang province, southern Thailand, two years ago.
APRIL 27, 2023ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE ON SCHOOL DIRECTOR FOR FATAL GOLD SHOP ROBBERY
The Thai Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty imposed by two lower courts on the former director of a primary school, who was found guilty of robbing a gold shop in Lop Buri province, killing three people and injuring another in the process.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2022ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR POISONING HER OWN CHILDREN
Thailand’s Criminal Court sentenced a woman to death on 15 September 2022 after finding her guilty of poisoning her own 2-year-old son and 4-year-old adopted daughter with an abrasive substance, to make them sick so she could appeal to the public for dona
APRIL 26, 2022ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN WHO KILLED HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT
A Thai man on 20 April 2022 was sentenced to death over the murder of a high school student in Trang province, southern Thailand, in 2018.
JULY 20, 2021ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR GOLD-HEIST SCHOOLMASTER
A Thai Appeal Court on 20 July 2021 upheld the death sentence for former schoolmaster Prasittichai Khaokaew, who shot dead three people, one a child, and wounded four others while robbing a gold shop in Lop Buri province early last year.
APRIL 7, 2021ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: PAROLED SERIAL KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2019 MURDER
The Khon Kaen Provincial Court on 17 March 2021 passed the death sentence on paroled serial killer Somkid Phumphuang for the murder of a woman in 2019 in Kranuan district.
MARCH 22, 2021ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: SEVEN DEATH SENTENCES FOR FAMILY MASSACRE
The Supreme Court on 18 March 2021 sentenced to death seven men convicted of the mass murder of a family in Krabi in 2017.
MARCH 6, 2021ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: SUPREME COURT PASSES DEATH SENTENCE ON PATTANI BOMBERS
The Supreme Court on 3 March 2021 decreed the death penalty for six men convicted of a string of bombings and attempted bombings in central Pattani in 2016.
FEBRUARY 20, 2021ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: DRUG BARON'S SONS GET DEATH
Two sons of convicted drug baron and former Kuomintang fighter Lao Ta Saenlee were sentenced to death on 17 February 2021 by the Criminal Court for drug trafficking and money laundering.
FEBRUARY 9, 2021IsraelDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: ISRAELI ON DEATH ROW TO BE TRANSFERRED TO ISRAEL
After being sentenced to death and managing to survive in one of the harshest prisons in Thailand — and after a long legal battle in the Israeli Supreme Court led by Adv. Nechama Tzivin — Israeli citizen Yigal Makhlouf will soon be transferred to Israel a
- JANUARY 20, 2021ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND: BANYIN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER OF CHUWONG
Former deputy commerce minister Banyin Tangpakorn on 20 January 2021 was sentenced to death for the premeditated murder of construction tycoon Chuwong Sae Tang that he tried to pass off as a car accident six years ago.
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND: KILLERS OF EDINBURGH MILLIONAIRE AND WIFE HAVE DEATH SENTENCES OVERTURNED
Killers of an Edinburgh millionaire and his Thai wife have had their death sentences overturned, news media reported on 7 September 2020.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: THE KING COMMUTES THE DEATH PENALTY TO SPANISH ARTUR SEGARRA FOR LIFE
The King of Thailand has commuted the death penalty to which the Spanish Artur Segarra was sentenced for the murder in 2016 of his compatriot David Bernat in Bangkok, to life imprisonment, the Corrections Department confirmed to Efe on 17 August 2020.
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND: KING COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE FOR MYANMAR MEN IN BRITISH TOURIST MURDER CASE
Two migrant workers from Myanmar on death row in Thailand for the 2014 murder of two British backpackers had their sentences commuted to life in prison on 14 August 2020 thanks to a royal decree.
AUGUST 31, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: GOLD ROBBER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING TODDLER, GUARD, AND SHOP EMPLOYEE
A gold robber who killed three people including a toddler in January on 27 August 2020 was sentenced to death after a court has found him guilty of nine charges.
MAY 18, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: MAN GETS DEATH FOR CADET'S MURDER
The Nakhon Sawan provincial court on 12 May 2020 sentenced the owner of a private military cadet school to death while his wife and mother-in-law were sentenced to life imprisonment for the fatal disciplinary beating of a 15-year-old student.
MAY 9, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: 3 GET DEATH FOR MURDER OF WOMAN
Two soldiers and one policeman on 7 May 2020 were sentenced to death in Thailand for the murder of a woman in Kanchanaburi in 2016.
FEBRUARY 28, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: COURT UPHOLDS THREE DEATH SENTENCES FOR METHAMPHETAMINE SMUGGLING
The Region 2 Provincial Court of Appeals in Rayong province, near Pattaya, on 26 February 2020 upheld the conviction and death sentence of Australian Luke Joshua Cook, his Thai wife Kanyarat Wediphitak and a Californian man, Tyler Gerard.
- FEBRUARY 11, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR 'NONG SNOW' KILLER
The Supreme Court on 11 February 2020 upheld the death sentence passed by the two lower courts on a former village headman for the murder of a teenage schoolgirl in Kamalasai district in 2015.
JANUARY 9, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: MAYOR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF MUNICIPAL DIRECTOR
The Criminal Court in Songkhla has sentenced six people, including the Muang Singha Nakhon municipal mayor, to death and another to life imprisonment for the murder of a municipal director in July last year, reported the Bangkok Post on 24 December 2019.
- JANUARY 1, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Under the Penal Code alone, the death sentence can be applied to 35 crimes
Under the Penal Code alone, the death sentence can be applied to 35 crimes
NOVEMBER 20, 2019ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR SPANISH MURDERER
The Supreme Court on 20 November 2019 upheld the death sentence for Spanish national Artur Segarra Princep, 40, for the premeditated murder of compatriot David Bernat, 41, in 2016.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: EX-MP RECEIVES DEATH SENTENCE FOR MASTERMINDING MURDER
The Khon Kaen Provincial Court on 24 September 2019 sentenced Nawat Tocharoensuk, the former Khon Kaen MP of the Pheu Thai Party, to death for being the mastermind behind the 2013 murder of Suchart Kotthum, the former chief administrator of Khon Kaen Prov
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING FAMILY, SENTENCED TO DIE
A Thai provincial court on 11 September 2019 convicted and sentenced a 37-year-old man for murdering five family members – including his pregnant wife.