Section 206: Insulting a religious object or place
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดกระทำด้วยประการใด ๆ แก่วัตถุหรือสถานอันเป็นที่เคารพในทางศาสนาของหมู่ชนใด อันเป็นการเหยียดหยามศาสนานั้น ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่หนึ่งปีถึงเจ็ดปี หรือปรับตั้งแต่สองหมื่นบาทถึงหนึ่งแสนสี่หมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๕ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever commits any act against an object or place held in religious veneration by any group of people, in a manner that insults that religion, shall be liable to imprisonment from one year to seven years, or a fine from twenty thousand baht to one hundred and forty 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
Opening the chapter on offences relating to religion, this section protects religious veneration itself rather than any individual. Its elements are: (1) an act by any means, (2) directed at an object or place held in religious veneration by a group of people, and (3) done in a manner that insults that religion. The act may be physical destruction or a mocking or degrading gesture. The Supreme Court has read the provision to require conduct showing contempt for the religion, so the surrounding circumstances and the offender's manner are central to whether the line into insult is crossed. It stands beside Section 207, which punishes disturbing a religious assembly, and Section 208, which punishes impersonating a monk or priest.
Why this matters in practice
The key battleground is intent to insult: purely accidental damage, or conduct without a contemptuous character, may fall outside the section even where a sacred object is harmed. Penalty exposure runs to seven years, so the manner and context of the act (gestures, words, publicity) heavily influence charging. Damaging property can also draw a separate mischief charge, so an incident may attract more than one offence.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 1807/2550 (2007)
Standing on a Buddha image and mimicking it with mocking gestures, and placing oneself on a par with the image, shows contempt for Buddhism and is an offence under Section 206.
The defendant stood with his foot on part of the Buddha image, raised his hand to imitate the image, and pulled mocking faces. The Court held this was both disrespectful and an act placing him on a par with the image, amounting to contempt for Buddhism under Section 206.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 5199/2533 (1990)
Smashing a venerated Buddha image so that it breaks is an act insulting the religion under Section 206.
The defendant used a piece of wood to strike the head of a Buddha image enshrined at a school, breaking it. This was treated as an act insulting the religion, and he was convicted under Section 206 along with other offences.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 3 Supreme Court decisions (1962 to 2007)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 1807/2550 (2007)
- Decision 736/2505 (1962)
- Decision 5199/2533 (1990)
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
What kind of act counts as insulting a religion under Section 206?
Acts against a venerated object or place that show contempt, such as smashing a Buddha image or standing on and mocking it, can qualify. The conduct must carry an insulting character.
Is intent required for a Section 206 offence?
Yes. The act must be done in a manner that insults the religion, so conduct without a contemptuous character or purely accidental damage may fall outside the section.
What is the penalty under Section 206?
Imprisonment of one to seven years, or a fine of 20,000 to 140,000 baht, or both.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 206 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 206. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-206/ (accessed 21 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 206 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-206/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-206/"><p>Whoever commits any act against an object or place held in religious veneration by any group of people, in a manner that insults that religion, shall be liable to imprisonment from one year to seven years, or a fine from twenty thousand baht to one…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 206 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-206/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.