Section 261: Tools for counterfeiting stamps or tickets

Firm annotation

Section 261 is the preparatory offence for the stamp and ticket group: it punishes the means rather than the forgery. Its elements are (1) making a tool or object for counterfeiting or altering anything specified in Section 254 (a government stamp), Section 258 (a passenger ticket used in public transport) or Section 259 (a ticket sold to the public for admission to a place), or (2) possessing such a tool or object in order to use it in counterfeiting or altering. On the possession limb the purpose must be proved. The offence is complete before any stamp or ticket has been produced. Note what the section does not reach: it names Sections 254, 258 and 259 only, so a tool made for forging the seals protected by Section 250 or Section 251 is not an offence under it. The penalty is up to two years, or a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both, far below the equivalent currency provision in Section 246, which carries five to fifteen years with a mandatory fine. Section 262 halves the punishment where the tool is for a foreign government stamp. The current rates were set by Section 4 of the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 26) B.E. 2560.