CMU Journal of Law and Social Sciences

บทวิจารณ์หนังสือ (Book Review) เรื่อง Terrorism and International Law: Accountability, Remedies, and Reform

Sarayoot Ratsamee — 2025-06-30

Legal Anthropology: Methodologies and Contributions to Legal Studies

Songkrant Pongboonjun — 2025-06-30

Legal anthropology is an interdisciplinary approach that integrates legal studies with anthropology; it examines legal phenomena through anthropological concepts, theories, and research methodologies. This article highlights the limitations of traditional legal studies that focus solely on legal texts and formal legal institutions, as they cannot comprehensively explain complex social phenomena. It advocates for an anthropological approach to legal studies, employing methodologies such as ethnography and the analysis of individuals' life narratives to overcome and complement the limits of conventional legal scholarship. These methods help reveal the relationship between law and the everyday lives of people across diverse social groups. This article demonstrates that using such an approach can help expand the scope of legal studies to cover various social institutions, as well as explain both formal and informal legal phenomena more closely aligned with reality. Therefore, this approach has significant contributions to the legal scholarship and fosters new understandings of the role of law in complex societies.

Soft Power of Law: Cultural Politics in Law

Kitpatchara Somanawat — 2025-06-30

Law is not only the hard power, which threat its object with penalty and induces with economic benefit, but also contains of the soft power, the attractive power which bring people accept the value of the rule of law. Source of legal soft power come from three pillars; its legal culture, legal value, and legal policies. In the age of information, legal soft power rise its significant as weapon of the weak to fight or to compromise with legal culture. During the People Party's rule, Thailand used to have strong policies on legal culture, but it has decline in 1960 due to political situation. After all, legal soft power is dynamic and related to political society at all time.

From the 112 Richter Phenomenon to Ceiling-Breaking Proposals: The Political Impact of Reviving Khana Ratsadon’s Ideological to Counter-Hegemony the Judicialization of Politics after 2006.

Jaturong Suthawan — 2025-06-30

This article presents an analysis of the political interaction between the judicialization of politics as a hegemonic structure and identity-based political groups aligned with the ideology of the Khana Ratsadon as counter-hegemonic challengers. The study begins by questioning the rise of social movements in 2020 that aimed to dismantle structural power through "ceiling-breaking proposals." These movements exhibited notable ideological connections to the Nitirat Group, particularly in their advocacy for amending Article 112 of the Criminal Code. Their resurgence coincided with the revival of the ideals of the 1932 Siamese Revolution, a process that has been unfolding since 2006. Both movements share a common origin in opposing the consolidation of state power through what has been termed the "judicialization of politics."

The establishment of judicial hegemony following the 2006 coup did not emerge solely from dominant discourses or mainstream academic narratives but was strategically constructed through the collaboration of various political forces seeking to maintain power. Once this judicial hegemony was firmly entrenched, it was challenged by the Nitirat Group and its affiliated networks. Although their legal reform proposals initially failed to gain traction, their influence contributed to the formation of the Future Forward Party, which had a profound political impact by bringing Article 112 into public discourse (sensitizing impact).

However, a significant unintended consequence of this increased public discourse was that, rather than diminishing, the enforcement of Article 112 intensified as a political tool. Likewise, the judicialization of politics remains a recurring phenomenon in Thailand. Even after the dissolution of the Future Forward Party, traces of the Nitirat Group’s ideological influence persisted in the social movements of 2020, underscoring the ongoing struggle between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic forces in Thailand’s political landscape.

Rehabilitation of Juvenile Offenders Through Religious Principles: A Comparative Study between Thailand and Scotland

Alexandre Chitov — 2025-06-30

This article offers the comparison between Polmont prison in the UK[1] and Chiang Mai Juvenile Correction Institution in Thailand[2]. Both institutions have been innovating to meet rehabilitative goals in educating young offenders between the ages of 16 and 24. Despite the differences between them, both Polmont and Chiang Mai establishments share common philosophical underpinnings of the institutional regime and discipline. The sociological and psychological philosophies of crime determine the treatment of juvenile offenders.

Both institutions promote intellectual and professional training. There is a difference, however, in the way religion is used as the means of rehabilitation. Polmont leaves religion to the private choice of prisoners. Chiang Mai attempts to integrate, although insufficiently, Buddhist education as an important part of rehabilitation. The approach of a great British educational reformer, Thomas Arnold, to religion and morality is used to point out the failures of both institutions to accomplish a moral change in the life of young offenders.

Legal Implications of Adultery: A Comparative Study of Thai and Cambodian Law

Nonglak Arnee — 2025-06-30

This study investigates the legal implications of adultery in Thailand and Cambodia, two Southeast Asian nations with shared Theravada Buddhist roots but divergent legal approaches to marital infidelity. The study aims to compare how both countries address adultery through their legal systems and examine whether these approaches align with principles of religion, culture, and international human rights.

This research applies a comparative legal methodology, drawing on statutory law, court decisions, scholarly literature, and international human rights instruments, including the UDHR, ICCPR, CEDAW, CRC, and CRMW. The study also examines general comments, concluding observations, shadow reports, and opinions from legal scholars and NGOs to interpret the legal treatment of adultery.

In Thailand, adultery is treated as a civil matter under the Civil and Commercial Code, allowing the aggrieved spouse to file for divorce and seek compensation for emotional distress, with no criminal penalties imposed. This approach emphasizes personal responsibility and aligns with international human rights principles. In contrast, Cambodia adopts both civil and criminal measures. Adultery is criminalized under the Law on Monogamy (2006), which includes penalties such as imprisonment and fines. These punitive measures raise concerns about state intrusion into private life, gender bias, and lack of civil compensation mechanisms for victims.

The study recommends that Cambodia consider decriminalizing adultery to align with modern human rights standards. For Thailand, it proposes strengthening financial deterrents by increasing compensation under Section 1523 of the Civil and Commercial Code to better reflect the emotional and reputational harm suffered by the innocent spouse.

Legal Measures to Control Microplastic Pollution from Drainage of Industrial Washing Machine Products

Pimkhwan Jullapong — 2025-06-30

Currently, various human activities in daily life have the potential to cause numerous environmental issues. One such issue is the contamination of microplastic pollution in water and oceans is a leading environmental problem, mainly due to the drainage of washing machine industrial products. These machines are a significant point source of pollution, contributing to the increase in microplastic contamination in water resources. To mitigate this issue, State-established measures are required to control the use of industrial products to reduce microplastic pollution. This article studies legal measures used to control industrial product standards by considering the Industrial Product Standards Act, B.E. 2511 (1968), which originally set industrial product standards for manufacturers, importers, and distributors to protect consumer lives, safety, and property. To resolve the issue of microplastic pollution, manufacturers should use best available technology incorporating economic and social feasibility to prevent and reduce the environmental impact of industrial products. A comparative study legal measures of England, which has initiated the Microplastic Filters (Washing Machines) Bill, and France, which has specific provisions regarding on the fight against waste and the circular economy. Both nations have certified the use of microplastic filter technology with industrial washing machine products, which is an upstream measure to control manufacturers, importers, and distributors. This article also studies measures to promote environmentally friendly products and services applied to consumers as downstream measures, following the Public Procurement and Supplies Administration. Act, B.E. 2560 (2017). This law stipulates conditions and processes for government agency supply procurement. It may be used as a further problem-solving device by motivating government agencies to use environmentally friendly supplies. In addition, the state itself, as policy and lawmaker, has a duty to raise awareness of the problem and encourage all sectors to use environmentally friendly products and services, adjusting consumption behavior according to the sustainable development goals

Taxation of Sugary Foods and Beverages that Affect Health in Thailand

Pornpen Traiphong — 2025-06-30

This research employed a qualitative method by collecting documents and in-depth interviews, focusing on the study of various documents to explore the background and the imposition of a sugar tax on food and beverages that affect health in Thailand. It also analyzes legal principles and tax measures concerning the enforcement of the sugar tax on sweetened food and beverages that have health impacts in both Thailand and other countries. The research also intends to discover acceptable tax measures for the collection of sugar tax on food and drinks that affect health in Thailand. In-depth interviews were done with targeted individuals who are directly associated with the enforcement of sugar tax in the research area. Over the course of a year, there were ten participants in all, including street sellers, members of the general public with an interest in the topic, and businesses in the sweetened beverage manufacturing sector that employs sugar as a component. The results showed that even though Thailand has started enacting sugar tax policies to curb sugar use and stop the rise in non-communicable diseases, the business community is still worried about the effects on the country's economy and enforcement. Therefore, there should be explicit legal measures together with aggressive initiatives to sustainably enhance public health awareness in order to ensure the utmost effectiveness of the implementation of the sugar tax policy.

Lesson of the impact of the Fisheries Act B.E. 2558 to the local fisheries, pathway to the consideration of the amendments of the law

Nawaporn Saeneewong Na Ayudhay — 2025-06-30

The research aims to study and understand the appropriate practice, including but not limited to the local and small-scale fisheries or local fisheries for the benefit of sustainable development, the eradication of the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) and the conservation of the marine resources. Although Thailand’s new regulations on fishing comply with the state’s duty to manage and conserve the marine resources and such regulation may reduce the IUU fishing, the impact of the law enforcement causes the local fisheries to struggle to maintain their living from local fishing. In order to comply with the new regulation, the local fisheries had to adapted and adjust the filling for fishing permit and the use of the fishing gear as well as the limit of the area for local fisheries. As Thailand’s new regulations on fishing are urgently passed to tackle the IUU fishing, however, such law, and regulations enactment and the enforcement office may need to gather all information from the relevant stakeholders.

This research requires exploring the relevant law and regulations of Thailand and its relevant measures to better manage and conserve the marine resources. The gathering of information to conduct the research comprises the interview with the local fisheries and the representative of the Department of Fisheries and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources to comprehend the relevant issues. Once the problems are explored and analyzed, the study may find the alternatives solutions and appropriate practice for the benefit of the relevant government agency and the local fisheries. The research may also offer any variable income for the local fisheries who lost the chance in the business according to the enforcement of the law and regulations under the Fisheries Act B.E. 2558 (as amended B.E. 2560) by comparing with the compatible practice of international law. The solutions in this regard may present proper practice leading to the proper management of local fisheries can also be integrated into sustainable use and the conservation of marine resources. This will benefit the local fisheries, the consumer and the marine environment, which contribute to the achievement of some of the Sustainable Development Goals 2015.

Analysis of the CJEU Judgment on Lassana Diarra and FIFPRO v FIFA and URBSFA: A Case Study of Protection for Freedom of Movement of Professional Football Players in the EU

Pedithep Youyuenyong — 2025-06-30

Abstract

Despite establishing the maintenance of contractual stability and protecting the integrity of global football of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA)’s international football governance, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has delivered judgments which have protected the freedom of movement of sports players in the European Union (EU) while transferring before their contract expires, and in particular professional football players, ever more extensive right to freedom of movement for workers within the EU. Recognition of the CJEU ruling is not only in line with the human rights goal, i.e., protecting freedom of movement in the EU, but it can also serve as a significant factor for the protection of rights that allows professional football players to freely travel within or between countries, and to choose where they work or associate for the purpose of joining football clubs. This paper focuses on a ruling that affirmed the FIFA's transfer rules violated the EU right of free movement of workers, by analysing the viewpoint of the CJEU Judgment in the Case C-650/22 Lassana Diarra case Lassana Diarra and FIFPRO v FIFA and URBSFA. It adds important insights into protection for freedom of movement of professional football players within the EU law literature, whilst also being of interest to those with a wider interest in the applicability of Article 45 and Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.