Section 192: Harboring an escapee from custody
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดให้พำนัก ซ่อนเร้น หรือช่วยด้วยประการใด ให้ผู้ที่หลบหนีจากการคุมขังตามอำนาจของศาล ของพนักงานสอบสวน หรือของเจ้าพนักงานผู้มีอำนาจสืบสวนคดีอาญา เพื่อไม่ให้ถูกจับกุม ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสามปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหกหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever gives lodging to, conceals, or by any means assists a person who has escaped from confinement under the authority of a court, an inquiry official, or an official having power to investigate criminal cases, so that such person is not arrested, 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
The elements are: (1) a person who has escaped from confinement held under a court, inquiry official, or criminal investigator; (2) an act of lodging, concealing, or otherwise assisting that person; and (3) the intent to keep that person from being arrested. It is the counterpart to Sections 190 and 191: where those punish the escape itself and the freeing of a detainee, Section 192 punishes the later act of harboring the escapee. It parallels Section 189 (harboring a general offender or suspect) but is specific to someone who has fled lawful custody. Section 193 lets the court waive punishment where the assistance was given to the offender's own parent, child, or spouse.
Why this matters in practice
Exposure is up to three years, so sheltering an escaped detainee is a real criminal risk, distinct from harboring an ordinary suspect under Section 189. Intent to prevent arrest is essential: giving help without knowing the person had escaped custody is not caught. A close-family relationship (parent, child, spouse) can lead the court to waive punishment under Section 193. Anyone contacted by police after a wanted person stayed with them should get criminal law advice in Thailand before making statements.
Cited in 15 Supreme Court decisions (1966 to 2022)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 421/2565 (2022)
- Decision 2322/2558 (2015)
- Decision 6655/2548 (2005)
- Decision 249/2538 (1995)
- Decision 110/2534 (1991)
- Decision 9051/2547 (2004)
- Decision 874/2540 (1997)
- Decision 1072/2534 (1991)
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
- Thai CrPC s. 192 12
- Section 83 7
- Section 91 7
- Section 78 5
- Section 30 4
- Section 265 4
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 192 different from Section 189?
Section 189 covers harboring a general offender or suspect, while Section 192 specifically covers sheltering a person who has escaped from lawful custody. Section 192 carries up to three years' imprisonment.
Can the court waive punishment for helping a family member who escaped?
Yes. Under Section 193, if the assistance under Section 192 was given to the offender's own parent, child, husband, or wife, the court may decide not to impose punishment.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 192 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 192. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-192/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 192 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-192/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-192/"><p>Whoever gives lodging to, conceals, or by any means assists a person who has escaped from confinement under the authority of a court, an inquiry official, or an official having power to investigate criminal cases, so that such person is not arrested, shall be liable…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 192 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-192/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.