Parliamentary work to end corporal punishment in Thailand

Patsarin Ramwong MP in Thailand has successfully worked to end corporal punishment of children, which was outlawed in March 2025. Photo credit: UNICEF Thailand.

• This case study from Patsarin Ramwong MP in Thailand is part of a campaign profiling parliamentary action on education as part of World Parliament Day, held every year on 30th June.

• This year, on Monday 30th June, IPNEd is hosting an online event to hear from members of parliament who are taking action to ensure more children are in school and receiving a quality education.

• Patsarin Ramwong is an MP in the Thai parliament's House of Representatives. She supported the private member’s bill outlawing corporal punishment, which received Royal Assent in March 2025.
  
  Thailand has almost 14 million under-18s, making up one-fifth of the country’s population. In 2022, more than half of children aged 1-14 years experienced violent discipline. 

  Corporal punishment causes harmful psychological and physiological responses, and children who experience violent discipline are more likely to become perpetrators when they are older.

  Making corporal punishment illegal can help to break the cycle of violence and ensure children grow up in a safe environment and can learn in violence-free schools.

  Patsarin Ramwong MP has been advocating for Thailand to ban corporal punishment and improve child protection mechanisms nationwide.

  In 2024, the opposition party, of which Ms. Ramwong is an MP, introduced a private member's bill in the House of Representatives to prohibit corporal punishment. The House approved the bill in October 2024, and the Senate later approved it in December. 

  The landmark amendment aligns Thai national legislation with international children’s rights mechanisms. The UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child explicitly outlines that states have an obligation to prohibit corporal punishment in all its forms and to act effectively to implement the ban. 

  “We are proud that the new legislation on ending corporal punishment has been passed in parliament, it’s the first time that the opposition party has proposed a bill and that it’s been signed into law,” shared Ms. Ramwong, “It makes a clear statement that our country doesn’t permit violence against children and that we uphold a child's right to learn in safe, violence-free schools.”

  The amendment received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025 and was published in the Official Gazette on 24 March, coming into effect on the following day. 

  Making sure children can learn in safe and violence-free settings is a vital step to providing quality education. 

  Evidence has shown that corporal punishment in schools can decrease academic performance, increase the likelihood of dropping out, and damage relationships between teachers and students.

  This can have wider impacts on a child’s development socially, emotionally and cognitively. 

  Ms. Ramwong’s commitment as a member of parliament has helped to ensure that all children can learn in violence-free schools. 

  With this amendment to legislation, Thailand becomes the 68th state worldwide to ban corporal punishment and the second in the ASEAN region.