Section 224 — Fire, explosion or flood causing death
English translation
Whoever causes a fire, an explosion, or a flood, thereby causing the death of another person, shall be liable to the death penalty or imprisonment for life.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 224 is the death-result aggravator for the public-danger offences of fire, explosion, and flood in this Chapter. It applies where such an act causes the death of another person and channels the offender into the most severe penalties in the group: the death penalty or life imprisonment. It is a result-qualified offence, so the fatal outcome must be attributable to the fire, explosion, or flood the offender caused; it operates on top of the base offences (such as Sections 217, 220, and 222) rather than as an independent starting point.
Why this matters in practice
This is among the most serious offences in the Penal Code: a death caused by fire, explosion, or flood exposes the accused to capital punishment or life imprisonment, and it is not compoundable or settleable with the victim's family. The central contested issues are causation, whether the death genuinely resulted from the defendant's act, and the mental state behind the original fire, explosion, or flood, since the outcome may aggravate an intentional public-danger offence rather than a merely negligent one. Given the stakes, immediate criminal defence advice is essential.
Frequently asked questions
What penalty applies if a fire or explosion kills someone under Section 224?
The death penalty or imprisonment for life, the heaviest penalties in the public-danger group of offences.
Does Section 224 require intent to kill?
It is a result-based aggravator attached to the fire, explosion, or flood offence. The key question is whether the death was caused by that act, and the mental state behind the underlying public-danger offence is what is assessed.