Thai Criminal Procedure Code (ป.วิ.อาญา)
Content current as of: April 4, 2026
Most cited by the Supreme Court
- §225 Appeal Rules Apply at Dika Stage 1,939 decisions
- §195 Legal Grounds and Public-Order Exceptions on Appeal 1,544 decisions
- §218 Fact-Question Dika Bar on Affirmed Sentences 1,469 decisions
- §158 Required Contents of a Criminal Charge 1,079 decisions
- §192 No Judgment Beyond the Charge 1,027 decisions
- §15 Civil Procedure applied suppletively 984 decisions
- §39 Extinguishment of the right to prosecute 821 decisions
- §220 Dika Bar on Double Acquittals 456 decisions
- §2 Definitions used in the Code 398 decisions
- §219 Fact-Question Dika Bar on Low Sentences 384 decisions
- §227 Weighing Evidence and Benefit of the Doubt 379 decisions
- §215 Appeal Court Applies First-Instance Rules 370 decisions
Counted across the firm's corpus of Supreme Court decisions. Procedural and sentencing provisions naturally sit near the top: they are recited in almost every judgment, which is not the same as being the most contested. How we count these
Book 1: Preliminary Provisions
Title 1: General Principles
- Section 1: Defined terms and their meaning
- Section 2: Definitions used in the Code
- Section 3: Acting on behalf of an injured person
- Section 4: Married woman's right to prosecute
- Section 5: Persons who may act for the injured
- Section 6: Court-appointed representative for the case
- Section 7: Juristic person as accused or defendant
- Section 7/1: Rights of an arrested person in custody
- Section 8: Rights of the defendant after charge
- Section 9: Requirements for an official memorandum
- Section 10: Requirements for a court record
- Section 11: Reading and signing statements
- Section 12: Form of documents and corrections
- Section 12 bis: Psychologists and social workers
- Section 13: Language of proceedings and interpreters
- Section 13 bis: Repealed
- Section 14: Insane accused unable to defend
- Section 15: Civil Procedure applied suppletively
Title 2: Powers of Inquiry Officials and the Courts
Chapter 1: General Principles
Chapter 2: Powers of Investigation and Inquiry
Chapter 3: Powers of the Courts
Title 3: Criminal Prosecution and Connected Civil Claims
Chapter 1: Criminal Prosecution
- Section 28: Who may prosecute a criminal case
- Section 29: Continuing a case after the plaintiff dies
- Section 30: Injured person joining the prosecutor
- Section 31: Prosecutor joining the injured person
- Section 32: Prosecutor controlling a co-plaintiff
- Section 33: Consolidating the same case
- Section 34: Non-prosecution order and private suit
- Section 35: Withdrawing a criminal charge
- Section 36: Refiling a withdrawn case
- Section 37: When a criminal case terminates
- Section 38: Official's power to compound
- Section 39: Extinguishment of the right to prosecute
Chapter 2: Civil Claims Connected with Criminal Cases
- Section 40: Connected civil case: which court
- Section 41: Severing the civil case
- Section 42: Timing of civil and criminal judgments
- Section 43: Prosecutor's claim for stolen property or value
- Section 44: How and when restitution is claimed
- Section 44/1: Victim's motion for compensation in criminal case
- Section 44/2: Handling the victim's compensation motion
- Section 45: Civil action not barred by criminal charge
- Section 46: Civil judgment bound by criminal facts
- Section 47: Civil liability judged by civil law
- Section 48: Returning property and ownership disputes
- Section 49: Returning exhibits without a civil claim
- Section 50: Victim treated as judgment creditor
- Section 51: Prescription for connected civil claims
Title 4: Summonses and Criminal Warrants
Chapter 1: Summonses
Chapter 2: Criminal Warrants
Part 1: General Principles
- Section 57: Warrant required for arrest, detention, search
- Section 58: Court's power to issue warrants
- Section 59: Issuing and revoking warrants
- Section 59/1: Evidential threshold for warrants
- Section 60: Required contents of a warrant
- Section 61: Officials who execute warrants
- Section 62: Informing and showing the warrant
- Section 63: Recording and returning the warrant
- Section 64: Delivering the person or thing found
- Section 65: Re-arrest of an escapee
Part 2: Arrest Warrants
Part 3: Search Warrants
Part 4: Detention, Imprisonment and Release Warrants
Title 5: Arrest, Detention, Imprisonment, Search and Provisional Release
Chapter 1: Arrest, Detention and Imprisonment
- Section 77: Nationwide validity and execution of an arrest warrant
- Section 78: Warrantless arrest by officers
- Section 79: Arrest by a private person
- Section 80: Definition of a flagrant offense
- Section 81: No arrest in a private place
- Section 81/1: No arrest in royal residences
- Section 82: Requesting help to execute a warrant
- Section 83: Duties when making an arrest
- Section 84: Handover of the arrested person
- Section 84/1: Custody or release after handover
- Section 85: Search of the person and seizure of evidence
- Section 85/1: Interim recovery of seized property
- Section 86: No custody beyond what is necessary
- Section 87: Limits on pre-charge detention and remand
- Section 87/1: Remand examination by video conference
- Section 88: Detention or release after indictment
- Section 89: Territorial effect of detention warrants
- Section 89/1: Detention in a place other than prison
- Section 89/2: Alternative methods of serving imprisonment
- Section 90: Remedy against unlawful custody
Chapter 2: Search
- Section 91: Section 81/1 applied to searches
- Section 92: Search of private place: warrant rule
- Section 93: Search of a person in public
- Section 94: Entry, showing warrant, use of force
- Section 95: Owner may accompany property search
- Section 96: Daytime search rule and exceptions
- Section 97: Who may lead a warrant search
- Section 98: Scope of search and seizure
- Section 99: Avoiding damage during a search
- Section 100: Controlling and searching persons present
- Section 101: Sealing or marking seized property
- Section 102: Manner of search and witnesses
- Section 103: Recording the search and inventory
- Section 104: Forwarding search record and property
- Section 105: Seizing mail and telegrams
Chapter 3: Provisional Release
- Section 106: Where to apply for provisional release
- Section 107: Prompt decision on bail
- Section 108: Factors for deciding bail
- Section 108/1: Grounds to refuse bail
- Section 108/2: Witness objection to bail
- Section 109: Objection in serious cases
- Section 110: Bond and security requirements
- Section 111: Release without security
- Section 112: Bail contract requirements
- Section 113: Bail time limits at inquiry
- Section 113/1: Carrying over bail security
- Section 114: Types of security
- Section 115: Changing bail terms
- Section 116: Withdrawing bail security
- Section 117: Arrest of absconding accused
- Section 118: Return of bail security
- Section 119: Enforcement of forfeited bail bonds
- Section 119 bis: Appeal against denial of bail
Book 2: Inquiry
Title 1: General Principles
- Section 120: No prosecution without investigation
- Section 121: Investigator power and complaint requirement
- Section 122: When investigation may be declined
- Section 123: Lodging a complaint by the victim
- Section 124: Complaint to other officers
- Section 124/1: Recording a child victim complaint
- Section 125: Duty to arrange a proper complaint
- Section 126: Amending or withdrawing a complaint
- Section 127: Accusations by informants
- Section 128: Delegation of investigation duties
- Section 129: Autopsy in death cases
Title 2: The Conduct of Inquiry
Chapter 1: Ordinary Inquiry
- Section 130: Prompt start of investigation
- Section 131: Duty to gather all evidence
- Section 131/1: Scientific evidence in investigations
- Section 132: Powers to gather evidence
- Section 133: Summoning and questioning witnesses
- Section 133 bis: Questioning child victims and witnesses
- Section 133 ter: Child identification of persons
- Section 134: Notifying the accused of the charge
- Section 134/1: Right to a lawyer at investigation
- Section 134/2: Child accused questioning safeguards
- Section 134/3: Right to have counsel present
- Section 134/4: Caution before questioning the accused
- Section 135: Prohibition on coercing a confession
- Section 136: Repealed
- Section 137: Power to hold persons at scene
- Section 138: Investigating the accused's background
- Section 139: Recording and compiling the case file
- Section 140: Closing an investigation: options
- Section 141: Known offender not yet arrested
- Section 142: Known offender in custody
- Section 143: Prosecutor's decision on the file
- Section 144: Prosecutor directing compounding
- Section 145: Review of non-prosecution orders
- Section 145/1: Police non-prosecution review (modern)
- Section 146: Notice of final non-prosecution
- Section 147: Bar on re-investigation
Chapter 2: Post-Mortem Inquest
- Section 148: Inquest for unnatural death
- Section 149: Duty to report unnatural death
- Section 150: Inquest procedure and court inquiry
- Section 150 bis: Tampering with a corpse or scene
- Section 151: Power to order autopsy
- Section 152: Analyst's report of findings
- Section 153: Exhumation of Buried Body for Inquest
- Section 154: Written Inquest Opinion on Cause of Death
- Section 155: Applying Investigation Rules to Inquests
- Section 155/1: Prosecutor Joins Custodial-Death Investigations
- Section 156: Non-Criminal Death Inquest File Routing
Book 3: Procedure in Courts of First Instance
Title 1: Filing a Charge and Preliminary Examination
- Section 157: Filing a Charge with the Competent Court
- Section 158: Required Contents of a Criminal Charge
- Section 159: Pleading a Recidivism Sentence Increase
- Section 160: Joining Multiple Counts in One Charge
- Section 161: Correcting or Dismissing a Defective Charge
- Section 161/1: Dismissing Bad-Faith Private Prosecutions
- Section 162: Court Action on a Proper Charge
- Section 163: Amending the Charge or the Plea
- Section 164: Amendment Must Not Prejudice the Defence
- Section 165: Preliminary Examination Procedure and the Accused
- Section 165/1: Court-Appointed Counsel at Preliminary Hearing
- Section 165/2: Defendant's Statement at Preliminary Hearing
- Section 166: Dismissal for Prosecutor's Non-Appearance
- Section 167: Prima Facie Ruling After Preliminary Hearing
- Section 168: Service of the Charge After Acceptance
- Section 169: Summons or Arrest Warrant to Secure Defendant
- Section 170: Finality of Prima Facie Order and Appeals
- Section 171: Trial Rules Applied to Preliminary Hearing
Title 2: Trial
- Section 172: Open Trial and Arraignment of the Defendant
- Section 172 bis: Trial and Evidence in the Defendant's Absence
- Section 172 ter: Taking Evidence of a Child Witness
- Section 172 quater: Out-of-Court Examination of a Child Witness
- Section 173: Court-Appointed Counsel Before Trial
- Section 173/1: Pre-Trial Examination of Evidence and Witness Lists
- Section 173/2: Procedure on the Evidence-Examination Day
- Section 174: Order of Presenting the Case at Trial
- Section 175: Court's Power to Summon the Investigation File
- Section 176: Guilty Plea and Conviction Without Evidence
- Section 177: Power to Order a Trial in Camera
- Section 178: Persons Allowed in a Closed Courtroom
- Section 179: Continuous Trial and Adjournment
- Section 180: Maintaining Order in Criminal Court
- Section 181: Application of Sections 139 and 166 to Trial
Title 3: Judgments and Orders
- Section 182: Reading Judgment and Absence of Parties
- Section 183: Written and Signed Judgments; Dissent
- Section 184: Deliberation and Majority Voting
- Section 185: Acquittal or Conviction of the Defendant
- Section 186: Required Contents of a Judgment
- Section 187: Required Contents of an Interlocutory Order
- Section 188: When a Judgment Takes Effect
- Section 189: Free Certified Judgment Copy for Indigent Convicts
- Section 190: No Alteration of a Judgment Once Read
- Section 191: Explaining Doubts in Enforcing a Judgment
- Section 192: No Judgment Beyond the Charge
Book 4: Appeal and Dika (Supreme Court Review)
Title 1: Appeal
Chapter 1: General Principles
- Section 193: Appeals to the Court of Appeal
- Section 193 bis: Bar on Fact Appeals in Minor Cases
- Section 193 ter: Certified Leave to Appeal a Barred Case
- Section 194: Law-Only Appeal Binds Appellate Court to Found Facts
- Section 195: Legal Grounds and Public-Order Exceptions on Appeal
- Section 196: No Separate Appeal of Interlocutory Orders
- Section 197: One Party's Appeal Does Not Bar Another's
- Section 198: Filing an Appeal and the One-Month Deadline
- Section 198 bis: Challenging a Refusal to Accept an Appeal
- Section 199: Prisoner Filing an Appeal Through the Warden
- Section 200: Service of the Appeal for the Reply
- Section 201: Forwarding File When Appeal Service Fails
- Section 202: Withdrawal of Appeal
Chapter 2: Hearing, Judgments and Orders on Appeal
- Section 203: When the Court of Appeal Sits in Open Court
- Section 204: Notice and Timing of Open Hearing
- Section 205: Statements Explaining the Appeal
- Section 206: Order of Oral Statements on Appeal
- Section 207: Custody and Bail During Appeal
- Section 208: Additional Evidence and Remand on Appeal
- Section 208 bis: Plenary Session of the Court of Appeal
- Section 209: Rendering and Reading Appellate Judgment
- Section 210: Dismissal of Out-of-Time Appeal
- Section 211: Single Judgment on Merits and Interlocutory Order
- Section 212: No Harsher Sentence on Defendant's Appeal
- Section 213: Extending Favorable Judgment to Co-Defendants
- Section 214: Required Contents of Appellate Judgment
- Section 215: Appeal Court Applies First-Instance Rules
Title 2: Dika (Supreme Court Review)
Chapter 1: General Principles
- Section 216: Right and Deadline to File Dika Appeal
- Section 217: Law-Only Dika Restriction Binds Everyone
- Section 218: Fact-Question Dika Bar on Affirmed Sentences
- Section 219: Fact-Question Dika Bar on Low Sentences
- Section 219 bis: Dika Bar on Safety-Measure Facts
- Section 219 ter: Dika Bar on Confinement-Related Sentences
- Section 220: Dika Bar on Double Acquittals
- Section 221: Certification Exception to Dika Bars
- Section 222: Supreme Court Bound by Appeal Court Facts
- Section 223: Trial Court Screens and Forwards Dika
- Section 224: Appeal Against Refusal to Accept Dika
Chapter 2: Hearing, Judgments and Orders in Dika
Book 5: Evidence
Chapter 1: General Principles
- Section 226: Admissibility of Evidence Lawfully Obtained
- Section 226/1: Exclusion of Unlawfully Obtained Evidence
- Section 226/2: Bad Character and Prior Bad Acts Evidence
- Section 226/3: Hearsay Evidence Rule and Exceptions
- Section 226/4: Rape Shield in Sexual Offense Cases
- Section 226/5: Use of Prior Recorded Testimony
- Section 227: Weighing Evidence and Benefit of the Doubt
- Section 227/1: Cautious Weighing of Weak Evidence
- Section 228: Court Power to Take Additional Evidence
- Section 229: Court Takes Evidence In or Out of Court
- Section 229/1: List of Evidence Requirement and Deadlines
- Section 230: On-Site Viewing and Commission to Take Evidence
- Section 230/1: Video Conference Testimony
- Section 230/2: Written Statement from Witness Abroad
- Section 231: Privileged and Confidential Evidence
Chapter 2: Witness Testimony
- Section 232: Prosecutor Cannot Call the Defendant
- Section 233: Defendant Testifying as a Witness
- Section 234: Witness Privilege Against Self-Incrimination
- Section 235: Court's Power to Question Parties and Witnesses
- Section 236: Sequestration of Witnesses at Trial
- Section 237: Reading and Reuse of Witness Testimony
- Section 237 bis: Pre-Trial Preservation of Witness Testimony
- Section 237 ter: Pre-Trial Preservation of Expert and Scientific Evidence
Chapter 3: Documentary Evidence
Chapter 4: Material Evidence
Chapter 5: Expert Witnesses
Book 6: Execution of Judgments and Fees
Chapter 1: Execution of Judgments
- Section 245: Execution of Judgment and Automatic Appeal Review
- Section 246: Suspension of Imprisonment Enforcement
- Section 247: Carrying Out the Death Penalty
- Section 248: Postponing Execution for Insanity
- Section 249: Civil Enforcement of Restitution Orders
- Section 250: Joint Liability of Co-Offenders
- Section 251: Priority of Payment on Seized Property
Chapter 2: Fees
- Section 252: No Court Fees in Criminal Cases
- Section 253: Fee Exemption for Restitution Claims
- Section 254: Court Fees and Fee-Waiver Applications
- Section 255: Ordering the Losing Party to Pay Fees
- Section 256: Witness Travel and Allowance Expenses
- Section 257: Service Costs in Private Prosecutions
- Section 258: Civil Procedure Rules on Litigation Costs
Book 7: Pardon, Commutation and Reduction of Punishment
- Section 259: Petition for Royal Pardon
- Section 260: Filing a Pardon Petition from Prison
- Section 261: Minister of Justice's Pardon Petition Duty
- Section 261 bis: Collective Pardon by Royal Decree
- Section 262: Death Sentence: Stay and Timing
- Section 263: No Stay for Non-Capital Penalties
- Section 264: Two-Year Bar on Refiling a Pardon Petition
- Section 265: Effect of a Pardon on the Penalty
- Section 266: Pardon Does Not Erase Recidivism
- Section 267: Commutation and Reduction; Appended Schedule