Section 258 — Forging tickets
English translation
Whoever forges a ticket shall be liable to imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of twenty thousand to one hundred thousand baht. The word "ticket" in this Chapter means a ticket or slip of paper issued by an official or a State organization to a person who pays money or a fee, as evidence thereof.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
This section opens the ticket group within the Chapter and, unusually, supplies its own definition. A ticket means a ticket or slip of paper issued by an official or a State organization to a person who pays money or a fee, as evidence of that payment, which limits the offence to State-issued tickets rather than ordinary private tickets. The elements are (1) forging (2) such a State-issued ticket. It anchors the graded ticket offences that follow: altering a genuine ticket under Section 259, using a forged or altered ticket under Section 260, and misusing a used genuine ticket under Section 261. Its penalty of one to five years is lower than for seals and stamps, reflecting the smaller value typically at stake.
Why this matters in practice
Penalty exposure is one to five years, and the offence is non-compoundable as the State is the injured party. A threshold point is that the ticket must be State-issued within the section's own definition; forging a purely private ticket does not fall here and may instead be document forgery. Forging is complete on making the fake ticket, without any use. Defences often test whether the item meets the statutory definition of a ticket and whether the accused made it.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a ticket under Section 258?
A ticket or slip of paper issued by an official or a State organization to someone who pays money or a fee, as evidence of that payment. Private tickets fall outside this definition.
What is the penalty for forging a state ticket?
Imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 baht.