Thai Judge’s Criminal Justice Thesis Passes with Flying Colours!

One of the Centre for Law, Crime & Justice’s PhD students, Thanyanuch Tantikul, has passed her PhD examination with flying colours.

The pioneering research by Thanyanuch Tantikul, who is a Judge in Thailand, into the operation of sentencing and judicial cultures in Thailand was highly commended by her Examiners. She passed without the need for any revision at all – the highest achievement possible.

Based on intensive fieldwork in Thailand to understand judicial attitudes and practices and the views and experiences of defendants, Dr Tantikul’s research examines issues of sentencing and inequality in Thailand. She is now publishing that research.

Commenting on her success, Thanyanuch said:

Doing a PhD was a very challenging but ultimately rewarding experience. I started out as a judicial practitioner trained in a technical approach to law, but I ended up with a more multi-dimensional perspective as a socio-legal researcher. I have gained more curiosity, criticality, humility and self-esteem from this journey.

“All this could not have been possible without the rigor and support of my supervisors and the environment at Strathclyde. I have returned now to my judicial role with more analytical lenses to wear. I no longer look at my work in the same way.

Her thesis was supervised by Professor Cyrus Tata and Dr Rhonda Wheate.

Prof Tata said:

We are so proud of Thanyanuch. Her thesis breaks new ground not only in terms of Thailand’s criminal justice and sentencing, but will be of international interest to those interested in the relationship between criminal justice and poverty.

One of Thanyanuch’s remarkable and admirable qualities was the way she was willing and able to stand back from her identity as a judicial sentencer and become an accomplished empirical researcher.

It has been a genuine pleasure to supervise someone so thoughtful and committed to understanding people’s experiences of criminal justice and the options for its improvement.