Section 285: Aggravated sexual offences by relationship
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามมาตรา ๒๗๖ มาตรา ๒๗๗ มาตรา ๒๗๗ ทวิ มาตรา ๒๗๗ ตรี มาตรา ๒๗๘ มาตรา ๒๗๙ มาตรา ๒๘๐ มาตรา ๒๘๒ หรือมาตรา ๒๘๓ เป็นการกระทำแก่บุพการี ผู้สืบสันดาน พี่น้องร่วมบิดามารดาหรือร่วมแต่บิดาหรือมารดา ญาติสืบสายโลหิต ศิษย์ซึ่งอยู่ในความดูแล ผู้อยู่ในความควบคุมตามหน้าที่ราชการ ผู้อยู่ในความปกครอง ในความพิทักษ์หรือในความอนุบาล หรือผู้อยู่ภายใต้อำนาจด้วยประการอื่นใด ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษหนักกว่าที่บัญญัติไว้ในมาตรานั้น ๆ หนึ่งในสาม
English translation
Where the offence under Section 276, Section 277, Section 277 bis, Section 277 ter, Section 278, Section 279, Section 280, Section 282 or Section 283 is committed against an ascendant, a descendant, a brother or sister of full blood or of half blood, a blood relative, a pupil under the offender's care, a person under the offender's control by virtue of official duty, a person under the offender's guardianship, custody or curatorship, or a person otherwise under the offender's power, the punishment shall be one third heavier than that prescribed for the offence concerned.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 285 is an aggravating provision, not a standalone offence: it raises by one third the penalty of the enumerated sexual offences when the victim stands in a defined relationship of dependence or trust with the offender. The listed relationships are a descendant by blood, a pupil under care, a person under control by virtue of official duty, a person under guardianship, custody, or curatorship, and, as a catch-all, a person otherwise under the offender's authority. The rationale is the abuse of a position of power or trust over the victim. In practice courts apply Section 285 in conjunction with the base offence (for example rape under Section 277), and the catch-all authority category is construed to reach relationships where the victim must show respect and obedience to the offender.
Why this matters in practice
Section 285 can transform the sentencing exposure of an already serious sexual charge, adding one third to the underlying penalty, so where the relationship element is disputed it is a central issue. The catch-all category (a person otherwise under one's authority) is broad and has been read to include situations where the victim owes the offender respect and obedience, so it is not limited to formal legal guardianship. Anyone facing a sexual charge where a family, teaching, custodial, or authority relationship is alleged should get precise advice on how Section 285 changes the minimum and maximum sentence; consider an online consultation with a Thai lawyer.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 5524/2567 (2024)
A victim who must show respect and obedience to the offender is a person otherwise under the offender's authority within Section 285, so the offender receives the heavier penalty.
The Supreme Court held that because the injured person had to respect and obey the defendant, the injured person was under the defendant's authority within the meaning of Section 285; the defendant's attempted rape therefore attracted the increased penalty.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 715/2567 (2024)
Where rape and an indecent act are committed against the offender's own descendant by blood, Section 285 applies to raise the penalty by one third.
The defendant pleaded guilty and was convicted under Sections 277 and 279 in conjunction with Section 285, the victim being a descendant by blood; the Supreme Court declined to review the defendant's grounds as barred factual issues.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 69 Supreme Court decisions (1959 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 5524/2567 (2024)
- Decision 715/2567 (2024)
- Decision 265/2562 (2019)
- Decision 7308/2561 (2018)
- Decision 11974/2556 (2013)
- Decision 8825/2554 (2011)
- Decision 2425/2554 (2011)
- Decision 16001/2553 (2010)
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 277 44
- Section 91 41
- Section 279 28
- Section 276 23
- Section 78 20
- Section 90 16
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
How much does Section 285 increase the penalty?
It increases the penalty of the listed sexual offence by one third of what is provided in that section, because the victim stands in a relationship of trust or authority with the offender.
Who is a person otherwise under one's authority under Section 285?
It is a catch-all category read to cover relationships where the victim must show respect and obedience to the offender, beyond formal legal guardianship or custody.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 285 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 285. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-285/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 285 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-285/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-285/"><p>Where the offence under Section 276, Section 277, Section 277 bis, Section 277 ter, Section 278, Section 279, Section 280, Section 282 or Section 283 is committed against an ascendant, a descendant, a brother or sister of full blood or of half blood, a blood…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 285 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-285/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.