Compulsory drug treatment in Thailand

Overview of the system The people who implement Thailand’s drug treatment systems commonly describe the country as having “three systems” of drug treatment: the voluntary, the compulsory and the correctional (i.e. [...] The voluntary system is coordinated by the Ministry of Public Health, the correctional system by the Department of Corrections (Ministry of Justice), while the compulsory system is overseen by the Department of Probation (Ministry of Justice). [...] According to the Act, the court’s role is “to consider and issue the court order to transfer such alleged offender for the identification of narcotics consumption or narcotic addiction” to a Sub-Committee.36 According to the Act, in determining whether or not to transfer the accused to a Sub-Committee, the court 32 S. 19. [...] These Sub-Committees are made up (on average) of seven people: a representative of the Ministry of Justice (often a Public Prosecutor, usually the chairperson of the Committee), a representative of the Department of Probation (who is usually the secretary of the Committee) as well as a medical doctor, a psychologist, a social worker and experts in drug treatment. [...] The Act states: In the case where it appears that the result of the treatment is unsatisfactory, the sub-committee of [the] Narcotic Addict Treatment [Act] shall consider to extend the duration of treatment.49 The Sub-Committee has authority under the Act to extend treatment for periods of up to six months at a time, but the total duration in treatment cannot extend past three years.