Committee on the Rights of the Child considers report of Thailand

Committee on the Rights of the Child
25 January 2012

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has reviewed the combined third and fourth periodic report of Thailand on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Santi Promphat, Minister of Social Development and Human Security of Thailand, told the Committee that new laws had been passed on areas such as nationality, domestic violence, anti-trafficking of persons, juvenile justice, and the promotion of child and youth development. Thailand was currently implementing universal healthcare coverage, and had successfully decreased child malnutrition and the maternal and under fives mortality rates. Thailand had achieved Millennium Development Goal Two on universal primary education and Goal Three on eliminating gender disparity among boys and girls. The age of criminal responsibility had been increased from seven to ten years of age, while measures to combat commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking, including training of law-enforcement officials, were in place. Thailand was well aware of its remaining challenges which included child labour, teenage pregnancy and vulnerable children in the southern border provinces, as well as supporting the child victims of the massive 2011 floods.

Agnes-Akosua Aidoo, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Thailand, expressed the Committee’s sympathy and solidarity with the people and children of Thailand on the terrible floods of last year and commended the Government on its efforts to protect children during that crisis. Ms. Aidoo commended the State party for having already achieved, or being on track to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Nevertheless Thailand faced challenges in implementing the Convention that included widespread social inequalities, and weak law enforcement and policy implementation in areas of discrimination, breastfeeding, human trafficking, child labour and violence against children. The protracted conflict in the southern border provinces, where the continuing violence and insecurity took a high toll on children and families, was another challenge.

Experts also raised questions about education for children with disabilities, juvenile justice and detention of children, birth registration and adoption laws, children’s participation in youth councils, the use of corporal punishment in the home and issues of rape and sexual violence towards girls. More information was requested on the low breastfeeding rate and aggressive marketing of breast milk substitutes, and on malnutrition in rural areas.

The Committee and delegation will make concluding remarks at the end of this afternoon’s meeting on Thailand’s initial reports on the Optional Protocols on the sale of children and on children in armed conflict.
The delegation of Thailand included representatives from the Ministries of Social Development and Human Security, Foreign Affairs, Education, Public Health, Labour, Defence, Office of National Security Council, Office of the Attorney General, Committee on Child and Youth Development Programme, Faculty of Law at Chulalongkorn University, the Anti Human Trafficking Division of the Royal Thai Police, the Internal Security Operations Command of the Fourth Army Region, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva and youth representatives from Narasikhalai School and Chomsurang Upatham School.
The next public meeting of the Committee will take place at 3 p.m. this afternoon when the Committee will examine the initial report of Thailand on the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/TGO/1) and on the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/THA/1).
Report

The combined third and fourth periodic report of Thailand can be read here (CRC/C/THA/3-4).

Presentation of the Report

SANTI PROMPHAT, Minister of Social Development and Human Security of Thailand, said that in the six years since Thailand had presented its second periodic report to the Committee the country had followed up on concluding observations in several fields. On civil rights, Thailand had withdrawn its reservation to Article 7 of the Convention, which ensured that all children born in Thailand, regardless of their status, were registered at birth, and the right to nationality had been extended to certain groups of stateless children. New laws had been passed on areas including domestic violence, anti-trafficking of persons, juvenile justice, and the promotion of child and youth development. Thailand was currently implementing a Universal Healthcare Coverage Scheme, which ensured free medical treatment for most diseases for all Thai nationals, including children, while a special budget had been allocated to ensure healthcare for people with unclear status. Child malnutrition and the maternal and under fives mortality rates had decreased.

Thailand had achieved Millennium Development Goal Two on universal primary education and Goal Three on eliminating gender disparity among boys and girls in primary and secondary education. An ambitious programme to provide 15 years of free education for every child was being implemented, and children with disabilities were supported by special education centres in every province with a view to inclusive education. The minimum age of criminal responsibility had been increased from seven to ten years of age, the Juvenile and Family Court act provided new definitions of ‘child’ and ‘juvenile’ in line with the Convention, and therapy was being more widely used as an alternative to criminal punishment. Regarding commercial sexual exploitation, there was a draft law to make child pornography a specific offence, and the Penal Code had been amended to increase penalties for offenders. The police and judiciary now followed new regulations to prevent the re-victimization of children in the criminal justice system, and had received training on improving law enforcement on the crime of trafficking of persons. In 2011 the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons made an invaluable visit to Thailand in which he identified outstanding areas for improvement.

Despite the progress made so far Thailand was well aware of its remaining challenges which included child labour, despite the law that strictly prohibited employment of children under the age of 15, and the training of law enforcement officials. Teenage pregnancy was another concern that was being addressed by the promotion of safe sex and family planning, and systematic teaching of sex education in schools. Teenager-friendly clinics had been set up in 51 provinces. A Plan of Action to protect vulnerable children in the southern border provinces from violence and ensure their access to education and basic services had been put in place. A few months ago Thailand was affected by a massive flood which caused great losses to the country. A flood victims identification process was set up to identify child victims with special needs, including migrant children. As a developing country, cooperation and partnership at national and international levels remained important for Thailand to fulfil its obligations in accordance with the Convention.

Questions by the Experts

AGNES-AKOSUA AIDOO, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Thailand, expressed the Committee’s sympathy and solidarity with the people and children of Thailand who were affected by the terrible floods of last year and commended the Government on its efforts to protect children during that crisis. Thailand was an upper middle income country that was increasingly making social and economic investments that benefited children. Thailand had an impressive architecture of laws, regulations, policies, strategies and plans that ensured the rights of children and guided delivery of services for them. Ms. Aidoo commended the State party for its improvement of the wellbeing of children, notably a significant reduction in infant and child mortality, improvement in overall child nutrition and its strong response to the HIV/AIDS challenge which reduced mother to child HIV transmission from 6.4 per cent in 2001 to a remarkable 0.7 per cent in 2009. Thailand had either already achieved the United Nations Millennium Development Goals or was on track to do so by 2015. That the State party was considering becoming a party to the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on a communications procedure was warmly welcomed by the Committee.

Nevertheless Thailand faced challenges in implementing the Convention. They included widespread social inequalities and regional disparities, for instance the growing inequality in income and pre-school attendance, which, for example, reached 78 per cent in the central region but just 54 per cent in the south. Law enforcement and implementation of policies and strategies were weak, particularly in areas of discrimination, breastfeeding, human trafficking, child labour and violence against children. To what extent did corruption impede implementation of the Convention? A third key challenge was the protracted conflict in the southern border provinces, where the continuing violence and insecurity took a high toll on children and families. Children were affected physically and psychologically by the attacks, searches, arrests, detentions and killings. How did the ministries and agencies coordinate, at both regional and provincial levels, and how was the National Plan of Action for Children from 2007 to 2016 helping? While she welcomed the fact that education received the highest allocation from the national budget - 20.4 per cent in 2011 - Ms. Aidoo asked for more information on resource allocation and on eliminating discrimination against the girl child, children of indigenous and ethnic minorities, children in street situations or living in poverty or rural areas, and the children of migrant refugees.

An Expert noted that the age of criminal responsibility had been brought to the age of ten, but still needed revising. Child labour was another area of concern, especially for children who were domestic workers. He said that children born out of wedlock to a Thai father received Thai nationality, but what about children born out of wedlock to a Thai mother?

The Government had promoted the placement of nurseries within private workplaces to help working parents, but an Expert said that the workplace nurseries were actually just a pilot initiative, and asked about maternity provisions for breastfeeding mothers.

An Expert welcomed the Government’s new legislation on providing birth certificates for all infants, and late registration for children without papers. Despite those steps, however, around five per cent (45,000) of all children born each year were still not registered. What were the reasons for that five per cent, and did the Government intend to reconsider the financial penalty for late registration? Furthermore, what did the adoption law of Thailand decree about changing the name of adopted children, and how did children from divorced or separated families preserve their identity?

On children’s participation, an Expert requested details of the child and youth councils that had been established at district, provincial and national levels. To what extent did they help children to give their views and exercise their right to be heard? How did children get a place on the council – were they voted in a democratic way? Were there any traditional societal attitudes on children’s right to freedom of expression?

A 2005 study found evidence of widespread practice of corporal punishment in Thai culture. The law on corporal punishment was a great effort but not sufficient, and it was still not forbidden in the home. Small smacks and rebukes were not expressly forbidden by law and if the punishment did not cause specific harm or consequences to the child it could even be legal. The Government had to raise campaigns to fight that scourge.

An Expert asked several questions about rape and sexual and domestic violence. In Thailand a man who had a sexual relationship with a girl over the age of 13 but under the age of 15 could then marry her, with her parent’s permission, without being prosecuted. Did the Government intend to change the law to make that illegal? Furthermore, the law on domestic violence did not allow much space for punishment of perpetrators, but concentrated on reconciliation between the family unit. In Thai law the definition of rape was limited to sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who was not his wife. Did that mean a husband was legally allowed to rape his wife?

Response from the Delegation

The head of the delegation of Thailand said that the protection of child and youth rights was a priority in Thailand. Many of the Committee’s concerns were already being addressed, for example the removal of Thailand’s reservation to article 22 of the Convention. When the situation was appropriate the Government would withdraw that reservation - Thailand was working with neighbouring countries in order to identify the nationality of refugees and asylum seekers coming into the country.

Regarding income, of course if the rural population had a higher income many problems would be overcome. The Government was trying to decrease the economic disparity between certain regions of Thailand.

Five resolutions, formulated by child and youth members of the Youth Councils, had so far been sent directly to the Government. In fact the Prime Minister herself made a point of personally receiving the children’s resolutions and opinions and addressing their issues. Those child-formulated resolutions would eventually become part of Government policy.

The rights of the child were ensured from the beginning. From the time children were in the womb the Government cared for them by helping pregnant women. Health centres in villages were being renovated to become small hospitals in which women could receive ante-natal care. Every village had a nursery to care for children from the age of two. While Thailand may be weak on public relations and letting people know what was happening, a lot of progress had been made on the ground.

Registration for foreign labourers had been opened up via special registration days, to allow illegal workers to become legal and for their children to go to school in Thailand and access healthcare.

Many years ago corporal punishment was a private family matter but that attitude was now outdated. Ending corporal punishment within the family was an issue the Thai Government had taken to heart. Hitting children in any manner was not allowed, even a small slap or spank. The delegate conceded that parents who were drug users and did not have self control could be guilty of corporal punishment. The new law obliged neighbours or anyone else who witnessed parents hitting children to report it. The Government had to explain to parents and teachers the reasons why corporal punishment should be forbidden and its negative impact, and teach methods of positive discipline. That would take some time. An old saying in Thailand was ‘if you love your child you had to sometimes spank them’ but the new saying was ‘if you love your child give them a hug’.

Thailand had a long reputation of hosting asylum seekers and refugees from the region. Today Thailand dealt primarily with displaced persons from Myanmar. Thailand believed that if it joined any Convention on refugees it must be in a position to implement all of its provisions. Thailand was only just returning to a state of political continuity after the coup of 2006, and hoped that the current Government would serve its full term in which it passed the right laws. One reason for the slow progress of new legislation was that a referendum had to be held for each reform.

On discrimination, the budget for health and education was allocated on a per-head basis, without consideration of that person’s status, gender or ethnicity. Outreach efforts had expanded healthcare coverage to all vulnerable and marginalised children, for example through rural health centres and doctors who cared for homeless children. Schools were required to accept students and could not discriminate on the child’s nationality or whether they had disabilities - over 100,000 stateless students attended Thai schools.

Birth registration was an entitlement. Thailand had followed most if not all of the Committee’s previous recommendations on that, such as mobile units and so on.

There were three types of Youth Councils in Thailand, at national, regional and district level. Student representatives were elected by their peers, and could present their opinions on policy and activities to the Government, which would eventually become policy.
Questions from the Experts
AGNES-AKOSUA AIDOO, Committee Expert acting as Rapporteur for the report of Thailand, asked questions about the standard of living, specifically whether the Government would consider adopting a universal child allowance scheme. The Government had already adopted a universal health scheme, which was very good, but the financial disparities could benefit from a universal approach. Thailand had done very well in terms of investment in education. However, it could push the bar even further, notably in overcoming problems with the ‘Early Education For All’ programme of 2010. In the same year, figures showed 620,000 primary aged children aged six to eleven did not attend school. The net enrolment for 12 to 18 years (secondary level) was only 70 per cent, and there was a notable gender deficit and drop-out problem for boys. Thailand’s own 2009 educational statistics showed that almost half of students dropped out of school before finishing secondary education, grade 12. Nationwide tests of 15 year olds showed only 43 per cent passed their exams in reading, writing and maths. Children in Bangkok achieved good scores, comparable to their peers in the United States, but children in rural areas scored very low. Those figures were very disappointing for an upper-middle-income country. Did any quality vocational education programme exist to help those drop-outs? How was the shortage of teachers being addressed, and did the school curriculum include human rights?

An Expert asked about the situation of children whose parents were in prison. Did pregnant women in prison receive any preparation for parenthood, and what services were provided for children who were allowed to stay in prison with their mothers until the age of three? Did any legal provisions prevent imprisonment of women who were pregnant or had young children, or allow their sentence to be postponed?

Thailand was a country with one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding mothers. Only 5.4 per cent of mothers exclusively breastfed their infant for the first six months. That extremely low rate was linked to very aggressive marketing of breast milk substitutes (or formula) by international companies. The advertising of breast milk substitutes appeared to be utterly unregulated in Thailand.

An Expert commended Thailand on the consistent decline in infant and under fives mortality rates. However, that decline was not systematic across Thailand, and those rates were actually quite high in some poor and rural areas. Were there plans to have a baby-friendly hospital that could provide specialist paediatric care? Another serious issue was that although children were surviving, there were a large percentage of children suffering from chronic malnutrition, which often manifested in stunted growth.

The accident rate was high, particularly drowning and road traffic accidents. Thirteen per cent of children under the age of five had been left alone or in the care of siblings not older than ten years. Was that high percentage linked to parents migrating or AIDS orphans? Could the delegation provide information on children sent to live in institutions, including victims of familial abuse who had a meagre choice of remaining in their home with their abuser or going to live in a children’s home.

The rapid increase in teen pregnancies and abortions was a problem. Why was this happening? Did young girls feel embarrassed to access family planning services and contraception or were there cultural or familial issues preventing them? How effective were the Government’s adolescent health programmes? Were family planning health services available to adolescents? Also what healthcare provisions were there for children of refugee and migrant families? Were medical staff trained to support child victims of abuse and exploitation and to spot signs of such abuse during medical check-ups?

Of children with disabilities, 24 per cent received no education and 59 per cent only pre-school level, which meant that 83 per cent of children living with disabilities did not receive a proper education. Most of the education received by children with disabilities was given in special learning centres. What efforts was the Government making to implement a policy of inclusive, integrated education so all children living with disabilities enjoyed equal access to education in mainstream schools?

The age of criminal responsibility had been raised from seven to ten, but ten was still a very young age to be held criminally responsible. Around 4,500 children were detained in prisons and detention centres, a high number, said an Expert, which contradicted references in the report to community sentencing. The systematic response to child offenders seemed to be imprisonment.

Children often worked longer than eight hours per day and were exposed to begging, domestic work and hard labour in the agricultural sector. What measures was the Committee taking to care for the approximately 5,000 child labourers in Thailand?

Response from the Delegation

Early childhood care, for children from zero to seven years, was provided for by State day-care centres supervised by social workers and funded by the State. Early childhood development stressed the total development of the child, not just physical or cognitive. From zero to two years old a child came under the remit of the Ministry of Health, received physical health treatment but also intellectual and physical stimulation. At two years old a child could go to day-care centres or kindergarten. While day-care provision was limited, many parents also used grandparents or domestic staff to help with childcare.

Approximately 7,000 children were living in 29 care institutions in every province of Thailand. Those centres were governed according to the Child Protection Act, and children who lived there had been commercially exploited, abused, neglected, homeless, members of poor families or imprisoned parents, had behaved improperly or were infected with HIV/AIDS. Parents could visit their children at all times, while the children were able to telephone and write to their families, and were brought out of the institutions to visit their parents, including if their parents were in prison. Those children received education and were encouraged to be integrated within their communities, while special training was provided to the staff. Thailand ultimately aimed to not have any institutional care centres, and instead for all children with live with their families or extended families.

Child and human rights were taught on the school curriculum from a very young age. At primary school children were taught to respect their own rights, to be open minded and accept differences in others without prejudice. When they were a little older they were taught to analyse different rights, then to practice protecting human rights of others. At high school level children were taught to evaluate the human rights situation in Thailand and developmental opportunities. Schools had ‘child rights clubs’ where children could discuss rights with their peers in the classroom, as well as community outreach.

Every child in Thailand had the right to access education – that was 11.9 million children. The Government provided text books, uniforms and other equipment for free. Free milk was provided from kindergarten to grade six for every student, while a lunch programme catered to students according to their need. There were boarding schools for children who lived too far away, which covered around 45,000 students. Very poor and orphaned students, numbering 39,000 in Thailand, could attend very special schools that catered to their needs, paid for by the Government. To improve national results, the Government had focused on literacy and numeracy, particularly via information communication technology and a programme to issue a laptop to every school child. Individual education plans for each student were being developed, particularly for children with disabilities and special needs. There was also a strong and active Government Committee that followed-up on provisions and monitoring for children with special needs.

It was true that various emergency laws were in place in the southern border provinces, but the new 2010 Juvenile Justice law provided that all children would be tried under it, and not under those emergency laws. Detention in Juvenile Observation Centres (a kind of correction centre) was a last resort and only for children aged 15 to 18, in very serious cases. In place of custodial sentencing courts now aimed to use alternative sentences such as restorative justice, mediation, counselling and family resolutions. Judges were trained on the Convention, although child rights needed to be integrated in courts in a more sustained manner. There were now juvenile courts in every province of Thailand.
The Government had wanted to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12, but that legislation was reduced to ten years by certain unsympathetic parliamentarians.

The new 2008 law on nationality only referred to fathers conferring Thai nationality on a child born out of wedlock, because a mother already could do that. Now both a woman and a man could confer nationality on a child born out of wedlock. A migrant had to be domiciled in Thailand for five years to be eligible for Thai nationality. The law opened the doors for people born in Thailand before 1992 to apply for naturalization.

Universal Health Access, recently introduced in Thailand at a cost of $3.5 billion, would help reduce poverty and increase wellbeing. Although child allowance was not provided, millions were spent on social welfare and free education. Free healthcare was available for migrant families under the ‘Healthy Migrant Healthy Thailand’ strategy, and the International Organization of Migration recommended the Thai system to other countries as best practice. Healthcare for the 100,000 displaced people living in refugee camps along the border between Thailand and Myanmar was good and camp populations received adequate basic healthcare and vaccinations. Regarding wider health issues, such as tackling high alcohol consumption and smoking rates, a delegate said that another famous Thai saying was ‘A gift of alcohol was like a death sentence’, while another campaign promoted the notion that smoking was ‘not cool’, and featured pictures of diseased lungs on cigarette packets.

Adolescent health, including teenage pregnancy and transmission of HIV from mother to child, had been provided for by legislation which mandated quality reproductive healthcare for all. Sex education was taught in school and pregnant teenagers were supported to continue their education, while access to reproductive health was being improved. There were also initiatives to improve family relationships between parents and teenagers. Anti retro-viral drugs were provided for pregnant women who were HIV positive, and for all HIV positive persons living in Thailand, including migrants.

A delegate quoted breastfeeding statistics from 2009 that 15.1 per cent of mothers breastfed for six months, but said that the Expert’s figure of 5.4 per cent may also be correct. He said that his figure was a country-wide average, as in Bangkok only 1 per cent of mothers breastfed, but in the north of Thailand the rate was nearly 30 per cent. Breastfeeding was promoted in hospitals, but greater awareness-raising and incentives were needed, including for employers to support breastfeeding employees.

A new ‘Safety Action Plan’ had been launched to reduce accidents, which included health and safety provisions for buildings, and measures to improve post-accident care. Affirmative action included greater provision of medical services in rural areas. Incentives had been made to persuade more doctors to work in rural areas and 3,000 students were currently being trained to be nurses.

In compliance with the International Labour Organization, children under the age of 15 were not allowed to work, particularly because education was compulsory until that age. The children of migrant workers who accompanied their parents to Thailand were registered, which entitled them to healthcare and education and prevented the risk of them being arrested as an unidentified person. There were child labourers in the agricultural field, particularly in the seafood processing industry, who were often children of migrant workers. Non-governmental organizations and the Government worked together to try to ensure those children at least received informal schooling. Workshops and other measures had been deployed to tackle the problem. The Government policy was to increase the 700 labour inspectors, who were insufficient to monitor the approximate nine million migrant workers in Thailand, and improve cooperation with other bodies, such as the Maritime Police, to help authorities detect cases of child labour.

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