Thailand’s National Action Plan Based on UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Why Did Thailand Become the First Asian Country to Launch Its NAP?

Abstract

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011. To implement the Guiding Principles, governments of countries worldwide have drafted and launched their own national action plans on business and human rights (NAP), which consist of policy documents aimed at protecting human rights and ensuring that companies fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights. Although many European countries had already published their NAPs, no Asian country had until Thailand drafted and launched its NAP in October 2019. This article discusses the background and process behind the drafting of Thailand’s NAP, investigates the reason why Thailand became the first country in Asia to do so, and discusses the significant features of the NAP and the policy measures it contains. During its military-led administration, which was criticized in a Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council, Thailand took the development of its NAP as an opportunity to respond to demand from the EU market. Further, Thailand utilized the process of making its NAP to display its leadership among ASEAN member states. Thailand’s NAP directly addresses the issues for which Thailand has been criticized. Its uniqueness as an investment-hosting state is reflected in its policy measures on cross-border investment and multinational enterprises.