Section 113: Bail time limits at inquiry
Statutory text (Thai original)
เมื่อพนักงานสอบสวนหรือพนักงานอัยการสั่งปล่อยชั่วคราวไม่ว่าจะมีประกันหรือมีประกันและหลักประกันหรือไม่
การปล่อยชั่วคราวนั้นให้ใช้ได้ระหว่างการสอบสวนหรือจนกว่าผู้ต้องหาถูกศาลสั่งขังระหว่างสอบสวนหรือจนถึงศาลประทับฟ้อง
แต่มิให้เกินสามเดือนนับแต่วันแรกที่มีการปล่อยชั่วคราว
ไม่ว่าเป็นการปล่อยชั่วคราวโดยพนักงานสอบสวนหรือพนักงานอัยการ
ในกรณีที่มีเหตุจำเป็นทำให้ไม่อาจทำการสอบสวนได้เสร็จภายในกำหนดสามเดือนจะยืดเวลาการปล่อยชั่วคราวให้เกินสามเดือนก็ได้
แต่มิให้เกินหกเดือน
เมื่อการปล่อยชั่วคราวสิ้นสุดลงตามวรรคหนึ่งแล้ว
ถ้ายังมีความจำเป็นที่จะต้องควบคุมผู้ต้องหาไว้ต่อไปให้ส่งผู้ต้องหามาศาล
และให้นำบทบัญญัติมาตรา ๘๗ วรรคสี่ ถึงวรรคเก้า มาใช้บังคับ
English translation
When the inquiry official or the public prosecutor orders provisional release, whether with a bond, with a bond and security, or without, such provisional release shall be effective during the inquiry, or until the accused is ordered detained by the court during the inquiry, or until the court accepts the charge for trial, but not exceeding three months from the first day of the provisional release, whether the release was granted by the inquiry official or the public prosecutor. Where there is a necessary cause preventing the inquiry from being completed within the three-month period, the time of provisional release may be extended beyond three months, but not exceeding six months. When the provisional release ends under paragraph one, if it is still necessary to keep the accused in custody further, the accused shall be sent to the court, and the provisions of Section 87, paragraph four to paragraph nine, shall apply.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 113 caps how long provisional release granted by an inquiry official or public prosecutor can run at the pre-trial stage. Such release lasts through the inquiry, or until the court orders detention or accepts the charge, but is limited to three months from the first day, extendable to a maximum of six months where a necessary cause prevents the inquiry from finishing. The Supreme Court has read paragraph one to mean the inquiry official or prosecutor loses power to keep the accused in custody once the maximum period lapses, though the inquiry itself may continue. When release ends and custody remains necessary, the accused is sent to court and the detention provisions of Section 87, paragraphs four to nine, take over. The bond and security here follow Sections 112 and 114.
Why this matters in practice
For an accused released during the investigation, this section fixes the outer limit of that release: three months, or six with cause. It does not mean the case ends at that point; if the inquiry runs on, the matter moves to the court's detention (fak khang) process under Section 87. Watching these deadlines matters, because how custody is handled at the inquiry stage shapes the whole defence. To plan around them, consider /online-consultation-with-a-thai-lawyer/.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
-
Supreme Court Judgment No. 539/2536 (1993)
Section 113, paragraph one, means that during the inquiry the inquiry official or public prosecutor may grant provisional release for a maximum of six months from the first day of release; once that period lapses, the inquiry official or prosecutor no longer has power to keep the accused in custody, although the inquiry itself may continue if necessary.
The Supreme Court construed the six-month cap in Section 113 as limiting only the power to hold the accused in custody, not the power to continue the inquiry, which may proceed after the release period ends.
-
Supreme Court Judgment No. 4161/2535 (1992)
The inquiry official's or prosecutor's power to fix the sum a surety must pay on breach exists under Section 113; where a special statute (here the Bad Cheque Act) caps that sum at the cheque amount, it limits that Section 113 power, and a bail order exceeding the cap is not lawful to that extent.
In a bad-cheque prosecution, the inquiry official set the surety's liability at 600,000 baht. The Supreme Court held that the Bad Cheque Act limited the Section 113 power so that the sum could not exceed the cheque amount.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 11 Supreme Court decisions (1948 to 2004)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 9208-9209/2547 (2004)
- Decision 7930/2544 (2001)
- Decision 259/2538 (1995)
- Decision 4792/2536 (1993)
- Decision 539/2536 (1993)
- Decision 2748/2525 (1982)
- Decision 1072/2491 (1948)
- Decision 9208/2547 (2004)
This list is selected automatically, weighted towards judgments that turn on this section rather than ones that merely recite it when passing sentence. It has not yet been reviewed by the firm.
Most often cited alongside
Sections that appear in the same judgments as this one most often. The figure is the number of decisions.
Counted across the firm's corpus of 83,652 Supreme Court decisions, 1921 to 2026. The count is complete; the stated year range trims rare outliers so it describes where the citations actually sit. These figures are computed by us and are not official court statistics. How we count these, and what we measured
Frequently asked questions
How long does bail granted by police or the prosecutor last?
Under Section 113 it lasts during the inquiry but not more than three months from the first day of release, extendable to a maximum of six months if a necessary cause prevents the inquiry from being finished in time.
What happens when investigation-stage bail runs out?
If custody is still necessary when the period ends, Section 113 requires the accused to be sent to the court, where the detention (fak khang) provisions of Section 87, paragraphs four to nine, apply.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Criminal Procedure Code, s. 113 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Criminal Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 113. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-113/ (accessed 11 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.วิ.อ. มาตรา 113 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-113/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-113/"><p>When the inquiry official or the public prosecutor orders provisional release, whether with a bond, with a bond and security, or without, such provisional release shall be effective during the inquiry, or until the accused is ordered detained by the court during the inquiry, or…</p><footer>Criminal Procedure Code, s. 113 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-113/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.