Translation:Act Amending the Penal Code, 2502 BE

by Constitution Drafting Assembly of Thailand

Table of contents 

The Act

Preamble

Section

1. Title
2. Commencement
3. Amendment to §147: conversion by officer
4. Amendment to §148: abuse of power for undue benefit
5. Amendment to §149: bribery
6. Amendment to §150: performance or forbearance of an act by an officer in consideration of undue benefit
7. Amendment to §151: breach of the duty to buy, create, manage, or preserve things
8. Amendment to §152: conflict of interest
9. Amendment to §153: breach of the duty to distribute things
10. Amendment to §154: breach of the duty to collect taxes
11. Amendment to §155: breach of the duty to designate prices
12. Amendment to §156: breach of the duty to audit accounts
13. Amendment to §157: wrongful or dishonest performance or omission of duty
14. Amendment to §201: judicial bribery
15. Amendment to §202: performance or forbearance of an act by a judicial officer in consideration of undue benefit

Statement of grounds

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Seal of the Royal Command

Act
Amending the Penal Code,
2502 BE

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Bhumibol Adulyadej R
Given on the 15th day of July 2502 BE
Being the 14th 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 Constitution Drafting Assembly in its capacity as 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, 2502 BE".

Section⁠2.⁠This Act shall come into force from the day following the day of its publication in the Royal Gazette onwards.

Section⁠3.⁠The stipulations of section 147 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠147.⁠Whoever, being an officer having the duty to buy, create, manage, or preserve any thing, dishonestly converts such thing to himself or to another person, or dishonestly allows another person to take such thing, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or imprisonment for life, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht.

Section⁠4.⁠The stipulations of section 148 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠148.⁠Whoever, being an officer, wrongfully exercises a power in office, commits coercion, or exercises inducement in order to make any person give or fetch him or another person property or any other benefit, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or life imprisonment, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht, or death."

Section⁠5.⁠The stipulations of section 149 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠149.⁠Whoever, being an officer, member of a legislative assembly of the State, member of a provincial assembly, or member of a municipal assembly, wrongfully demands, receives, or agrees to receive property or any other benefit for himself or another person for doing or abstaining from doing any act in office, regardless of whether or not such act is in line with a duty, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or life imprisonment, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht, or death."

Section⁠6.⁠The stipulations of section 150 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠150.⁠Whoever, being an officer, does or abstains from doing any act in office in consideration of the property or any other benefit which he has demanded, received, or agreed to receive prior to his appointment as an officer in such office, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or life imprisonment, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht."

Section⁠7.⁠The stipulations of section 151 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠151.⁠Whoever, being an officer having the duty to buy, create, manage, or preserve any thing, exercises a power in office dishonestly, thereby causing injury to the State, a municipality, a sanitary administration, or the owner of such thing, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or imprisonment for life, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht."

Section⁠8.⁠The stipulations of section 152 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠152.⁠Whoever, being an officer having the duty to manage or take care of any affair, concerns himself with such affair for his own or another person's benefit, shall be punished with imprisonment from one year to ten years and fine from two thousand baht to twenty thousand baht."

Section⁠9.⁠The stipulations of section 153 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠153.⁠Whoever, being an officer having the duty to distribute things, distributes, for his own or another person's benefit, those things in excess of those which should be distributed, shall be punished with imprisonment from one year to ten years and a fine from two thousand baht to twenty thousand baht."

Section⁠10.⁠The stipulations of section 154 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠154.⁠Whoever, being an officer having the duty to or presenting himself as having the duty to collect or audit a tax, duty, fee, or any other money, dishonestly collects or omits to collect such tax, duty, fee, or money, or does or abstains from doing any act in order to allow a person who has the duty to pay that tax, duty, or fee to not pay it or to pay it less than is required, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or life imprisonment, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht."

Section⁠11.⁠The stipulations of section 155 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠155.⁠Whoever, being an officer having the duty to designate the price of any property or merchandise in order to collect a tax, duty, or fee according to the law, dishonestly designates the price of such property or merchandise in order to allow a person who has the duty to pay that tax, duty, or fee to not pay it or to pay it less than is required, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or life imprisonment, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht."

Section⁠12.⁠The stipulations of section 156 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠156.⁠Whoever, being an officer having the duty to audit an account according to the law, dishonesty gives advice or does or abstains from doing any act in order to allow the omission of an entry from the account, the making of a false entry in the account, the modification of the account, or the hiding or creation of evidence in relation to the making of an entry in the account which would result in a tax, duty, or fee not being paid or being paid less than is required, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or life imprisonment, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht."

Section⁠13.⁠The stipulations of section 157 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠157.⁠Whoever, being an officer, wrongfully performs or omits to perform a duty in order to cause injury to any particular person or dishonestly performs or omits to perform a duty, shall be punished with imprisonment from one year to ten years, or a fine from two thousand baht to twenty thousand baht, or both the imprisonment and the fine."

Section⁠14.⁠The stipulations of section 201 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠201.⁠Whoever, being an officer holding an office of judge, public prosecutor, police prosecutor, or inquiry official, wrongfully demands, receives, or agrees to receive property or any other benefit for himself or another person in order to do or abstain from doing any act in office, regardless of whether or not it is in line with a duty, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or life imprisonment, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht, or death."

Section⁠15.⁠The stipulations of section 202 of the Penal Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following stipulations:

"Section⁠202.⁠Whoever, being an officer holding an office of judge, public prosecutor, police prosecutor, or inquiry official, does or abstains from doing any act in office, in consideration of the property or any other benefit which he has demanded, received, or agreed to receive prior to his appointment to such office, shall be punished with imprisonment from five years to twenty years, or life imprisonment, and a fine from two thousand baht to forty thousand baht, or death."

Countersignatory:
Field Marshal S. Thanarat
Prime Minister

Note: The grounds for promulgation of this Act are as follows: Whereas the commission of the offences against public offices and offences against judicial offices brings severe injury to the State and the public but the rates of the punishment for these offences as prescribed in the law at present are immoderately low, it is appropriate to amend them to make them higher, and it is also [appropriate] to designate the minimum rates of punishment for [these offences] in order that the prevention and suppression of the said offences would further yield better results.

Bibliography

• "Phra Ratcha Banyat Kaekhaiphoemtoem Pramuan Kotmai Aya Phoso Song Phan Ha Roi Song" [Act Amending the Penal Code, 2502 BE]. (1959, 21 July). Ratchakitchanubeksa [Royal Gazette], 76(73A), 242–249. (In Thai).