Translation:Act Amending the Penal Code (No. 15), 2545 BE

by National Assembly of Thailand

Table of contents 

The Act

Preamble

Section

1. Title
2. Commencement
3. Amendment to §24: general confinement
4. Amendment to §24: special confinement
5. Amendment to §27: substitution of confinement with imprisonment
6. Amendment to §30: confinement instead of fine
7. Insertion of §§30/1 – 30/3: community service
8. Amendment to §56: suspension of sentences

Statement of grounds

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Seal of the Royal Command

Act
Amending the Penal Code (No. 15),
2545 BE

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Bhumibol Adulyadej R
Given on the 31st day of December 2545 BE
Being the 57th year of the present reign

Phra Bat Somdet Phra Paramin Maha Bhumibol Adulyadej gives a great royal command by which He orders with His pleasure that it be announced as follows:

Whereas it is appropriate to amend the Penal Code;

Therefore, by and with the advice and consent of the National Assembly, He orders with His gracious pleasure that the following Act be enacted:

Section⁠1.⁠This Act is called the "Act Amending the Penal Code (No. 15), 2545 BE".

Section⁠2.⁠This Act shall come into force from the day following the day of its publication in the Royal Gazette onwards, save section 3, which shall come into force upon expiry of three years counted from the day following the day of its publication in the Royal Gazette onwards.

Section⁠3.⁠The stipulations of paragraph 1 of section 24 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠24.⁠Whoever has been sentenced to confinement shall be held in a designated place of confinement other than a prison, police station, or inquiry official's place for control of alleged offenders."

Section⁠4.⁠The following stipulations shall be inserted in the Penal Code as paragraph 3 of section 24:

"If it becomes known to the court that confining a person sentenced to confinement in the place of confinement according to paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 may cause harm to such person or may cause excessive trouble to a person who needs to depend upon him for livelihood, or there are other special circumstances indicating that confining him in the said place is inappropriate, the court may order him to be confined in a place other than his own residence, with the consent of the owner or possessor of the place. In such event, the court shall have the power to designate any conditions to be performed by the person sentenced to confinement, and the court may, with the consent of the owner or possessor of the place, order appointing such person as overseer and the person appointed shall be deemed to be an officer under this Code."

Section⁠5.⁠The stipulations of section 27 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠27.⁠⁠If, during the time a person sentenced to confinement according to section 23 is being confined, it becomes known to the court proprio motu or from a statement of a public prosecutor or the overseer of the place of confinement that—

(1)⁠the person sentenced to confinement contravenes a rule, regulation, or discipline of the place of confinement;

(2)⁠the person sentenced to confinement fails to comply with a condition designated by the court; or

(3)⁠the person sentenced to confinement has been adjudged to imprisonment;

the court may change his confinement to imprisonment for a term which the court finds appropriate, but which must not be over the term of confinement the person sentenced to confinement needs to undergo further."

Section⁠6.⁠The stipulations of section 30 of the Penal Code, which have been amended by the Act Amending the Penal Code (No. 9), 2530 BE, shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠30.⁠In applying confinement instead of a fine, the rate of two hundred baht per day shall be observed, and whether the case be of a single count or of several counts, the confinement shall not be applied over a term of one year, save where the court issues a judgment imposing a fine of eighty thousand baht or more, in which case the court may order confinement instead of the fine for a period of time longer than one year but not than two years.

In calculating the period of time, the day on which the confinement imposed instead of the fine commences shall be included and shall be counted as one full day, regardless of the number of hours.

In the event that the person fined has been detained before the court issued the judgment, the days of such detention shall be deducted from the amount of the fine at the rate of two hundred baht per day, save where he has been adjudged to both imprisonment and fine, in which case if the days of detention also need to be deducted from the time of imprisonment according to section 22, such deduction shall be made first, and whatever remains shall then be deducted from the fine.

When the person fined has incurred confinement instead of the fine until completion of the term, he shall be released on the day following the day of such completion. If money is provided to pay up his fine, he shall be released forthwith."

Section⁠7.⁠The following stipulations shall be inserted in the Penal Code as section 30/1, section 30/2, and section 30/3:

"Section⁠30/1.⁠In the event that a court has issued a judgment imposing a fine not over eighty thousand baht, the person fined, who is not a juristic person and has no money to pay the fine, may file with the court of first instance adjudging his case a petition for permission to perform a work of social service or work of public interest instead of [paying] the fine.

In considering the petition under paragraph 1, when the court finds it appropriate after taking into consideration the financial status, background, and nature of the offence of the person fined, the court may issue an order permitting the person to perform a work of social service or work of public interest instead of [paying] the fine. However, this under the care of a probation official, state agent, state agency, or organisation with objectives for social service, public charity, or public interest, that consents to exercising the care.

In the event that the court issues an order permitting the person fined to perform a work of social service or work of public interest instead of [paying] the fine, the court shall designate the nature or types of the work, the person taking care of the work, the day of commencement of the work, the period of time for the work, and the number of hours considered to be one day of work, taking into account the sex, age, background, religious profession, behaviour, intelligence, education, health, mental condition, habit, occupation, environment, or nature of the offence of the person fined, and the court may designate any particular conditions to be performed by the person fined, for the purposes of rehabilitation or of prevention of such person from committing an offence again.

If it later becomes known to the court that the circumstances relating to the work of social service or work of public interest of the person fined have changed, the court may revise as it finds appropriate the order it has designated.

In designating the period of time for performing a work instead of [paying] a fine according to paragraph 3, the provisions of section 30 shall be applied mutatis mutandis, and in the event that the court has not required the person fined to perform the work continuously, the performance of the said work is subject to a term of two years counted from the day of commencement of the work as designated by the court.

For the purpose of designating the number of hours of working according to paragraph 3, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice shall have the power to issue rules for the judicial service of the courts of justice governing the designation of the number of hours considered to be one day of work for each type of work of social service or work of public interest as he finds appropriate.

Section⁠30/2.⁠If, after the court has issued an order of permission according to section 30/1, it becomes known to the court proprio motu or from a statement of the prosecuting party or an officer that the person fined had sufficient money to pay the fine at the time of filing the petition under section 30/1 or he contravenes or fails to comply with the order or conditions designated by the court, the court may revoke the said order of permission and have him fined or undergo confinement instead of the fine, provided that the days on which the work has already been performed shall be deducted from the amount of the fine.

During the performance of a work of social service or work of public interest instead of [paying] a fine, if the person fined does not wish to perform the said work any further, he may apply for changing [from performing the work] to undergoing the fine or confinement instead of [paying] the fine. In this event, the court shall give an order of permission in accordance with the petition, provided that the days on which the work has already been performed shall be deducted from the amount of the fine.

Section⁠30/3.⁠The order of the court according to section 30/1 and section 30/2 shall be final."

Section⁠8.⁠The stipulations of paragraph 1 of section 56 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠56.⁠Whoever committed an offence carrying imprisonment and, in the case thereof, will be imposed by the court with imprisonment of not over three years, may, if he does not appear to have been imprisoned before or he appears to have been imprisoned before but the punishment was for a negligent offence or petty offence and the court finds it appropriate after taking into consideration his age, background, behaviour, intelligence, education, health, mental condition, habit, occupation, and environment, or the nature of his offence, or other causes for which mercy should be given, be adjudged guilty by the court and enjoy suspension of the designation of the punishment or incur designation of the punishment but enjoy suspension of the imposition of the punishment and be released, in order that he be given an opportunity to reform himself within a period of time to be designated by the court but not over five years counted from the day the court issues the judgment, in respect of which the court may also designate conditions for supervision of his behaviour."

Countersignatory:
Police Lieutenant Colonel Thaksin Shinawatra
Prime Minister

Note: The grounds for promulgation of this Act are as follows: Since one of the important principles pertaining the punishment of criminal offenders is the correction of these people to allow them to start over as good citizens, the punishment which should be undergone by offenders needs to suit the nature of their offences. However, it appears that the number of the fined persons who are confined instead of [paying] the fines is now rising, which [means] these people are being inappropriately deprived of freedom, resulting in the increase of the trouble incurred by members of their families and the burden of the State to take care [of them]. It is appropriate to change the punitive measures anew by designating measures which would alternatively enable persons sentenced to fines to perform works of social service or works of public interest instead of [paying] the fines. Also, in the event that they might need to undergo confinement, they should be protected from incurring the change of their confinement to a heavier punishment of imprisonment and from being held together with alleged offenders in criminal cases carrying high rates of punishment. Furthermore, it is appropriate to improve the provisions relating to the pecuniary rates governing the confinement imposed instead of a fine so that they be in line with the present economic and social conditions. In addition, it is appropriate to furnish the courts with more opportunity to exercise their discretion with respect to the suspension of the designation of punishment or the suspension of the carrying out of punishment. Therefore, it is necessary to enact this Act.

Bibliography

• "Phra Ratcha Banyat Kaekhaiphoemtoem Pramuan Kotmai Aya (Chabap Thi Sip-ha) Phoso Song Phan Ha Roi Sisip Ha" [Act Amending the Penal Code (No. 15), 2545 BE]. (2002, 8 January). Ratchakitchanubeksa [Royal Gazette], 120(4A), 1–5. (In Thai).