Thailand is lobbying other United Nations (UN) members to focus on the overall improvement of its human rights record rather than problematic areas such as freedom of expression and assembly, a forum to update progress on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was told.
Thai diplomats have asked other UN member states pay more attention to the ruling junta's efforts to improve general human rights conditions and not just the sensitive issues, including the lese majeste law and restrictions of political rights, Emilie Pradichit, UPR Info's Asia Regional Representative, said.
Ms Pradichit said the Thai government has taken the first cycle of the UPR's recommendations seriously including a moratorium on the death penalty and adding the definition of torture to the Criminal Code, but there was no improvement on implementation following the May 2014 coup.
The last review of Thailand's human rights record was in October 2011 when only 99 of the 183 recommendations made at the 193-member Human Rights Council in Geneva were accepted by the government.
Thailand has an informal death penalty moratorium since 2009, as the country has not executed anyone since then. In 2011, Thailand received 10 recommendations on the death penalty. Six of the recommendations were related to establishing an official moratorium.
"This year will be very challenging and we can see more recommendations, given the human rights situation here has been facing several difficulties since the coup," said Ms Pradichit.
The UPR is a state-driven process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN member states.
Each state has to declare to the Human Rights Council what actions it has taken to improve the human rights situation in its country and how it will fulfill their human rights obligations.
As one of the main features of the council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when its human rights record is assessed.
Calling the UPR a platform for civil society to engage with the government, Ms Pradichit said local civil society organisations (CSOs) would meet Bangkok-based diplomats today to discuss both progress and setbacks concerning 22 rights issues they plan to present at the second round of the UPR on May 11 in Geneva.
"We do not want UN member states to focus only on civil and political rights, but also to consider and make recommendations on economic, social and cultural rights as well as for vulnerable groups.
"This is because the UPR is the only process left available for land rights defenders, indigenous people, sex workers, LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) groups, etc," Ms Pradichit said.
Junnapa Kuendee, of the Assembly of the Poor, said the UPR forum is a legitimate venue for residents, whose livelihoods have been severely affected by poor government policies, to air their grievances as their attempts to march in the streets have been restricted by the regime.
"The government should be open-minded and realistic in that discussing human rights problems cannot be done in the country," she said reacting to a move by the junta to lobby foreign diplomats not to criticise them at international forums.
Nattaporn Artharn, from the Legal Centre for Human Rights, said the issues cannot be scrutinised without highlighting the negative impacts the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has on the livelihoods of the people.
Many of those orders were issued under the Section 44 of the interim constitution. "The NCPO's policies and orders have affected communities' abilities and rights to manage their land and natural resources," said Ms Nattaporn.
Thanit Nilayodhin, representing the CSO Coalition, urged the government to ratify nine UN conventions and review the emergency decree and martial law being imposed in the deep South.
"Sections 112 and 116 of the Criminal Code as well as the Computer Crime Act should also be implemented carefully, under human rights principles," said Mr Thanit.
Other issues to be raised in Geneva include the plight of stateless people, refugees and migrants, women and children, sex workers and problems in the South.