Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in the Government of Thailand on reports of arbitrary arrests in that country.

We called on Thailand during its 2nd Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in 2016, to ensure no restrictions on freedom of expression especially for the media and human rights defenders, and that no one faces threats and harassment for expressing their views.

We have not had recent reports of arbitrary arrests in Thailand, but we do have concerns about the use of legislation to curtail freedoms of expression, assembly and association since the coup. We continue to raise these and wider human rights concerns with the Thai authorities, both at Ministerial level and through our Embassy in Bangkok. Most recently, our Ambassador to Thailand raised these concerns with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Prajin Juntong.