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Thailand's Act on Promoting a Peaceful Society B.E. 2569 (2026) came into force on 24 August 2026, a day after publication in the Royal Gazette on 23 August.
It grants amnesty for specified political offences and expressions arising from political conflict between 1 January 2005 and 16 July 2025.
Section 112 of the Criminal Code - the lese-majeste provision - is expressly excluded, as are corruption, offences causing death or serious injury, and civil liabilities owed to private parties.
A nine-member Peaceful Society Promotion Committee chaired by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul must meet within 30 days and decide which cases qualify.
The House of Representatives passed the bill on 8 July 2026 by 306 votes to 141 with two abstentions; parliamentary estimates put possible coverage at about 6,000 people.
Ends investigations and prosecutions, dismisses pending cases, terminates sentences and clears criminal records for qualifying political offences in the 2005-2025 window.
The lese-majeste provision: whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent is punishable with three to fifteen years' imprisonment. It is expressly outside the amnesty.
Thailand's official publication for laws and notifications; publication there on 23 August 2026 is what set the commencement date.
An amnesty extinguishes liability for a class of offences by legislation, distinct from a pardon, which is an executive act in an individual case; India's equivalent power is the President's under Article 72 and a Governor's under Article 161.
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with Bangkok as its capital; the reigning monarch is King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), and royal endorsement was a step in this Act's enactment.
Thailand is a founding member of ASEAN, established by the Bangkok Declaration of 1967 along with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Amnesty laws are a standard instrument for closing a period of political conflict, and the carve-outs - here corruption, death or serious injury, and lese-majeste - define how far reconciliation is allowed to reach.
GS Paper II > International Relations: developments in India's neighbourhood and their effect; polity comparisons on pardon and amnesty powers
General Awareness > Current Affairs > International
General Awareness > International current affairs
General Awareness > Current Affairs
A legislative act extinguishing criminal liability for a defined class of offences and offenders, usually to close a period of political conflict.
The offence of insulting or defaming a monarch; in Thailand it is Section 112 of the Criminal Code, punishable with three to fifteen years' imprisonment.
Thailand's official government publication in which laws and notifications are published, fixing when they take effect.
The calendar era used officially in Thailand, running 543 years ahead of the Common Era - hence B.E. 2569 corresponds to 2026 CE.
A recorded decision by a legislator to vote neither for nor against a motion; two were recorded on this bill.