Section 276: Rape by coercion
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดข่มขืนกระทำชำเราผู้อื่นโดยขู่เข็ญด้วยประการใด ๆ โดยใช้กำลังประทุษร้าย โดยผู้อื่นนั้นอยู่ในภาวะที่ไม่สามารถขัดขืนได้ หรือโดยทำให้ผู้อื่นนั้นเข้าใจผิดว่าตนเป็นบุคคลอื่น ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สี่ปีถึงยี่สิบปี และปรับตั้งแต่แปดหมื่นบาทถึงสี่แสนบาท ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่ง ได้กระทำโดยทำให้ผู้ถูกกระทำเข้าใจว่าผู้กระทำมีอาวุธปืนหรือวัตถุระเบิด ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่เจ็ดปีถึงยี่สิบปี และปรับตั้งแต่หนึ่งแสนสี่หมื่นบาทถึงสี่แสนบาท ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่ง ได้กระทำโดยมีอาวุธปืนหรือวัตถุระเบิด หรือโดยใช้อาวุธ หรือโดยร่วมกระทำความผิดด้วยกันอันมีลักษณะเป็นการโทรมหญิงหรือกระทำกับชายในลักษณะเดียวกัน ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สิบห้าปีถึงยี่สิบปี และปรับตั้งแต่สามแสนบาทถึงสี่แสนบาท หรือจำคุกตลอดชีวิต ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่ง เป็นการกระทำความผิดระหว่างคู่สมรส และคู่สมรสนั้นยังประสงค์จะอยู่กินด้วยกันฉันสามีภริยา ศาลจะลงโทษน้อยกว่าที่กฎหมายกำหนดไว้เพียงใดก็ได้ หรือจะกำหนดเงื่อนไขเพื่อคุมความประพฤติแทนการลงโทษก็ได้ ในกรณีที่ศาลมีคำพิพากษาให้ลงโทษจำคุกและคู่สมรสฝ่ายใดฝ่ายหนึ่งไม่ประสงค์จะอยู่กินด้วยกันฉันสามีภริยาต่อไป และประสงค์จะหย่า ให้คู่สมรสฝ่ายนั้นแจ้งให้ศาลทราบ และให้ศาลแจ้งพนักงานอัยการให้ดำเนินการฟ้องหย่าให้
English translation
Whoever rapes another person by threat of any kind, by violence, while that person is in a state in which he or she cannot resist, or by causing that person to mistake the offender for another person, shall be liable to imprisonment from four to twenty years and a fine from eighty thousand to four hundred thousand baht.
Where the offence under paragraph one is committed by causing the person against whom it was committed to believe that the offender has a firearm or an explosive, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment from seven to twenty years and a fine from one hundred and forty thousand to four hundred thousand baht.
Where the offence under paragraph one is committed while carrying a firearm or an explosive, or by using a weapon, or by two or more persons acting together in the nature of a gang rape of a woman, or against a man in a like manner, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment from fifteen to twenty years and a fine from three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand baht, or to imprisonment for life.
Where the offence under paragraph one is committed between spouses and the spouses still wish to live together as husband and wife, the court may impose a punishment less than that prescribed by law to any extent, or may set conditions for supervision of behaviour instead of imposing punishment.
Where the court has passed a sentence of imprisonment and one of the spouses no longer wishes to live together as husband and wife and wishes to divorce, that spouse shall so inform the court, and the court shall inform the public prosecutor to bring an action for divorce.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 276 is the core rape offence in the Title on Offences Relating to Sexuality and is now gender-neutral, protecting any person rather than only a woman. Its elements are sexual intercourse (as defined in Section 277/4) plus one of the listed means of overcoming will: threat, force, exploitation of an inability to resist, or impersonation. Paragraph two is the aggravated form, triggered by use of a firearm or explosive or by gang commission, and it raises the floor sharply and adds life imprisonment as an option. This section anchors a cluster of related provisions: Section 277 (child victims), Sections 277/1 and 277/2 (results of grievous harm or death), Section 281 (compoundability of the basic form), and Section 285 (aggravation for offenders in a position of trust).
Why this matters in practice
Penalty exposure under this section is severe, starting at a four-year minimum and reaching life imprisonment for the aggravated form, and the aggravating facts of a weapon or joint commission must be proven to lift the case into paragraph two. The basic offence under paragraph one is compoundable only in the narrow circumstances set out in Section 281 (not in public, no grievous harm or death); the aggravated form is not compoundable. Consent is a defence to the basic offence but never where the victim is a child under Section 277. Anyone facing or reporting an offence under this section should get advice on evidence and charge selection and may wish to understand what to expect before going to court in Thailand.
Cited in 365 Supreme Court decisions (1959 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 2535/2565 (2022)
- Decision 1317/2565 (2022)
- Decision 4371/2564 (2021)
- Decision 5922/2562 (2019)
- Decision 4683/2562 (2019)
- Decision 265/2562 (2019)
- Decision 80/2561 (2018)
- Decision 302/2559 (2016)
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 91 208
- Section 83 168
- Section 78 153
- Section 90 92
- Section 318 87
- Section 310 82
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
Is rape under Section 276 a compoundable offence in Thailand?
Only the basic offence under paragraph one can be compounded, and only in the narrow circumstances in Section 281 (not committed in public and no grievous harm or death). The aggravated form under paragraph two cannot be compounded.
Does Section 276 protect male victims?
Yes. The section is gender-neutral and protects any person, and the aggravated gang-rape provision expressly covers a similar act committed against a man.
What raises rape to the aggravated penalty under paragraph two?
Carrying or using a firearm or explosive, or committing the act jointly with others in the manner of a gang-rape, raises the penalty to fifteen to twenty years, a higher fine, or life imprisonment.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 276 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 276. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-276/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 276 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-276/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-276/"><p>Whoever rapes another person by threat of any kind, by violence, while that person is in a state in which he or she cannot resist, or by causing that person to mistake the offender for another person, shall be liable to imprisonment from four to…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 276 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-276/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.