Section 336: Snatching of property
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดลักทรัพย์โดยฉกฉวยเอาซึ่งหน้า ผู้นั้นกระทำความผิดฐานวิ่งราวทรัพย์ ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินห้าปี และปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งแสนบาท ถ้าการวิ่งราวทรัพย์เป็นเหตุให้ผู้อื่นรับอันตรายแก่กายหรือจิตใจ ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สองปีถึงเจ็ดปี และปรับตั้งแต่สี่หมื่นบาทถึงหนึ่งแสนสี่หมื่นบาท ถ้าการวิ่งราวทรัพย์เป็นเหตุให้ผู้อื่นรับอันตรายสาหัส ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่สามปีถึงสิบปี และปรับตั้งแต่หกหมื่นบาทถึงสองแสนบาท ถ้าการวิ่งราวทรัพย์เป็นเหตุให้ผู้อื่นถึงแก่ความตาย ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่ห้าปีถึงสิบห้าปี และปรับตั้งแต่หนึ่งแสนบาทถึงสามแสนบาท หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever commits theft by snatching property openly commits the offence of snatching and shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years and a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht.
Where the snatching causes harm to the body or mind of another person, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment from two to seven years and a fine from forty thousand to one hundred and forty thousand baht.
Where the snatching causes grievous bodily harm to another person, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment from three to ten years and a fine from sixty thousand to two hundred thousand baht.
Where the snatching causes the death of another person, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment from five to fifteen years and a fine from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand baht.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 336 defines snatching (wing rao sap) as theft committed by snatching property away openly in the presence of the owner. It shares the dishonest taking of another's property with theft under Section 334, but is distinguished by the open, sudden grabbing in the victim's presence, rather than a stealthy taking. The first paragraph sets the basic penalty of up to five years and a fine to 100,000 baht. The following paragraphs create result-aggravated forms: two to seven years where the snatching causes bodily or mental harm; three to ten years for grievous bodily harm; and five to fifteen years where it causes death. The offence sits between ordinary theft under Section 334 and robbery, which involves the use of force or threat, and it can be further aggravated by the vehicle provision in Section 336 bis.
Why this matters in practice
Snatching is not a compoundable offence, so compensation to the victim mitigates but does not end the case. The line between snatching and robbery matters greatly: if force or a threat of force is used to take the property, the more serious offence of robbery applies, whereas a purely open grab is snatching. Equally important is the line with embezzlement, where property already lawfully in the accused's possession is dishonestly converted; a charge framed as snatching may be reduced to embezzlement on the facts proved. The result-aggravated paragraphs carry heavy exposure, up to fifteen years where death results, so the causal link between the snatching and any harm is central at trial.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
-
Supreme Court Judgment No. 809/2568 (2025)
Where a charge of snatching and the facts proved of embezzlement do not differ in any material respect and the defendant is not misled in his defence, the court may convict of embezzlement under Section 352 on the facts established.
The defendant was charged with snatching under Sections 335 and 336, but the facts showed embezzlement. As the two did not differ materially and the defendant was not misled, the appellate court convicted of embezzlement under Section 352, which the Supreme Court upheld.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 109 Supreme Court decisions (1964 to 2025)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 4146/2562 (2019)
- Decision 7868/2560 (2017)
- Decision 2969/2556 (2013)
- Decision 1667/2555 (2012)
- Decision 112/2554 (2011)
- Decision 5441/2553 (2010)
- Decision 3612/2553 (2010)
- Decision 653/2553 (2010)
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 83 56
- Section 336/2 51
- Section 78 46
- Section 335 33
- Thai CrPC s. 192 24
- Section 334 24
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
What is the difference between snatching and robbery in Thailand?
Snatching under Section 336 is theft by openly grabbing property in the owner's presence without using force. If force or a threat of force is used to take the property, it becomes the more serious offence of robbery.
What if the snatching injures the victim?
The penalty increases with the harm: two to seven years for bodily or mental harm, three to ten years for grievous bodily harm, and five to fifteen years if the victim dies.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 336 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 336. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-336/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 336 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-336/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-336/"><p>Whoever commits theft by snatching property openly commits the offence of snatching and shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years and a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht. Where the snatching causes harm to the body or mind of another person, the…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 336 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-336/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.