Members of security forces working for Yingluck Shinawatra's government were involved in human rights abuses, the United States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013 has claimed.
The coalition government led by Ms Yingluck and the Pheu Thai Party came to power in 2011 following elections that were generally viewed as free and fair, the report said.
Even though authorities maintained effective control over the security forces, some members were involved in human rights abuses, it claimed.
The most persistent human rights violations included abuses by government security forces and local defence volunteers in the context of the continuing Malay-Muslim separatist insurgency in the three southernmost provinces; occasional excessive use of force by security forces, including police officers killing, torturing and otherwise abusing criminal suspects, detainees and prisoners; and continued government limits on freedom of speech and press.
Authorities occasionally dismissed, arrested, prosecuted and convicted security force members who committed such acts.
Official impunity, however, was a serious problem, especially in provinces where the 2005 emergency decree, the 2008 Internal Security Act, and martial law remain.
Insurgents in the southernmost provinces continued to commit human rights abuses, including attacks on civilian targets.
According to the report, the constitution prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
There is no law specifically prohibiting torture, although it is punishable as an offence against the person.
Additionally, Section 17 of the emergency decree effectively provides immunity from prosecution to security officials for actions committed during the performance of their duties.
As of September, the cabinet had renewed the emergency decree 33 times for consecutive three-month periods since 2005 in several parts of the far South.
Credible non-governmental organisations and legal entities continue to report that police and military members occasionally tortured and beat suspects to obtain confessions.
Newspapers continue to report many cases of citizens accusing police and other security officials of brutality.
Criminal charges have been filed against police officers.
Available official statistics showed 456 charges filed from January to August 2013, twice as many as were filed during the previous eight-month period, May to December 2012. There were 4,760 internal investigations of official misconduct conducted from October 2011 to September 2012.
This was a decrease from 7,024 investigations for the previous year.
The report also mentioned inmate and detainee conditions in Thailand.
It said conditions in prisons and various detention centres — including drug rehab facilities and immigration detention centres (IDCs) where authorities detained refugees and asylum seekers — remained poor, and most were overcrowded.
As of Sept 1, there were approximately 273,000 prisoners held in prisons and detention facilities with a maximum design capacity of 209,000.
At the IDC in Bangkok, as of Sept 1, 735 foreign nationals were detained.
The report also said the government imposed some restrictions on access to the internet.
It said the government monitored internet chatrooms and social media without appropriate legal authority.
Individuals and groups generally engaged in the peaceful expression of views via the internet, including by email, although there were several limitations on content, such as lese majeste, pornography and gambling.
Internet access was widely available in urban areas and used by citizens, including through a government programme to provide limited free Wi-Fi access at 300,000 hotspots in cities and schools.