Article 352: Misappropriation, and the half penalty for found property
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดครอบครองทรัพย์ซึ่งเป็นของผู้อื่น หรือซึ่งผู้อื่นเป็นเจ้าของรวมอยู่ด้วย เบียดบังเอาทรัพย์นั้นเป็นของตนหรือบุคคลที่สามโดยทุจริต ผู้นั้นกระทำความผิดฐานยักยอก ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสามปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหกหมื่นบาทหรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ ถ้าทรัพย์นั้นได้ตกมาอยู่ในความครอบครองของผู้กระทำความผิด เพราะผู้อื่นส่งมอบให้โดยสำคัญผิดไปด้วยประการใด หรือเป็นทรัพย์สินหายซึ่งผู้กระทำความผิดเก็บได้ ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษแต่เพียงกึ่งหนึ่ง หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever, being in possession of property belonging to another person, or of which another person is a co-owner, dishonestly converts that property to that person or to a third person, commits the offence of misappropriation and shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years, or a fine not exceeding sixty thousand baht, or both.
If the property came into the possession of the offender because another person delivered it by mistake of any kind, or if it is lost property which the offender has found, the offender shall be liable to only one half of that punishment.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 352 is the basic misappropriation offence. Its elements are: the offender is in possession of property, the property belongs to another or is jointly owned, and he dishonestly converts it to himself or a third person. The decisive feature is that the offender already lawfully holds the property, which separates misappropriation from theft under Section 334, where the offender takes property out of another's possession. The base punishment is imprisonment not exceeding three years, or a fine not exceeding sixty thousand baht, or both, and paragraph two cuts it to ONE HALF where the property came into the offender's possession because another person delivered it by mistake of any kind, or where it is lost property that the offender found. Aggravated forms follow in Section 354 where the possessor is a court-appointed or testamentary administrator or a person in a business the public trusts, and the whole chapter is compoundable under Section 356. Courts sometimes reclassify a charge from theft to misappropriation, or the reverse, according to whether possession had already passed to the accused.
Why this matters in practice
Two points dominate practice. First, because misappropriation is compoundable under Section 356, the injured party must complain within three months of learning the offence and the offender, so delay can be fatal to the case. Second, the theft or misappropriation line matters for both charge and defence: if the accused was lawfully entrusted with the property, the correct charge is misappropriation, not theft, and the maximum is three years, reduced to only one half of that where the property reached him through another person's mistaken delivery or as lost property he found, which is a real sentencing argument in wrong-transfer and found-phone cases. Restitution is commonly ordered, and where the property is jointly owned the injured co-owner may recover only his share. Employees, agents, and business partners are the typical defendants; take advice on dishonesty and misappropriation offences in Thailand early.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 809/2568 (2025)
Conduct originally charged as theft can be convicted as misappropriation under Section 352 paragraph one where the accused already held the property, and a first offender may receive a suspended sentence.
The trial court acquitted, but the Court of Appeal reversed and convicted the defendant of misappropriation under Section 352 paragraph one, imposing three months imprisonment and a 30,000 baht fine, reduced by one third for useful testimony, with the prison term suspended for one year as he had no prior record.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 3672/2568 (2025)
Where an employee entrusted with the employer's funds dishonestly takes them, the conduct is misappropriation under Section 352 paragraph one rather than theft, because possession had lawfully passed to the accused.
The trial court had convicted under the theft provisions, but the Court of Appeal amended the conviction to misappropriation under Section 352 paragraph one and sentenced the defendant to three years, reduced by one third to two years, with an order to return over four million baht to the injured company.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 639 Supreme Court decisions (1960 to 2025)
Décisions de citation sélectionnées
- Decision 3672/2568 (2025)
- Decision 809/2568 (2025)
- Decision 5658/2567 (2024)
- Decision 2427/2567 (2024)
- Decision 2324/2567 (2024)
- Décision 2212/2567 (2024)
- Decision 298/2567 (2024)
- Decision 2209/2567 (2024)
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 91 225
- Article 353 184
- Article 83 178
- Article 78 158
- Article 354 103
- Article 264 71
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
Quelle est la différence entre le détournement de fonds et le vol ?
En cas de détournement, l'auteur détient déjà légalement le bien et le conserve ensuite de manière frauduleuse, tandis que le vol, au sens de l'article 334, consiste à s'emparer d'un bien appartenant à autrui. La distinction se fait sur la question de savoir si la possession avait déjà été transférée à l'accusé.
Le détournement de fonds peut-il donner lieu à des poursuites pénales ?
Oui. L'article 356 prévoit que le chapitre sur le détournement de fonds peut faire l'objet d'une transaction, de sorte que l'affaire peut être réglée et retirée, mais la partie lésée doit porter plainte dans les trois mois suivant la connaissance de l'infraction et de son auteur.
Quelle est la sanction en cas de détournement de fonds ?
Up to three years imprisonment, a fine up to sixty thousand baht, or both. Paragraph two halves that punishment where the property came into the offender's possession because another person delivered it by mistake of any kind, or where it is lost property that the offender found, which is the tier that applies to mistaken bank transfers and found phones. Courts also commonly order the offender to return or pay for the property.
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Citer cette section
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Citation simple
Penal Code, s. 352 (Thailand) -
Citation académique
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 352. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-352/ (accessed 30 août 2026). -
Citation thaïlandaise
ป.อ. มาตรา 352 -
Lien permanent
https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-352/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-352/"><p>Whoever, being in possession of property belonging to another person, or of which another person is a co-owner, dishonestly converts that property to that person or to a third person, commits the offence of misappropriation and shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years,…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 352 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-352/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.