Amendments to the criminal law to make severe sex crimes punishable by death may cause some people to rejoice. Yet, it would be wrong to think that capital punishment is a panacea for the long-standing problem.
In general, some rights activists recognise improvements in the amended law, saying that the changes will facilitate the work of the police. The amendments were published in the Royal Gazette on Monday.
The amended version introduced new elements including clear-cut definitions between rape and a sexual offence known in Thai as anajan.
But Thai society should should be aware that it cannot pin its hopes on capital punishment. Upgrading the penalty from imprisonment to death will not provide a guarantee that incidents of rape or murder will decrease. On the contrary, there are wide concerns that the threat of the death penalty could lead to rapists killing their victims in order to silence them.
There is also a major flaw in the justice system as some suspects may end up as scapegoats for others' crimes. Some may be forced to confess through torture and the real culprits may be able to get away scot-free.
In fact, punishing rapists with death is a contentious issue that divides society.
Over the past two years, some people have stepped up calls for the death sentence for rapists following the rape-murder of young victims, including that of a railway worker who killed a young passenger on a night train in 2014 in a case that shocked the nation.
The appalling case prompted many people to sign up for a campaign that called for "eye-for-an-eye" measures.
But, for one thing, such a tougher penalty, while not solving the problem, will only further batter the country's already stained human rights record.
Thailand is among 58 countries that still has the death penalty. More than 140 countries have already abandoned capital punishment. Resorting to the death sentence in rape-murder cases will mean the nation cannot honour the promise it has made to the international community that it will scrap capital punishment.
Proponents of the punishment of death for convicted rapists really need to look thoroughly into the real causes of the problem. Rape is a form of social malady, so killing rapists will not end up preventing such crimes as long as the root causes remain unsolved.
On the other hand, they should look into why several countries that have decided to revoke the death penalty have done so without fearing that relaxing the punishments will encourage rape.
In fact, society needs to look at preventiveness that may work better in deterring rape. This means everyone in society must do their best to intensify social and ethical measures, instill family values, and strengthen families. Communities must work hard to get rid of the rape culture through education, provide efficient surveillance systems and do away with the conditions that make it easy for would-be rapists to commit these heinous crimes.