Page 67 - Rights beautiful : collection of Professor Saneh Chamarik

Rights Beautiful Collection of Professor Saneh Chamarik

NHRC Thailand: Beyond Activism

- Saneh Chamarik -

The NHRC of Thailand is set up under the People’s Constitution
of 1997as one among the 8 independent state agencies, being elected by
the Senate through a selection committee, and royally appointed. It is
required to be representative of the broad streams of thought in society,
including the civil society groups and NGOs, as well as with a fair
participation of male and female. All these criteria are well reflected in the
current 11-member Commission. The whole idea is to make it accessible and
responsive to people from all walks of life, particularly those underprivileged
and disadvantaged. That also means that the NHRC does not work entirely
on its own, but in close and continuing cooperation and networking with
the civil society groups and organizations concerned. A good number of
them are even brought in to participate in the Commission’s decision-
making process through its various sub-Commissions in the specific fields
of human rights problems. Of course, the final decision and responsibility
rests with the Commission.
Like its counterparts elsewhere, the Thai NHRC is constitutionally
assigned with a comprehensive set of tasks for the common purpose of
human rights promotion and protection. It ranges from examining and
rectifying cases of human rights violation, policy recommendation, education
and research and dissemination, cooperation and coordination with both
government and private sectors, and annual report. But in the context of
Thailand, like many other non-western nations, where modern human
rights standards are something new and somewhat inconsonant with
traditional culture of authoritarianism and patronage and also with fresh
and adverse experiences of military dictatorships sponsored, ironically, by
OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF THAILAND 61