Section 257: Using or selling stamps produced under Section 254 or 256

Firm annotation

Section 257 is the circulation limb of the stamp offences. The elements are using, selling, offering for sale, exchanging or offering in exchange a stamp arising from an act referred to in Section 254 (forging or altering a government stamp) or Section 256 (restoring a cancelled one so that it may be used again). The accused need not be the person who forged or restored the stamp; what is punished is putting it back into commerce. Mere possession is not enough, because every limb requires an act of use or dealing. The section carries its own penalty of up to three years, or a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both, and does not borrow the penalty of the section under which the stamp was produced, so a forged stamp and a restored stamp are treated alike at this stage. That differs from the seal offences, where Section 252 takes the penalty of Section 250 or Section 251. The section also states its reach expressly: it applies whether the act under Section 254 or Section 256 was done within or outside the Kingdom. Section 262 halves the punishment where the stamp is a foreign government stamp, and Section 263 punishes the maker who also circulates the stamp once only, under Section 254 or Section 256.