Thai Senate Approves Landmark Change to Child Discipline Law

[snoop1130]

File photo for reference only

 

In a historic move for children's rights, Thailand's Senate unanimously approved an amendment to Section 1567 of the Civil and Commercial Code, transforming the regulations surrounding parental discipline. This newly passed amendment, swiftly moving through all three readings in a single day, updates the existing clause that allowed parents to "punish the child in a reasonable manner for disciplinary purposes."

 

Key to the amendment is the prohibition of punishment involving abuse, violence, or any form of harm to a child's body or mind. It also mandates that disciplinary actions respect a child's human dignity, safeguarding their physical and mental well-being. A Senate spokesperson highlighted that parents maintain their rights to guide their children, but they must do so without resorting to harmful methods.

 

 

This legal update is intended to bring Thailand in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which it is a signatory. The new provisions stress that corrective strategies should not hinder a child's development or diminish their self-worth, representing a vital step towards addressing domestic violence and reinforcing child protection principles.

 

The next step for the amendment is submission to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who will present it to His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua for royal assent before its official enactment.

 

-- 2024-12-17

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

4 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

updates the existing clause that allowed parents to "punish the child in a reasonable manner for disciplinary purposes."

 

But what about teachers?

[Hawaiian]

6 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

But what about teachers?

Good question. 

[Pouatchee]

6 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

But what about teachers?

 

before asking that you need to ask what is "a reasonable manner".

as for teachers, unless you are thai there is and always has been nothing you can do.

[Aussie999]

Big mistake Thailand,  you are heading diwn the same path as the west, with delinquent kids running wild, being agressive/abusive/undisciplined/uncontrollable with no set boundaries, this law has the possibility of changing your society.... the only good thing, like most laws, Thais will ignore it.

[geisha]

I should hope that it/means all children should be protected , not only from parents , but teachers or anyone.

[geisha]

You can educate children without hitting or hurting them . My best friends when I was a little kid came from poverty. Hand me down clothes and they ate twice as much as us in school dinners.Poor as church mice as we said then. But… well mannered and kind kids , never trouble to anyone , they were the nicest kids in my class, and my best friends. 

[Confuscious]

Same as everything in Thailand, this law is meaningless if not enforced and properly dealt with

A slpa on the wrist will not benefit the child in any way.

[hotchilli]

18 minutes ago, Aussie999 said:

Big mistake Thailand,  you are heading diwn the same path as the west, with delinquent kids running wild, being agressive/abusive/undisciplined/uncontrollable with no set boundaries, this law has the possibility of changing your society.... the only good thing, like most laws, Thais will ignore it.

Too late.... Thailand already has the above

[thesetat]

23 minutes ago, Aussie999 said:

Big mistake Thailand,  you are heading diwn the same path as the west, with delinquent kids running wild, being agressive/abusive/undisciplined/uncontrollable with no set boundaries, this law has the possibility of changing your society.... the only good thing, like most laws, Thais will ignore it.

The law is so vague though. Even if passed just about anything can be said or claimed as abuse. Spank the child on his butt and if it hurt him and he complains his butt hurts from it. You are being abusive. Tell the child something demeaning or demoralizing and that will also be considered abuse. Most Thais do not direct punishment out to their child or grandchild but when they do it is quick and without thought ( like grabbing a stick and whacking the kid.) 

Once again Thais are using specific instances from teachers and some parents doing so bad that the Thai government is acting drastically by passing a vague and general law that leaves it open for different meanings and personal feeling rather than being specific in actions or causes that can be easily defined. 

[Bday Prang]

They keep attempting to Align" themselves with the "developed" world,   If they were to just stop for a minute or two and take a good hard critical look at the so called developed world and the state its in , they might come to the conclusion that they would be better off aligning themselves with something else.  Or maybe just doing their own thing

   

[RJRS1301]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

File photo for reference only

 

In a historic move for children's rights, Thailand's Senate unanimously approved an amendment to Section 1567 of the Civil and Commercial Code, transforming the regulations surrounding parental discipline. This newly passed amendment, swiftly moving through all three readings in a single day, updates the existing clause that allowed parents to "punish the child in a reasonable manner for disciplinary purposes."

 

Key to the amendment is the prohibition of punishment involving abuse, violence, or any form of harm to a child's body or mind. It also mandates that disciplinary actions respect a child's human dignity, safeguarding their physical and mental well-being. A Senate spokesperson highlighted that parents maintain their rights to guide their children, but they must do so without resorting to harmful methods.

 

 

This legal update is intended to bring Thailand in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which it is a signatory. The new provisions stress that corrective strategies should not hinder a child's development or diminish their self-worth, representing a vital step towards addressing domestic violence and reinforcing child protection principles.

 

The next step for the amendment is submission to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who will present it to His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua for royal assent before its official enactment.

 

-- 2024-12-17

 

 

Please find the definition of "reasonable", what are the parameters?

 

[Bday Prang]

How much of this is as a result of pressure from the UN as opposed to a genuine home grown government initiative ?   They must be after a loan or something,  they are certainly rushing it through,  but it won't be high on the list of real priorities

[Bday Prang]

2 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Please find the definition of "reasonable", what are the parameters?

 

I think its in the eye of the beholder, if they are "shocked"  then you are toast, or they may just accept the word of the brat .

If implemented ( as if )   this would be wide open to abuse from all parties,  

[NemoH]

Here comes the big big government intruding into family matters..🤣 controlling discipline n parent’s role - all done in the name of protecting you and the child … another step towards loosening/destroying the fabric of family n giving rise to family disputes over way of managing children n family ….worse of all - with a deliberately vague n uncertain law. 

[wombat]

1 hour ago, Aussie999 said:

Like most bad laws, everyone should ignore it.

Fixed it for you

[Presnock]

8 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

But what about teachers?

I would think that parents would have an understanding with the school that their child attends - any teacher that strikes a student should be fired immediately, other punishments should be widely disseminated by the govt and schools.  My opinion and if I hadn't been well aware and agreed, I would have changed schools for my kids when they were growing up.

[Scouse123]

Teachers get a bad rep by a few high profile incidents, the press is good at that.

 

Sometimes, teachers must take disciplinary action because the kids have no responsible parenting at home and are left to do as they please.

 

As in all countries, the ones that get attention are the ones where irresponsible teachers have gone over the top, leading to understandable outrage.

 

I wish countries, like the UK and others, were forced to provide graphs and charts showing child and teenage delinquency figures and their correlation to the removal of corporal punishment in schools and in the home.

 

As a kid I would never back chat a policeman, nowadays in the UK, they set buses on fire and then throw bricks at the emergency services coming to put them out. There is no deterrent. 

 

Let's put them on the "naughty step" for half an hour doesn't cut it.

 

In the UK we now have parents, using the term loosely, taking their kids to school in Pyjamas, (the parents are in PJ's not the kids), No respect for any kind of authority.

 

We have kids in the UK threatening parents with social services if they try to punish them.

 

It has become ridiculous, and we now have feral kids, juvenile delinquency at record highs.

 

We have 12 and 13-year-olds out raping, stabbing people, committing major drug crimes because they know they are going to be treated with kid gloves, and authorities and parents cannot do a thing about it.

 

In recent times, this type of behaviour seems to have crossed over to Asia, in particularly Thailand.  It is a downward path.

[mdr224]

This wont be enforced, like everything else

[Scouse123]

55 minutes ago, NemoH said:

Here comes the big big government intruding into family matters..🤣 controlling discipline n parent’s role - all done in the name of protecting you and the child … another step towards loosening/destroying the fabric of family n giving rise to family disputes over way of managing children n family ….worse of all - with a deliberately vague n uncertain law. 

 

Agree with you, and that is the problem.

 

12 minutes ago, Presnock said:

I would think that parents would have an understanding with the school that their child attends - any teacher that strikes a student should be fired immediately, other punishments should be widely disseminated by the govt and schools.  My opinion and if I hadn't been well aware and agreed, I would have changed schools for my kids when they were growing up.

 

I think it might do you good to go sit in the classroom sometime and see the behaviour that teachers have to put up with, and then the teachers get criticised when the kids have lousy grades, from kids and classrooms that have no interest in anything, except social media and playing with their smartphones.

[marquess]

Spare the rod, spoil the child. This has never changed, whilst some children may be resoned with; the majority don't fall into that category.

[Presnock]

IMHO, having raised two daughters, one in the 70-80's, and one 2000 era, and in local and international schools, I have seen where the problem lies - basically parents fail to properly teach and discipline their children.  Seems many countries are going the way of the US where the parents think that teachers should be the ones disciplining their kids who at home have total freedom.  Much of this probably stems from the mothers having to work and contribute to the household too as cost of living have increased.  Lack of respect of discipline by students contributes to the decline in learning also as clearly shown in testing.  The US in a typical manner for us Americans, is to throw more money at the problem but just like the other problems, more money doesn't solve the problem and in many cases just makes things worse.  Parents and their offspring seem to be a big problem as shown by the changes in the birth rates, as the kids growing up without discipline now do not want kids of their own so girls don't want to get married nor have children with the problems that they face in the world today.. what is the proper solution? I sure can't fix kids other than my own but too many parents just ignore those problems.  

[marquess]

23 minutes ago, Presnock said:

IMHO, having raised two daughters, one in the 70-80's, and one 2000 era, and in local and international schools, I have seen where the problem lies - basically parents fail to properly teach and discipline their children.  Seems many countries are going the way of the US where the parents think that teachers should be the ones disciplining their kids who at home have total freedom.  Much of this probably stems from the mothers having to work and contribute to the household too as cost of living have increased.  Lack of respect of discipline by students contributes to the decline in learning also as clearly shown in testing.  The US in a typical manner for us Americans, is to throw more money at the problem but just like the other problems, more money doesn't solve the problem and in many cases just makes things worse.  Parents and their offspring seem to be a big problem as shown by the changes in the birth rates, as the kids growing up without discipline now do not want kids of their own so girls don't want to get married nor have children with the problems that they face in the world today.. what is the proper solution? I sure can't fix kids other than my own but too many parents just ignore those problems.  

If the parents never received discipline themselves it will be nearly impossible for them to instill it in their children; hence the problem perpetuates itself.