Thailand: Dignity and harm reduction, not punishment — Statement at the Interactive dialogue with the UNSR on the Right to Health (HRC62)

Statement by the International Drug Policy Consortium to the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council

Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, regarding her report on her visit to Thailand

17 June 2026

IDPC alongside Harm Reduction International and the Institute of HIV Research and Innovation welcome the Special Rapporteur’s report on her visit to Thailand.

Punitive drug policies, along with stigma and discrimination, continue to undermine access to health for people who use drugs. Health systems, laws, and policies must instead place dignity at their centre, ensuring equal access to services without discrimination, and grounding responses in autonomy, participation, equality, confidentiality, and accountability.

While the 2021 drug policy reforms in Thailand initially led to a steady decline in drug-related incarceration, this trend reversed in 2024 following new measures to increase penalties for simple possession. Today, prison overcrowding in Thailand remains largely driven by the over-criminalisation of drug-related activities – which has disproportionate impacts on marginalised communities, especially women.

The government has made efforts to shift its drug policy towards health and harm reduction. However the retention of criminal penalties for drug use and possession, has led to a drug treatment system that remains overwhelmingly punitive. It continues to rely on abstinence, and normalises practices that have resulted in human rights violations, including extortion, bribery, and physical or sexual abuse.

We call on the Special Rapporteur to continue to work closely with Thailand to implement a genuinely harm reduction approach to drug use, with a commitment to engage meaningfully with communities directly affected by drug policies.

Thank you.