Section 33: Forfeiture of crime instruments and proceeds
Statutory text (Thai original)
ในการริบทรัพย์สิน นอกจากศาลจะมีอำนาจริบตามกฎหมายที่บัญญัติไว้โดยเฉพาะแล้ว ให้ศาลมีอำนาจสั่งให้ริบทรัพย์สินดังต่อไปนี้อีกด้วย คือ (๑) ทรัพย์สินซึ่งบุคคลได้ใช้ หรือมีไว้เพื่อใช้ในการกระทำความผิด หรือ (๒) ทรัพย์สินซึ่งบุคคลได้มาโดยได้กระทำความผิด เว้นแต่ทรัพย์สินเหล่านี้เป็นทรัพย์สินของผู้อื่นซึ่งมิได้รู้เห็นเป็นใจด้วยในการกระทำความผิด
English translation
In forfeiting property, in addition to the court's power to order forfeiture under laws specifically provided, the court shall also have the power to order forfeiture of the following property, namely:
(1) property that a person has used, or has possessed for use, in committing an offense, or
(2) property that a person has obtained by committing an offense,
except where such property belongs to another person who did not connive in the commission of the offense.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 33 is the general discretionary forfeiture power over the instrumentalities and proceeds of crime: item (1) covers property used or intended for use in the offense, and item (2) covers property gained from it. Unlike the mandatory in rem forfeiture in Section 32, this is discretionary ('shall have the power'), and it carves out property of an innocent third party who did not connive in the offense. Courts weigh whether the item was truly used in committing the offense rather than incidentally, and may forfeit to prevent reoffending and as a deterrent. Section 36 lets a genuinely uninvolved owner reclaim property forfeited under this section.
Why this matters in practice
If your vehicle, phone, or cash is linked to an offense, the court may forfeit it under Section 33, but the power is discretionary and does not reach property of a genuinely uninvolved owner. Courts distinguish items used directly in the crime from those with only an incidental connection, so showing the item was not an instrument of the offense is a real defense. A third-party owner who did not connive can also seek return under Section 36 within one year of the judgment becoming final.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 719/2568 (2025)
Property that is not used generally but is used directly in committing the offense should be forfeited under Section 33(1), both to deny the offender the means to reoffend and as a deterrent to others.
In an immigration offense case involving transport of a non-national, the Supreme Court ordered the car forfeited under Section 33(1), reasoning that it was used directly to commit the offense, so forfeiture would prevent reuse for the same crime and deter others.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 2,500 Supreme Court decisions (1971 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 3672/2568 (2025)
- Decision 719/2568 (2025)
- Decision 1702/2568 (2025)
- Decision 7400/2568 (2025)
- Decision 5854/2567 (2024)
- Decision 2101/2567 (2024)
- Decision 746/2567 (2024)
- Decision 5155/2566 (2023)
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 1,769
- Section 91 1,575
- Section 83 1,284
- Section 32 1,144
- Section 90 859
- Section 29 807
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
Can the court forfeit a car or phone used in a crime?
Yes. Under Section 33(1), property used or held for use in committing an offense may be forfeited at the court's discretion.
Can proceeds of a crime be forfeited?
Yes. Section 33(2) allows forfeiture of property obtained by committing the offense.
What if the property belongs to someone not involved?
Section 33 does not reach property of another person who did not connive in the offense, and such an owner may seek return under Section 36.
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 33 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 33. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-33/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 33 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-33/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-33/"><p>In forfeiting property, in addition to the court's power to order forfeiture under laws specifically provided, the court shall also have the power to order forfeiture of the following property, namely: (1) property that a person has used, or has possessed for use, in committing…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 33 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-33/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.