Civil and Commercial Code Amendment Act (No. 25) B.E. 2568 which came into force on 25th March 2025, raising the standard of Children’s rights for corresponds to international human rights principles and international obligations to which Thailand is a state party. Foremost among these is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which Thailand ratified in 1992. The content of the Convention requires states parties to take appropriate measures to protect children from physical and mental abuse and promote child-rearing practices that respects the child’s human rights.
Prior the amendment, Section 1567 (2) of Civil and Commercial Code stipulated that those parental authorities had the right to punish their children as deem “appropriate” for the purpose of discipline. The term “Appropriate” opens the possibility of interpreting punishments in a broad sense, including a severe nature such as flagellation, yelling or verbally abusing a child, including acts or omissions that violate the human dignity of a child. While other laws in Thailand, such as the Child Protection Act B.E. 2546 and provisions in the Criminal Code concerning bodily harm, such wording in Section 1567(2) may be misleading and inconsistent with the direction of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Thailand has therefore amended the said section to restricting parental disciplinary rights that noinvolve physical or mental abuse or violence, or inappropriate conduct under the principle of child rights protection but an exercise of power with caution, under the principles of appropriateness and necessity. The Amendment of this Section will close existing legal loopholes that have allowed violence in child development.
Furthermore, this amendment shall reflect a broader shift in legal consciousness in form of emphasizing the rights of children as individuals with equal dignity to adults by considering the best interests of children as a basic principle which was the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It has infiltrated the domestic legal design of many countries, including Thailand.
In summary, the amendment to Section 1567 (2) of Civil and Commercial Code reflects the important developments in both law and public policy on children’s rights by instilling an understanding of rights, equality and human dignity from a young age and serve as a guideline to reduce the problem of domestic violence that affects children’s physical and mental health in the long term.
Non-Violent Parenting and Legal Reform in Thailand_Bangkok Global Law