Section 217: Arson of another person's property
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดวางเพลิงเผาทรัพย์ของผู้อื่น ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่หกเดือนถึงเจ็ดปี และปรับตั้งแต่หนึ่งหมื่นบาท ถึงหนึ่งแสนสี่หมื่นบาท หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever sets fire to property belonging to another shall be liable to imprisonment from six months to seven years and a fine from ten thousand baht to one hundred and forty 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
Opening the chapter on offences causing public danger, this is the general arson provision. Its elements are: (1) intentionally setting fire, and (2) to property belonging to another person. It is the baseline against which Section 218 operates: where the burned property is one of the specially listed high-risk targets (dwellings, goods stores, public buildings, transport stations, larger vessels), the far heavier Section 218 applies instead. Ordinary structures and chattels of another that are not on that list, such as a farm shed holding straw for the owner's own use, fall under this section. Burning one's own property is treated separately under other provisions of the chapter.
Why this matters in practice
The key line is between this section and the aggravated arson of Section 218: the character and use of the burned property decides which applies, and the Supreme Court has narrowed Section 218 so that, for example, a shed storing straw for the owner's own cattle falls under this lighter section rather than the goods-store category. Exposure here reaches seven years plus a mandatory fine, and identity of the arsonist is often the decisive factual issue. Simply being present at or near a fire, without proof of setting it, is not enough for conviction.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 8064/2556 (2013)
A shed storing straw for the owner's own cattle is not a building for storing goods under Section 218(2); it is ordinary property of another falling under Section 217.
The straw in the shed was kept to feed the victim's own cattle rather than as trade goods, so the shed did not fall within the aggravated goods-store category of Section 218(2). The Court treated it as ordinary property of another under Section 217.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 5573/2554 (2011)
Merely obstructing fire trucks during a protest does not by itself make a person a co-principal in arson under Section 217; peaceful assembly is constitutionally protected.
The Court held that blocking fire trucks from reaching the burning bridge did not, without more, make those defendants co-principals in the arson under Section 83. They were exercising the protected freedom of peaceful assembly.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 33 Supreme Court decisions (1961 to 2020)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 8064/2556 (2013)
- Decision 11118/2553 (2010)
- Decision 8746/2543 (2000)
- Decision 6666/2542 (1999)
- Decision 5710/2541 (1998)
- Decision 5364/2536 (1993)
- Decision 100/2536 (1993)
- Decision 4308-4309/2530 (1987)
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 218 25
- Section 91 16
- Section 83 12
- Section 78 12
- Section 33 8
- Section 80 8
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 is the penalty for arson under Section 217?
Imprisonment of six months to seven years together with a fine of 10,000 to 140,000 baht.
How is Section 217 different from Section 218?
Section 217 covers burning ordinary property of another, while Section 218 applies the much heavier penalty when the target is a listed high-risk property such as a dwelling or a goods store.
Is being near a fire enough to convict?
No. There must be proof that the accused set the fire; mere presence at or near the scene is not enough.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 217 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 217. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-217/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 217 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-217/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-217/"><p>Whoever sets fire to property belonging to another shall be liable to imprisonment from six months to seven years and a fine from ten thousand baht to one hundred and forty thousand baht.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 217 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-217/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.