With fertility on the decline worldwide, children – the future and hope of society – have become more precious than ever. Millions of these young lives are vulnerable and exposed to mistreatment and exploitation and all without exception, have the right to be protected from harm including corporal punishment or violent discipline at the hands of caregivers, the most common form of violence against children.
Equally, they all deserve to grow up in a safe, nurturing family environment that enables them to thrive, reach their full potential and be healthy and happy.
“We believe that it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep children safe from harm. We all have a role to play in protecting and safeguarding them,” said Wassana Kaonoparat, director of the Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights Foundation (CPCR), which has been working to protect children from violence and unlawful care in Thailand for more than four decades.
She was speaking in an online seminar entitled “Protecting children is everyone’s business” held on July 30.
Initiated by the CPCR and backed by a multidisciplinary child protection team, the session’s aim was to introduce an e-learning course on children’s rights, child protection and positive parenting and provide the public with a practical tool to increase awareness about the importance of safeguarding the rights and welfare of children, while helping parents and caregivers develop positive relationships with their children.
It was delivered by two speakers: the CPCR’s former director Sanphasit Koompraphant; and Asst. Prof. Dr. Parichawan Chandarasiri from the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine.
“Children are our most valuable resources. We need to work together to care for, protect them and promote their well-being. It’s not only for the benefit of the children themselves but also for ourselves, society and the world. Some children are abused; others are neglected. Many are struggling with physical and emotional problems. With these problems, how can children grow up to become quality adults?” said Dr. Parichawan.
Banning corporal punishment of children for good
Today, all children in Thailand are enjoying better rights to protection, as defined by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Unlike in the past, they are fully protected from corporal punishment by law.
Thailand revised its civil code to ban all forms of corporal punishment against children, with the amendment of Section 1567 (2), marking another milestone in the country’s protecting children’s rights.
Published in the Royal Gazette on March 24, 2025, the amendment to Section 1567 (2) of the Civil Code says disciplining or behavioral correction of a child must not involve violence, physical or psychological harm, or any inappropriate actions.
It replaced a previous clause that ambiguously allowed for punishment in an appropriate manner for education.
The revised law aligns Thailand with the UNCRC, emphasizing the protection of children from all forms of cruel or degrading punishment. It also enables the country to be in line with Sustainable Development Goal 16.2 that aims to protect children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and violence.
Thailand ratified the UNCRC in 1992, which comprises four main pillars: the right to survival, the right to protection, the right to development and the right to participation.
The amendments make Thailand the 68th country to have banned the use of all types of violent discipline or corporal punishment in schools, homes, residential care facilities, juvenile protection and training centers, and daycare centers.
A comprehensive online training course on child care and protection
To celebrate its 44th anniversary and promote children’s rights, the CPCR has decided to launch an e-learning course on children’s rights and child protection for the public and authorities working with children including teachers, social workers, psychiatrists, legal professionals and non-governmental organizations.
Free of charge, the course is designed to provide knowledge, key skills and attitudes needed for child protection as well as principles of child development and care.
It comes in four main sections and covers 14 topics.
The first section gives the basics of childcare that help establish and maintain a safe, clean, and healthy environment for children as well as child developmental stages and childcare for different age groups.
It also offers an exploration of children’s rights as defined by the UNCRC, understanding of minimum standards of childcare, positive parenting approaches and promotion of healthy growth and development.
The second section provides insights about assistance and support to children with special needs and the approach to caregiving.
The third part covers roles of teachers in child development and protection and the roles of officers and authorities in child protection.
The last chapter provides a guide for child protection activities to stimulate actions and changes leading to prevention of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children.
Sappasit said he believes that this comprehensive online course will help improve the work environment with children, while creating a positive family environment which can help children feel safe, secure and cared for.
“I really appreciate the CPCR for creating this e-learning course that can help raise the level of awareness and understanding of children’s rights and the child protection approach and why these are so important. I believe it will help improve society."
"The course is a tool that can help us to achieve the ultimate goal of helping children grow up in a safe, nurturing family environment, as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of Child,” he said.
Many of those who work with children and young people may find this course useful, he added, while parents and caregivers can take advantage of all the strategies of positive parenting and raising a healthy, happy child and ways to support development and learning.
More importantly, attendees will learn about a screening tool for the minimum standard of child rearing in accordance with the Child Protection Act B.E. 2546, which helps promote proper childcare for each age group.
“A child who has been raised and cared for in line with a minimum standard of child rearing should not have behavioral problems,” Sappasit said.
He noted that rewards and punishment in parenting are ineffective at changing children’s challenging behaviors, urging parents and caregivers to avoid discipline or other forms of corporal punishment like spanking to correct a child who acts in an inappropriate way as it comes with a wide range of negative development outcomes for children.
“Discipline shouldn’t be about punishing,” he said.
The child protection expert recommended using more creative, non-violent approaches to boost their child’s confidence and self-esteem rather than physical punishment.
“When your little girl, for example, uses colored pencils to paint the wall of a room, don’t punish her. As a parent or a caregiver, instead, you can stick plain paper on the walls and let her paint and draw on them as she wants,” Sappasit said, adding that art is a powerful tool for self-expression and personal growth.
Corporal punishment is a violation of children’s rights, he noted. It causes physical harm and poor mental health. It also affects children’s education and ruins the parent-child relationship.
“Emotional abuse may have more harmful long-term negative effects on children than physical abuse. It’s not easy to heal from it,” he said.
Dr. Parichawan said the course serves as a social mechanism of how people can help to protect and safeguard children, urging the public to arm themselves with knowledge about children’s rights and child protection and understand factors that affect a child’s growth and development.
“We all should have basic skills for working with children, learn to help them fix their problems and understand how to advocate for and when to seek professional advice. These are fundamentals of how to keep children safe from harm,” she said.
She also expressed her appreciation for the multidisciplinary collaboration in creating accurate and reliable content for this online course that provides valuable insights to the public about children’s rights and children protection.
-Individuals wishing to register for the e-learning course on children’s rights and children protection can visit https://e-learning.thaichildrights.org/
