25 April 2001 :

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. The result of the public hearing showed that the majority of the Thai people were still convinced that it was necessary to retain the death penalty as a crime deterrent measure as well as to ensure protection of the rights of the victims and their families. As a democratic country, the Government must abide by the decision of the Thai people. In practice Thailand only applied the death penalty to the most serious crimes such as rape, murder, narcotics and treason. Persons under 18 were not subjected to the death penalty. The death penalty was prohibited for pregnant women until the child was delivered. As for the means of execution, Thailand had approved the use of lethal injection instead of execution by firing squad. Thailand had also placed considerable efforts and attention to preventive measures and rehabilitative schemes which it believed were much more effective and productive in dealing with this problem at its root causes.Thailand voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001 (2001/68).