Article 18: Types of punishment
Statutory text (Thai original)
โทษสำหรับลงแก่ผู้กระทำความผิดมีดังนี้ (๑) ประหารชีวิต (๒) จำคุก (๓) กักขัง (๔) ปรับ (๕) ริบทรัพย์สิน โทษประหารชีวิตและโทษจำคุกตลอดชีวิตมิให้นำมาใช้บังคับแก่ผู้ซึ่งกระทำความผิดในขณะที่มีอายุต่ำกว่าสิบแปดปี[๑๕] ในกรณีผู้ซึ่งกระทำความผิดในขณะที่มีอายุต่ำกว่าสิบแปดปีได้กระทำความผิดที่มีระวางโทษประหารชีวิตหรือจำคุกตลอดชีวิต ให้ถือว่าระวางโทษดังกล่าวได้เปลี่ยนเป็นระวางโทษจำคุกห้าสิบปี
English translation
The punishments for offenders are as follows: (1) death; (2) imprisonment; (3) confinement; (4) fine; (5) forfeiture of property. The death penalty and life imprisonment shall not be applied to a person who committed the offense while under eighteen years of age. Where a person who committed the offense while under eighteen years of age has committed an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment, such prescribed punishment shall be deemed changed to imprisonment of fifty years.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 18 is the foundational catalogue of punishments in the Penal Code and opens the Title on Punishments and Measures of Safety. The five listed punishments are exhaustive: anything not on this list, such as relegation (preventive detention) or suspension of a licence, is a measure of safety or an ancillary order, not a 'punishment.' The Supreme Court has confirmed that forfeiture of property under (5) is itself a criminal punishment, that a fine under (4) is a punishment, and that relegation is not a punishment within this section. The second and third paragraphs are a categorical juvenile protection: no death penalty or life term for offenders under eighteen, with such penalties automatically reduced to a fifty-year term before any further mitigation is applied.
Why this matters in practice
In practice, the type of punishment shapes everything that follows: fines can be paid or converted, forfeiture can reach property used in the offense, and the juvenile rule caps the very worst exposure at fifty years for those under eighteen at the time of the act. Knowing which of the five punishments applies to your charge, and whether forfeiture of property is also sought, is the starting point for any defense. For a plain overview of how these penalties work, see our criminal law knowledge in Thailand guide.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 719/2568 (2025)
Forfeiture of property under Section 18(5) is a criminal punishment in its own right; where property is directly used to commit the offense, the court may in its discretion order it forfeited to prevent reuse and to deter others.
The issue was whether the defendant's own car, used to help a smuggled alien flee arrest, was liable to forfeiture. The Grand Chamber held that forfeiture of property under Section 18(5) is a criminal punishment additional to the others listed in the section, so where the court finds the property was directly used in the offense it may order forfeiture to deny the offender future use of it and to deter like conduct.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 5682/2567 (2024)
Relegation (preventive detention) is not a punishment enumerated in Section 18; an appellate change that only substitutes one recidivism enhancement for another and adds relegation is treated as a minor amendment of the sentence.
The appellate court changed the recidivism enhancement from one-third under Section 92 to one-half under Section 93(13) and added three years' relegation from the day of release. The Court observed that relegation is not a punishment under Section 18, so the change was minor; since the imprisonment for the underlying offense did not exceed five years, a further appeal on the facts was barred.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 5650/2567 (2024)
A fine is a criminal punishment under Section 18, but an offense punishable by fine only is not one carrying death or imprisonment for the purpose of the rule requiring the court to appoint defense counsel.
The charge under the traffic law carried only a fine of not more than four thousand baht. The Court noted that although a fine is one of the criminal punishments under Section 18, the rule requiring appointment of defense counsel is meant only for cases punishable by death or imprisonment; a fine-only case, where the defendant can pay or perform community service, does not trigger that requirement.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 105 Supreme Court decisions (1963 to 2025)
Décisions de citation sélectionnées
- Decision 719/2568 (2025)
- Decision 3277/2566 (2023)
- Decision 1554/2565 (2022)
- Decision 3189/2564 (2021)
- Decision 2195/2564 (2021)
- Décision 5331/2563 (2020)
- Decision 1128/2563 (2020)
- Decision 2440/2562 (2019)
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 78 65
- Article 83 47
- Article 33 39
- Article 91 39
- Article 75 39
- Article 29 29
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
Quelles sont les cinq peines pénales en Thaïlande ?
En vertu de l'article 18, les sanctions sont la mort, l'emprisonnement, la détention, l'amende et la confiscation des biens.
Une personne de moins de 18 ans peut-elle être condamnée à mort ou à la prison à vie ?
Non. L'article 18 interdit la peine de mort et l'emprisonnement à vie pour toute personne qui avait moins de dix-huit ans au moment où l'infraction a été commise, et convertit ces peines en une peine de cinquante ans.
La confiscation de biens est-elle une punition ou simplement une décision de justice ?
La Cour suprême a jugé que la confiscation de biens en vertu de l'article 18(5) est en soi une sanction pénale, et non pas simplement une ordonnance accessoire.
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Citer cette section
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Citation simple
Penal Code, s. 18 (Thailand) -
Citation académique
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 18. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-18/ (accessed 30 août 2026). -
Citation thaïlandaise
ป.อ. มาตรา 18 -
Lien permanent
https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-18/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-18/"><p>The punishments for offenders are as follows: (1) death; (2) imprisonment; (3) confinement; (4) fine; (5) forfeiture of property. The death penalty and life imprisonment shall not be applied to a person who committed the offense while under eighteen years of age. Where a person…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 18 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-18/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.