Section 287: Obscene materials offence
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใด (๑) เพื่อความประสงค์แห่งการค้า หรือโดยการค้า เพื่อการแจกจ่ายหรือเพื่อการแสดงอวดแก่ประชาชน ทำ ผลิต มีไว้ นำเข้าหรือยังให้นำเข้าในราชอาณาจักร ส่งออกหรือยังให้ส่งออกไปนอกราชอาณาจักร พาไปหรือยังให้พาไปหรือทำให้แพร่หลายโดยประการใด ๆ ซึ่งเอกสาร ภาพเขียน ภาพพิมพ์ ภาพระบายสี สิ่งพิมพ์ รูปภาพ ภาพโฆษณา เครื่องหมาย รูปถ่าย ภาพยนตร์ แถบบันทึกเสียง แถบบันทึกภาพหรือสิ่งอื่นใดอันลามก (๒) ประกอบการค้า หรือมีส่วนหรือเข้าเกี่ยวข้องในการค้าเกี่ยวกับวัตถุหรือสิ่งของลามกดังกล่าวแล้ว จ่ายแจกหรือแสดงอวดแก่ประชาชน หรือให้เช่าวัตถุหรือสิ่งของเช่นว่านั้น (๓) เพื่อจะช่วยการทำให้แพร่หลาย หรือการค้าวัตถุหรือสิ่งของลามกดังกล่าวแล้ว โฆษณาหรือไขข่าวโดยประการใด ๆ ว่ามีบุคคลกระทำการอันเป็นความผิดตามมาตรานี้ หรือโฆษณาหรือไขข่าวว่าวัตถุ หรือสิ่งของลามกดังกล่าวแล้วจะหาได้จากบุคคลใด หรือโดยวิธีใด ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสามปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหกหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๑๐ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever:
(1) for the purpose of trade, or by trade, for distribution or for public exhibition, makes, produces, possesses, imports or causes to be imported into the Kingdom, exports or causes to be exported from the Kingdom, conveys or causes to be conveyed, or in any manner disseminates any obscene document, drawing, print, painting, printed matter, picture, advertisement, mark, photograph, cinematograph film, sound recording, image recording or other obscene thing;
(2) carries on a trade in, or takes part or is concerned in a trade in, such obscene material or object, distributes or publicly exhibits it, or lets it out on hire;
(3) in order to assist the dissemination or the trade in such obscene material or object, advertises or makes known by any means that a person is committing an offence under this Section, or advertises or makes known from whom or by what means such obscene material or object may be obtained,
shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years, or a fine not exceeding sixty thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 287 is the general obscene-materials offence within the Title on Offences Relating to Sexuality. It is structured in three limbs: item (1) covers making, producing, possessing, importing, or disseminating obscene things in almost any medium; item (2) covers trading, distributing, publicly displaying, or hiring them out; and item (3) covers advertising where obscene material can be found in order to assist its trade or spread. All three limbs carry the same penalty of up to three years or a fine up to sixty thousand baht, or both. It is the parent offence to the child-specific provisions of Sections 287/1 and 287/2, which carry far heavier penalties, and it is frequently charged together with the Film and Video Act, the Copyright Act, and the Computer Crimes Act.
Why this matters in practice
The offence is broad, reaching mere possession as well as trade and advertising, but the penalty is moderate at up to three years, and the central issue is usually whether the material is legally obscene. In practice a defendant may face separate counts where the same conduct also breaks the Film and Video Act or Copyright Act, because the courts treat those as offences with different elements. Anyone accused should be careful to distinguish this general offence from the child-material offences in Sections 287/1 and 287/2, which are far more serious; see the firm's overview of criminal law in Thailand.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 17849/2555 (2012)
Possessing or dealing in obscene material under Section 287(1) is a separate offence from operating an unlicensed film business, since the two have different elements and intents and constitute separate counts.
The defendant pleaded guilty and was convicted under Section 287(1) for obscene DVDs; the Supreme Court held this offence was distinct in elements and intent from the unlicensed-film-business offence, so the acts were separate counts and not a single act under Section 90.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 5342/2559 (2016)
Obscene motion pictures and recordings fall within Section 287, and such obscene items may be ordered confiscated.
Among charges under the Film and Video Act and the Copyright Act, the defendant faced a Section 287 charge for obscene films; the court ordered confiscation of the obscene VCDs and DVDs.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 39 Supreme Court decisions (1965 to 2023)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 11613/2554 (2011)
- Decision 3278/2554 (2011)
- Decision 2540/2551 (2008)
- Decision 511/2547 (2004)
- Decision 6537/2545 (2002)
- Decision 2787/2541 (1998)
- Decision 7416/2537 (1994)
- Decision 6753/2537 (1994)
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 78 24
- Section 33 23
- Section 91 20
- Section 32 17
- Section 29 17
- Section 30 17
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
What is the penalty under Section 287?
Imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding sixty thousand baht, or both, for making, possessing, trading, displaying, hiring out, or advertising obscene materials.
Does Section 287 cover mere possession of obscene material?
Yes. Item (1) includes possessing obscene material, in addition to making, producing, importing, or disseminating it.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 287 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 287. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-287/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 287 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-287/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-287/"><p>Whoever: (1) for the purpose of trade, or by trade, for distribution or for public exhibition, makes, produces, possesses, imports or causes to be imported into the Kingdom, exports or causes to be exported from the Kingdom, conveys or causes to be conveyed, or in…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 287 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-287/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.