Commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty

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. As it has reported since 2002, Thailand is still in the process of passing an executive measure, the Office of the Prime Minister Regulations Governing the Implementation of the Convention.[1]

Thailand submitted its twelfth Article 7 transparency report on 30 April 2010, covering calendar year 2009.[2]

Thailand attended the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Cartagena, Colombia in November–December 2009, where it ended its term as co-chair of the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration. It was named as co-rapporteur of the Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention. Thailand spoke during the high-level segment, and also made interventions on victim assistance, mine clearance, cooperation and assistance, universalization, and Cambodia’s mine clearance deadline extension request.

At the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2010, in addition to its co-rapporteur role, Thailand made statements on its mine clearance efforts, international cooperation and assistance, and the evaluation of the treaty’s Implementation Support Unit.

Thailand is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention

Thailand states that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. Thailand formerly imported antipersonnel mines from China, Italy, the United States, and the former Yugoslavia. It completed destruction of 337,725 stockpiled antipersonnel mines on 24 April 2003.

In its Article 7 report submitted in 2010, Thailand reported that at the end of 2009, it retained 3,626 antipersonnel mines for training purposes, a reduction of 12 from the previous year. It reported that 12 mines retained by the National Police Department (five M14 and seven M16) were destroyed during training. At the end of 2009, the Royal Thai Army retained 3,000 mines, the Royal Thai Air Force retained 581 mines, and the National Police Department retained 45 mines.[3] The total of 3,000 mines under the control of the army has not changed since 2001.

In June 2010, Thailand said that since the number of mines retained is high compared to the number used each year, it would review its retention and destruction plans.[4]

Thailand has never reported in any detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of mines kept for training—a step agreed by States Parties at the Review Conferences in 2004 and 2009.

During 2009, the Thailand Mine Action Center (TMAC) held a meeting with the military services and asked them to reassess the number of mines retained and urged them to destroy mines if there was no plan to use them for training.[5]

The Royal Thai Army, Navy, Air Force, and National Police Department initially retained a total of 4,970 antipersonnel mines for training. The number of retained mines did not change from 2001 to 2004. In 2005–2006, Thailand reduced the number of mines retained by 257.[6] In 2007, it reduced the number by another 1,063 mines. It appears that 63 of the mines retained by the National Police Department were consumed during training activities, and all of the 1,000 mines retained by the navy were simply destroyed, presumably because they were no longer deemed necessary.[7]  In 2008, Thailand destroyed another 12 mines, leaving a total of 3,638.[8]

While Thailand has not undertaken physical modifications of its Claymore mine stockpile to ensure use only in command-detonated mode, officials have stated that all units have received orders that Claymore mines are to be used only in command-detonated mode.[9]

Use

The insurgency in southern Thailand has seen extensive use of command-detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs). There have apparently also been isolated instances of use of homemade landmines or victim-activated IEDs. In May 2009, a Ranger reportedly stepped on landmine while investigating an explosion in Yaha district, Yala province.[10] In August 2009, a woman lost her leg after reportedly stepping on a landmine in a rubber plantation.[11] In October 2009, in Raman district, Yala province, an official reportedly stepped on a landmine while investigating a shooting.[12]

Although anti-government mobs used explosive devices in Bangkok and Chiang Mai during clashes with security personnel in April 2010, none were reported to involve mines or mine-like victim-activated devices.[13]

In February 2010, three Thai soldiers were injured in two separate incidents from what were reported as newly laid mines on the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sot district, Tak province. The mines were reportedly laid by smugglers, believed to be connected to an insurgent group in Myanmar, to protect smuggling routes. The Royal Thai Army was sent to the area to conduct clearance.[14]

Thai-Cambodia Border Incidents

In October 2008, two Thai soldiers stepped on antipersonnel mines 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 placed by Cambodian forces. Cambodia denied the charges and stated that the Thai soldiers had entered Cambodian territory in an area known to contain antipersonnel mines and were injured by mines laid during previous armed conflicts.^[15]

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.[16] In September 2009, Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army, General Anupong Paochinda, stated that Cambodian troops were laying fresh landmines along the disputed areas and close to routes where Thai soldiers make regular patrols.[17] The statement elicited a strong rebuttal from the Cambodian ambassador in Bangkok.[18]

Cambodia and Thailand have never reached a resolution of this matter, and other States Parties have apparently not pursued a resolution of this serious compliance concern.

In February 2010, a Thai civilian who had been arrested a year earlier pled guilty to laying landmines on Cambodian soil and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Thai government denied any involvement in this matter.[19]