Article 55: Short imprisonment of three months or less
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าโทษจำคุกที่ผู้กระทำความผิดจะต้องรับมีกำหนดเวลาเพียงสามเดือนหรือน้อยกว่า ศาลจะกำหนดโทษจำคุกให้น้อยลงอีกก็ได้ หรือถ้าโทษจำคุกที่ผู้กระทำความผิดจะต้องรับมีกำหนดเวลาเพียงสามเดือนหรือน้อยกว่าและมีโทษปรับด้วย ศาลจะกำหนดโทษจำคุกให้น้อยลง หรือจะยกโทษจำคุกเสีย คงให้ปรับแต่อย่างเดียวก็ได้
English translation
If the imprisonment that the offender is to receive is only three months or less, the court may fix a lesser term of imprisonment; or if the offender is to receive imprisonment of only three months or less together with a fine, the court may fix a lesser term of imprisonment, or may waive the imprisonment and impose only the fine.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 55 gives the court discretion to soften very short custodial sentences, reflecting a policy that brief imprisonment can do more harm than good. It applies only where the imprisonment to be imposed is three months or less. In that situation the court may reduce the term further; and where the sentence combines such a short term with a fine, the court may either reduce the imprisonment or waive it and impose the fine alone. The power is discretionary, so an appellate court may disagree with how it was exercised, and it operates independently of the mitigation reductions in Sections 52, 53, and 78.
Why this matters in practice
For minor offenses this section can keep a defendant out of prison entirely, since a short term with a fine may be converted to a fine alone. But the power is discretionary, and higher courts have restored the imprisonment where they considered a fine-only outcome too lenient for the conduct, as in defamation cases. If you face a short sentence, well-supported mitigation on your background and the nature of the offense is what persuades a court to use Section 55; consider early legal advice.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 7256/2567 (2024)
Waiving a short imprisonment and imposing only a fine under Section 55 is discretionary and may be reversed on appeal where the appellate court considers a fine alone too lenient for the offense.
For defamation under Section 328 the Court of Appeal imposed three months imprisonment and a 1,000 baht fine, then waived the imprisonment under Section 55. The Supreme Court disagreed with waiving it and restored the three-month term, though it suspended the sentence.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 762/2556 (2013)
Where an appellate court corrects the provision applied to the heavier one, it cannot at the same time raise the punishment, since that would be increasing the sentence contrary to section 212 of the Criminal Procedure Code. A waiver of imprisonment under Section 55 with a fine alone is therefore not to be read as the punishment fixed for the newly applied provision, and a complaint that the fine falls below that provision's minimum does not arise.
The prosecution complained that the fine of 4,000 baht before reduction fell below the minimum for section 28/2 paragraph two of the Entertainment Places Act B.E. 2509. The Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal Region 8 had applied that paragraph only to correct the provision, without raising the punishment, since raising it would have been prohibited by section 212 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The waiver of imprisonment under Section 55 and the fine were the punishment that court fixed as appropriate for the offence under the Firearms Act B.E. 2490, taking the view that imprisonment was not yet warranted, and were not fixed for the entertainment-venue offence.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 164/2553 (2010)
Where each imprisonment term is only three months, Section 55 lets the court exercise discretion to reduce the imprisonment further.
Facing sentences of three months per count, the Supreme Court used its discretion under Section 55 to reduce each term, imposing fourteen days per count over seventeen counts.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 28 Supreme Court decisions (1963 to 2024)
Décisions de citation sélectionnées
- Decision 7256/2567 (2024)
- Decision 762/2556 (2013)
- Decision 4299/2550 (2007)
- Decision 7009/2549 (2006)
- Decision 161/2549 (2006)
- Decision 2517/2541 (1998)
- Decision 2043/2539 (1996)
- Decision 6746/2537 (1994)
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 20
- Article 29 14
- Article 30 14
- Article 91 12
- Article 83 6
- Article 90 6
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
Dans quelles circonstances un tribunal thaïlandais peut-il renoncer à une courte peine de prison ?
En vertu de l'article 55, lorsque l'emprisonnement est de trois mois ou moins et s'accompagne d'une amende, le tribunal peut renoncer à l'emprisonnement et n'imposer que l'amende, ou peut simplement raccourcir la durée.
La dispense d'emprisonnement prévue à l'article 55 est-elle automatique ?
Non. C'est à la discrétion du juge. Les juridictions supérieures peuvent rétablir la peine d'emprisonnement si elles estiment qu'une simple amende est trop clémente au regard de l'infraction.
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Citer cette section
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Citation simple
Penal Code, s. 55 (Thailand) -
Citation académique
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 55. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-55/ (accessed 30 août 2026). -
Citation thaïlandaise
ป.อ. มาตรา 55 -
Lien permanent
https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-55/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-55/"><p>If the imprisonment that the offender is to receive is only three months or less, the court may fix a lesser term of imprisonment; or if the offender is to receive imprisonment of only three months or less together with a fine, the court may…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 55 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-penal-code/section-55/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.