Section 161: Official forgery of documents
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดเป็นเจ้าพนักงาน มีหน้าที่ทำเอกสาร กรอกข้อความลงในเอกสารหรือดูแลรักษาเอกสาร กระทำการปลอมเอกสารโดยอาศัยโอกาสที่ตนมีหน้าที่นั้น ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสิบปี และปรับไม่เกินสองแสนบาท หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever, being an official having the duty to make documents, fill in statements in documents or keep custody of documents, forges a document by taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by their duty, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding ten years and a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand baht.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 161 is the aggravated, official-specific form of document forgery within the Malfeasance in Office title. Its elements are: (1) the actor is an official; (2) with a duty to make documents, fill in statements or keep custody of documents; and (3) they forge a document by taking advantage of that very duty. The higher penalty ceiling, up to ten years, reflects the abuse of public trust compared with ordinary forgery under Sections 264 to 266. In practice it is regularly charged together with Section 162 (false certification in official documents) and Section 157 (dishonest or wrongful performance of duty), and where those are charged as a single act the court applies the provision carrying the heaviest penalty under Section 90.
Why this matters in practice
With a ceiling of ten years and a mandatory fine, this is among the heavier malfeasance offences and is a public-office crime that cannot be settled or withdrawn by a private complainant. A key threshold question is whether the accused genuinely held the document-making or custody duty and whether the alteration amounts to "forgery" rather than a lawful correction. Because these cases usually come from the anti-corruption process and are often charged with Sections 157 and 162, the practical stakes turn on how the counts are grouped and which carries the heaviest penalty. Anyone under investigation should obtain legal advice as soon as the inquiry begins.
Cited in 108 Supreme Court decisions (1957 to 2025)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 621/2568 (2025)
- Decision 238/2567 (2024)
- Decision 5258/2558 (2015)
- Decision 4532/2548 (2005)
- Decision 5286/2544 (2001)
- Decision 2823/2541 (1998)
- Decision 45/2535 (1992)
- Decision 4547/2530 (1987)
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 157 83
- Section 91 65
- Section 83 59
- Section 162 56
- Section 264 55
- Section 265 54
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
How is Section 161 different from ordinary forgery?
Section 161 applies only to an official who forges a document by exploiting a duty to make or keep documents. It carries a heavier penalty, up to ten years, than ordinary forgery under Sections 264 to 266.
Is a Section 161 offence settleable with the victim?
No. It is a malfeasance offence against the State and public interest, so it cannot be compounded or withdrawn by a private complainant.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 161 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 161. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-161/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 161 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-161/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-161/"><p>Whoever, being an official having the duty to make documents, fill in statements in documents or keep custody of documents, forges a document by taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by their duty, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding ten years and a fine…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 161 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-161/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.