Thailand
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2023, Thailand underscored the significance of the TPNW and said that it ‘complements other existing instruments, including the NPT, as part of our efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons’.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 9 (44%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1997, Bangkok) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1972) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2018) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1975) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2002) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (16 May 1974) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | Cleared |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Thailand participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023, describing it as an opportunity ‘to convey a message of unyielding hope – that amidst challenges, there is an aspiration to achieve a safer and more secure world without the inherent risk and humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons’. ‘Since its entry into force in 2021, the TPNW has transformed the international norm vis-à-vis the legality of nuclear weapons,’ it said. ‘It has united us in a shared commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons.’ It described the Treaty as ‘an integral part of the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture’.2
At the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) in 2022, Thailand and Ireland were appointed as informal facilitators ‘to further explore and articulate the possible areas of tangible cooperation between the [TPNW] and the [NPT], and other relevant nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation instruments’. They reported on their activities to the 2MSP, and will continue to serve as facilitators until the third meeting in 2025.3
Thailand was one of the co-sponsors for the 2023 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.4 Thailand also promoted adherence to the TPNW as part of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in 2023.
Recommendations
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Thailand should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Thailand should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.