5.1 Thailand’s Priorities in International Cooperation against TOC

5.1

Perceptions of Thailand’s Readiness for the Impact of AEC

Thailand has engaged at all levels of external cooperation against TOC – bilaterally, sub-regionally, regionally and globally. Each level has proved to have its own utility and role and serves different purposes. According to the stakeholders interviewed, Thailand’s regional and sub-regional activism in the field of criminal matters is driven by the key concern of controlling illicit flows across borders, in particular trafficking in persons, drugs and wildlife. Thailand is initiating multilateral border monitoring mechanisms within the Mekong sub-region and it is a primary recipient of regional technical assistance programmes aimed at enhancing border management. Thailand has recently played a pivotal role in the inclusion of wildlife and timber trafficking on the AMMTC agenda and in the adoption of the ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons. The country acts as a co-shepherd for the AMMTC and SOMTC drug trafficking agenda and pushed for the institutionalization of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters as well as for the establishment of the ASEAN Narcotics Co-operation Centre that was set up in September 2014 in Bangkok. Thailand, together with China, also took the lead in the development of the ASEAN Regional Forum Work Plan 2015-2017, which serves as a roadmap for regional cooperation on counterterrorism and transnational crime.

Another important initiative proposed by Thailand is the organization of the ASEAN Conference on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (ACCPCJ) under the purview of the ASEAN Senior Law Officials Meeting (ASLOM) and the ASEAN Law Ministers Meeting (ALAWMM). The ACCPCJ uniquely provides a platform for discussing cross-sectoral, cross-pillar collaboration on crime prevention and criminal justice issues in ASEAN. The 1st ACCPCJ was convened in Bangkok in November 2016 and the 2nd ACCPCJ was organized in Bangkok in February 2020.

In recent years, Thailand has also been working in close consultation with the other ASEAN Member States and the UNODC in promoting more comprehensive ASEAN cooperation in border management. Initiatives to enhance cross-border cooperation at the regional level have been put forward by Thailand at various ASEAN high level and sectoral meetings. At the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in July 2019, Thailand proposed a concept paper on the role of ASEAN defence establishments in supporting border management to strengthen coordination and cooperation amongst ASEAN defence establishments in dealing with cross-border challenges. In particular, the concept paper underlined the need for greater interaction between the existing mechanisms dealing with transnational crimes and cross-border issues, among other, ASEAN Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Heads of Consular Affairs Divisions of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (DGICM), SOMTC, ASEANAPOL, ASOD, ASEAN Directors-General of Customs, ASEAN Our Eyes (AOE), Border Liaison Office (BLO), and the Malacca Straits Coordinated Patrols (MSCP). A proposal for consideration of an ASEAN border management cooperation roadmap will be presented to the ASEAN Member States at the future SOMTC and AMMTC in 2020.

In relevant global multilateral fora, such as the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Thailand has addressed TOC from a sustainable development perspective, placing great emphasis on the adoption and implementation of goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Agenda.