Section 263: Single punishment where the maker also commits a related offence
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าผู้กระทำความผิดตามมาตรา ๒๕๐ มาตรา ๒๕๑ มาตรา ๒๕๔ มาตรา ๒๕๖ มาตรา ๒๕๘ มาตรา ๒๕๙ หรือมาตรา ๒๖๒ ได้กระทำความผิดตามมาตราอื่นที่บัญญัติไว้ในหมวดนี้ อันเกี่ยวกับสิ่งที่เกิดจากการกระทำความผิดนั้นด้วย ให้ลงโทษผู้นั้นตามมาตรา ๒๕๐ มาตรา ๒๕๑ มาตรา ๒๕๔ มาตรา ๒๕๖ มาตรา ๒๕๘ มาตรา ๒๕๙ หรือมาตรา ๒๖๒ แต่กระทงเดียว
English translation
If a person who commits an offence under Section 250, Section 251, Section 254, Section 256, Section 258, Section 259, or Section 262 also commits an offence under another Section provided in this Chapter in relation to the thing produced by the commission of that offence, that person shall be punished under Section 250, Section 251, Section 254, Section 256, Section 258, Section 259, or Section 262, as the case may be, as a single offence only.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 263 closes the Chapter on seals, stamps and tickets, and it is a rule about how to punish rather than an offence. It creates no aggravation and contains no element of damage to the State. Where a person who has offended under Section 250, Section 251, Section 254, Section 256, Section 258, Section 259 or Section 262 also offends under another section of the same Chapter in relation to the thing produced by that offence, the court punishes under the first section alone, as a single offence. So a person who forges an official seal and then uses it is punished for the forgery, not for the forgery and the use as separate counts, and the effect is to limit liability rather than to extend it. Two limits apply. The rule benefits only the person who made or altered the article, so a confederate who merely used or circulated it is punished under his own section in the ordinary way. And it reaches only the thing produced by that person's own offence, leaving dealings in other forged articles as separate offences. Section 248 is the equivalent rule in the Chapter on currency offences.
Why this matters in practice
Section 263 reduces exposure rather than increasing it, and it contains no element of damage to the State. Where a person who has offended under Section 250, 251, 254, 256, 258, 259 or 262 also offends under another section of the same Chapter in relation to the thing produced by that offence, the court punishes once only, under the first section. So a person who forges an official seal and then uses it is punished for the forgery alone, not for the forgery and the use as separate counts. Two limits matter in practice. The rule benefits only the person who made or altered the article, so a confederate who merely used or circulated it is punished under his own section in the ordinary way. And it applies only to the thing produced by that person's own offence, so dealings in other forged articles remain separate offences. Section 248 is the equivalent rule in the Chapter on currency offences.
Cited in 8 Supreme Court decisions (1986 to 2020)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 3121/2530 (1987)
- Decision 1001/2533 (1990)
- Decision 6387/2545 (2002)
- Decision 4632/2533 (1990)
- Decision 3942/2529 (1986)
- Decision 5134/2563 (2020)
- Decision 2667/2536 (1993)
- Decision 1154/2533 (1990)
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 251 9
- Section 265 9
- Section 91 8
- Section 252 8
- Section 264 8
- Section 268 8
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
When does Section 263 double the penalty?
When the person who forged, altered, used, or made the tools for an offence under Sections 250 to 262 acted so as to cause damage to the State; the penalty for that offence is then doubled.
Does Section 263 create a separate offence?
No. It is an aggravating provision that increases the punishment for the underlying seal, stamp, or ticket offence; it does not stand alone.
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 263 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 263. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-263/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 263 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-263/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-263/"><p>If a person who commits an offence under Section 250, Section 251, Section 254, Section 256, Section 258, Section 259, or Section 262 also commits an offence under another Section provided in this Chapter in relation to the thing produced by the commission of that…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 263 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-263/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.