Section 258: Forging or restoring a public transport ticket
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดทำปลอมขึ้นซึ่งตั๋วโดยสารซึ่งใช้ในการขนส่งสาธารณะ หรือแปลงตั๋วโดยสารซึ่งใช้ในการขนส่งสาธารณะให้ผิดไปจากเดิม เพื่อให้ผู้อื่นเชื่อว่ามีมูลค่าสูงกว่าจริง หรือลบ ถอน หรือกระทำด้วยประการใด ๆ แก่ตั๋วเช่นว่านั้น ซึ่งมีเครื่องหมายหรือการกระทำอย่างใด แสดงว่าใช้ไม่ได้แล้วเพื่อให้ใช้ได้อีก ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสองปี หรือปรับไม่เกินสี่หมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever forges a passenger ticket used in public transport, or alters such a passenger ticket so that it differs from the original in order to make another person believe that it has a value higher than its true value, or erases or removes from, or does anything by any means to, such a ticket which bears a mark, or which has been dealt with in some way, showing that it can no longer be used, in order that it may be used again, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding two years, or a fine not exceeding forty thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 258 opens the group of ticket offences in the chapter on forgery of seals, stamps and tickets. What it protects is a passenger ticket used in public transport, so a purely private voucher falls outside it and may instead be document forgery. Three acts are covered: forging such a ticket; altering a genuine one so as to make another person believe it has a higher value than it really has; and erasing, removing or otherwise dealing with a mark showing that the ticket has been used, in order that it may be used again. The offence is complete on the making or the alteration, without any use. The sections that follow build on it: Section 259 applies the same acts to a ticket sold to the public for admission to a place and punishes them more lightly, at up to one year or 20,000 baht; Section 260 punishes using, selling or exchanging a ticket produced under Section 258 or Section 259, at up to one year or 20,000 baht; and Section 261 punishes making or possessing the tools for it. The current rate was set by Section 4 of the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 26) B.E. 2560.
Why this matters in practice
Exposure is up to two years, or a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both, and the offence is not compoundable because the interest protected is public. Two threshold points decide most cases: whether the item is a passenger ticket used in public transport within the section, since an admission ticket falls under Section 259 with a lighter penalty and a private voucher falls outside the group altogether, and whether the accused made or altered the ticket, since merely using or passing on a forged ticket is charged under Section 260. Forging is complete on the making, so no use has to be proved; see criminal law in Thailand.
Cited in 6 Supreme Court decisions (1963 to 1996)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 3548/2539 (1996)
- Decision 4632/2533 (1990)
- Decision 5251/2537 (1994)
- Decision 496/2506 (1963)
- Decision 5210/2537 (1994)
- Decision 2667/2536 (1993)
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.
Most often cited alongside
- Section 265 5
- Section 91 4
- Section 268 4
- Section 254 4
- Section 263 4
- Section 250 4
Sections that appear in the same judgments as this one most often. The figure is the number of decisions.
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 kind of ticket does Section 258 protect?
A passenger ticket used in public transport. A ticket sold to the public for admission to a place is dealt with by Section 259, and a purely private voucher falls outside this group of offences.
What is the penalty under Section 258?
Imprisonment not exceeding two years, or a fine not exceeding 40,000 baht, or both.
Does the forged ticket have to be used?
No. The offence is complete on forging or altering the ticket. Using, selling or exchanging a ticket produced that way is a separate offence under Section 260.
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 258 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 258. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-258/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 258 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-258/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-258/"><p>Whoever forges a passenger ticket used in public transport, or alters such a passenger ticket so that it differs from the original in order to make another person believe that it has a value higher than its true value, or erases or removes from, or…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 258 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-258/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.