Section 137: False statement to an official
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดแจ้งข้อความอันเป็นเท็จแก่เจ้าพนักงาน ซึ่งอาจทำให้ผู้อื่นหรือประชาชนเสียหาย ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินหกเดือน หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever gives a false statement to an official, in a manner likely to cause injury to another person or to the public, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 137 is the general offence of giving false information to an official within the Title on Offences against Officials. Its elements are: a statement of information that is false, made to an official, and made in a manner that may cause damage to another person or to the public. Actual damage need not occur; the mere possibility of damage suffices. It is the base provision from which more specific false-information offences branch, and it is routinely charged together with Section 267 (causing an official to make a false entry in a document) where the false statement induces a false official record. There is no offence where the underlying statement is in fact true, and, as case law shows, where a signature or fact relied on is genuine.
Why this matters in practice
Exposure is modest, up to six months, but this charge is a common weapon in property and family disputes because filing a false police report or a false statement to a land or registry official can trigger it, often paired with Section 267 for a heavier combined exposure. The prosecution must prove the statement was actually false and capable of causing damage, so a truthful report, or one where the disputed act (such as a signature) was in fact genuine, is not an offence, as the Supreme Court has held. Anyone considering filing a complaint should be sure of their facts, since a false accusation can rebound as a Section 137 charge. For related fraud scenarios, see fraud and scam laws in Thailand.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 765/2567 (2024)
Where the person actually signed a power of attorney, there is no offence of jointly giving false information to an official under Section 137, even if the signing did not occur in front of the person accused of arranging it.
The plaintiff had in fact signed the power of attorney, though not in the presence of the third defendant. The court held that because the signature was genuine, the third defendant's conduct did not amount to jointly giving false information to an official under Section 137 read with Section 83.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 2630/2567 (2024)
A false statement to an official combined with causing a false entry in a document can be convicted under Sections 137 and 267 together, drawing a short suspended custodial term.
The Supreme Court's earlier judgment referred to in this case had found the first defendant guilty under Sections 137 and 267 and imposed six months' imprisonment and a 3,000 baht fine with the prison term suspended for two years, illustrating how a false statement to an official is often charged with the false-entry offence in Section 267.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 351 Supreme Court decisions (1961 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 914/2569 (2026)
- Decision 5796/2567 (2024)
- Decision 2558/2567 (2024)
- Decision 765/2567 (2024)
- Decision 2993/2566 (2023)
- Decision 4109/2565 (2022)
- Decision 3417/2565 (2022)
- Decision 3038/2565 (2022)
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 83 163
- Section 91 163
- Section 267 148
- Section 90 139
- Section 268 99
- Section 78 77
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 is the penalty for a false statement to an official under Section 137?
Imprisonment not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding 10,000 baht, or both.
Does actual damage have to result?
No. It is enough that the false statement may cause damage to another person or to the public; actual damage need not occur.
Is it an offence if the statement is actually true?
No. There is no Section 137 offence where the statement is true or where the disputed fact, such as a signature, was in fact genuine.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 137 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 137. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-137/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 137 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-137/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-137/"><p>Whoever gives a false statement to an official, in a manner likely to cause injury to another person or to the public, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht, or both.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 137 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-137/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.