“Child”, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, means a person under the age of 18 unless he/she is of sui juris as required by other laws. Promotion and protection of the rights of the child under the Convention are based on the four main principles: (1) non-discrimination against all children regardless of their race, color, sex, language, religion, political views or other status; (2) the best interests of the child in all acts involving children; (3) the right to survival and development, and (4) the right to be heard to their opinions taken into account their age and maturity. In addition, the Convention recognizes a number of other rights such as the right to an adequate standards of living for the development of the child, the right to education, the right to health, the right not to be unlawfully interfered with their privacy, the right to be protected from any violence and exploitation and the treatment of children who are in conflict with the law.
          The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) cares and attaches great importance to the protection and promotion of children’s rights in all situations. Especially, the NHRCT promotes knowledge of human rights in line with international principles to children and youths by preparing and disseminating the Human Rights Basic Education Handbooks from the levels of pre-school to high school students. The handbooks aim to provide educational personnel with tools to promote human rights knowledge for students at all levels. Besides, the NHRCT just completed the project named “Youths Standing Up for Human Rights” to enable youths to learn human rights within the context of Thai society in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NHRCT provided a recommendation to protect basic rights of children in the criminal justice process by proposing the Royal Thai Police to review its regulations not to disclose juvenile criminal records. The amendment, therefore, assisted children who committed illegal acts to have the opportunity to be re-integrated to the society with dignity. The NHRCT also submitted a recommendation to the government to end the grave situation of sexual violence against students by teachers or educational personnel. Importantly, the NHRCT has established the internal mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the situations which are vulnerable to child rights during the COVID-19 pandemic and the continued political demonstration.
          On the occasion of the National Children’s Day 2021, the NHRCT in capacity of national human rights institution, would like to give inspiration and send best wishes to all children and youths for their strength, understanding and adhering to human rights principles, and having faiths in human dignity and people’s equality. With these qualifications, they will overcome hurdles and grow as the beautiful future for society. At the same time, the NHRCT encourages all adults to jointly protect all children in our society, safeguarding their right to survive, to be protected and fully develop to their full potentials. All children deserve to be empowered and enabled to fully express their opinions on matters affecting their own future, which underlines the best interests of the child.
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