• OPINION

  Handle Myanmar influxes with care

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 19/04/2024

  » 'Preparedness" and "humane response" offer keywords for handling the various mass influxes from Myanmar. Those influxes might range from civilians in search of refuge to fighters ("combatants") in flight, all the more poignant today because of the armed conflagration in that country and the precarious border situation.

• OPINION

  Building a rights protection framework

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 10/11/2023

  » The Asia-Pacific region is a vast conglomeration of large and small countries with a wealth of inter-generational wisdom. Yet, the region does not have a regional inter-governmental human rights protection system. What, then, are some possibilities for the future?

• OPINION

  Having another go at a UNHRC seat

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 03/08/2023

  » Thailand is planning to be a candidate in the next round of elections for the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), with voting on the matter due at the UN General Assembly in 2024 for a seat in 2025-2027. What might be the reasonable expectations for this and what might be an appropriate strategy for the nation to be sufficiently self-prepared?

• OPINION

  Humanising policy towards refugees

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 02/03/2023

  » The recent death of a Uighur man -- who had sought refuge in Thailand and was subsequently detained for nearly a decade, was a sad reflection of the unbalanced response towards persons who seek refuge, or "refugees", in this country. Various groups currently seek protection from persecution, armed conflicts and key human rights violations in their country of origin, and they deserve to be treated decently and humanely.

• OPINION

  Beating scams, trafficking no easy task

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 01/09/2022

  » This region has been in the news in recent weeks in regard to online scams and human trafficking, compounded by other forms of exploitation such as forced labour and forced criminality.

• OPINION

  Grappling with human trafficking, forced labour

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 16/09/2021

  » Thailand's apparent failure to deal with the issue of human trafficking over recent months has resulted in a downgrade of its performance in the 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) annual report, issued by the US in July.

• OPINION

  Slowly moving away from the death penalty

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 22/04/2021

  » One of the interesting developments in Thailand is that official circles are gradually moving away from the death penalty as a sanction against crimes. This is witnessed by the Ministry of Justice's campaign to invite the public to look at options beyond the death penalty. What if there is a large proportion of the population in the country which still favours its retention rather than abolition? There is a need to balance with the international trend and the country's obligations.

• OPINION

  Halting child trafficking remains tricky

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 19/11/2018

  » One of the positive developments in Thailand in recent years has been the governmental commitment to eradicate human trafficking. It has been complemented by a spate of court cases against human traffickers, with some evident successes. Yet, there remains a challenging situation, particularly where children are the victims, compounded by the complexity of a transfrontier situation and the opacity of the vested interests behind the sex market.

• OPINION

  Human rights and the Asian riddle

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 08/10/2018

  » This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a seminal declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. This document has spawned several international treaties ("conventions") and it has inspired a vast range of actions worldwide to protect human rights on the basis of equality and non-discrimination.

• OPINION

  Universal child rights an absolute must

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 25/08/2018

  » One of the most distressing issues today is the predicament of children who end up detained in immigration centres, which often leads to psychological harm. Regrettably, immigration laws in many countries are interpreted as criminal law which gives rise to the detention of those who fail to abide by them, whereas preferably, such laws should be an administrative framework for border management without criminal sanctions.

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