Section 10: Foreign judgment on an act committed abroad
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดกระทำการนอกราชอาณาจักรซึ่งเป็นความผิดตามมาตราต่าง ๆ ที่ระบุไว้ในมาตรา ๗ (๒) และ (๓) มาตรา ๘ และมาตรา ๙ ห้ามมิให้ลงโทษผู้นั้นในราชอาณาจักรเพราะการกระทำนั้นอีก ถ้า (๑) ได้มีคำพิพากษาของศาลในต่างประเทศอันถึงที่สุดให้ปล่อยตัวผู้นั้น หรือ (๒) ศาลในต่างประเทศพิพากษาให้ลงโทษ และผู้นั้นได้พ้นโทษแล้ว ถ้าผู้ต้องคำพิพากษาได้รับโทษสำหรับการกระทำนั้นตามคำพิพากษาของศาลในต่างประเทศมาแล้ว แต่ยังไม่พ้นโทษ ศาลจะลงโทษน้อยกว่าที่กฎหมายกำหนดไว้สำหรับความผิดนั้นเพียงใดก็ได้ หรือจะไม่ลงโทษเลยก็ได้ ทั้งนี้ โดยคำนึงถึงโทษที่ผู้นั้นได้รับมาแล้ว
English translation
Whoever commits an act outside the Kingdom which is an offence under the various Sections specified in Section 7(2) and (3), Section 8, and Section 9 shall not be punished again in the Kingdom for that act if:
(1) a final judgment of a foreign court has acquitted that person; or
(2) a foreign court has passed judgment imposing punishment and that person has already served it.
Where the person against whom judgment was given has already undergone punishment for that act under the judgment of a foreign court but has not yet completed it, the court may impose a punishment less than that provided by law for the offence, to any extent, or may impose no punishment at all, having regard to the punishment already undergone.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 10 applies to acts committed outside the Kingdom that Thai law nevertheless punishes, namely the offences listed in Section 7(2) and (3), Section 8 and Section 9. It bars a second punishment in Thailand for the same act in two situations: where a foreign court has finally acquitted the person, and where a foreign court has convicted the person and that person has already served the sentence in full. Where a foreign sentence has been imposed and partly undergone but not yet completed, the bar does not apply; instead the court may impose less than the law prescribes for the offence, to any extent, or impose no punishment at all, having regard to what has already been served. The bar attaches to the act rather than to the label of the charge, so the practical question is whether the foreign judgment concerned the same act. Section 11 is the counterpart provision for offences committed inside the Kingdom, or deemed committed there.
Why this matters in practice
Section 10 matters to anyone prosecuted in Thailand over conduct abroad that a foreign court has already dealt with, which in practice means the offences Thailand claims extraterritorially under Sections 7 to 9. Two records decide the point: a certified copy of the foreign judgment showing which act it concerned, and proof of acquittal or of completion of the sentence. A final acquittal abroad and a foreign sentence served to completion each bar punishment here outright. A sentence still running does not bar the case, but it obliges the court to take the served portion into account and permits it to go below the prescribed penalty or impose none. Because the bar attaches to the act rather than the charge, expect the prosecution to argue that the Thai charge covers different conduct. For offences committed inside Thailand, Section 11 applies instead. See our overview of criminal law in Thailand.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 4901/2555 (2012)
The Section 10 bar on re-prosecution applies only to punishment for the same act; where the foreign conviction was for a different offence, Section 10 does not bar prosecution in Thailand.
The foreign court had convicted the defendant of prostitution, but the Thai charge was procuring a person for indecency and prostitution. The Supreme Court held these were different offences and different acts, so the Section 10 bar, which applies only to the same act, did not prevent the Thai prosecution.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 6 Supreme Court decisions (1962 to 2012)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 4901/2555 (2012)
- Decision 801/2505 (1962)
- Decision 2860/2522 (1979)
- Decision 2360/2518 (1975)
- Decision 2360/2517 (1974)
- Decision 2480/2550 (2007)
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 83 5
- Section 90 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
If a foreign court acquitted me, can Thailand prosecute me again?
For an offence committed outside the Kingdom under Section 7(2) and (3), Section 8 or Section 9, no. Under Section 10, a final foreign acquittal on the same act bars punishment in Thailand for that act.
What if a foreign court already convicted and punished me?
If you have finished serving the foreign sentence, Thailand cannot punish you again for that act at all. If you were sentenced abroad but have not yet completed it, the case is not barred, but the court may impose less than the law prescribes for the offence, or no punishment at all, taking account of what you have already served.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 10 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 10. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-10/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 10 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-10/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-10/"><p>Whoever commits an act outside the Kingdom which is an offence under the various Sections specified in Section 7(2) and (3), Section 8, and Section 9 shall not be punished again in the Kingdom for that act if: (1) a final judgment of a foreign…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 10 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-10/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
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