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ปีที่ 1 ฉบับที่ 3 (กันยายน - ธันวาคม 2563) 33

Developing legal measures to prevent discrimination suitable
for Thai society according to Buddhist principles

Assistant Professor Apichai Manitayakul
Abstract

Discrimination is one of man’s nature, which is caused by the ignorance that those
who do not share the same physical characteristics are dangerous to them, until as human
beings become more knowledgeable, they begin to understand that all human beings do
not have such physical characteristics. All people are equal, physical differences are just
the allocation of nature discrimination has therefore become invalid and evolved into one
of the most important universal human rights principles. But because of the truly effective
elimination of human discrimination, universal covenants cannot be implemented solely.
This is because each society has a traditional social context and paradigm which has different
roots, cultures, traditions and beliefs. Therefore, universal principles must be applied in each
society with understanding and processes appropriate to the basic characteristics of each
society. For example in Thai society where there is a social context under the influence of
Buddhism which is the religion that most Thais respect since ancient times to the present
day Therefore, the principle of protection of universal human rights, which is rooted in the
principles of good morality and generosity for humans, which is the same basic concept as
the Buddhist concept, can be applied to Thai society without much hindrance. Especially
bringing it to develop into a legal measure But there are still some areas where the context
and paradigms of Thai society is still under the influence Some stereotypes that differ from
international ideas may still have some legal issues related to discrimination protection, ei-
ther in the absence of a law to protect them or when there is a legal provision, but there is
still doubt about its effectiveness. Therefore, the process for developing legal measures to
eliminate such problems that would be suitable for the Thai social context is to bring the
Buddhist concept as a guideline with the introduction of two important Buddhist principles
as a framework. These are “Paticca-samuppabana” (Dependent Origination) which are used
to seek and define the relevant core meaning and “Matchimapatippatha” (The Middle Path)
which is used to create “balance” between the core meaning, international in related mat-
ters and the principles of relational ethic, which are then applied to improve the context
and paradigm of Thai society to serve as the foundation for the development of Thai legal
measures that are balanced between universal humanity and the context of society.

Keywords

Law, Human Rights, Discrimination, Buddhist principle