Section 253 — Using a forged official seal
English translation
Whoever uses a forged seal or seal-imprint as provided in Section 252 shall be liable to the punishment provided in Section 252.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
This is the use counterpart to the forging offence in Section 252, mirroring how Section 251 pairs with Section 250. The elements are (1) using (2) a forged seal or seal-imprint of a government body, State organization or agency, official, or foreign government, knowing it is forged. By adopting the penalty of Section 252, the law treats using the forged seal as seriously as making it. It commonly appears together with the underlying document-forgery offences, since the forged seal is typically deployed by being stamped onto a document presented as genuine.
Why this matters in practice
Penalty exposure matches Section 252 at one to seven years, and the offence is non-compoundable because the victim is the State. The decisive issue is knowledge: the user must know the seal is forged. In practice this count travels with forged-document charges, and where using the seal and forging the document form one act the court punishes under the heaviest provision only. Anyone served with such charges should take online consultation with a Thai lawyer before answering police questions.
Frequently asked questions
What penalty applies for using a forged official seal?
Section 253 imposes the same penalty as Section 252: imprisonment of one to seven years and a fine of 20,000 to 140,000 baht.
Do I commit an offence if I did not know the seal was fake?
No. Using a forged seal under Section 253 requires knowledge that it is forged; using it in the honest belief that it is genuine lacks the necessary intent.