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
- 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
- APRIL 25, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Andaila Mohamad, 40; Wahab Medina, 40; Chab Abdullanaf...
Andaila Mohamad, 40; Wahab Medina, 40; Chab Abdullanaf Umah, 27, all Ghanaian nationals were sentenced to death on drug related charges
- APRIL 23, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Human rights groups in Thailand started a petition...
Human rights groups in Thailand started a petition to get the government to stop publicising executions of drug traffickers and murderers, describing the act as inhumane
- APRIL 23, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
And English Bangkok Post reader, Leslie Sturges, said...
And English Bangkok Post reader, Leslie Sturges, said "I share the disgust of right-thinking people across the world at the appalling crime of drug trafficking but I am sad to learn that four more offenders were executed by firing squad on April 18
- APRIL 23, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Six more convicted drug traffickers will be executed...
Six more convicted drug traffickers will be executed soon, Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon said
- APRIL 20, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said capital punishment...
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said capital punishment was a convincing deterrent against drug trafficking despite human rights groups called it legalised violence
- APRIL 20, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The execution by firing squad of five convicts on April...
The execution by firing squad of five convicts on April 18 drew a sharp rebuke from local and international human rights groups, who described the death penalty as a violent and misguided means of solving crime
- APRIL 20, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Bangkok Post published this editorial: "The sudden...
Bangkok Post published this editorial: "The sudden execution of five condemned prisoners was meant as a clear message to drug traffickers that they will not be tolerated by this government
- APRIL 19, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A Bangkok Post reader, Chris Mann, said that far from...
A Bangkok Post reader, Chris Mann, said that far from abolishing the death penalty to follow UN guidelines, the government should consider extending it to cover rapists as well
- APRIL 18, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Bangkok Senator Chirmsak Pinthong said that capital...
Bangkok Senator Chirmsak Pinthong said that capital punishment should be abolished, as it was not a practical solution to deter drug trafficking
- APRIL 18, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The government executed five condemned prisoners, four...
The government executed five condemned prisoners, four of them major drug dealers, at the Bang Kwang maximum security prison and for the first time, televised their final hours up to the point the blindfolds were put on
- APRIL 11, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Somkid Namkaew, a 25-year-old Thai man, was executed...
Somkid Namkaew, a 25-year-old Thai man, was executed for trafficking in methamphetamines
- APRIL 4, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Bunchoo Kesee, his wife Soei Khuan and Montha Khuan...
Bunchoo Kesee, his wife Soei Khuan and Montha Khuan were sentenced to death by the provincial court in Trat for possessing speed pills with intent to sell
- APRIL 1, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Three convicted drug traffickers and producers, two...
Three convicted drug traffickers and producers, two Chinese and one Thai, will be executed before the Songkran [New Year] festival begins, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said
- MARCH 24, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The government supports the execution of drug inmates...
The government supports the execution of drug inmates on death row after they have been tried in three courts, said Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon
- MARCH 21, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A Thai national has been sentenced to death for murder...
A Thai national has been sentenced to death for murder in the US by the superior court of Arizona, the Foreign Ministry said
- MARCH 13, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Bangkok Post editorial criticised Prime Minister...
The Bangkok Post editorial criticised Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's proposal for more liberal use of the death penalty saying "it will not deter drug smuggling
- MARCH 11, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as part of his declared...
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as part of his declared "war on drugs," said he was considering amending related regulations to expedite the execution process for convicted drug traffickers
- MARCH 5, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stressed a need for...
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stressed a need for the death penalty against drug producers and traffickers
- MARCH 1, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The government is considering a move to speed up the...
The government is considering a move to speed up the execution of drug offenders by eliminating the appeals process for Royal clemency
- FEBRUARY 22, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Mua Wongsorn, 60, and Yai Busanaree, 48, were sentenced...
Mua Wongsorn, 60, and Yai Busanaree, 48, were sentenced to death after being convicted of trafficking in 80,000 speed pills in Chiang Rai in 1999
- FEBRUARY 20, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A Thai cabinet minister sent a letter to Indonesian...
A Thai cabinet minister sent a letter to Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid asking for clemency for two compatriots, Namsong Sirlak, and Saelaw Praset