Section 307: Abandoning a person you have a duty to care for

Firm annotation

The elements of Section 307 are (1) having a duty under the law or under a contract to take care of (2) a person who is unable to take care of themselves by reason of age, illness, physical disability or mental disability, (3) abandoning that person, (4) in a manner likely to endanger that person's life. The duty is the foundation of the offence, so a stranger who walks away owes nothing under this section, although Section 374 separately punishes failing to help a person in danger of death where help could be given without danger to oneself. The duty may be statutory, as with a parent, or contractual, as with a nursing home, a carer or a hospital. The fourth element is an objective test on the manner of the abandonment: no harm need actually result, and the question is whether what was done was likely to endanger life. The penalty is up to three years, or a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both. Where death or grievous bodily harm does result, Section 308 applies the punishment prescribed in Section 290, Section 297 or Section 298. Section 306 is the neighbouring offence and works the other way round: it requires no duty at all, but it is confined to a child not over nine years of age and requires the purpose of ridding oneself of that child. The current rates were set by Section 4 of the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 26) B.E. 2560.