Royal pardon (Thailand)

Thai monarchs issue mass amnesties on major royal occasions (coronation, birthday anniversaries, jubilees) that shorten or commute sentences for eligible prisoners. The 2019 coronation-eve pardon removed roughly 30,000 inmates from custody; other year-of-jubilee pardons have been comparable. Eligibility criteria vary per decree but typically exclude drug-trafficking, lèse-majesté, and violent offences from full commutation. The 2020 Thai prison population peak of ~374,000 (January) fell by nearly 100,000 over the following 18 months through a combination of these pardons and the 2021 Narcotics Code amendments — but the pretrial share proved sticky, and drug offences still account for ~73% of the current population.