Last week I attended a talk by Nick Cheesman, a fellow at Australian National University and specialist in the use of torture in Thailand. Joining him was Pornpen, a human rights activist.

Since the 2014 coup in Thailand, martial law has been in place throughout the country, marking a strained relationship among law enforcement of all levels in the country. Waves of crime have led to local police using torture in criminal cases to force a confession. While the country’s attorney general rejects the practice, there has been no firm national legislation to stop the practice.

The natural question “Why torture?” arose in the Q&A. Whereas many people would approach this question through the utilitarian perspective of finding the criminal and his tools, Cheesman disagrees that this is the best approach. Rather, he sees torture as a sort of performance art put on the state, perhaps for legitimizing the regime and downplaying criticism. In which case, torture is a means of stifling transparency and proper appeal of criminal cases. Corruption is an ongoing problem in Thailand.