Thailand 2003
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
News on Thailand in 2003
- DECEMBER 30, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Pattani Provincial Court in Thailand sentenced...
The Pattani Provincial Court in Thailand sentenced Sakkariya Yimahama, a Muslim man, to death for killing a policeman in Pattani
- DECEMBER 12, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thailand carried out its first executions by lethal...
Thailand carried out its first executions by lethal injection after abolishing the firing squad, putting to death three drug traffickers and a murderer at the notorious Bang Kwang jail, officials said
- NOVEMBER 5, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International released a report criticising...
Amnesty International released a report criticising the lack of a credible investigation into the bloodshed unleashed by Thailand's 2003 official war on drugs
- NOVEMBER 5, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A Thai court sentenced a Russian national to death...
A Thai court sentenced a Russian national to death for a bank robbery during which a police officer was shot dead
- OCTOBER 19, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
After 68 years and 319 lives taken by the firing squad,...
After 68 years and 319 lives taken by the firing squad, a ceremony was held to mark the end of this execution style and the beginning of death row convicts getting lethal injections
- OCTOBER 10, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International urged Thailand to abolish the...
Amnesty International urged Thailand to abolish the death penalty and said its October 19, 2003 switch to execution by lethal injection instead of firing squad did not change the "inhumanity" of the penalty
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Charnchao Chaiyanukij, human rights activist and director-general...
Charnchao Chaiyanukij, human rights activist and director-general of the Justice Ministry's Rights and Liberty Protection Department was reported as saying that the death penalty in Thailand was a "sensitive and controversial issue"
- AUGUST 29, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A father and son were acquitted of heroin-trafficking...
A father and son were acquitted of heroin-trafficking charges, but the father's mistress and two accomplices in the same gang were sentenced to death
- AUGUST 10, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for...
The Thai Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Fang Kee Tun, a 46 year old Singaporean convicted of possessing 1
- AUGUST 7, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
"The new execution law will be effective from October...
"The new execution law will be effective from October 19, requiring lethal injection to replace the firing squad," Thai correction Department officials told AFP
- JULY 18, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Pattana Sriwiboon, 38, was sentenced to death after...
Pattana Sriwiboon, 38, was sentenced to death after he admitted killing Thaweepong Boonsin, 45, mayor of tambon Tha Phae, on August 22, 2001
- JULY 1, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thailand's Criminal Court sentenced four Laotians to...
Thailand's Criminal Court sentenced four Laotians to death for intending to sell illegal drugs in the kingdom
- MAY 30, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International said in a report issued in London...
Amnesty International said in a report issued in London that extrajudicial killings and the torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and ethnic minorities continued throughout Thailand in 2002
- MAY 9, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A Bill was approved changing execution method to lethal...
A Bill was approved changing execution method to lethal injection instead of firing squad
- MAY 8, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence given to...
The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence given to Duan Meerak, a 38-year-old woman, for possessing 70,000 speed pills in 1998
- APRIL 29, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Five people were sentenced to death, including two...
Five people were sentenced to death, including two prison officers and a policeman, for possessing more than 800,000 methamphetamine pills with intent to sell
- APRIL 29, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thailand lost its membership of the United Nations...
Thailand lost its membership of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights after a secret ballot at the UN headquarters in New York resulted in Thailand's failure to win a second term
- APRIL 24, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thailand voted against the resolution on the death...
Thailand voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- APRIL 3, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Two Dutch citizens of Chinese origin, E
Two Dutch citizens of Chinese origin, E
- MARCH 17, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Senate voted to introduce fatal injections...
The Thai Senate voted to introduce fatal injections for executions and to abolish the death penalty and life sentences for 14 to 18-year-olds
- MARCH 3, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Bangkok-based diplomats asked Thailand to verify the...
Bangkok-based diplomats asked Thailand to verify the number of deaths caused by the government's crackdown on narcotics, since they found the over 1,000 killings in one month alarming
- FEBRUARY 27, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thai Ambassador to Indonesia, Dr
Thai Ambassador to Indonesia, Dr
- FEBRUARY 26, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or...
The special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Asma Jahangir, expressed deep concern at the many deaths in Thailand's war on drugs, the Bangkok Post reported
- FEBRUARY 26, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thailand brushed off United Nations criticism of its...
Thailand brushed off United Nations criticism of its bloody war on drugs, saying dealers and traffickers ran the risk of violent death
- FEBRUARY 25, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The parents of a young English teacher stabbed to death...
The parents of a young English teacher stabbed to death in Thailand made a plea for the woman accused of his murder not to face the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 20, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
``We have two executioners in the prison and when the...
``We have two executioners in the prison and when the new law is in place they will stop shooting guns and will train to help doctors with injections,'' said Pittaya Sangkhanakin, chief of the Bang Kwang maximum security prison, in regards to the lower ho
- FEBRUARY 19, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The lower house voted 288-60 to change Thailand's long-standing...
The lower house voted 288-60 to change Thailand's long-standing execution method to lethal injections, arguing they are less painful and cruel than shooting prisoners with a machine gun
- FEBRUARY 13, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International spoke out against the deaths...
Amnesty International spoke out against the deaths of 352 suspects since a war on drugs was launched in Thailand in the beginning of February
- FEBRUARY 4, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Twenty-three suspected drug traffickers have been killed...
Twenty-three suspected drug traffickers have been killed since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's most recent war on drugs got under way, police in Thailand reported
- FEBRUARY 3, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The acting chief of Indonesia's National Drugs Agency,...
The acting chief of Indonesia's National Drugs Agency, Togar Sianipar, said that 20 foreign and local drug traffickers had been sentenced to death in recent years but none has been executed