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• Thailand Extradition Law

Extradition is defined as the Legal surrender of a fugitive to the jurisdiction of another state, country, or government for trial.

Extradition Procedure in Thailand

 Thailand currently has extradition treaties with 14 countries: the USA-Thailand Extradition Treaty, the Thailand-UK Extradition Treaty , the Thai - Indonesia Extradition Treaty, Belgium-Thailand Extradition Treaty ,an extradition treaty with Canada, the China-Thailand Extradition Treaty,  the Thai-South Korea Extradition Treaty,  the Philippines-Thailand Extradition Treaty, the Thai-Laos Extradition Treaty, the Thai-Cambodia Extradition Treaty, the Thailand-Malaysia Extradition Treaty, the Bangladesh-Thailand Extradition Treaty, the extradition treaty with Fiji, and Thailand’s agreement with Australia based a treaty signed between Britain and Thailand in the 1900s.

Extradition proceedings within Thailand are governed by the Extradition Act 2551, but are also dependant on the provisions of international treaties Thailand holds with other international agencies.

Commonly, individuals who are at risk of extradition proceedings are those who have committed a severe crime for which they are liable to imprisonment of at least one year or a crime punishable by death.  However, depending on the provisions provided in each individual extradition treaty that Thailand has signed with a foreign country, other offenses of a smaller scale may also be applicable to extradition to a certain country.

In Thailand, the extradition request would have to meet certain requirements to be granted with Thailand’s full cooperation. These requirements include:

• The offense for which the individual has been charged is not political in nature.

• The nature of the offense can not be exclusively related to the military

• The extradition of the individual, if approved, will not violate any other Thai laws in place

• That there does not exist a final court judgment from the country requesting the extradition that the individual involved has been determined innocent; that the individual has not been granted amnesty from prosecution; that the individual has not already served punishment for the offense; and that the individual has not been in any way precluded for prosecution of the offense.

When a country wishes to submit an extradition request to Thailand, it must be sent directly to the Attorney General in Thailand. The request for extradition must include the warrant for arrest issued by the requesting country, detailing all of the offenses for which the individual is wanted. It should also contain a statement of facts, a statement of the maximum penalty that the individual is liable for in that country, and details regarding the identity of the individual to help authorities confirm that the arrest warrant correlates with the identity of the individual being sought, and information regarding the possible whereabouts of the individual being sought.