Section 210: Criminal association (song chon)
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดสมคบกันตั้งแต่ห้าคนขึ้นไป เพื่อกระทำความผิดอย่างหนึ่งอย่างใดตามที่บัญญัติไว้ในภาค ๒ นี้ และความผิดนั้นมีกำหนดโทษจำคุกอย่างสูงตั้งแต่หนึ่งปีขึ้นไป ผู้นั้นกระทำความผิดฐานเป็นซ่องโจร ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินห้าปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งแสนบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ ถ้าเป็นการสมคบเพื่อกระทำความผิด ที่มีระวางโทษถึงประหารชีวิต จำคุกตลอดชีวิต หรือจำคุกอย่างสูงตั้งแต่สิบปีขึ้นไป ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สองปีถึงสิบปี และปรับตั้งแต่สี่หมื่นบาทถึงสองแสนบาท หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever conspires together, five persons or more, to commit any offence provided in Book 2 of this Code, where that offence carries a maximum term of imprisonment of one year or more, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht, or both.
If the conspiracy is to commit an offence punishable by death, by imprisonment for life, or by imprisonment with a maximum term of ten years or more, each conspirator shall be liable to imprisonment from two years to ten years and a fine from forty thousand to 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
Song chon is the conspiracy offence within the chapter on public peace. Its elements are five or more persons, agreeing together, to commit a specific offence provided in Book 2, where that offence carries a maximum of at least one year. Unlike angyi under Section 209, song chon requires an actual agreement aimed at a defined crime, and the offence is complete once that agreement is reached, even if the planned crime is never carried out. Paragraph two raises the penalty where the target offence is punishable by death, by imprisonment for life, or by a maximum of ten years or more: the conspirators are then liable to two to ten years and a fine of 40,000 to 200,000 baht, so the second tier carries a minimum term and a mandatory fine where the first does not. Because the association and any crime later committed are distinct wrongs, they are charged and punished separately.
Why this matters in practice
The offence bites at the agreement stage, so a person can be liable for song chon even if the planned crime never happens, which makes it a powerful early charge in organised-crime, terrorism, and large fraud cases. It cannot be settled privately. Where the group does go on to commit the crime, expect separate counts for both the conspiracy and the completed offence, driving total exposure up. Anyone named in such a case should get advice before making statements; you can arrange an online consultation with a Thai lawyer.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 685/2567 (2024)
The conspiracy offence (criminal association) is separate from the crime later carried out, because committing that crime goes beyond the conspiracy itself.
The Court held that jointly committing terrorism by force went beyond the earlier conspiracy. Although the acts occurred in the same period, they differed in both intent and aim and were therefore separate offences committed on separate occasions.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 58 Supreme Court decisions (1973 to 2025)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 657/2548 (2005)
- Decision 1913/2546 (2003)
- Decision 7064/2544 (2001)
- Decision 2350/2541 (1998)
- Decision 521/2539 (1996)
- Decision 3578/2538 (1995)
- Decision 1719/2534 (1991)
- Decision 637/2534 (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
- Section 83 52
- Section 91 45
- Section 78 36
- Section 90 34
- Section 209 22
- Section 33 22
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
When is the song chon offence complete?
Once five or more people have agreed together to commit a defined Book 2 offence carrying at least one year. The crime need not actually be carried out.
How many people are needed for song chon?
At least five people must conspire together.
Are the conspiracy and the actual crime punished separately?
Yes. The Supreme Court treats the association and any crime later carried out as separate offences, because committing the crime goes beyond the conspiracy itself.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 210 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 210. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-210/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 210 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-210/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-210/"><p>Whoever conspires together, five persons or more, to commit any offence provided in Book 2 of this Code, where that offence carries a maximum term of imprisonment of one year or more, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 210 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-210/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.