The Right to Food around the Globe

  Thailand

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand does not explicitly guarantee the right to adequate food.

The Kingdom of Thailand has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1999 by way of accession.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

Other pertinent provisions for the realization of the right to adequate food

Section 52. ”Children and youth shall have the rights of survival and to receive physical, mental, and intellectual development according to their potential in a suitable environment with vital regard to children and youth’s participation.”

Section 53: “A person who is over sixty years of age and has insufficient income for the living shall have the right to receive such welfare and public facilities as suitable for his or her dignity as well as appropriate aids to be provided by the State.” 

Section 55: “Homeless persons with insufficient income for the living shall have the right to receive appropriate aids from the State.”

Section 80: “The State shall pursue directive principles of State policies in relation to Social Affairs, Public Health, Education and Cultural Affairs, as follows: 
(1) to protect and develop children and the youth, encourage their up-keep and primary education, promote the equality between women and men, foster and develop solidarity of the institution of family and the community as well as provide aids and welfare to the elderly, the indigent, the disabled, persons of infirmity and persons suffering a state of difficulty to enable their better quality of life and self-dependence.”

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – 1966

Status: Accession (1999)

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – 1979

Status: Accession (1985)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – 1989

Status: Accession (1992)

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – 2006

Status: Ratification (2008)

Legislation and policies recognizing the right to adequate food

Guidance on how to progressively realise the human right to adequate food in contexts of national food security has been provided by the Right to Food Guidelines, adopted by the FAO Council and endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security.

Considering that the human right to adequate food can be implemented through a variety of legal and policy actions, we invite you to visit the FAOLEX Country Profile database for a wide-ranging collection of measures that have been taken at national level. Some of the documents you may find are legislation and policies that touch on a number of relevant Guidelines, such as those on Access to resources and assets (Guideline 8), Food safety and consumer protection (Guideline 9), Support for vulnerable groups (Guideline 13) and Natural and human-made disasters (Guideline 16).

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