Section 333: Defamation offences are compoundable
Statutory text (Thai original)
ความผิดในหมวดนี้เป็นความผิดอันยอมความได้ ถ้าผู้เสียหายในความผิดฐานหมิ่นประมาทตายเสียก่อนร้องทุกข์ ให้บิดา มารดา คู่สมรส หรือบุตรของผู้เสียหายร้องทุกข์ได้ และให้ถือว่าเป็นผู้เสียหาย
English translation
The offences in this Chapter are compoundable offences.
Where the injured person in an offence of defamation dies before making a complaint, the father, mother, spouse or child of the injured person may make the complaint and is deemed to be the injured person.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 333 classifies the defamation offences of this chapter as compoundable, a general-part rule rather than an offence in itself. Two consequences follow. First, defamation is an offence against a private individual, so an investigating officer may act only on a proper complaint by the injured person, and a public prosecutor cannot proceed without one. Second, a lawful compromise, withdrawal of the complaint or settlement extinguishes the right to prosecute under the Criminal Procedure Code. Where several separate defamatory acts occur, the injured person must complain about each one, because each is a distinct offence. This mirrors Section 325 for the secrecy offences and works together with the short three-month limitation in Section 332.
Why this matters in practice
This is the settlement lever in every defamation case. Because prosecution needs the injured person's complaint, and settlement ends the matter, most defamation disputes are resolved by compromise, often with compensation, a retraction and an apology. For a defendant, negotiating a withdrawal of the complaint is frequently the quickest resolution. Note the procedural traps: if the injured person did not lodge a valid complaint for a particular act, or complained about the wrong instance, that count cannot be pursued. Read Section 333 together with the three-month limitation in Section 332 when planning either a prosecution or a defence.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 262/2565 (2022)
Defamation under Section 326 sits in the chapter that Section 333 makes compoundable, so it is an offence against a private individual. But a mediation record that requires the defendant to replace a loan guarantor by a stated date and reserves the injured person's right to prosecute if he does not is not a settlement in law: the injured person did not intend to give up the criminal case there and then. The right to prosecute is not extinguished under section 39 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The mediation record required the defendant to have someone else replace the plaintiff as guarantor of a 1,500,000 baht loan by April 2560, and stated that if he did not, the plaintiff would bring the defamation case within the limitation period. He never did replace the guarantor. The Supreme Court held this was not a settlement in law, so the plaintiff's right to prosecute was not extinguished, and the conviction and the award of damages stood.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 9368/2555 (2012)
Because defamation is compoundable under Section 333, the injured person must lodge a complaint for each separate act of defamation; where no complaint is made for one count, that count cannot be investigated or prosecuted.
The Court found the injured party had not complained about one alleged instance of defamation. As defamation under Section 326 is compoundable under Section 333, the absence of a valid complaint for that count barred investigation and prosecution of it.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 6644/2549 (2006)
Defamation under Sections 326 and 328 is compoundable under Section 333, so an investigating officer may investigate only upon a proper complaint; merely recording an event as evidence, without seeking the offender's punishment, is not a valid complaint.
The Court held that because defamation is compoundable under Section 333, investigation requires a proper complaint. The injured persons had only recorded the matter as evidence rather than lodging a complaint seeking the defendant's punishment.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 3 Supreme Court decisions (2006 to 2022)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 262/2565 (2022)
- Decision 9368/2555 (2012)
- Decision 6644/2549 (2006)
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
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
Is defamation compoundable in Thailand?
Yes. Section 333 makes the defamation offences in this chapter compoundable, so prosecution requires the injured person's complaint and a valid settlement or withdrawal ends the case.
If someone defamed me several times, do I complain once?
No. Where there are several separate defamatory acts, each is a distinct offence and the injured person must lodge a complaint for each one; a count with no complaint cannot be prosecuted.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 333 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 333. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-333/ (accessed 21 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 333 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-333/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-333/"><p>The offences in this Chapter are compoundable offences. Where the injured person in an offence of defamation dies before making a complaint, the father, mother, spouse or child of the injured person may make the complaint and is deemed to be the injured person.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 333 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-333/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.