Section 320: Taking or sending a person out of the Kingdom

Firm annotation

Section 320 protects a person against being removed from the jurisdiction by force or trickery. The elements of paragraph one are (1) using deceitful means, threat, violence, unjust exercise of influence, or any other means of coercion, and (2) taking or sending a person out of the Kingdom. The coercion is the gravamen, so apparent agreement obtained by deceit is no agreement, and the offence is complete once the person has been taken or sent out, whatever happens afterwards. Paragraph two aggravates the offence where it is committed in order to place the person taken or sent away unlawfully in the power of another, or to abandon that person in destitution. The penalties are two to ten years, or a fine from 40,000 to 200,000 baht, or both, for paragraph one, and three to fifteen years and a fine from 60,000 to 300,000 baht for paragraph two. The difference is not only in the numbers: the base tier permits a fine alone, while the aggravated tier requires both imprisonment and a fine. Two neighbouring sections cover cross-border removals for other reasons: Section 312 where the person is brought into or sent out of the Kingdom in order to reduce them to slavery or a condition resembling slavery, and Section 313 where the removal is for ransom. The current rates were set by Section 10 of the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 26) B.E. 2560.