Section 291: Negligence causing death
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดกระทำโดยประมาท และการกระทำนั้นเป็นเหตุให้ผู้อื่นถึงแก่ความตาย ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินสิบปี และปรับไม่เกินสองแสนบาท หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever acts negligently and that act causes the death of another person shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding ten years and a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand baht.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 291 is the negligent-homicide offence in the Title on Offences against Life, applying where there is no intent to harm at all but a careless act causes death. Its elements are an act done negligently (a failure to exercise the care a reasonable person would in the circumstances) and a causal link between that negligence and the death of another. It is distinct from Section 290, which requires an intentional act of injury, and from Sections 288 and 289, which require intent to kill. In practice it is the classic charge in fatal road accidents and workplace or medical mishaps, and it is regularly prosecuted together with the Road Traffic Act and alongside the negligent-serious-injury offence of Section 300.
Why this matters in practice
Although this is a homicide offence, exposure is far lower than for intentional killing, capped at ten years and a fine, and in fatal traffic cases a guilty plea combined with compensation to the victim's family commonly features in mitigation. The central factual issue is whether the accused actually fell below the required standard of care and whether that failure, rather than another cause, produced the death. Because these cases usually carry a linked civil claim for damages, resolving the compensation side is often as important as the criminal one; the firm's overview of criminal law in Thailand gives helpful background.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 2981/2568 (2025)
Negligence causing death under Section 291 is commonly a road-traffic offence, charged together with the Road Traffic Act and with the related offences of negligent serious and minor injury.
The defendant pleaded guilty to charges under Sections 291, 300, and 390 with the Road Traffic Act; the Supreme Court addressed how civil compensation, including loss of maintenance, is calculated for the dependants of the deceased.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 324/2568 (2025)
A guilty plea to negligent driving causing death under Section 291 supports the criminal conviction and brings the accompanying civil claim by the deceased's heirs before the court.
The defendant pleaded guilty to a negligent act causing death under Section 291 with Road Traffic Act charges; the Supreme Court confirmed its authority to decide the linked civil claim once the criminal case was before it.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 320 Supreme Court decisions (1960 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 455/2569 (2026)
- Decision 5398/2568 (2025)
- Decision 3119/2568 (2025)
- Decision 4235/2567 (2024)
- Decision 3704/2567 (2024)
- Decision 4293/2565 (2022)
- Decision 1514/2565 (2022)
- Decision 8220/2563 (2020)
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 90 161
- Section 78 137
- Section 91 120
- Section 300 96
- Section 29 91
- Section 30 89
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 291?
Imprisonment not exceeding ten years and a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand baht where a negligent act causes another person's death.
Does Section 291 apply to fatal traffic accidents?
Yes. Negligence causing death is the standard charge in fatal road accidents, usually prosecuted together with the Road Traffic Act.
How is Section 291 different from Section 290?
Section 291 requires only a negligent act with no intent to harm, while Section 290 requires an intentional act of injury that causes death.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 291 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 291. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-291/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 291 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-291/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-291/"><p>Whoever acts negligently and that act causes the death of another person shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding ten years and a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand baht.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 291 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-291/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.