On 11 May 2016, Thailand accepted 181 of the 249 recommendations made by UN Member States as part of the second Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Following the review, CSOs engaged with the Royal Thai Government (RTG) to discuss the remaining 68 pending recommendations, to either be accepted or noted during the final UPR adoption on 23 September 2016.
On 13 September 2016, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) organised a meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Thai CSOs Coalition for the UPR to discuss key issues concerning the coalition in regards to the remaining recommendations to be reviewed.
On 15 September 2016, the British Embassy in Bangkok hosted a reception as part of the United Nations designated ‘International Day of Democracy’. The event focussed on SDG 16, which calls for “inclusive and participatory societies and institutions”, as part of the theme ‘Democracy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. Democratic values were discussed which provided a forum to promote the positive role that civil society organisations (CSOs) play in protecting and defending democracy. The Regional Director for UPR Info Asia, Ms. Emilie Pradichit, spoke on the role of the UPR as a democratic mechanism promoting inclusion and equality, which are essential foundations to achieve real democracy, and stressed on ways CSOs and governments could uphold these democratic values. She discussed: (1) the link between democracy and human rights; (2) the watchdog role of civil society to monitor and check that the State is respecting and protecting the rights of the people; and (3) the importance to promote an inclusive society to dismantle inequalities.
