Amnesty International: The State of the World’s Human Rights (April 2026)

The 2026 edition of Amnesty International’s annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights, assesses national, regional and global developments across a wide range of human rights themes. It highlights how states have undermined the international rules-based system, hindering the resolution of problems that affect the lives of millions. It also identifies trends regarding armed conflicts, repression of dissent, discrimination, economic and climate injustice, the abrupt halt of humanitarian aid, and the misuse of technology. The report documents human rights concerns during 2025 in 144 countries, connecting global and regional issues and looking to the future.

Below is a summary of the findings regarding Thailand, with a specific emphasis on the intensified use of lèse-majesté and related laws:

Thailand faced a year of extreme political turbulence and a calculated assault on fundamental freedoms, characterised by the weaponisation of Article 112 (lèse-majesté) and Article 110. Following a deadly border conflict with Cambodia that claimed at least 40 lives, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed by the Constitutional Court in August 2024, succeeded by Anutin Charnvirakul in September. Despite this political shift, the state’s apparatus of repression remained unchanged, with 55 individuals still detained by year’s end for their involvement in pro-reform protests. The report highlights a particularly alarming expansion of lèse-majesté enforcement under Article 112, exemplified by the targeting of U.S. academic Paul Chambers in April 2024. Chambers was charged for a promotional blurb for an academic seminar held in Singapore; while the charges were dropped in May following international outcry, the case underscored the law’s reach beyond Thailand’s borders. Further intensifying the crackdown, the Bangkok Court of Appeal in September overturned the acquittal of five activists involved in a 2020 peaceful protest near a royal motorcade. They were convicted under Article 110 for "violence against the Queen" and sentenced to prison without bail, a move that human rights monitors condemned as a major escalation in the judicial targeting of peaceful dissent.

This judicial hostility was mirrored in the legislative branch, where hope for reform was systematically extinguished. In October, despite a concerted push from a coalition of 20 civil society organisations, Parliament voted to reject amnesty provisions for those charged with lèse-majesté under Article 112 and offenses under Article 110. This decision effectively barred hundreds of political prisoners from legal relief, signalling the government’s refusal to de-escalate the use of royal protection laws against the opposition. Complementing these legal attacks, the report reveals a sophisticated infrastructure of state-sponsored harassment. Leaked documents exposed a "Cyber Team" operated by Thai police and military units tasked with conducting smear campaigns and cyber operations against civil society. This team explicitly labelled Amnesty International, iLaw, and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights as "high-value targets." Prominent defenders like Angkhana Neelapaijit were subjected to online threats of violence, and environmental advocate Witoon Lianchamroon faced retaliatory defamation lawsuits, creating an environment where any form of criticism of the state carried severe personal risk.

The report further documents a harrowing disregard for international human rights standards regarding vulnerable populations and the principle of non-refoulement. Authorities unlawfully deported 40 Uyghurs to China in February and extradited Montagnard activist Y Quynh Bdap to Viet Nam in November, despite overwhelming evidence that they would face torture and persecution. While a rare breakthrough in accountability occurred in May when 13 soldiers were sentenced for the 2024 torture and death of a conscript—the first such verdict under the 2022 Anti-Torture Act—and the cabinet allowed 81,000 Myanmar refugees to apply for work permits, these developments were overshadowed by broader systemic abuses. Environmental and Indigenous rights remained under siege as massive projects like the "Land Bridge" and potash mining in Nakhon Ratchasima proceeded with little public participation, devastating local ecosystems and the livelihoods of the Indigenous Moken people. The passage of a new act for ethnic groups in August was criticised for omitting the word "Indigenous" and failing to secure free, prior, and informed consent. Finally, the report highlights the dire health crisis in Chiang Rai, where ethnic communities face arsenic poisoning from upstream mining operations in Myanmar, a situation the Thai government has failed to address, further infringing on the fundamental right to a healthy environment.

Read the full report here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/0320/2026/en/