Thailand
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
The Kingdom of Thailand signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 27 November 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 May 1999.
Thailand has not enacted domestic legislation to implement the Mine Ban Treaty.[1]
Thailand submitted its latest annual Article 7 transparency report in April 2022, covering calendar year 2021.[2]
Thailand has attended all of the Mine Ban Treaty’s review conferences: in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. It has regularly attended meetings of States Parties and intersessional meetings. Thailand participated in the Nineteenth Meeting of States Parties, held virtually in November 2021, and the intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2022. At the intersessional meetings, Thailand requested a clearance deadline extension of three years under Article 5, citing the challenging geographical landscape, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and difficulty accessing border areas.[3]
Thailand will be part of the Committee on Enhancement of Cooperation and Assistance until the end of the Twenty-First Meeting of States Parties. Thailand has regularly co-chaired committees of the treaty.
Previously, in 2019, Thailand undertook two universalization activities alongside Myanmar. It also undertook international cooperation and assistance activities with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, Norway, South Korea, and the United States (US).[4]
Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention
Thailand states that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel landmines. Thailand retains no live mines for training purposes. On 6 August 2019, Thailand destroyed all 3,133 antipersonnel mines that it had previously retained for training purposes at a public event, with witnesses from the diplomatic community and civil society in attendance.[5]
Thailand previously imported antipersonnel landmines from China, Italy, the US, and the former Yugoslavia. It completed destruction of 337,725 stockpiled antipersonnel mines on 24 April 2003. During clearance operations in 2020, Thailand found, for the first time, antipersonnel landmines of Hungarian origin.[6]
Thailand is not known to have undertaken physical modifications of its Claymore mine stockpile to ensure use only in command-detonated mode. Officials have previously stated that all military units received orders that Claymore mines are to be used only in command-detonated mode.[7]
Use
Sporadic use of improvised antipersonnel landmines by Pattani rebel groups in southern Thailand continued in 2021 and 2022.[8] Incidents of improvised antipersonnel mine use by insurgents in the south, mostly aimed at workers in rubber plantations, have been reported since at least 2006.[9] To date, Thailand has not provided any information to States Parties in its annual Article 7 reports regarding incidents of use of, contamination by, or clearance of improvised antipersonnel mines in its southern provinces.[10] The Monitor has recorded almost 60 casualties due to improvised mines laid by insurgents in southern Thailand since 2006. (See Thailand Impact profile for more details).
There have been no allegations of new use of antipersonnel landmines on Thailand’s eastern border with Cambodia since March 2013.[11]
[1] In April 2018, Thailand reported under National Implementation Measures that it had “re-established the National Committee for Mine Action under the Order of the Office of the Prime Minister with the Prime Minister as its Chairperson.” For further detail on national implementation measures, the report directs readers to Thailand’s 2015 Article 7 report, which states, “Thailand continues to consider regulations that will streamline and improve national implementation of the AP [Anti-personnel] Mine Ban Convention.” Thailand provided the same update in its Article 7 report covering calendar year 2018.
[2] Thailand has provided updated annual Article 7 reports every year since its initial transparency report was submitted in November 1999, except for 2003. See, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Database.
[4] During the Fourth Review Conference in November 2019, representatives of the Thailand Mine Action Center (TMAC) briefed the Myanmar delegation on the overall mine action situation in Thailand as well as the positive impacts of becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. This is considered part of Thailand’s universalization efforts in line with Action #11 of the Oslo Action Plan. Earlier in 2019, Thailand hosted a briefing and site visit for senior Myanmar representatives from the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Home Affairs, to discuss organization for mine action. Thailand also received requests from South Korea to share its experiences on the establishment of a humanitarian mine action organization, resulting in the Director General of TMAC giving a briefing on mine action to South Korean and US delegates to the International Meeting of Mine Action National Directors in February 2019. For details, see, Thailand Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, 30 April 2020.
[5] Thailand Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, 30 April 2020.
[6] A total of 77 GYATA-64 PMN type mines were found and destroyed during clearance operations in Ubon Ratchathani province. See, Thailand Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, 30 April 2021, p. 29.
[7] Interview with Lt.-Gen. Deemongkol, TMAC, Bangkok, 19 March 2009. TMAC stated this in 2007 as well as in 2008. In its Article 7 report for 1999, Thailand reported that it had 6,117 M18 and M18A1 Claymore mines in stock.
[8] On 15 August 2022, a woman working in a rubber plantation was injured after stepping on a landmine. On the same day, one soldier was killed and several other people were injured while looking for more mines where the first incident occurred. Mariyam Ahmad, “Insurgents suspected of landmine attack targeting rubber farmers in Deep South,” Benar News, 15 August 2022. On 3 February 2022, a civilian was injured when walking along a canal to go fishing in an area where the army and insurgents had clashed earlier in the day. Assawin Pakkawan, “Villager steps on bomb, loses leg in Songkhla,” Bangkok Post, 4 February 2022. On 9 August 2021, a Territorial Defense Volunteer lost a leg after stepping on a landmine at his rubber plantation, and his wife suffered facial injuries, in Su-Ngai Padi district, Narwathiwat province. See, “Defense Volunteer has leg blown off after stepping on landmine in his rubber plantation - wife injured,” ASEAN Now, 10 August 2021. On 9 October 2020, a Thai Ranger was killed after stepping on a landmine while pursuing insurgents in Sai Buri district, Pattani province. See, “One ranger killed and two injured by suspected insurgents in Pattani province,” Thai PBS, 9 October 2020.
[9] Previously, on 2 July 2018, Suthin Haewkhuntod, an ethnic Thai Buddhist latex tapper in Yala province’s Krong Penang district, lost his foot after he stepped on a landmine emplaced by insurgents on the rubber plantation where he worked. Two other ethnic Thai Buddhist latex tappers, Wipawan Plodkaenthong and Chutipon Namwong, were seriously wounded by mines in Yaha district on 28 June and in Muang district on 2 July. See, Teeranai Charuvastra, “Landmine Wounds Deep South Farmer,” Khaosod, 2 July 2018; Mariyam Ahmad, “Thailand: Landmine Injures Fifth Rubber Farm Worker in a Week,” Benar News, 5 July 2018; and Human Rights Watch (HRW), “Thailand: Insurgents Use Landmines in South,” 4 July 2018. Earlier incidents have been reported by the Monitor since 2006.
[10] Thailand’s annual Article 7 reports are prepared by TMAC. In response to a request for further information on improvised mine contamination in Southern Thailand by the Monitor, TMAC replied that it was set up to address antipersonnel mines remaining from previous armed conflicts and lacks the authority or jurisdiction to address new contamination occurring during the current conflict in the south. Email reply from Flt.-Lt. Chotiboon Anukulvanich, TMAC, 19 April 2022.
[11] Previously, in March 2013, three Thai soldiers were injured by what the Thai military described as newly planted mines near the Ta Kwai Temple in Phanom Dong Rak district. Cambodia investigated, and in its report to States Parties, stated that it had found the mines to be old, dating from the Cambodian Civil War. Other allegations made by Thailand of Cambodian use of antipersonnel mines along the Cambodia-Thailand border in 2008 and 2009 were never resolved. In October 2008, two Thai soldiers stepped on antipersonnel landmines while on patrol in disputed territory between Thailand and Cambodia, near the World Heritage Site of Preah Vihear. Thai authorities maintained that the area was previously clear of landmines, and that the mines had been newly emplaced by Cambodian forces. Cambodia denied the allegation, and stated that the Thai soldiers had entered Cambodian territory in an area known to contain antipersonnel landmines, and were injured by mines laid during previous armed conflicts. In April 2009, another Thai soldier was reportedly wounded by an antipersonnel mine at the same location during further armed conflict between the two countries. In September 2009, the then-Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army, Gen. Anupong Paochinda, stated that Cambodian troops were laying fresh mines along the disputed areas and close to routes where Thai soldiers make regular patrols. See, ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2009), pp. 243–244 and 719–720; and ICBL, “Country Profile: Cambodia: Mine Ban Policy,” updated 27 October 2010.