Section 308: Abandonment causing death or grievous harm
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามมาตรา ๓๐๖ หรือมาตรา ๓๐๗ เป็นเหตุให้ผู้ถูกทอดทิ้งถึงแก่ความตาย หรือรับอันตรายสาหัส ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษดังที่บัญญัติไว้ในมาตรา ๒๙๐ มาตรา ๒๙๗ หรือมาตรา ๒๙๘ นั้น
English translation
If the commission of an offence under Section 306 or Section 307 causes the person abandoned to die or to receive grievous bodily harm, the offender shall be liable to the punishment prescribed in Section 290, Section 297, or Section 298, as the case may be.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 308 states no penalty of its own; it borrows one. Section 306 punishes abandoning a child not over nine years of age so as to leave the child without anyone to look after it, and Section 307 punishes abandoning a person who cannot look after themselves and whom the offender has a duty under the law or under a contract to care for. Where such an abandonment causes death or grievous bodily harm, this section applies the punishment prescribed in Section 290, Section 297 or Section 298 as the case may be. Section 290, injuring another so that death results, carries three to fifteen years, rising to three to twenty years where the offence has any of the characteristics described in Section 289. Section 297, causing grievous bodily harm, carries six months to ten years and a fine of 10,000 to 200,000 baht, and Section 298 carries two to ten years and a fine of 40,000 to 200,000 baht where the offence has any of the Section 289 characteristics. The prosecution must therefore establish the underlying abandonment and a causal link between it and the result.
Why this matters in practice
Two things follow from the borrowing structure. First, the exposure is set by the section borrowed and not by this one, so a death case is sentenced on the three-to-fifteen-year scale of Section 290 and a grievous-harm case on the six-months-to-ten-year scale of Section 297. Second, both limbs turn on causation, so whether the death or the injury resulted from the abandonment rather than from an independent illness or event is usually the decisive contested issue, and the medical evidence carries the case. The offence is not compoundable, so a settlement with the family bears on sentence and not on whether the prosecution proceeds; consider an online consultation with a Thai lawyer.
Frequently asked questions
What penalty applies when abandonment causes death?
Section 308 applies the penalty of Section 290, imprisonment from three to fifteen years, and three to twenty years where the offence has any of the characteristics described in Section 289. Section 308 states no penalty of its own.
And where the abandoned person suffers grievous bodily harm?
The penalty is that of Section 297, six months to ten years and a fine of 10,000 to 200,000 baht, or that of Section 298, two to ten years and a fine of 40,000 to 200,000 baht where the offence has any of the Section 289 characteristics.
Which abandonment offences does Section 308 apply to?
Section 306, abandoning a child not over nine years of age so as to leave the child without anyone to look after it, and Section 307, abandoning a person unable to look after themselves whom the offender had a legal or contractual duty to care for.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 308 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 308. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-308/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 308 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-308/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-308/"><p>If the commission of an offence under Section 306 or Section 307 causes the person abandoned to die or to receive grievous bodily harm, the offender shall be liable to the punishment prescribed in Section 290, Section 297, or Section 298, as the case may…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 308 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-308/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.