Section 178: False interpretation for officials
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดซึ่งเจ้าพนักงานในตำแหน่งตุลาการ พนักงานอัยการ ผู้ว่าคดี หรือพนักงานสอบสวน ให้แปลข้อความหรือความหมายใด แปลข้อความหรือความหมายนั้นให้ผิดไปในข้อสำคัญ ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสามปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหกหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever, having been directed by a judicial official, a public prosecutor, a prosecuting officer, or an inquiry official to interpret any statement or meaning, interprets that statement or meaning wrongly in a material point, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding sixty 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 178 is the interpreter's counterpart to perjury under Section 177. Its elements are that the person was directed to interpret by one of the listed officials, a judge, public prosecutor, prosecuting officer, or inquiry official, and that the interpretation was wrong on a material point, done knowingly. The materiality requirement mirrors that of perjury: only a distortion that matters to the statement or meaning is caught. The provision protects the integrity of proceedings that depend on faithful interpretation, especially relevant where parties or witnesses do not speak Thai. Sections 182 and 183 allow relief where the interpreter retracts and states the truth before the interpretation is concluded or before judgment.
Why this matters in practice
This section matters most to court and police interpreters, and by extension to foreign parties who rely on them, because a distorted interpretation on a material point is itself a crime carrying up to 3 years. The controlling limits are the same two as perjury: the error must be on a material point, and it must be a knowing distortion rather than an honest mistake or a debatable rendering. An interpreter who realizes an error can retract and give the correct meaning in time under Sections 182 and 183 to avoid or reduce punishment. Foreign litigants who suspect their interpretation was mishandled should raise it promptly and take advice; you can consult a Thai lawyer.
Cited in 2 Supreme Court decisions (2003 to 2005)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 274/2546 (2003)
- Decision 1750/2548 (2005)
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.
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
Who can commit the offence under Section 178?
An interpreter or translator directed to interpret by a judge, public prosecutor, prosecuting officer, or inquiry official, who then interprets wrongly on a material point.
Does an honest mistranslation count?
The offence requires a knowing distortion on a material point. An honest error or a reasonable difference in rendering is not the same as deliberately interpreting wrongly.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 178 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 178. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-178/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 178 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-178/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-178/"><p>Whoever, having been directed by a judicial official, a public prosecutor, a prosecuting officer, or an inquiry official to interpret any statement or meaning, interprets that statement or meaning wrongly in a material point, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 178 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-178/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.