Section 215: Assembly of ten or more causing a disturbance
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดมั่วสุมกันตั้งแต่สิบคนขึ้นไป ใช้กำลังประทุษร้าย ขู่เข็ญว่าจะใช้กำลังประทุษร้าย หรือกระทำการอย่างหนึ่งอย่างใดให้เกิดการวุ่นวายขึ้นในบ้านเมือง ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินหกเดือน หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ ถ้าผู้กระทำความผิดคนหนึ่งคนใดมีอาวุธ บรรดาผู้ที่กระทำความผิด ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสองปี หรือปรับไม่เกินสี่หมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ ถ้าผู้กระทำความผิดเป็นหัวหน้า หรือเป็นผู้มีหน้าที่สั่งการในการกระทำความผิดนั้น ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินห้าปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งแสนบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever assembles together with ten or more persons and uses force, threatens to use force, or does any act to cause a disturbance in the country shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht, or both.
If any one of the offenders is carrying a weapon, all of the offenders shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding two years, or a fine not exceeding forty thousand baht, or both.
If the offender is the ringleader, or is a person having the duty of giving orders in the commission of the offence, that offender shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Within the chapter on offences against public peace, Section 215 punishes mob disorder and grades it in three tiers. The elements of the basic offence are an assembly of ten or more persons, and the use of force, a threat to use force, or any act causing a disturbance in the country; that carries up to six months, or up to 10,000 baht, or both. The second tier turns on a weapon: if any one of the offenders is carrying a weapon, all of the offenders become liable to up to two years, or up to 40,000 baht, or both. The section says a weapon, without limiting it to a firearm or an explosive. The third tier is personal to the ringleader, or to the person having the duty of giving orders in the commission of the offence, who faces up to five years, or up to 100,000 baht, or both. The current rates were set by Section 4 of the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 26) B.E. 2560. Where the crowd goes on to cause harm to persons or property, further offences are commonly charged alongside.
Why this matters in practice
Which tier applies is usually the whole case. A weapon in the hands of any single participant pulls every offender into the two-year tier even if the rest were unarmed, so identifying who was armed, and with what, is central to the defence; the section says a weapon and is not confined to firearms or explosives. The five-year tier is personal to a ringleader or order-giver and has to be proved against that individual. Incidents of this kind usually attract further charges for any violence or damage that follows, which is where the real exposure lies, so early advice before making a statement matters; see criminal law in Thailand.
Cited in 25 Supreme Court decisions (1984 to 2021)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 2405-2407/2559 (2016)
- Decision 5553-5554/2556 (2013)
- Decision 13060/2553 (2010)
- Decision 305/2547 (2004)
- Decision 2387/2536 (1993)
- Decision 346/2535 (1992)
- Decision 2013/2532 (1989)
- Decision 1974/2532 (1989)
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 19
- Section 91 18
- Section 78 11
- Section 216 10
- Section 90 10
- Section 295 6
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
What are the penalty tiers under Section 215?
Three. The basic offence carries up to six months, or a fine up to 10,000 baht, or both. If any one of the offenders is carrying a weapon, all of them face up to two years, or up to 40,000 baht, or both. A ringleader or order-giver faces up to five years, or up to 100,000 baht, or both.
Does the weapon have to be a firearm or an explosive?
No. The section says a weapon, without limiting it to firearms or explosives, and it is enough that any one of the offenders is carrying one for the heavier tier to apply to all of them.
How many people are needed for Section 215?
Ten or more assembled together. Below that number this section does not apply, although other offences may.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 215 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 215. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-215/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 215 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-215/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-215/"><p>Whoever assembles together with ten or more persons and uses force, threatens to use force, or does any act to cause a disturbance in the country shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht, or both.…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 215 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-215/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.