Thailand
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: Non-signatory Thailand has expressed support for the convention’s humanitarian principles, but has not taken any steps towards accession other than to study the implications of joining. Thailand has participated in all of the convention’s meetings.
Thailand is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but it imported them and possesses a stockpile. Thailand’s only known use of cluster munitions was in Cambodia in February 2011, during a border dispute.
Policy
The Kingdom of Thailand has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Thailand has expressed its support for the humanitarian principles of the convention, but has not taken any steps towards accession other than to study the implications of joining.[1] In its last statement on the matter in September 2013, Thailand expressed its “strong determination to implement the Convention obligations” but did not indicate if it has a plan to accede to the convention.[2] In June 2015, a government representative informed the Monitor that Thailand intends to accede to the convention, but could not provide a timeline for when it would join.[3]
Government officials have long expressed Thailand’s intent to accede to the convention in “the near future.”[4] After Thailand used cluster munitions in early February 2011 during a border conflict with Cambodia, Thailand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kasit Piromya, told the UN Security Council, “We are seriously considering joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”[5] (See section on Use below.)
Thailand participated in most of the diplomatic conferences of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but attended the formal negotiations in May 2008 only as an observer and did not sign the convention when it was opened for signature in Oslo in December 2008.[6]
Thailand engages in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, despite the lack of accession. It has participated as an observer in all of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties, including the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San José, Costa Rica in September 2014, where it made a statement during the general exchange of views. Thailand has also attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, most recently in June 2015.
Thailand has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, including Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[7]
Thailand is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Production, transfer, and stockpiling
Thailand is not known to have ever produced or exported cluster munitions.
Thailand possesses a stockpile of cluster munitions, but has not disclosed information on the types or quantities possessed. In December 2008, Thailand announced that it does not intend to acquire more cluster munitions.[8]
The United States (US) supplied Thailand with 500 Rockeye and 200 CBU-71 air-dropped cluster bombs at some point between 1970 and 1995.[9] Thailand also possesses French-made NR-269 ERFB extended-range 155mm artillery projectiles, each containing 56 M42/M46-type[10] dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions.[11] Based on the types of submunitions identified in Cambodia after the February 2011 artillery strikes, Thailand also possesses a cluster munition that delivers M85 self-destructing DPICM submunitions.
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) provided the government with advice and information on possible solutions for the destruction of Thailand’s stockpile of cluster munitions.[12]
Use
In 2009 and 2010, Thai and Cambodian military forces engaged in several brief skirmishes over disputed parts of the border near Preah Vihear temple, resulting in claims and counter-claims of new antipersonnel mine use.[13] In February 2011, the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), a government entity, claimed that Thai military forces had fired cluster munitions during fighting on the border at Preah Vihear.[14] Separate missions by CMC members in February and April 2011 confirmed that ground-delivered cluster munitions were used by Thailand on Cambodian territory, including M42/M46 and M85-type DPICM submunitions.[15] The CMC urged Thailand to provide detailed information on the cluster munition strikes and encouraged both Cambodia and Thailand to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions without delay.
Thailand’s use of cluster munitions elicited a strong international response.[16] Thailand at first denied using cluster munitions.[17] It then stated that it “fully understands the concerns raised” over the cluster munition use and promised to “remain committed to engaging with the international community on this issue.”[18]
[1] For example, in 2013, Thailand stated it “fully supports the humanitarian principles which lie at the core of the international efforts to tackle the inhumane weapons such as…cluster munitions.” Statement of Thailand, UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 29 October 2013.
[2] Statement of Thailand, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.
[3] Monitor meeting with Varapote Chensavasdijai, Senior Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN in Geneva, Geneva, 22 June 2015.
[4] Statement of Thailand, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 27 June 2011. Notes by the CMC.
[5] Statement by Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, UN Security Council, New York, 14 February 2011.
[6] For details on Thailand’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 245–246.
[7] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/189, 18 December 2014. Thailand voted in favor of similar resolutions on 15 May and 18 December 2013.
[8] Interview with Cherdkiat Atthakor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangkok, 24 February 2010; and statement of Thailand, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 4 December 2008. Notes by Landmine Action.
[9] US Defense Security Assistance Agency, Department of Defense, “Cluster Bomb Exports under FMS, FY1970–FY1995,” obtained by Human Rights Watch in a Freedom of Information Act request, 28 November 1995.
[10] This specific type of submunition is also called a “grenade.” A certain amount of contradictory information exists publicly about the specific type of DPICM submunition contained in the NR269 projectile. France lists it as an “M42 type” in its initial Article 7 report in January 2011. Other international ammunition reference publications list the type as M46. There is little outward visual difference between the two types: the M46 DPICM is heavier/thicker and has a smooth interior surface. A portion of the interior of the M42 DPICM body is scored for greater fragmentation.
[11] NPA, “Impact Assessment Report: Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia,” undated, but circulated 3 April 2011. Both Canadian and South African companies were involved in the development of this weapon. “155 mm ERFB cargo projectiles,” Janes, articles.janes.com.
[12] Email from Lee Moroney, Programme Manager, NPA, 17 August 2010.
[13] See, ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2009), pp. 243–244 and pp. 719–710; and ICBL, Landmine Monitor 2010: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010).
[14] CMAC press release, “CMAC Mine Risk Education (MRE) teams to raise awareness of mines, ERW and Cluster Munitions for the communities in PrahVihear,” 10 February 2011.
[15] For full analysis of the 2011 use incident, see CMC, Cluster Munition Monitor 2011 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2011), pp. 319–320. The missions were conducted by Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs (on 9 February and 12 February) and NPA (1–2 April). CMC Press Release, “CMC condemns Thai use of cluster munitions in Cambodia,” 5 April 2011.
[16] For example, the Beirut Progress Report issued by the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties stated: “Several states have reported actions reacting to the instance of use of cluster munitions by Thailand in 2011. This includes individual and joint demarches, support for fact-finding missions and condemnation of the use in public statements. The President of the Convention has also issued a statement, stating his concern over the use of cluster munitions. States and civil society have reported on how they follow up, in terms of actions to increase the understanding and knowledge of the Convention. States and civil society have had a good dialogue with Thailand.” “Draft Beirut Progress Report: Monitoring progress in implementing the Vientiane Action Plan from the First up to the Second Meeting of States Parties,” CCM/MSP/2011/WP.5, 25 August 2011.
[17] Guy De Launey, “Thailand ‘admits cluster bombs used against Cambodia,’” BBC News, 6 April 2011.
[18] Statement of Thailand, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 27 June 2011. Notes by the CMC.