Thailand’s Legal Measures for Terrorism Prevention: Criminalisation of Terrorism and Challenges in Enforcement

Abstract

This study sought to investigate two major research questions: (1) how Thailand criminalise terrorism offences and (2) what challenges arose in the prevention and countering of terrorism offences in Thailand. This qualitative study included a review of the literature as well as in-depth interviews with two groups of key informants: 1) Counter-terrorism police officers and military intelligence officers; and 2) experts in security, legal, and criminology. This study discovered that terrorism offences in Thailand were criminalised because of the country’s international obligations as a member of the United Nations. Terrorism offences in the penal code have included terrorist acts, threatening and preparing for terror acts, a support of terror acts, threatening and preparing for terror acts, and membership in a United Nations-Designated Terrorist Organization. The difficulties in enforcing the criminal law on terrorism stemmed from the investigation and prosecution procedures, as well as the ambiguity regarding the substance of the penal code offences. The study's findings also revealed that there were flaws in the evidence collected during the investigation, which hampered the prosecution of the accused