The conflict resolution practice as a community justice alternative in Thailand

ABSTRACT

In response to recent issues of prison overcrowding (over 300,000 inmates in prisons with only 110,000 capacity) and court case overloading, Thailand has implemented the conflict resolution practice, including enacting a new law on dispute mediation, as a community justice alternative to reduce cases and prevent them from going into the main criminal justice system. No empirical research has yet been conducted in Thailand to examine the current forms and status of these conflict resolution mechanisms and problems facing the implementation process. Researchers collected qualitative data by interviewing 16 experts and conducting a focus group with 23 experts. The study’s findings revealed five existing mechanisms on conflict resolution across the country, two of which were recently established thanks to the Dispute Mediation Act of 2019. While the study’s findings identified many issues facing the implementation of the conflict resolution process, the main ones were the lack of trained personnel, the lack of adequate data management, insufficient operating budget, and the absence of public awareness and public confidence.

KEYWORDS:

• Community justice
• conflict resolution
• mediation
• Thailand

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sutham Cheurprakobkit

Sutham Cheurprakobkit is currently a researcher at the Office of Research and Academic Services, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Mahidol University. Before June 2016, he was Professor of Criminal Justice in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA and also served as director of the Master of Science in Criminal Justice program. He worked as a police officer for the Royal Thai Police for about three years and as a police instructor in the Police Cadet Academy for one year. He earned his master’s degree in Criminal Justice from University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1989 and his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University in 1996. His research interests include comparative policing, community policing, police and minorities, computer crime, and school crime. He has published 44 refereed articles and book chapters.

Seksan Khruakham is an associate Professor of Social Sciences Faculty, Royal Police Cadet Academy (RPCA), Nakorn Pathom, Thailand. He graduated from the Police Cadet Academy of Thailand with a bachelor’s degree in 2004, earned a master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice (2006) and Ph.D.in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University in 2011. He has published 7 international refereed articles and three books.