Chris urged the Department of Juvenile Observation to amend laws on punishing juveniles, noting that many countries have lowered the criminal responsibility age to 10 years. He criticized reliance on UN standards, which he says leads children to commit offenses without fear of the law.
At 2:00 p.m. on 22 July 2026, during a special parliamentary committee meeting to consider the 2027 budget bill, Chris Potranan, a party-list MP from the Economic Party, questioned the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection about the age range for juvenile criminal responsibility, which he believes is set too high.
He said the public is starting to say that nowadays "children commit crimes without fear." Some children are no longer innocent and diligent students as before but are dangerous to society. These children have researched online and learned that those under 12 are not criminally responsible, so they dare to offend. Even those aged 12–15 are not subject to criminal penalties but instead handled by juvenile detention centers. He questioned whether, given serious cases involving youths—such as the 14-year-old who carried out the 2023 Paragon shooting causing multiple deaths, or the 2024 case where a group of teenagers assaulted Aunt Buaphan to death and disposed of the body to cover up the crime—Thailand should still follow UN guidelines.
Chris added that the UN currently stipulates that youths under 14 are exempt from criminal penalties, but he asked if people know that many countries worldwide are lowering the age of criminal responsibility, such as the UK, which sets it at 10 years. This means Thailand’s standard is actually higher than many other countries. While this may look better statistically under UN criteria, it does not benefit Thai citizens. He asked the Department of Juvenile Observation whether they have discussed internally about increasing penalties for juveniles.
Komol Prompeng, Director-General of the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection, explained that statistics show the highest number of juvenile offenders are 17 years old, decreasing with age. Juvenile detention centers admit children aged 12–18 during offenses and can detain them until no older than 24.
Regarding why the law sets the age of responsibility as it does, he said that before 2008, Thailand required juveniles to be at least 7 years old to enter detention. However, following observations from the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which noted the UN sets the minimum criminal responsibility age at no more than 12, Thailand amended the law to set the age at 10.
Later, the CRC received comments from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during its Universal Periodic Review process, criticizing Thailand’s minimum age as too low. As a result, in 2022, the law was amended again, raising the minimum age from 10 to 12. The UN also supports increasing it to 14, aligning with international standards. After receiving feedback from the parliamentary committee, the Department of Juvenile Observation requested time to review laws, juvenile behavior issues, and the minimum age once more.