Section 156 — Non-Criminal Death Inquest File Routing
Statutory text (Thai original)
ให้ส่งสำนวนชันสูตรพลิกศพในกรณีที่ความตายมิได้เป็นผลแห่งการกระทำผิดอาญาไปยังข้าหลวงประจำจังหวัด
English translation
In a case where the death was not the result of a criminal offence, the inquest file shall be sent to the provincial governor.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
This short provision closes the inquest chapter by directing where the file goes when no crime is involved. If the inquest shows the death was not caused by a criminal act, there is no prosecution to pursue, so the file is routed administratively to the provincial governor (the office historically named khaluang pracham changwat) rather than to the prosecutor. It contrasts with deaths caused by an offence, which feed into the ordinary investigation and prosecution stream and, for custodial or official-caused deaths, the special procedures under Sections 150 and 155/1.
Why this matters in practice
In practice this means that if an inquest finds a natural, accidental or otherwise non-criminal death, the matter closes on the administrative side and no criminal case follows. If your family disagrees with a finding that a death was not caused by a crime, the decision point is the inquest itself, so the time to challenge the cause of death is before the file is closed, ideally with legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to an inquest file when a death is not a crime?
Under Section 156, if the death did not result from a criminal offence, the inquest file is sent to the provincial governor rather than to the prosecutor, and no criminal case follows.