Section 26: Working while confined at a residence
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าผู้ต้องโทษกักขังถูกกักขังในที่อาศัยของผู้นั้นเอง หรือของผู้อื่นที่ยินยอมรับผู้นั้นไว้ ผู้ต้องโทษกักขังนั้นมีสิทธิที่จะดำเนินการในวิชาชีพหรืออาชีพของตนในสถานที่ดังกล่าวได้ ในการนี้ ศาลจะกำหนดเงื่อนไขให้ผู้ต้องโทษกักขังปฏิบัติอย่างหนึ่งอย่างใดหรือไม่ก็ได้ แล้วแต่ศาลจะเห็นสมควร
English translation
If a person sentenced to confinement is confined in that person's own residence, or in the residence of another person who consents to receive that person, the person confined has the right to carry on that person's profession or occupation at that place. In this regard the court may or may not fix any condition for the person confined to comply with, as the court thinks fit.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 26 supplements the home-confinement option in Section 24 by preserving the person's livelihood: someone confined at their own residence may continue their occupation or profession. This reflects the rehabilitative, low-disruption character of confinement as a lighter alternative to imprisonment. The court's power to impose conditions on permitted acts or activities lets it tailor the order, allowing normal work while restricting conduct connected to the offense or that could facilitate escape or further wrongdoing. It works together with Sections 23, 24, 25 and 27 in the framework for carrying out confinement.
Why this matters in practice
For a defendant who can secure home confinement, this section is what protects their income: they may keep running their job or business while serving the sentence, subject to any conditions the court sets. When proposing home confinement under Section 24, it helps to show the court a realistic plan for continuing lawful work within workable conditions. This can make confinement a far less damaging outcome than a short prison term.
Cited in 8 Supreme Court decisions (1976 to 2025)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 6638/2554 (2011)
- Decision 7651/2552 (2009)
- Decision 7746/2568 (2025)
- Decision 2222/2527 (1984)
- Decision 364/2519 (1976)
- Decision 5276/2562 (2019)
- Decision 1330/2532 (1989)
- Decision 7154/2545 (2002)
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
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
Can I keep working if confined at home?
Yes. Under Section 26, a person confined at their own residence may continue their occupation or profession, subject to any conditions the court imposes on permitted activities.
Can the court restrict what I do during home confinement?
Yes. Section 26 allows the court to impose conditions on the acts or activities that are permitted while a person is confined at home.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 26 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 26. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-26/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 26 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-26/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-26/"><p>If a person sentenced to confinement is confined in that person's own residence, or in the residence of another person who consents to receive that person, the person confined has the right to carry on that person's profession or occupation at that place. In this…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 26 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-26/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.