Our Work in Thailand

The Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) is a German foundation, committed to the promotion of the values of humanism and democracy. HSF has 55 years of experience in civic education in Germany, and it has established international project offices all over the world. In Thailand, HSF has been involved in projects since 1993 where our project office is located in Bangkok.

We work in the service of democracy, peace and development. Our vision and mission are to improve, strengthen, and utilize human capacities by always taking into account the social, political, cultural, and economic realities on the ground.

Promoting a citizen-oriented police force that respects human rights and fights transnational crime

Since 2013 officers from the Royal Thai Police (RTP) have been receiving basic police training as part of seminars and conferences. Offering such training activities, the HSF aims to support a citizen-oriented police work in conformity with the law and to offer a comprehensive combination of theory, practice, and personality development. Also, more complex issues, such as preventing, and fighting transnational crime, were addressed to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Department of Provincial Administrations (DOPA) and Internet Foundation (IF) in workshops, conferences and expertise from Germany.

Promoting Thailand’s civil society in democratic structures, civil and basic rights

The civil society plays a vital role in any healthy democracy. Strengthening the civil society in Thailand is therefore an important task of the Hanns Seidel Foundation. Fragile democratic structures, over five hundred thousand stateless people, and a growing presence of cybercrime are just one of the many issues Thailand’s civil society faces.

Promoting sustainable development in the ASEAN-Region

Many ASEAN countries, including Thailand, are experiencing intensified political dynamics due to various socio-political discourses. In response to such a political context, HSF, with reference to SDG Goal 16, is committed to promoting an organized dialogue between academics, civil society, parliamentarians, and security sectors on issues of regulatory and legal policies; and providing briefings and policy recommendations to parliamentarians and civil society. Our works aim to consolidate the rule of law and good governance, focusing on strengthening public participation and the roles of parliamentarians in order to stabilize democratic structures both in Thailand and in the ASEAN region.

Objectives:

• Leaders of the Royal Thai Police will be sensitized to citizen-oriented policing
• Curriculum of the Royal Police Cadet Academy (RPCA) and police training centers are standardized with the inclusion of citizen-oriented elements
• Implementation of methods according to international standards combating transnational crime at national and international level will be improved.
• Improving the knowledge of youths on democratic processes
• Aiding stateless persons in obtaining their civil and basic rights
• Assisting relevant actors in improving online child and cybercrime protection
• Promoting constitutionalism, Human Rights, and democracy;
• Promoting peace and security through the ASEAN framework and integrating ASEAN into the international order; and
• Strengthening alternative dispute and conflict resolution as tools to achieve domestic and international peace in the region

Target groups:

• Representatives and members of the security sector (especially the managerial and training levels of the police), from politics and ministries, government authorities and administration
• Basic and continuing training institutions of the police and local administrations
• Representatives and members of the legal system and universities
• NGOs for human rights and stateless persons
• Civil society, business organizations and other interest groups

Partners:

• Royal Thai Police (RTP)
• Department of Special Investigation (DSI)
• German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG)
• ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
• Law and Political Science Faculties of Universities in Thailand
• Department of Provincial Administration
• National Assembly of Thailand