Section 144: Bribery of officials (offering a bribe)
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดให้ ขอให้หรือรับว่าจะให้ทรัพย์สิน หรือประโยชน์อื่นใดแก่เจ้าพนักงาน สมาชิกสภานิติบัญญัติแห่งรัฐ สมาชิกสภาจังหวัดหรือสมาชิกสภาเทศบาล เพื่อจูงใจให้กระทำการ ไม่กระทำการ หรือประวิงการกระทำอันมิชอบด้วยหน้าที่ ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินห้าปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งแสนบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever gives, offers or agrees to give property or any other benefit to an official, a member of a State legislative assembly, a member of a provincial assembly or a member of a municipal assembly, in order to induce that person to do, not to do, or to delay any act contrary to duty, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht, or both.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 144 is the active-bribery offence: it punishes the giver, whereas Section 149 punishes the official who demands or accepts. The elements are (1) giving, offering or agreeing to give (2) property or any other benefit (3) to an official or a legislative, provincial or municipal council member (4) with intent to induce an act, omission or delay that is contrary to the recipient's duty. The offence is complete once the offer or promise is made; the official need not accept and the improper act need not follow. It sits in the Chapter on Offences against Officials, distinct from the Malfeasance in Office offences (Sections 147 onward), which target the official's own conduct.
Why this matters in practice
This is a serious public offence: it is not compoundable, so it cannot be settled privately, and paying or promising a bribe exposes the giver even if the official reports it and never acts. The maximum five-year term places the limitation period at ten years. Corruption complaints of this kind are commonly handled together with anti-corruption authorities. Anyone approached by, or considering approaching, an official over an official act should take advice before acting; a online consultation with a Thai lawyer can clarify exposure before a payment is ever discussed.
Cited in 34 Supreme Court decisions (1963 to 2023)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 58/2566 (2023)
- Decision 2356/2565 (2022)
- Decision 8623/2561 (2018)
- Decision 6025/2561 (2018)
- Decision 15055/2558 (2015)
- Decision 21858-21860/2555 (2012)
- Decision 21858/2555 (2012)
- Decision 3096/2552 (2009)
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 19
- Section 91 16
- Section 78 13
- Section 33 11
- Section 90 10
- Section 86 9
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
Is offering a bribe a crime even if the official refuses?
Yes. Under Section 144 the offence is complete once the bribe is offered or promised; acceptance by the official is not required.
What is the penalty for bribing an official in Thailand?
Imprisonment of up to five years, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.
Can a Section 144 bribery case be settled with the official?
No. It is a non-compoundable public offence prosecuted by the State, so it cannot be withdrawn by private settlement.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 144 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 144. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-144/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 144 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-144/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-144/"><p>Whoever gives, offers or agrees to give property or any other benefit to an official, a member of a State legislative assembly, a member of a provincial assembly or a member of a municipal assembly, in order to induce that person to do, not to…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 144 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-144/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.