Section 135/1: Terrorism offence
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดกระทำการอันเป็นความผิดอาญาดังต่อไปนี้ (๑) ใช้กำลังประทุษร้าย หรือกระทำการใดอันก่อให้เกิดอันตรายต่อชีวิต หรืออันตรายอย่างร้ายแรงต่อร่างกาย หรือเสรีภาพของบุคคลใด ๆ (๒) กระทำการใดอันก่อให้เกิดความเสียหายอย่างร้ายแรงแก่ระบบการขนส่งสาธารณะ ระบบโทรคมนาคม หรือโครงสร้างพื้นฐานอันเป็นประโยชน์สาธารณะ (๓) กระทำการใดอันก่อให้เกิดความเสียหายแก่ทรัพย์สินของรัฐหนึ่งรัฐใด หรือของบุคคลใด หรือต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม อันก่อให้เกิดหรือน่าจะก่อให้เกิดความเสียหายทางเศรษฐกิจอย่างสำคัญ ถ้าการกระทำนั้นได้กระทำโดยมีความมุ่งหมายเพื่อขู่เข็ญหรือบังคับรัฐบาลไทย รัฐบาลต่างประเทศ หรือองค์การระหว่างประเทศ ให้กระทำหรือไม่กระทำการใดอันจะก่อให้เกิดความเสียหายอย่างร้ายแรง หรือเพื่อสร้างความปั่นป่วนโดยให้เกิดความหวาดกลัวในหมู่ประชาชน ผู้นั้นกระทำความผิดฐานก่อการร้าย ต้องระวางโทษประหารชีวิต จำคุกตลอดชีวิต หรือจำคุกตั้งแต่สามปีถึงยี่สิบปี และปรับตั้งแต่หกหมื่นบาทถึงหนึ่งล้านบาท การกระทำในการเดินขบวน ชุมนุม ประท้วง โต้แย้ง หรือเคลื่อนไหวเพื่อเรียกร้องให้รัฐช่วยเหลือหรือให้ได้รับความเป็นธรรมอันเป็นการใช้เสรีภาพตามรัฐธรรมนูญ ไม่เป็นการกระทำความผิดฐานก่อการร้าย
English translation
Whoever commits any of the following acts, which are criminal offences:
(1) using force, or doing any act that endangers life or causes grave danger to the body or liberty of any person;
(2) doing any act that causes grave damage to a public transport system, a telecommunications system, or infrastructure of public benefit;
(3) doing any act that causes damage to property of the State, a State agency, or any person, or to the environment, so as to constitute sabotage;
if such act is done with the purpose of intimidating or compelling the Thai Government, a foreign government, or an international organization to do or refrain from doing any act, or to create disturbance by instilling fear among the public, such person commits the offence of terrorism and shall be liable to death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment from three years to twenty years, and a fine from sixty thousand baht to one million baht.
An act done in a procession, an assembly, a protest, a dispute or a movement to demand assistance from the State or to obtain fairness, being an exercise of a liberty under the Constitution, is not the offence of terrorism.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 135/1 opens the Title on Offences of Terrorism. The offence has two layers: a listed harmful act under (1) to (3), and a specific purpose, namely to intimidate or compel a government or international organization, or to instill fear in the public. Without that purpose element the conduct falls back to ordinary offences such as assault, arson or criminal damage; the purpose is what converts it into terrorism and triggers the far heavier scale up to death. The second paragraph is a constitutional safeguard: an act done in a procession, an assembly, a protest, a dispute or a movement to demand assistance from the State or to obtain fairness, being an exercise of a liberty under the Constitution, is not the offence of terrorism. Sections 135/2 (support and conspiracy), 135/3 (threats) and 135/4 (voluntary withdrawal) complete the scheme.
Why this matters in practice
This is among the most serious offences in the Penal Code, with exposure reaching death. In practice terrorism charges rarely stand alone: they are typically paired with firearms and explosives offences, secret-society and gang offences (Sections 209 and 210) and attempted murder (Sections 288 to 289), and the courts treat terrorism by force and mere conspiracy as separate acts drawing separate counts. The critical battleground is the purpose element, since the prosecution must prove the intent to coerce a government or terrorize the public, not just the violent act itself. The second paragraph matters as much in practice: conduct forming part of a procession, assembly, protest or demand for fairness, in exercise of a constitutional liberty, is outside the offence altogether. Anyone caught up in such a case needs experienced criminal counsel immediately; see criminal law in Thailand.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 685/2567 (2024)
Jointly committing terrorism by using force is an act that goes beyond a prior conspiracy; although committed in the same period, it differs in conduct, intent and purpose, so the two are separate offences with separate counts.
The prosecution charged two defendants under Sections 135/1, 210, 221, 224 and 289 together with firearms offences. The Supreme Court held that the offence of jointly committing terrorism by force went beyond the conspiracy, and that although both were committed in the same period they were different acts with different intent and purpose, making them separate offences on separate counts.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 14 Supreme Court decisions (2012 to 2024)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 3485-3486/2564 (2021)
- Decision 5682/2559 (2016)
- Decision 9912/2556 (2013)
- Decision 6820/2567 (2024)
- Decision 3807/2563 (2020)
- Decision 222/2556 (2013)
- Decision 685/2567 (2024)
- Decision 1392/2564 (2021)
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 91 14
- Section 83 13
- Section 90 13
- Section 32 12
- Section 33 12
- Section 78 12
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
What makes an act terrorism under Section 135/1?
A listed harmful act, such as violence endangering life or damaging public infrastructure, done with the purpose of coercing a government or international organization or instilling fear among the public.
What is the penalty for terrorism?
Death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment from three to twenty years, plus a fine of 60,000 to 1,000,000 baht.
Is terrorism by force treated as one offence with conspiracy?
No. The Supreme Court has held that committing terrorism by force goes beyond the conspiracy and, though occurring in the same period, is a separate act with different intent, so they are separate offences.
Does Section 135/1 apply to a protest or a demonstration?
No. The second paragraph of Section 135/1 states that an act done in a procession, an assembly, a protest, a dispute or a movement to demand assistance from the State or to obtain fairness, being an exercise of a liberty under the Constitution, is not the offence of terrorism.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 135/1 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 135/1. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-135-1/ (accessed 21 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 135/1 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-135-1/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-135-1/"><p>Whoever commits any of the following acts, which are criminal offences: (1) using force, or doing any act that endangers life or causes grave danger to the body or liberty of any person; (2) doing any act that causes grave damage to a public transport…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 135/1 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-135-1/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.