Section 247: Carrying Out the Death Penalty
Statutory text (Thai original)
คดีที่จำเลยต้องประหารชีวิต ห้ามมิให้บังคับตามคำพิพากษา จนกว่าจะได้ปฏิบัติตามบทบัญญัติในประมวลกฎหมายนี้ว่าด้วยอภัยโทษแล้วหญิงใดจะต้องประหารชีวิต ถ้ามีครรภ์อยู่ให้รอไว้จนพ้นกำหนดสามปีนับแต่คลอดบุตรแล้วให้ลดโทษประหารชีวิตลงเหลือจำคุกตลอดชีวิต เว้นแต่เมื่อบุตรถึงแก่ความตายก่อนพ้นกำหนดเวลาดังกล่าวในระหว่างสามปีนับแต่คลอดบุตร ให้หญิงนั้นเลี้ยงดูบุตรตามความเหมาะสมในสถานที่ที่สมควรแก่การเลี้ยงดูบุตรภายในเรือนจำ การประหารชีวิตให้ประหาร ณ ตำบลและเวลาที่เจ้าหน้าที่ในการนั้นจะเห็นสมควร
English translation
In a case where the defendant is to be executed by death, the judgment shall not be carried out until the provisions of this Code on pardon have been complied with. Where a woman is to be executed by death, if she is pregnant the execution shall be postponed until three years after she has given birth, and the death sentence shall then be reduced to life imprisonment, except where the child dies before that period expires. During the three years from childbirth, the woman shall raise the child as appropriate at a place suitable for child-rearing within the prison. The execution shall be carried out at the locality and time that the officers in charge see fit.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 247 governs execution of a capital judgment within the Chapter on execution of judgment. It makes the pardon process a mandatory precondition to any execution, tying this Chapter to Book 7 on pardon, commutation, and reduction of punishment. It also carves out a protection for pregnant women: execution is postponed and ultimately commuted to life imprisonment where the child survives, and the mother rears the child within the prison during the three-year period.
Why this matters in practice
For anyone facing a capital sentence, the key takeaway is that execution is never immediate: the pardon petition steps under Book 7 must run first, giving the condemned a further avenue. Pregnancy triggers an automatic postponement and, if the child survives three years, commutation to life imprisonment by operation of law. These are statutory safeguards, not discretionary favors.
Cited in 9 Supreme Court decisions (1955 to 2016)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 15025-15026/2555 (2012)
- Decision 969/2535 (1992)
- Decision 4899/2550 (2007)
- Decision 4897/2550 (2007)
- Decision 4895/2550 (2007)
- Decision 590/2498 (1955)
- Decision 2786/2532 (1989)
- Decision 5252/2559 (2016)
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
- Section 246 7
- Section 245 5
- Thai Penal Code s. 78 5
- Section 248 5
- Section 195 5
- Thai Penal Code s. 29 4
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
Can a death sentence be carried out immediately after it becomes final?
No. Section 247 prohibits execution until the pardon provisions of this Code have been complied with, so the royal pardon procedure must run first.
What happens if a woman sentenced to death is pregnant?
Execution is postponed until three years after childbirth and the death sentence is then reduced to life imprisonment, unless the child dies before that period; during the three years she raises the child inside the prison.
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Criminal Procedure Code, s. 247 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Criminal Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 247. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-247/ (accessed 11 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.วิ.อ. มาตรา 247 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-247/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-247/"><p>In a case where the defendant is to be executed by death, the judgment shall not be carried out until the provisions of this Code on pardon have been complied with. Where a woman is to be executed by death, if she is pregnant the…</p><footer>Criminal Procedure Code, s. 247 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-247/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.