Article 164: Officer disclosing official secrets
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดเป็นเจ้าพนักงาน รู้หรืออาจรู้ความลับในราชการ กระทำโดยประการใด ๆ อันมิชอบด้วยหน้าที่ ให้ผู้อื่นล่วงรู้ความลับนั้น ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินห้าปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งแสนบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever, being an official who knows or may know a secret of the government, by any means wrongful to their duty causes another person to learn that secret, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht, or both.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 164 protects official secrets against leaks by the very officers entrusted with them. Its elements are: (1) the actor is an official; (2) who knows or may know a secret of the government; and (3) by any means wrongful to their duty causes another to learn that secret. The wrongdoing lies in the unauthorised disclosure; a disclosure that is authorised by law or by an officer with power to declassify the information is not caught. Because the same act often also amounts to dishonest or wrongful performance of duty, prosecutors regularly pair it with Section 157, and where a single act offends both, the court sentences under the heavier provision. What counts as a protected "secret" is informed by the regulations and law on official information secrecy.
Why this matters in practice
Maximum exposure is five years, and as a public-office offence it is not compoundable with a private complainant. The central battleground is whether the information was genuinely a protected secret and whether the disclosure was authorised: the Supreme Court has recognised that the head of a State agency may hold power to order the disclosure of classified information under the official secrecy regulations, which can negate the wrongful-disclosure element. Charges often accompany Section 157 and sometimes defamation counts under Section 328 where the leak also injures reputation. Officials handling classified files, and anyone accused of leaking, should take legal advice on whether an authorisation or declassification defence is available.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 19969/2556 (2013)
The head of a State agency who has responsibility for the general administration of a unit is an agency head with power to order the disclosure of classified information under the official secrecy regulations, issued under the Official Information Act; a disclosure made within that authority is not a wrongful disclosure.
In this state-audit dispute, the Court recognised that the head of the agency, being responsible for its general administration, had authority under the official secrecy regulations to order disclosure of classified information. That authority is relevant to whether an alleged disclosure was wrongful for the purposes of Section 164.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 3194/2536 (1993)
Persons appointed to an examination committee are officials, and their official duty runs from the time they learn of the appointment until the examination is complete, not only during the interview stage; a non-committee teacher who assists them is liable as a supporter.
Examination committee members were found to be officials whose duty spanned the entire appointment, and they were convicted under Sections 157 and 164 for conduct relating to the examination, a protected official matter. Teachers who were not committee members but assisted them were liable as supporters. The case shows Section 164 applied to the leaking or mishandling of confidential examination material.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 5 Supreme Court decisions (1988 to 2019)
Décisions de citation sélectionnées
- Decision 19969/2556 (2013)
- Decision 3194/2536 (1993)
- Decision 4334/2531 (1988)
- Decision 3131/2562 (2019)
- Decision 7423/2543 (2000)
Cette liste est sélectionnée automatiquement, en privilégiant les jugements qui reposent sur cet article plutôt que sur ceux qui se contentent de le citer lors du prononcé de la peine. Elle n'a pas encore été examinée par le cabinet.
Le plus souvent cité aux côtés de
- Article 157 5
- Article 91 4
- Article 86 3
- Article 83 3
Sections qui apparaissent le plus souvent dans les mêmes jugements que celui-ci. Le chiffre correspond au nombre de décisions.
Calculé sur l'ensemble du corpus de 83 652 décisions de la Cour suprême du cabinet, de 1921 à 2026. Le décompte est exhaustif ; la plage d'années indiquée élimine les valeurs aberrantes rares afin de refléter la répartition réelle des citations. Ces chiffres sont calculés par nos soins et ne constituent pas des statistiques officielles de la Cour. Comment nous les comptons et ce que nous avons mesuré
Foire aux questions
Toute divulgation d'informations officielles constitue-t-elle une infraction en vertu de l'article 164 ?
Non. La divulgation doit porter sur un secret d'État et avoir été effectuée illégalement, en dehors du cadre de l'autorité de l'agent. Une divulgation autorisée par la loi ou par un agent habilité à déclassifier un document ne constitue pas une infraction.
Quelle est la sanction prévue par l'article 164 ?
L'infraction est passible d'une peine d'emprisonnement n'excédant pas cinq ans, d'une amende n'excédant pas 100 000 bahts, ou des deux. Elle est fréquemment associée à l'article 157.
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Citer cette section
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Citation simple
Penal Code, s. 164 (Thailand) -
Citation académique
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 164. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-164/ (accessed 30 août 2026). -
Citation thaïlandaise
ป.อ. มาตรา 164 -
Lien permanent
https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-164/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-164/"><p>Whoever, being an official who knows or may know a secret of the government, by any means wrongful to their duty causes another person to learn that secret, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 164 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-164/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.