Child Protection in Thailand: Towards an Improved System

This study is set in Thailand and has the following aims: to analyse the state of child protection before and after the enforcement of the Child Protection Act 2003 according to the viewpoints of those who are involved in child-related work; to examine the state of the child protection system as outlined in the 2003 Act; to look into the related problems according to the system outlined in the 2003 Act; and to develop a model for a child protection system in Thailand, drawing on the analysis and implications uncovered from this research.The research used a mixed methods approach involving nationwide surveys, interviews and a focused group discussion. The data were gathered in 2007-2008. A group of 328 members from 16 Provincial Child Protection Committees participated in a survey questionnaire. An additional 20 child protection officials comprising multidisciplinary team members and policy makers participated in in-depth interviews and a 13 member focus group discussion was conducted. Data processing included quantitative and qualitative analysis. Quantitative data were analyzed using standard descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) and application of z-tests for inference on proportions. A content analysis method was used to analyze the qualitative data from the interviews and the focus group.Findings showed that Thailand has had child protection legislation and enforcement since 2003. Based on child rights, parent responsibility, and state intervention approaches, a child protection procedure was developed, which appeared to be more systematic than the earlier system.