Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence in Thailand: What You Can Do if it Happens to You

Over the last several years of writing about rape culture in Thailand and sexual assault in Muay Thai, I have been contacted by countless survivors sharing their own stories, many of whom are seeking help. I connect these cases to SHero Thailand, an invaluable organisation providing legal aid and advice to those in need. This guide has been put together in collaboration with SHero to provide the most comprehensive, up-to-date and useful information for survivors in Thailand, and released as part of UN Women’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

If you are affected by sexual or domestic violence in Thailand, you’re not alone. Read on for steps to take, organisations to contact, and what to expect.

Available Steps for Survivors of Abuse or Sexual Assault in Thailand

Call for Help

In the event of an emergency, call 191 to reach the Royal Thai Police or 1155 for the Tourist Police.  State your location, describe the incident, and demand immediate assistance. You can also request the officer’s name and the estimated time of arrival. 

For emergency medical assistance, call 1669. The call must be made by someone in the same province as the survivor, as they do not provide inter-provincial assistance. 

You can also call 1300 to reach the Social Assistance Centre by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. Officers are available 24/7 to provide information about policies, connect you to services and ensure that you receive on-site assistance.

Prioritise Your Well-Being

Your physical safety and mental well-being should be a priority at all times. Anything else, including making a report or pursuing consequences for the perpetrator, is secondary to that.

Busayapa ‘Best’ Srisompong, human rights lawyer and founder of SHero Thailand, spoke about her experience of providing legal services to survivors during a 2022 panel talk at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand.

“When an incident happens, the first place the survivor should go is not the police station. It’s the hospital”, she said. “You have to prioritise their physical safety, well-being and psychosocial support”. However, those who are in immediate danger or being pursued by an abuser should contact authorities first and foremost.

Seek Medical Attention

Not all medical facilities will have the right services and resources available to deal with sexual assault cases. It’s best to go to a hospital rather than a clinic, as hospitals are better equipped to assist survivors, and to provide rape kits and medical examinations. Government hospitals are recommended over private ones, as private hospitals are not guaranteed to have services for sexual assault cases. Government hospitals have One Stop Crisis Centres (OSCC), which are led by social workers in coordination with medical, forensic and psychiatric specialists.

If you’re in a rural area, these services are still available. Best spoke about how survivors in rural areas can access these services at FCCT.

“Every provincial hospital must have a One Stop Crisis Centre”, she said. She noted that some of them may not be active, but are required by policy to provide those services. This means that survivors in rural areas can still access these services. “Go to the provincial hospital in your area and ask for OSCC services”, she advised.

OSCC provides the following services:

• Taking reports from survivors
• Providing medical assistance and conducting physical examinations to document the assault 
• Providing legal assistance in reporting the incident to the police, if necessary
• Providing social welfare assistance to the victims
• Coordinating with relevant organizations and offices

After contacting OSCC, you should be assisted by a team including a doctor, a social worker, and a therapist. You should be accompanied by someone you trust, such as a friend or a family member, throughout the process. For additional information, you can call 1300 at any time.

Make a Police Report (If You Choose to)

No survivor should be pressured into making a report. It is entirely your choice, and only you can decide whether or not you wish to subject yourself to that process. It’s not your responsibility to ‘stop’ the abuser. However, if you wish to make a report, there are options available.

Violence that occurs between couples and family members is subject to the Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act, BE 2550 (2007). In the past, you could only report to the police station or the provincial office of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security in the same province where the incident took place. Now, any police station has the authority to receive a complaint. However, in most cases, it’s recommended to file such a report within the same area the incident took place to reduce the likelihood of problems. “Officers there have more legal authority to conduct investigations”, Best says.

File a Criminal Case

Many assume that once you report an incident to the police, this automatically puts a criminal case in motion. However, this is not true.

A police daily report will simply serve as a record of the incident, and this can be used as evidence in a case if one were to be brought. However, officers may not file a formal report for a criminal case unless the demand is clear that you are making an official complaint. Therefore, if you’d like to proceed with a criminal case, it’s crucial to make this known to the officer taking your report.

The Statute of Limitations in Thailand

Domestic violence/intimate partner violence cases must be filed within 3 months in order for a criminal case to be brought. Rather than the date of the incident, the three-month window begins from the survivor’s first opportunity to report (in case of hospitalization or other barriers). Other charges related to domestic violence may fall outside of the statute of limitations, including rape and assault.

Previously, the statute of limitations for rape in Thailand was just 3 months. In May 2019, it was increased to 20 years. However, there are some exceptions, which are listed in Section 281 of the Thai Criminal Code.

Any rape that occurs between spouses and did not occur in public or did not cause grievous bodily harm or death to the victim, is a ‘compoundable offense’ and is limited by the 3-month statute of limitations. The same applies to crimes of indecent assault in a private place, when a victim is more than 15 years of age.

File for a Protection Order

If you fear for your safety, you can request a temporary protection order or restraining order at the Juvenile and Family Court.

This request can be filed on an urgent basis. SHero says that urgent cases they’ve filed, involving spouses or ex-partners, have been granted within a day.

SHero also advises that it’s essential to keep a hard copy of the protective order once it’s been obtained. “There was one incident where the copy of the order was lost, and when the former boyfriend started to threaten the victim once again, the police claimed that they didn’t know about the order. Although we went to the court to request a new copy, the legal clerk could no longer find it”, one lawyer noted. So, It’s vital to keep a copy in a safe place.

Additional Resources

If you feel that you aren’t getting adequate support from the police, there are other places you can turn to. Every province has a branch of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, which is responsible for responding to gender-based violence, child protection and human rights cases. You can also go to the public prosecutor’s office for legal aid. “It’s their responsibility to assist you, whether by issuing a protective order, representing child survivors, or even giving legal consultation to gender-based violence survivors”, Best says.

Additionally, you can contact Counseling Center for Victims and Families at 02-2725202 ext. 1207 or 0805535970 to seek legal advice and assistance in the protection of victims and witnesses.

Reporting Abuse as a Foreigner in Thailand

Best noted that foreigners may have difficulties reporting these kinds of cases in Thailand. “Many officers can’t speak English, so in many cases where the perpetrator is a foreigner, they kind of try to push the case away”, she said. However, SHero can provide help with such cases.

“If we come across these cases, we try to find a support system for the survivor, including an interpreter, in order to assist the police in getting justice while at the same time, prioritizing the physical and mental health and psychosocial support of the survivor. So, the right channel is to direct the survivor to the hospital to have a proper examination, to speak to social workers and psychologists, and to determine whether they have any trauma-related considerations to be taken into account. Then we advocate for them with the officers in that area. Sometimes, we have to explain the challenges of handling survivors and their cases. We are willing to help to bridge the language barrier. It’s not the case that if the perpetrator is a foreigner, you can’t do anything. You can still proceed with a legal case, but in cases where the perpetrator leaves the country, the only thing we can do is put out a notice with immigration. If you take the case to court, you can obtain an arrest warrant, so that as soon as the perpetrator steps into Thailand again, he will be arrested”

Busayapa ‘Best’ Srisompon – SHero founder

ThaiConsent founder Wipaphan ‘Nana’ Wongsawang also spoke at the FCCT panel talk, and added that these cases become much more complicated in cases of online abuse, with victims in different countries. “There is no system for online cases. We don’t know which country the case should be filed in”, she said.

For British tourists and expats, the British Embassy in Bangkok has provided detailed information for survivors of sexual violence in Thailand, explaining what steps to take and what services they can provide. The US Embassy in Chiang Mai has also laid out a list of resources and considerations for US nationals who are victims of crime in Thailand.

How SHero Can Help

SHero Thailand provides pro-bono legal assistance to survivors. Founded in 2016, SHero is comprised of a team of Thai lawyers trained in handling cases of gender-based violence.

You can contact SHero via Line by adding @SHEROTHAILAND. They have English-speaking lawyers and case workers, and are experienced in assisting foreigners. 

The SHero team provides:

• Legal consultation
• Emotional support
• Assistance in creating safety plans for survivors
• On-site support and litigation on a case-by-case basis

SHero operates on limited funding, with lawyers working voluntarily outside of their full-time jobs. As a result, SHero is not an emergency service provider and is unable to provide 24/7 assistance. Their limited resources are preserved for marginalised groups. 

They cannot provide support for civil cases such as divorce or custody cases. However, they can provide assistance and direct survivors to other lawyers and resources (note: extra fees may apply, to be handled between the third-party lawyer and client only). At times, they may be overwhelmed with clients and unable to take on new cases, and if this is the case, this will be communicated via a pinned notice on their social media channels.

Thailand’s Defamation Laws

Thailand has strict defamation laws, and before making a report, you may be worried about how they may affect you. Defamation cases in Thailand can either be criminal, civil, or both. In each case, the burden of proof is the responsibility of the plaintiff (the person who brings the case to court).

A person can still be convicted of defamation even if the statement is true, if the statement damages the reputation of a person or brand who filed the complaint. However, if the statement is made by way of self-justification or defense, for the protection of legitimate interest, or by way of fair comment of any person or subject to public criticism (as listed in section 329 of the Thai Criminal Code), the defendant will not be considered guilty of defamation.

According to Section 330, the defendant will not be punished if the person prosecuted for defamation can prove that the statement is true, and such proof will be beneficial to the public “But he shall not be allowed to prove if such imputation concerns personal matters, and such proof will not be a benefit to the public”, it states. “Malicious intent is not considered as part of the crime in Thai defamation cases”, Best says.

Nana described how Thailand’s defamation laws are often used to deter survivors from speaking up. 

“Defamation laws can be tools to use against us, because it’s easier and quicker to get a verdict in a defamation case than in a case of abuse. An abuse case might take years to prove…But according to defamation law, you’re already in the wrong. I imagine that victims of abuse already face difficulties in going to the police because in some cases, when they don’t have physical evidence, they don’t have records, [for example] when it happened in their bedroom or a place with no CCTV, and with no witnesses. It’s already hard to go to the police and say ‘my only evidence is my memory’, and because of the way trauma affects the brain, survivors can struggle to deal with that. It’s very difficult for survivors to go to court and be asked to sequence things in order and organise them in a way that there are no contradictions, or else they will look like a liar. And that’s very scary to see. The courts are designed for those who are good at arranging their stories, and powerful people”.

Nana Wipaphan Wongsawang – ThaiConsent founder

Best described how defamation laws can be used to silence not only victims of gender-based violence, but also migrants and victims of other kinds of human rights abuses

“Defamation laws can be used to strategically and systematically silence accusers and make victims of abuse give up their cases”, she said. I’ve come across a case of a gender-based violence survivor who talked about her story in the media, but hadn’t opened a legal case yet. A long time had passed, and she decided to come forward and write her story. As a result, the abuser used the defamation law against her. While they were both in the same city, he decided to go somewhere very far away to file the case, in order to make it more difficult for her to travel and fight the case. This tactic forces survivors to spend money and time to travel to court, exhausting their energy and resources. Most of the time, these cases already don’t have physical evidence, so it’s almost impossible to ask sexual violence survivors for evidence of physical violence. This means that most cases don’t get access to justice, and then once they tell their story because they want social justice, defamation cases can be brought to silence them”.

Best Busayapa Srisompon, SHero Thailand founder

Defamation cases can be lengthy and expensive to pursue, and not all plaintiffs may be willing to see the process through. However, the threat of such a case is often enough to deter a victim from speaking out and convince them to drop an accusation.

Jonathan Head, the BBC’s South-East Asia correspondent, was prosecuted in 2016 for a report he made on real estate corruption. The plaintiff dropped the case 18 months later. “Thailand is not unique in criminalising defamation, but the law, which carries a punishment of up to two years in prison, is unusually easy to abuse”, he says.

“Plaintiffs do not have to get the police or a prosecutor to file a criminal complaint – they can file directly to a court, and courts rarely reject them. So anyone subject to such a complaint almost invariably becomes a criminal defendant, summoned to court to defend themselves, or subject to arrest if they don’t.

The defendant will have to post bail, and if a foreigner, will have their passport held by the court and the cases often last many years. They cannot recoup the substantial costs of defending such cases, even if they win, unless they file a separate civil case. The plaintiffs, on the other hand, are not liable to pay costs even if they lose.

It gets worse. In Thailand truth is not an automatic defence as it is in many countries. So even if what you have said, or reported, is true, and the plaintiff admits it is true, you can still go to jail, unless you can prove there is a public interest in reporting it. Finding reliable and affordable lawyers is also very difficult”.

Jonathan Head, BBC South-East Asia Correspondent

This information is included not to deter survivors from speaking out, but to make sure that they have the required knowledge and resources to make the best, most-informed decision for themselves.

5 Ways to Help a Survivor You Know in Thailand

If someone you know has been affected by domestic or sexual violence, it’s important to respond in a sensitive and supportive way. Otherwise, you can worsen the situation. Victim-blaming or a lack of support can also be traumatising and complex to heal from. Read on for some guidelines on how to provide meaningful help.

1. Listen Without Judgment

Listen first, without asking intrusive questions, imposing judgement, or poking holes in the survivor’s story. Honour their experience, thank them for sharing it with you, and give them the space to feel all the complex feelings that come with it. Let them know that they’re safe with you, that you believe them, and that what happened is not their fault. The survivor may blame themselves, justify their abuse or even feel sorry for their abuser. While this may come as a shock to you, they may be conditioned to feel that way by systematic emotional abuse. Assert that what happened is wrong and that their abuse has no right to harm them, while being empathetic to their feelings.

2. Seek Out Information and Resources

You can also help by locating the relevant services to provide support. This will take some difficulty, stress and confusion out of the process for the survivor. Contact the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, which has offices in every province with specialists on duty to handle these cases. Use this Google Map link to find your local office. You can also seek out mental health professionals and social workers at local hospitals. Create a list of all the relevant resources and organisations and their contact details, so the survivor can easily reach out to them if needed.

3. Escort them Through the Process

Making reports and getting medical examinations can be scary, and even traumatic. It’s vital that survivors have someone they can trust to offer support throughout the process. Offer to go with them to any appointments they have, and accompany them at the police station or hospital. 

In some cases, police may refuse to take the case. However, they are legally obliged to do so. Some officers may not be trained in handling these cases and may ask questions in an insensitive or inappropriate way. You can advocate for the survivor throughout this process and insist that the report or examination is carried out in a safe place. If the survivor is under 18, this should be carried out by a public prosecutor to reduce repetitive interviews, and they should be accompanied by a mental health professional.

4. Take a Survivor-Centred Approach

It’s important to understand that not every survivor will want or feel able to report their case to the police. Do not put pressure on them to do so. Instead, provide them with options and assure them that you’ll support them in whatever decision they make.

Survivors often feel deprived of control, independence and even bodily autonomy. Therefore, they must be empowered to make their own decisions. By pressuring them, you may be inadvertently exerting control over them, which can re-traumatise them or push them away. Give them the freedom to make their own decisions.

5. Draft a Safety Plan

If the survivor is in an abusive relationship, fears repercussions from the perpetrator for reporting, or is planning to flee their abuser, you can create a safety plan with them to prepare the steps to take.

List the following:

• Resources available to the survivor, including people, organisations and funds (in some cases, money or other assets may have to be hidden from the abuser). 
• Safe places that the survivor can go to in case of emergency. 
• People they trust, and how they can contact them. This may be in the form of an indirect signal. For example, they may have an agreed way of signalling to a neighbour to send help without the abuser knowing. 

If the survivor anticipates the need to flee, plan out the scenario by asking the following questions:

• What important documents or items would they need to take?
• If they have children, how will their safety and well-being be ensured? Will they flee with the survivor, or be left in the care of a family member?
• Would anyone else be endangered? Often, abusers redirect violence to other individuals when their victims flee.

For more information, see Resources for Women in Bangkok: Support for Survivors of Abuse and Domestic Violence.

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