Restorative Justice in Thailand

Source: (2005) Workshop 2: Enhancing Criminal Justice Reform Including Restorative Justice, 22 April, Item 8 (b) of the provisional agenda, at the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Bangkok, Thailand. Downloaded 20 May 2005.

In Thailand, like in many other Asian countries, restorative justice is not a new approach but a
familiar concept well entrenched in the Thai traditions and culture. Many elements of restorative
justice still remain in the traditional way of communal justice in some rural areas. With such
solid background in the Thai culture and increasing problems resulted from the shortcomings of
conventional criminal justice, it is not surprising to see a growing interest of restorative justice in
Thailand. In my presentation, I will examine the experience of Thailand in implementing
restorative justice to the Thai criminal justice process. Although restorative justice has been
reintroduced in Thailand only recently, and an attempt for its implementation is only in the
beginning stage, restorative justice has been very well received by the criminal justice
communities and the public. There are also many indications that it is likely to be adopted as a
viable alternative to the formal criminal justice process in various types of offenses. (excerpt)