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. Since 2002, Thailand has attempted to implement the convention by executive measure, but the directive has never been issued.[1]

Thailand submitted its sixteenth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 30 April 2014, covering calendar year 2013.[2]

Thailand has attended all of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Review Conferences held in 2004, 2009, and 2014 as well as most of the treaty’s Meetings of States Parties and many of the intersessional meetings held in Geneva, including in April 2014.

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 2014, Thailand stated that at the end of 2013 it retained 3,227 antipersonnel mines for training purposes, a reduction of 23 mines from the previous year.[3] Twenty-three antipersonnel mines held by the army were transferred for training of new deminers. Thailand has never reported in any detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of mines kept for training—a step agreed upon by States Parties at the Review Conferences in 2004 and 2009.[4] At the end of 2013, the Royal Thai Army retained 2,646 mines, and the Royal Thai Air Force retained 581 mines.[5]

In June 2011, Thailand stated, “Inventories of mines retained will continue to be done so that our article 7 submissions accurately reflect mines in official possession.”[6] 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.[7]

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 units have received orders that Claymore mines are to be used only in command-detonated mode.[8]

Use

The insurgency in southern Thailand has seen extensive use of command-detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs). There were previously reports of use of homemade mines that function as victim-activated IEDs.[9] Insurgents used these devices against Buddhist Thai owners of rubber and fruit plantations, and also against the Malay Muslims working in those places. Several incidents were recorded between 2009 and 2012, however in 2013 and early 2014 no further use of victim-activated explosive weapons by the insurgency have been recorded.[10]

There were no allegations of new use of antipersonnel mines on the Cambodian border with Thailand in the second of 2013 or first half of 2014.

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.[11] Other allegations made by Thailand of Cambodian use of antipersonnel mines on the Cambodian-Thai border in 2008 and 2009 were never resolved.[12]

 

Policy

The Kingdom of Thailand has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Thailand has continued to engage in the convention and express support for its objectives, but does not appear to be actively working toward accession. In September 2013, a government representative informed States Parties that Thailand is “pleased to have engaged in constructive dialogue” under the convention and expressed “strong determination to implement the Convention obligations” but did not indicate if there is a plan for accession to the convention.[1] In October 2013, Thailand stated that it “fully supports the humanitarian principles which lie at the core of the international efforts to tackle the inhumane weapons such as…cluster munitions.”[2]

Previously, government officials indicated Thailand’s intent to accede to the convention in “the near future.”[3] Thailand used cluster munitions in early February 2011 during a border conflict with Cambodia and subsequently its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kasit Piromya, informed the UN Security Council that “We are seriously considering joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”[4] (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.[5]

Since 2008, Thailand has continued to show strong interest in 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 Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013, where it made a statement. Thailand has also attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, including in April 2014.

Thailand has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s use of cluster munitions, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[6]

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 its composition and status are not known. The United States (US) supplied Thailand with 500 Rockeye and 200 CBU-71 air-dropped cluster bombs at some point between 1970 and 1995.[7] Thailand also possesses French-made 155 mm NR 269 ERFB extended-range artillery projectiles, each containing 56 M42/M46-type[8] dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions.[9] Based on the types of submunitions identified in Cambodia after artillery strikes, Thailand also possesses a cluster munition that delivers M85 self-destructing DPICM submunitions.

Thailand has said that it does not intend to acquire more stocks of cluster munitions.[10] 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.[11]

Use

In recent years, Thai and Cambodian military forces have 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.[12] 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.[13] Separate missions by CMC members in February and April 2011 confirmed that cluster munitions were used by Thailand on Cambodian territory, including M42/M46 and M85-type DPICM submunitions.[14] At that time, the CMC urged Thailand to provide detailed information on the cluster munition strikes and has consistently encouraged Cambodia and Thailand to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions without delay.

Thailand’s use of cluster munitions elicited a strong international response.[15] Thailand responded that it “strictly adhered to the applicable international humanitarian law that all states are obliged to prevent unnecessary loss of civilian lives.”[16] Thailand 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”[17]

 

Contamination and Impact

Overall Mine Action Performance: AVERAGE BUT IMPROVING[1]

The Kingdom of Thailand is affected by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), the result of earlier conflicts on its borders with Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, and Myanmar. Thailand is, however, still without a precise estimate of the extent of its mined area.

A 2001 Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) identified 530 communities in 27 of Thailand’s 76 provinces and more than 500,000 people as mine/ERW-affected, estimating total mine and ERW contamination at 2,557km².[2] Thailand’s revised Article 5 deadline extension request, submitted in 2008, claimed it had released 1,355km² of this area, leaving a total of 1,202km² of suspect hazardous area (SHA) to be released, including 528km² of “real minefield” requiring manual clearance.[3]

Thailand’s 700km-long border with Cambodia, used as a base for Cambodian non-state armed groups in the 1980s and 1990s, is the worst affected, accounting for three-quarters of the LIS estimate of contamination and 51 of its 69 high-impacted communities.[4] The Thailand Mine Action Service (TMAC) has identified 92km² of suspected contamination on its northern border with Lao PDR and western areas on the border with Myanmar.[5]

The Monitor identified one fatality and 15 casualties caused by ERW in 2013, down from 20 casualties the previous year.[6] Mine incidents on the Thai-Cambodian border in the last three years have killed one Thai soldier and injured 10 others and contributed to tensions between the two countries over border demarcation. The Thai military protested to Cambodia in March 2013 after a mine blast injured three rangers. Defence Minister Sukumpol Sawanatat stated that mines found at the location of the incident did not belong to Thailand, but said they might have been placed by illegal loggers.[7] Cambodia denied responsibility.[8]

Violent conflict in the mainly Muslim southern provinces has continued since 2004, including use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), some of them victim-activated, but there were no reports of casualties caused by these devices in 2013.[9]

Mine Action Program

The National Committee for Humanitarian Mine Action (NMAC), set up in 2000 and chaired by the prime minister, has responsibility for overseeing the national mine action program, but has not met since 2008.

TMAC was established in 1999 under the Armed Forces Supreme Command to coordinate, monitor, and conduct mine/unexploded ordnance survey, mine clearance, mine/ERW risk education (RE), and victim assistance throughout Thailand. TMAC is also responsible for establishing a program to meet Thailand’s obligations as a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.[10] However, TMAC has had to contend with limited funding and, as a military organization, with regular rotation of personnel at all levels.[11] Its Director General, Lieutenant-General Krisda Norapoompipat, who took over in October 2013 is the eighth since TMAC became operational in 2000 and the fourth in the last four years.

TMAC pressed for a change in its status to a civilian organization in 2005, prompted by the slow progress of demining and the armed forces’ limited budget for its operations. The NMAC agreed in principle to TMAC becoming a foundation in February 2007 but proposed to keep it under the armed forces. A final decision is still pending. NMAC decided in February 2007 to establish five sub-committees for victim assistance, coordination with foreign organizations, demining, RE, and also for monitoring and evaluation. The Demining and Monitoring and Evaluation sub-committees met once in 2012 and once in 2013.[12]

TMAC operated with four humanitarian mine action units (HMAUs) employing a total operations staff of around 287, including 132 deminers, 77 surveyors, 13 explosive ordnance disposal technicians, and 20 mine detection dogs.[13] Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has supported TMAC since 2011, operating one 10-man survey team, increased in 2012 to two teams, conducting non-technical survey (NTS) in Surin province bordering Cambodia in cooperation with HMAU 3.[14] In September 2013, NPA signed its third memorandum of understanding since January 2012 with TMAC, and an updated Project Annex  providing additional details of the project to run until December 2014. In July 2013, after completing its fourth Land Release pilot  survey in Surin, NPA moved operations to work with HMAU 4 on the Thai-Myanmar border. In the first quarter of 2014, NPA adopted a “Part-completion initiative” aiming to work with HMAU 4 and complete release of all known hazardous areas on the borders with Lao PDR and Myanmar by September 2015.[15] In 2014, it embarked on five tasks covering 25.5km².[16]

Since October 2009, NPA has also supported TMAC’s database unit providing a data entry technician to help consolidate data and resolve gaps left by missing clearance reports, assisted by periodic visits by NPA’s regional information management advisor. The number of data gaps fell from 120 to 71 in 2013.[17]

APOPO, a Belgian NGO, worked in partnership with local NGO Peace Road Organization in 2011−2012 conducting NTS and “limited technical survey” in Trat and Chanthaburi provinces on the Cambodian border. In 2013, APOPO conducted survey in Ubon Ratchathani and Buriram provinces but ended operations in Thailand in 2013 as a result of lack of funding, relocating to Cambodia in 2014.[18]

As of May 2014, it was unclear what impact the military coup in Thailand would have on the mine action program.

Strategic planning

TMAC does not have a strategic plan but in 2013 it said it planned to present a revised strategic plan to the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty.[19] It did not do so.

Land Release

Thailand released a total of almost 32km² of mined area in 2013, 53% more than the previous year, reflecting increased confidence in survey and land release methodologies. Only 0.3km² of the total was, though, released by clearance.[20] TMAC gives priority to accelerating land release through non-technical and technical survey. A series of workshops conducted in 2013−2014 have focused on developing criteria to classify and prioritize land for clearance according to socio-economic impact.[21]

Release of mined areas in 2013[22]

Note: *Differences with the number of mines reported destroyed in 2013 may originate from delayed destruction of mines reported cleared in 2012

Survey in 2013

TMAC reported conducting survey on 39 CHAs in Sakaeo, Chanthaburi, Trat, Sisaket, Surin, Burirum, Nan, Mae Hong Son, and Chiangmai covering a total of 31.6km², of which 31.6km² was cancelled or released, and 0.3km² was confirmed as a hazardous area requiring full clearance.[23]

NPA initially worked in Surin province with HMAU 3 but in May 2013 conducted a feasibility study and impact assessment in northern Chiang Mai province; in July, with TMAC’s approval, NPA shifted its teams to undertake survey and land release on two confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) near the border with Myanmar, working in cooperation with HMAU 4. NPA released a total of 1.83km² of which 0.67m² was canceled by NTS and 1.16m² released by technical survey (TS).[24] In 2014, NPA deployed a survey team to Phayao province bordering Lao PDR to complete an impact assessment and NTS of one task and deployed another survey team to Mae Hong Son province to complete NTS of the four remaining known tasks in the north, northwest, and west located in the provinces of Chiangmai, Mae Hong Son, and Tak on the border with Myanmar.[25]

Mine clearance in 2013

Three of TMAC’s four HMAUs conducted full clearance in 2013, completing clearance of a total of 0.31km², the same level of activity as the previous year.[26]

Mine clearance in 2013

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the nine-and-a-half year extension granted by States Parties in 2008), Thailand is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 November 2018.[27]

Thailand’s extension request estimated the area requiring full clearance at 528km². It said Thailand would employ some 900 deminers and clear or release between 40km and 65km a year during the plan period, setting a target of 170km² in the first four years.[28] TMAC, however, has not received the resources to fulfill this plan. TMAC has never had sufficient resources to work with the capacity envisaged in the extension request and the gap between land release targets and results continues to widen, albeit at a slower rate as land release methodologies become more efficiently applied. In the last five years, Thailand released less than one-third of the amount of land targeted in the extension request.

Land release in 2009–2013 compared to the extension request targets (km²)

Lack of attention to mine action by political leaders remains a major constraint on progress, resulting in lack of funds for TMAC and the mine action sector. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra received a group of mine action NGOs, led by NPA, at her office in June 2013; she expressed support for their work and said she would urge the relevant agencies to clear mine-affected areas and provide support to victims, but did not commit to further concrete action.[29]

Tensions and disagreements with Cambodia on demarcation of their shared border continue to obstruct clearance and release of mined land on both sides of the border. A Thai-Cambodian Joint Working Group, established to agree on ways to implement an International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment, agreed in May 2013 to joint demining of the area adjacent to Preah Vihear temple but no further action has yet been taken. In November 2013, the ICJ issued an interpretation of its 1962 judgment in the case concerning the Preah Vihear temple. As of April 2014, TMAC was awaiting a legal analysis of the judgment before deciding on a course of action.[30]

Support for Mine Action

Mine action in Thailand is largely government-funded. TMAC’s budget for fiscal year 2014 (1 October 2013 to 30 September 2014) amounted to THB72.65 million (US$2.24 million), about 10% less than the previous year.[31] NPA’s program, funded by Norway, contributed NOK3.8 million in 2013 (US$650,000).[32]

Recommendations

·         Thailand should present an updated estimate of remaining mine contamination, taking account of new survey, clearance, and other land release in recent years.

·         TMAC should strengthen its mine action reporting and data management to the point where it can provide timely, accurate data on the results of TMAC and NGO operations.

·         Thailand should present a strategic plan to complete its Article 5 obligations on the basis of updated data and with realistic timelines for clearance based on available or likely capacity and funding.

 

Summary of action points based on findings

·         Employment, work training, livelihood incentives, and other economic opportunities continued to be areas with the greatest need for improvement for survivors.

·         Representation of local survivors’ networks through survivor leaders should be maintained and developed through all levels of coordination.

·         Improve the system for ordering prosthetic components and introduce functional waitlists in rehabilitation centers.

Victim assistance commitments

The Kingdom of Thailand is responsible for significant numbers of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors. Thailand has made a commitment to victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

Details and Trends

In 2014, the Thailand Mine Action Center (TMAC) reported four mine/ERW casualties in Thailand. All casualties were men: one casualty was a civilian Cambodian national collecting forest food in Sakaeo province. One casualty was an on-duty military personnel patrolling in Si Sa Ket province. The other two causalities were humanitarian deminers from the military.[1]

The total number of casualties for 2014 represented a significant decrease from 16 in 2013, 20 in 2012, 49 in 2011, and 35 casualties in 2010. The four casualties in 2014 was the lowest number recorded annually in Thailand since data collection began.[2] 

The TMAC recorded all casualties in 2014 and 2013, 13 casualties in 2012, 24 casualties in 2011, and 23 casualties in 2010.[3] In 2014 and in 2013, all casualties recorded by TMAC occurred on the Thai-Cambodian border.[4] There was no report on casualties of improvised mines or similar improvised explosive devices in southern Thailand in 2013.[5]

The most comprehensive casualty data collection for Thailand remains the Landmine Impact Survey (LIS), which identified at least 3,468 casualties as of May 2001 (1,497 killed; 1,971 injured).[6] From June 1998 to the end of 2014, the Monitor recorded 697 mine/ERW casualties in Thailand: 37 people killed, 300 injured, and for 360 it was unknown if they survived. [7]

Victim Assistance

In total, at least 1,383 mine/ERW survivors were recorded in Thailand by the end of 2014. [8]

Summary of victim assistance efforts since 1999[9]

Since 1999, the number of services provided to survivors from both government agencies and civil society organizations/NGOs gradually increased. Government responses to ongoing advocacy efforts by NGOs and local survivors’ groups led to improvements in the quality and coverage of services for mine/ERW survivors. In 1999, few government agencies or civil society groups provided services to survivors, yet by 2013-2014 a wide range of victim assistance services were being maintained.

Coordination among governmental bodies responsible for victim assistance has improved steadily since 2000. NGOs completed a national mine/ERW survivor survey and needs assessment in 2009. By 2010, Thailand had linked victim assistance to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The linkages between disability-rights, victim assistance, and community-based rehabilitation (CBR) on the ground strengthened over time through improved interagency cooperation and identification of focal points in relevant ministries.

Access to free healthcare programs increased through universal health coverage, provided survivors were Thai nationals or registered refugees. Emergency transportation was widely available and rescue response time improved with training. CBR and its outreach worker network (which covered 99% of the country by 2007) expanded significantly since 1998–1999. Gradual improvements were made in the availability of employment opportunities, social inclusion activities, and accessibility of existing services. Inclusive education programs provided by the government and relevant organizations increased. There were slight improvements in responding to the specific economic-inclusion needs of survivors working in the agricultural sector.

Victim assistance in 2014

In 2014 government support for strengthening and promotion of local landmine survivor networks was further developed through close consultation with survivors. Changes to policy meant that all survivors, including stateless survivors living in Thailand without identification, were better able to access health services.  Supply of prosthetic components to regional workshops was sometimes delayed causing interruptions to services.

Assessing victim assistance needs

TMAC and other government agencies demonstrated improved coordination in registering data on each new casualty and following up to ensure that they received assistance and support. Use of the record system, which had existed in past years, improved significantly in 2012 and continued improving through 2014.[10]

The National Office for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (NEP) under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) organized six workshops on landmine victim assistance in 2012–2013. These workshops were used as a forum to hear survivors’ concerns through local representatives of survivor groups.[11]  It was found that survivors and persons with disabilities required access to updated information on their rights,services. Economic inclusion and microcredit were identified as priority needs.

TMAC and its Humanitarian Mine Action Units (HMAUs) visited landmine/ERW survivors to assess their needs. From late 2013 to October 2014, TMAC’s Coordination and Evaluation Division carried out a specific project and made 30 follow-up visits to survivors, while also providing small emergency funds to meet urgent needs.[12]

The greatest challenges TMAC found were the distance from communities to prostheses centers and economic inclusion. [13]

Victim assistance coordination[14]

The National Sub-Committee on Victim Assistance did not hold formal meetings in 2013 and 2014, however there was regular coordination among the victim assistance stakeholders including the TMAC throughout the two-year period.[15]

The Master Plan on Mine Victim Assistance 2012–2016 provides five action plans to strengthen victim assistance efforts, in the areas of mine victim database management; physical and psychological rehabilitation; social and economic reintegration; CBR; and sharing of best practices and experience.[16]

Thailand connected its work on victim assistance both in line with planning and implementation of its obligations under the CRDP[17] and also its universal health coverage strategy. Thailand reported that to assist landmine survivors it has adopted a holistic and integrated approach to victim assistance. Care for landmine victims is integrated into the broader legal framework, national plans and programs for persons with disabilities, and is implemented under the umbrella of universal health coverage for all.[18]

Thailand stated that other legislative measures that guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities include: 1) the National Health Security Act; 2) the Emergency Medical Service Act; and 3) The Persons with Disabilities Education Act.[19] Thailand also revised the Persons with Disabilities’ Quality of Life Promotion Act, which provides a comprehensive legal and institutional framework regarding rights and entitlements for persons with disabilities. The revised act decentralized coordination of essential services to the local administrative authorities, which are closer to communities.[20]

In 2014, the National Commission on Promotion and Development of the Quality of Lives of Persons with Disabilities met twice to address issues including: increasing disability pensions; withdrawal of its interpretative declaration to the CRPD;[21] the establishment of provincial service centers for people with disabilities; amendments to regulations under the Person with Disabilities Empowerment Act; procedures for acquiring  accessible public buses; approval of projects for income generating activities; house modifications; making government venues accessible; and the development of an smart phone application to monitor the accessibility of public spaces. [22]

The National Commission also met twice in 2013 to include organizations of persons with disabilities in coordination, activities, and funding opportunities. The Commission drafted or made amendments to seven rules and regulations under the Person with Disabilities Empowerment Act and developed implementation strategies for the Promotion and Development Quality of Lives of Persons with Disabilities National Plan (2012-2015), and related work on disability issues under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Socio–Cultural Community (ASCC) framework.[23]

Thailand provided updates on victim assistance activities through statements at the Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Thailand also provided information about mine/ERW casualties in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2013.[24] Thailand also made a statement on victim assistance at the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in September 2013[25] and during the General Exchanges of Views at the Fifth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in September 2014.[26]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In 2013 and 2014, survivor participation continued to increase at the community and provincial levels, and several survivors remained active in leadership roles in their communities. Survivor leaders from different communities also met regularly to discuss local advocacy approaches and to share information and services as well as lessons learned, with the support of the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees (COERR).[27]

Survivors were consulted about survey and clearance needs. They were also key informants during the baseline survey, non-technical survey and impact assessment processes conducted by demining operators.[28] Survivors and other persons with disabilities continued to participate in provincial coordination meetings in Chanthaburi.[29] Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) also supported the transportation, accommodation expenses, and other costs for survivor representatives to attend group meetings of survivor leaders.[30]

TMAC regularly visited mine/ERW survivors to consult them and leaders of survivor networks as did other concerned government agencies and NGOs about their needs.[31]

Through informal networks, survivor leaders assisted other survivors and people with disabilities in making referrals, completing paperwork such as registering for benefits or filling in other forms, and liaising with local authorities at the leader or province level including liaising with NGOs focal points working on victim assistance.[32]

Based on feedback from local landmine-survivor leaders received by Thailand’s governmental team of victim assistance experts which indicated that survivors wanted to meet with other leaders in order to share experiences, in May 2013 the NEP organized the first formal Meeting of Leaders of Landmine Survivors in Aranyaprathet district, Sakaeo province. Some 20 participants from five provinces along the Thai-Cambodia border shared experiences and visited several local victim-assistance facilities.[33]

In 2014, the MSDHS organized two workshops to raise awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities among persons with disabilities and other people in the community. In May 2013, the MSDHS organized a victim assistance workshop to build the capacity of leaders of survivors and relevant parties. It also carried out four workshops on the Quality of Lives of Persons with Disabilities plan, each in a different in mine-affected province.[34] 

Service accessibility and effectiveness[35]

Emergency medical care

The National Institute for Emergency Medicine (NIEM) maintained community emergency health volunteer groups in every province in Thailand.[36] In early 2015, the NIEM, in cooperation with TMAC was planning specialized emergency care training for all Humanitarian Mine Action Units (HMAU’s) together with relevant NGOs. [37]

Thailand improved its medical emergency services by integrating the three main government medical funding schemes. Emergency patients are to be sent to the nearest hospital without being asked about their eligibility, and patients’ expenses are settled directly at one shared focal point for the three funds without patients first having to pay fees out-of-pocket and then await reimbursement.[38]

Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics

The National Health Security Office (NHSO) remained responsible for providing funding for rehabilitation and mobility devices for persons with disabilities in Thailand. [39] Government funding budgeted for the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities increased in 2013 and 2014.[40]

The NHSO continued to promote a system of matching funds, which were integrated with the funds managed by other government agencies. The NHSO fund had two operational components. Under the first, not less than 90% of total resources were dedicated directly to rehabilitation and assistive devices. Under the second, not more than 10% of resources were dedicated to support and promotion of service provision. The NHSO fund also had a policy component that could allow the cost of transportation to services to be covered for persons with disabilities.[41]

The NHSO faced challenges to integrating the health services and benefit packages provided by the hospital-based NHSO with the activities of the community-based rehabilitation (CBR) network. The NHSO recognized the importance of CBR but was only able to provide funded health care services through hospitals or health care units. Therefore the benefits did not reach the community level. In response, the NHSO started to explore solutions and held a seminar to discuss the issues in March 2014.[42]

Continuing a trend ongoing over the past several years, the role of the Sirindhorn Center in providing mobility devices remained minimal compared to when it had been the primary national referral hospital for prosthetics.[43] In 2013 and 2014, the Sirindhorn Center continued to focus on research, development, and innovation of devices, applying more advanced technology and testing.[44]

In 2013 and through 2014, the two UNDP-established repair centers in Sa Kaeo province, which operated with co-support from subdistrict administrative offices, continued but due to reduced funding the quantity of services decreased. As of February 2015, it was uncertain if the subdistrict administrative office would be able to continue prostheses repair activities in 2015, depending on the availability budget support.[45]

Irregular supplies of prosthetics components to prosthetic department of Aranyaprathet hospital caused delays for people waiting for services. The prosthetic workshop did not have a coordinated waitlist so survivors in need either travelled needlessly, or had to call regularly to find out when services were available.[46]

Community-based rehabilitation

The national CBR program remained active in all provinces of Thailand.[47] The NEP, with support fromCBM (previously Christian Blind Mission), hosted the official launch of the Thai edition of the World Health Organization CBR guidelines to support and guide the CBR network in implementing disability work that focuses on community participation.[48]

Economic and social inclusion

Improvement in employment opportunities for survivors was reported. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives provided small grants and fishery training to new survivors.[49] HMAUs also provided support for income-generation activities as well as for some basic needs.[50] TMAC and all four HMAUs coordinated with relevant government and non-government agencies to facilitate survivors access to services.[51]

Survey data presented in September 2013 found that 20% of all persons with disabilities of working age needed training and capacity building, while 77% needed support for economic inclusion.[52]

The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and the Ministry of Labor established a task force on the “Promotion of Employment of People with Disabilities for Social Work in Local Community.” A pilot project on Section 35 of the Person with Disabilities Empowerment Action BE 2550 (2007)[53] matches persons with disabilities who live in remote areas with the companies who are required by law to employ persons with disabilities under the quota system, whereby the company supports the person to work in their own communities rather than for the company directly. [54] The Commission approved projects for income-generation activities for people with disabilities in rural areas for the period November 2014 to September 2015.[55]

In 2014, following the reductions in the level of services over several years, JRS focused facilitating/linking victim assistance activities between the field and the capital. In 2013-2014, it reduced services for survivors, citing a general increase of services by government and an internal reprioritization of the organization.[56]  

The Community Based Rehabilitation Program and the Community Learning Center for People with Disabilities project operated in all provinces. Each province contained two centers, while Bangkok had 10 centers in 2013.[57] This marked a significant expansion from having at least one center of each province during 2012.[58]

The government provided five-year, interest-free, small business loans for persons with disabilities. Government regulations require private firms either to hire one person with a disability for every 100 workers or contribute to a fund that benefits persons with disabilities. However this provision was not uniformly enforced. [59]

National registration of persons with disabilities was completed by 2011. All survivors were reportedly registered and random monitoring through leaders of survivor groups in several provinces confirmed that their constituents were registered. Persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors who are registered with the government, can receive monthly, free medical examinations, and assistive devices.[60]

For several years disability benefits were set at 500 Thai Baht (approximately US$15) per month. In November 2014, the Cabinet approved a proposal to increase the disability pension by 60% to 800 Thai Baht per month. [61]

COERR, with support from private donors, started a pilot income-generating project for six survivors and people with disabilities in Sakaoe province for the period September 2014 until March 2015, which included training.[62]

Modified buildings with accessible toilets for survivors and people with disabilities in Aranyapratet were provided through the donations of a small volunteer group. Toilet instillation based on the sanitation needs of the most vulnerable in the community was assessed through requests to local survivor leaders by survivors, persons with disabilities and their families.[63]

Laws and policies

The constitution and law prohibit discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities in education, transportation, access to health care, or the provision of other state services. Government enforcement was not consistently effective. The law also mandates that persons with disabilities have access to information, communications, and newly constructed buildings, but these provisions were not uniformly enforced.[64]

In 2013, Thailand issued the revised “Person with Disabilities Empowerment Act B.E.2556 (2013).” The key changes included increasing the role of the NEP, introducing focal points for disability with more authority and responsibility to work at the department level, expanding services to the persons with disabilities without legal status in Thailand, particularly stateless persons, and establishment of service centers by organizations of persons with disabilities and local authorities.[65]

Thailand has a Master Plan for Development of Women with Disabilities B.E 2556-2559 (2013-2016). The plan’s six key objectives include: promotion of accessibility to equal rights and ending discrimination against women and female children with disabilities; elimination of violence against women and female children with disabilities; promotion of health and quality of life for women and female children with disabilities; capacity building; promotion of the capacity of organizations of women with disabilities; and promotion of positive attitudes towards these groups. [66]

In what was regarded as a significant victory for the right of accessibility for persons with disabilities in Thailand, in January 2015 the Supreme Administrative Court ordered Bangkok Governor and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to carry out three essential accessibility measures to facilitate use of public transit by persons with disabilities within one year.[67]

Thailand ratified the CRPD on 29 July 2008.

Services for Myanmar nationals in 2013

Mine survivors from Myanmar who went to Thailand for assistance received medical care and rehabilitation at hospitals in refugee camps, in public district hospitals in the Thai-Myanmar border provinces and from NGOs.[68] Hospitals in Thailand also provided medical care and rehabilitation to survivors from Cambodia.[69]

Victim assistance activities on Thai-Myanmar Border and in Thailand for Myanmar nationals

The Mae Tao Clinic (MTC), an NGO health facility run by and for asylum seekers and migrants from Myanmar, provided prosthetic limbs and other medical services near the join border. In addition to the successes, the program faced hurdles that were beyond the Clinic’s control. MTC reported that the supply of artificial feet (ordered from Cambodia by HI) often could not keep up with the demand. Loss of experienced technical staff who resettle overseas was also a challenge to capacity. The program’s financial future was more secure with a long-term support guarantee for the Clinic’s prosthetics program made by an Italian community organization.[70] In 2013 the number of MTC prosthetics fitted decreased by some 5% from in 2012.[71]

The refugee-run Care Villa facility continued to offer special care and assistance to blind amputee landmine/ERW survivors residing in the Mae La refugee camp. HI provided prosthetic limbs, orthotics, and other assistive devices for refugees in some of the camps and has also trained refugees in the Mae La camp to make the prostheses.[72] In 2013, Care Villa residents (mostly landmine survivors that are both amputees and blind) received only very basic rations. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCR) reported providing funding to help provide physical and psychosocial support at Care Villa as well.[73]

ICRC continued to pay for the surgical treatment in Thai hospitals of weapon-wounded people from Myanmar unable to be treated in their own country. Despite reduced fighting in parts of Myanmar, 42 weapon-wounded patients in 2013 from there sought treatment in Thai hospitals and had their medical costs covered. The number of people reduced from 111 in 2011 to 38 in 2012. It slightly increased to 42 in 2013.[74]

In 2013 and 2014, the peace talks between members of armed ethnic groups and Myanmar government representatives continued.[75] Although it was uncertain if the groups would reach a cease-fire agreement,it resulted in the possibility of refugees being returned, leading to a reduction in financial assistance by some donors to NGOs in order to focus on activities within Myanmar. Given the global economic situation and competing demands in other countries, particularly Myanmar, it was becoming harder to sustain enough donor funding to provide basic services to refuges living in camps in Thailand.[76]  The work of the MTC was similarly threatened by the redirection of donor funding.[77]

HI also continued to produce prosthetics and to support rehabilitation in refugee camps as well as to support self-help groups. Key activities included functional rehabilitation services, livelihood and social inclusion for persons with physical disabilities in three camps in Tak province and two camps in Mae Hong Son province.[78]

As part of humanitarian mine action study visit organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand in August 2013, a delegation from Myanmar visited the Aranyaprathet Hospital in Sakaeo province to observe services for landmine survivors including operations, prosthetic services, and rehabilitation, as well as the Prostheses Foundation in Chiang Mai Province and two community learning centers for persons with disabilities in Chiang Mai and Lampang Provinces which served as models for a community-based rehabilitation.[79]

 

The Kingdom of Thailand has not reported any national contributions to its mine action program since 2008.

Since 2010, Norway has been Thailand’s sole international mine action donor, contributing NOK8,200,000 (US$1,428,061) towards clearance activities. In 2012, Norway contributed NOK4 million ($687,510) through Norwegian People’s Aid.[1]

Summary of national and international contributions: 2008–2012[2]

N/R = not reported