Section 281: Compoundability of certain sexual offences
Statutory text (Thai original)
ความผิดตามมาตราดังต่อไปนี้เป็นความผิดอันยอมความได้
(๑) มาตรา ๒๗๖ วรรคหนึ่ง ซึ่งเป็นการกระทำระหว่างคู่สมรส ถ้ามิได้เกิดต่อหน้าธารกำนัลหรือไม่เป็นเหตุให้ผู้ถูกกระทำรับอันตรายสาหัสหรือถึงแก่ความตาย
(๒) มาตรา ๒๗๘ ถ้ามิได้เกิดต่อหน้าธารกำนัล ไม่เป็นเหตุให้ผู้ถูกกระทำรับอันตรายสาหัสหรือถึงแก่ความตาย หรือมิได้เป็นการกระทำแก่บุคคลดังระบุไว้ในมาตรา ๒๘๕ และมาตรา ๒๘๕/๒
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
English translation
The offences under the following provisions are compoundable offences:
(1) Section 276 paragraph one, where committed between spouses, provided the offence was not committed in the presence of others and did not cause the person against whom it was committed to suffer grievous bodily harm or to die;
(2) Section 278, provided the offence was not committed in the presence of others, did not cause the person against whom it was committed to suffer grievous bodily harm or to die, and was not committed against a person described in Section 285 or Section 285/2.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 281 is not an offence but a rule fixing when two specific sexual offences may be compounded, meaning settled between the parties so that prosecution ends. It applies only to the basic rape under Section 276 paragraph one and the indecent act under Section 278, and only when two conditions are both met: the act was not committed in public and it did not cause grievous bodily harm or death. If the act was committed in public, or produced grievous harm or death, it is not compoundable. The provision does not extend to the aggravated forms in Section 276 paragraph two, the child-victim offences in Sections 277 and 279, or the result-aggravated offences, all of which remain non-compoundable public offences.
Why this matters in practice
Whether an offence is compoundable matters greatly to both sides: for a complainant it means a settlement can end the case, and for an accused it opens a path to discontinuance if the injured party agrees. The two conditions are decisive, so if the act was done in public, or caused grievous harm or death, no settlement can stop the prosecution. Note that many related sexual offences, especially those involving children, are never compoundable regardless of settlement. Anyone weighing settlement of a case that may fall under this section should first consult a Thai lawyer to confirm whether the offence actually qualifies.
Cited in 58 Supreme Court decisions (1960 to 2020)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 15913/2557 (2014)
- Decision 13673/2557 (2014)
- Decision 7541/2554 (2011)
- Decision 6844/2554 (2011)
- Decision 4593/2553 (2010)
- Decision 4836/2547 (2004)
- Decision 1543/2547 (2004)
- Decision 4906/2543 (2000)
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 276 35
- Section 278 32
- Section 83 27
- Section 91 27
- Section 78 21
- Thai CrPC s. 39 21
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
Which sexual offences can be settled between the parties in Thailand?
Under Section 281, only the basic rape offence under Section 276 paragraph one and the indecent act under Section 278 are compoundable, and only if the act was not committed in public and caused no grievous harm or death.
Are offences against children compoundable under Section 281?
No. Section 281 covers only Section 276 paragraph one and Section 278. The child-victim offences under Sections 277 and 279 are not compoundable.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 281 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 281. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-281/ (accessed 20 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 281 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-281/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-281/"><p>The offences under the following provisions are compoundable offences: (1) Section 276 paragraph one, where committed between spouses, provided the offence was not committed in the presence of others and did not cause the person against whom it was committed to suffer grievous bodily harm…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 281 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-281/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.