Section 179: Fabricating criminal evidence
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดทำพยานหลักฐานอันเป็นเท็จ เพื่อให้พนักงานสอบสวนหรือเจ้าพนักงานผู้มีอำนาจสืบสวนคดีอาญาเชื่อว่าได้มีความผิดอาญาอย่างใดเกิดขึ้น หรือเชื่อว่าความผิดอาญาที่เกิดขึ้นร้ายแรงกว่าที่เป็นความจริง ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสองปี หรือปรับไม่เกินสี่หมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever fabricates false evidence in order to cause an inquiry official, or an official having authority to investigate criminal cases, to believe that a criminal offence has been committed, or to believe that an offence committed is more serious than it in fact is, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding two years, or a fine not exceeding forty thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 179 targets the manufacture of false evidence at the investigation stage, before any court proceeding. Its elements are creating false evidence and doing so with the specific purpose of making an inquiry official or criminal investigator believe either that an offence occurred or that a real offence is graver than it is. It is distinct from giving a false statement or false report to officials and from presenting false evidence in court under Section 180: Section 179 concerns fabricating the evidence itself to mislead the investigation. The relatively modest penalty reflects that it addresses conduct upstream of trial, but fabricated evidence often accompanies other offences such as false reporting and forgery.
Why this matters in practice
This section is a risk for anyone tempted to plant or manufacture evidence to trigger or inflate a criminal investigation, and it commonly appears bundled with false reporting and forgery charges that carry heavier penalties. The key element is the fabricator's purpose: the evidence must be created to make the investigator believe a crime occurred, or was more serious than reality. If you are the target of an investigation you believe was built on fabricated evidence, that fabrication can itself be an offence, and the surrounding conduct may expose the fabricator to additional charges. Get early advice on how criminal complaints and investigations work in Thailand; you can read about fraud and scam laws in Thailand.
Cited in 28 Supreme Court decisions (1959 to 2014)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 8691/2550 (2007)
- Decision 4669/2530 (1987)
- Decision 3025/2526 (1983)
- Decision 2439/2521 (1978)
- Decision 16075/2557 (2014)
- Decision 5449/2540 (1997)
- Decision 1294/2536 (1993)
- Decision 3227/2531 (1988)
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 20
- Section 172 18
- Section 91 14
- Section 173 14
- Section 157 12
- Section 174 10
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 179 different from a false report?
A false report is a false statement to an official; Section 179 concerns actually fabricating evidence to make an investigator believe a crime occurred or is more serious than the truth.
What is the penalty under Section 179?
Imprisonment up to 2 years, a fine up to 40,000 Baht, or both. Related conduct is often charged alongside false reporting or forgery, which carry heavier penalties.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 179 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 179. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-179/ (accessed 21 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 179 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-179/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-179/"><p>Whoever fabricates false evidence in order to cause an inquiry official, or an official having authority to investigate criminal cases, to believe that a criminal offence has been committed, or to believe that an offence committed is more serious than it in fact is, shall…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 179 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-179/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.