Its first review in 2011 contained 183 recommendations for Thailand.

Thailand this time could break the record thanks to a “dramatic decline” in the human rights situation, said Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher on Thailand at Human Rights Watch’s Asia division.

“All the international spotlight, whether they are countries or organisations, have been on us since the junta came to power two years ago,” Sunai said. “This consensus never happens [to Thailand] and no lobbyist could arrange such a scene,” he added.

The warning came as the military-led government has been criticised over tough legal actions against political activists, many of them with links to the junta’s critics and enemies.

A Thai delegation, headed by Justice Ministry permanent |secretary Charnchao Chaiyanukij, will have to do their best explaining to the UPR Working Group, but “they need to be aware that there’s also the reality on the ground that may not match their clarifications”, Sunai said.

He suggested that Thailand, which once chaired the UNHRC, should take international concerns seriously if it wanted to maintain a good status among the world’s largest intergovernmental organisation.

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Thailand’s situation will be reviewed by the UPR Working Group in Geneva on Wednesday. The Kingdom is going through the review session together with 13 other countries – a process that started last Monday and is slated to conclude on Friday. The review is periodic, Sunai said, “but it happens to be taken at our worst time”.

The UPR Working Group plans to publish recommendations for Thailand on Friday.

The review will be based on three reports, one each from the Thai government, independent human rights experts and other stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations. The reports can be accessed on the OHCHR’s website.

In September, Sunai revealed the HRW submitted its report to the UPR for the review, addressing concerns such as the junta’s oversized power, the suppression of fundamental rights, the arbitrary use of detention, human trafficking, refugee conflicts and slavery in the fisheries industry.

Last month the NGO updated the report, including adding recent charges against eight Facebookusers for violating the Computer Crime Act, and distributed it to the international representatives who will conduct the review.

Although the report cannot be accessed publicly, Sunai said the updated version was basically a summary of the HRW’s statements regarding Thailand since last September.

“Last time in 2011, we were slammed on massive extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances and lese majeste cases,” Sunai said. “And we seem to fail all principles of civil and political rights for this time.”