Section 239: Negligent public danger offences
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าการกระทำดังกล่าวในมาตรา ๒๒๖ ถึงมาตรา ๒๓๗ เป็นการกระทำโดยประมาท และใกล้จะเป็นอันตรายแก่ชีวิตของบุคคลอื่น ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินหนึ่งปี หรือปรับไม่เกินสองหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
If any of the acts referred to in Section 226 to Section 237 is done negligently and is likely to endanger the life of another person, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding one year, or a fine not exceeding twenty thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
This section is the negligent counterpart to the intentional public danger offences in Sections 226 to 237. It applies where the same dangerous result is brought about through negligence rather than intent, and it carries a far lighter penalty than the intentional versions. This section has a single paragraph and one penalty, up to one year or a fine of up to 20,000 baht or both; it contains no aggravated tier of its own where death results. The distinction between intent and negligence is decisive in practice, because where death results the intentional route leads to the severe penalties of Section 238, while the negligent route stays within this section. Negligently causing the death of another person is dealt with separately under Section 291.
Why this matters in practice
Whether conduct is charged as intentional, under Sections 226 to 238, or as negligent under this section is often the central issue, because the penalty gap is enormous. The intentional forms reach imprisonment for life under Section 238 where death results, while this section carries a maximum of one year, or a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both, and has no separate tier for a fatal result at all. That makes the presence or absence of intent, rather than the seriousness of the consequence, the question that decides exposure, and it is why the negligence characterisation is worth contesting from the outset.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 153/2506 (1963)
Where death results from negligent conduct such as overloaded and speeding driving rather than an intentional public danger offence, the aggravated penalty in Section 238 cannot be applied, and the offender is punished under the negligence provisions.
The defendant drove a passenger vehicle overloaded beyond its registered limit and at excessive speed, causing death and injury. The Court held that Section 238 could not be applied because the conduct was negligent, and the defendant was dealt with under the negligence provisions instead.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 2 Supreme Court decisions (1963 to 1965)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 153/2506 (1963)
- 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.
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 difference between Section 238 and Section 239?
Section 238 aggravates the intentional public danger offences where death results, carrying imprisonment for life, or five to twenty years and a fine from 100,000 to 400,000 baht. It provides no death penalty. Section 239 covers the same acts committed negligently and carries imprisonment not exceeding one year, or a fine not exceeding 20,000 baht, or both, with no separate tier where death results.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 239 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 239. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-239/ (accessed 21 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 239 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-239/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-239/"><p>If any of the acts referred to in Section 226 to Section 237 is done negligently and is likely to endanger the life of another person, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding one year, or a fine not exceeding twenty thousand baht,…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 239 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-239/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.