In many countries, including Thailand, the law does not provide any specific offense in the case of the euthanasia. Therefore, existing legislations can be applied to the conduct of euthanasia.
-Criminal Law
In Thailand, laws concerning this matter are yet to be developed. In fact, the Thai Criminal Code concerning medical activities ignores completely the word “euthanasia”. The laws provide neither specific offense nor reduction of punishment. The lack of specific law on euthanasia means that punishment will be meted out under preexisting offenses. When euthanasia is carried out with the intention to kill, it is deemed voluntary homicide and could, therefore, be aggravated by premeditation.
Active euthanasia can be qualified as murder under Section 288 of the Criminal Code which provides that “whoever commits murder on the other person shall be punished with death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment of fifteen to twenty years”. The punishment is aggravated in case of euthanasia committed by premeditation.
As for passive euthanasia, it is apparently qualified as an offence of abandonment. Section 307 of the Criminal Code states that “whoever, having duty by law or under a contract to take care of a person who is in a helpless condition through…sickness, infirmity in body or mind, abandons such person in a manner likely to endanger his life, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding three years or fine not exceeding six thousand baht, or both”. However, in some situations, it is more complicated when the patient has already been under medical treatment and the doctor stops the treatment because in his diagnosis the patient is nearly dead or beyond recovery; consequently, the therapeutic tenacity will do no good except to extend the patient’s life artificially. The question is whether the doctor has committed a murder in acting by omission since Section59§5 provides that “an act also includes any consequence brought about by the omission to do an act which must be done in order to prevent such consequence”. Lawyers’ opinions diverge on this point since there has never been a precedent case on this matter.
Euthanasia committed even with the patient’s consent and for the good sake of the patient is still considered as a crime because under the Thai criminal law the motive is not an element of crime in such a case. The principle volunti non fit injuria, even if it is not explicitly mentioned in the Criminal Code, is applied in the Thai criminal law with certain reservation. According to Thai Supreme Court’s decisions, the explicit consent of victim in criminal offences, if not contrary to good moral, can constitute an exemption of criminal punishment. However, if the victim’s consent is considered to be contrary to good moral; the person who committed the offence, even though he has the good intention to relieve the victim from his suffering, will be judged guilty of committing an offence against life and body.
When euthanasia is carried out by the patient himself with the assistance of the doctor, it is an act of suicide, or to put it more precisely, a physician-assisted suicide . According to the Criminal Code’s provisions on offences causing death, the offence of suicide does not exist and is, therefore, not a criminal offence under the Thai law. However, the assistance of suicide is a crime under Section 292 which stipulates that “whoever practices cruelty or employs similar factors on person who has to depend on him or for substance or any other activities in order that such person shall commit suicide, shall, if suicide has occurred or has been attempted, be punished with imprisonment not exceeding seven years and fine not exceeding fourteen thousand baht”; and Section 293 which stipulates that “whoever aids or instigates a child not over sixteen years of age, or a person who is unable to understand the nature and importance of his act or who is unable to control his act, to commit suicide, shall, if suicide has occurred or has been attempted, be punished with imprisonment not exceeding five years and fine not exceeding ten thousand baht”. As the Sections 292 and 293 imply, a physician-assisted suicide is not considered a crime in Thailand, although it is a crime in many other countries.
-Civil Law
If all types of euthanasia are unlawful under the Thai criminal law, it is not necessarily so under Thai civil law.
When euthanasia, whether active or passive, is performed without the patient’s consent, the doctor will be charged with a tort, and is required to pay the reparation. In case where euthanasia is accomplished with the patient’s own consent, the principle volunti non fit injuria is applied as a general principle of law even though the very same act would be criminally condemned.
The problem arises in case where the consent to cease the care and treatment is given by the patient’s relatives when the patient is medically incurable and unconscious or in the pers