Section 223: Property of little value and no danger to persons
Statutory text (Thai original)
ความผิดดังกล่าวในมาตรา ๒๑๗ มาตรา ๒๑๘ มาตรา ๒๒๐ มาตรา ๒๒๑ หรือมาตรา ๒๒๒ นั้น ถ้าทรัพย์ที่เป็นอันตราย หรือที่น่าจะเป็นอันตรายเป็นทรัพย์ที่มีราคาน้อย และการกระทำนั้นไม่น่าจะเป็นอันตรายแก่บุคคลอื่น ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสามปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหกหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
In the case of the offences provided in Section 217, Section 218, Section 220, Section 221, or Section 222, if the property endangered, or likely to be endangered, is of little value and the act is not likely to be dangerous to another person, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years, or a fine not exceeding sixty thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
This is the mitigating provision for the fire and explosion offences in Sections 217, 218, 220, 221 and 222. Two conditions must both be met: the property endangered was of little value, and the act was not likely to endanger any person. If either fails, the ordinary penalties apply. Where it succeeds the penalty drops to up to three years or a fine, which is a very large reduction from the ranges in Sections 218 and 220.
Why this matters in practice
Section 223 reduces the punishment; it does not increase it. Where an offence under Section 217, 218, 220, 221 or 222 has been committed and both conditions are satisfied, namely that the property endangered or likely to be endangered was of little value and that the act was not likely to endanger any other person, the punishment becomes not more than three years, or a fine of not more than 60,000 baht, or both. That is a very large reduction from the scales in those sections, which under Section 218 can reach life imprisonment or death. The two conditions are cumulative, so an act that was likely to endanger another person takes no benefit from this section however cheap the property, and conversely valuable property is outside it even where nobody was at risk. In practice this is a provision the defence advances, and the evidence that decides it is the value of the property and the absence of any person exposed to danger.
Cited in 5 Supreme Court decisions (1959 to 2002)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 722/2545 (2002)
- Decision 8746/2543 (2000)
- Decision 6666/2542 (1999)
- Decision 668/2502 (1959)
- Decision 34/2508 (1965)
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 3
- Section 29 3
- Section 30 3
- Section 217 3
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
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 223 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 223. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-223/ (accessed 21 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 223 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-223/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-223/"><p>In the case of the offences provided in Section 217, Section 218, Section 220, Section 221, or Section 222, if the property endangered, or likely to be endangered, is of little value and the act is not likely to be dangerous to another person, the…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 223 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-223/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.