Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T20:55:40.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wreck/Conciliation? The Politics of Truth Commissions in Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2016

Duncan McCargo  and
Naruemon Thabchumpon
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

More than ninety people died in political violence linked to the March–May 2010 “redshirt” protests in Bangkok. The work of the government-appointed Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) illustrates the potential shortcomings of seeing quasi-judicial commissions as a catch-all solution for societies struggling to deal with the truth about their recent pasts. The 2012 TRCT report was widely criticized for blaming too much of the violence on the actions of rogue elements of the demonstrators and failing to focus tightly on the obvious legal transgressions of the security forces. By failing strongly to criticize the role of the military in most of the fatal shootings, the TRCT arguably helped pave the way for the 2014 coup. Truth commissions that are unable to produce convincing explanations of the facts they examine may actually prove counterproductive. Following Quinn and Wilson, we argue in this article that weak truth commissions are prone to politicization and are likely to produce disappointing outcomes, which may even be counterproductive.

Keywords

truth commissionfact-findingreconciliationtransitional justiceinvestigationrecommendationsThailand
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , December 2014 , pp. 377 - 404
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashayagachat, Achara. 2013. “NHRC Slammed over Protest Report.” Bangkok Post , August 13.Google Scholar
Bangkok Post. 2012. “Setting Brave New Standards.” September 19.Google Scholar
Bloomfield, David. 2006. On Good Terms: Clarifying Reconciliation. . Berlin: Berghof Research Center.Google Scholar
Borer, Tristan Anne. 2006. “Truth Telling as a Peace-Building Activity: A Theoretical Overview.” In Telling the Truth: Truth Telling and Peace Building in Post-Conflict Societies , ed. Borer, Tristan Anne, 1–57. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Crispin, Shawn W. 2011. “The Deal Behind Thailand's Polls.” Asia Times , June 30. www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MF30Ae01.html (accessed April 20, 2013).Google Scholar
Freeman, Mark. 2006. Truth Commissions and Procedural Fairness. . New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haberkorn, Tyrell. 2011. “Violence and the Partiality of Truth: The Difficulty of Documenting Human Rights Violations After May 2010 in Thailand.” Asia Rights Discussion Paper. May 5.Google Scholar
Hayner, Patricia. 2011. Unspeakable Truths: Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth Commissions. . New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Independent Commission for Examination, Study and Analysis of the Formation and Implementation of the Drug Suppression Policy. n.d. Extra-Judicial Killings of Drug Suspects in Thailand: Lawful or Willful? Official Report of the Independent Commission for Examination, Study and Analysis of the Formation and Implementation of the Drug Suppression Policy. Bangkok, c. 2008.Google Scholar
Nakorn, Kanit na. 2012. San jak prathan lae kamakan. [Message from the chairman and the board]. Bangkok: TRCT.Google Scholar
KPI (King Prachadipok's Institute). 2012. Raingan wijai kansang khwamprongdong haengchat [Research report: Building national reconciliation]. Bangkok: KPI.Google Scholar
McCargo, Duncan. 2010. “Thailand's National Reconciliation Commission: A Flawed Response to the Southern Conflict.” Global Change, Peace and Security 22, 1: 75–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendeloff, David. 2004. “Truth-Seeking, Truth-Telling and Postconflict Peacebuilding: Curb the Enthusiasm?” International Studies Review 6, 3: 355–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montesano, Michael J. 2014. What Is to Come in Thailand? ISEAS Perspective 07/2014. Singapore: ISEAS. www.iseas.edu.sg/documents/publication/ISEAS_Perspective_2014_07What_is_to_Come_in_Thailand.pdf (accessed June 2, 2014).Google Scholar
NHRCT (National Human Rights Commission of Thailand). 2013. Raingan phonkantruatsop puea mi khoseneua nae cheng nayobai: karani hetkanchumnum khong klum no po cho rawang wan thi 12 minakhom 2553 thung wan thi 19 prutsaphakhom 2553 [Report of results of an investigation to offer policy recommendations: The case of the UDD protest from March 12, 2010, to May 19, 2010]. Bangkok: NHRCT. www.nhrc.or.th/2012/wb/img_contentpage_attachment/692_file_name_9897.pdf (accessed August 23, 2013).Google Scholar
PIC (People's Information Center). 2012. Khwamching phuea khwamyutitham: hetkanlaephonkrathop jak kansalaikan chumnum mesaphrutuspha 53 [Truth for justice: Events and impacts of the dispersal of demonstrators, April–May 2010]. Bangkok: PIC. www.pic2010.org accessed April 21, 2013).Google Scholar
Udomithipong, Pipop. 2012. Raignan chabap somboon khong khor or por: bai anuyat hai kha [Final report of the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT): A license to kill]. September 18. http://prachatai.com/journal/2012/09/42698 (accessed April 11, 2013).Google Scholar
Amatatham, Poypiti and Fuller, Thomas. 2012. “Truth Panel in Thailand Says Conflicts Are Festering.” New York Times , September 17.Google Scholar
Panchakunathorn, Prach. 2013. “Human Rights, the Law and Violence in 2010.” New Mandala , August 18. http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2013/08/18/human-rights-the-law-and-violence-in-2010/ (accessed August 23, 2013).Google Scholar
Prachatai. 2012. “Sor por chor an raignan kho or phor: ‘puangthong’ wipaklakthan kan hai namnak khrongruang” [PIC reads the TRCT report: Puangthong criticizes the evidence for narrative emphasis]. September 23. http://prachatai.com/journal/2012/09/42793 (accessed April 30, 2013).Google Scholar
Rojanaphruk, Pravit. 2012. “Panel ‘Not Seeking Prosecutions.’” The Nation , September 18.Google Scholar
Quinn, Joanna R. 2009. “Transitional Justice.” In Human Rights: Politics and Practice , ed. Goodhart, Michael, 354–369. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Quinn, Joanna R. 2010. The Politics of Acknowledgement: Truth Commissions in Uganda and Haiti. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Riva, Fabiano, and Glardon, Matthieu. 2012. “Forensic Firearms and Ballistics Examination for the TRCT.” June 21.Google Scholar
Rotberg, Robert I. 2000. “Truth Commissions and the Provision of Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation.” In Truth vs. Justice: The Morality of Truth Commissions , ed. Rotberg, Robert I. and Thompson, Dennis, 3–21. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaap, Andrew. 2008. “Reconciliation as Ideology and Politics.” Constellations: An International Journal of Democratic and Critical Theory 15, 2: 249–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smyth, Marie Breen. 2007. Truth Recovery and Justice After Conflict: Managing Violent Pasts. Abingdon: Routledge.1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sriram, Chandra Lekha. 2004. Confronting Past Human Rights Violations: Justice vs. Peace in Times of Transition. London: Frank Cass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Straits Times. 2010. “Thai Probe Will Be Impartial.” June 11.Google Scholar
TRCT (Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand). 2011. Interim Report, Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) First Report. Bangkok: TRCT, April.Google Scholar
TRCT (Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand). 2012a. Interim Report, Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) Third Report. Bangkok: TRCT, March.Google Scholar
TRCT (Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand). 2012b. Final Report, Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT), July 2010 to July 2012. Bangkok: TRCT.Google Scholar
Verdeja, Ernesto. 2009. Unchopping a Tree: Reconciliation in the Aftermath of Political Violence. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Richard A. 2001. The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Legitimizing the Post-Apartheid State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar