Section 343: Fraud on the public

Firm annotation

Section 343 is a qualified form of the fraud offence in Section 341, not a separate one. Every element of Section 341 must be present: dishonestly deceiving by asserting a false statement or by concealing a fact which should be disclosed, and by that deception obtaining property, or causing the person deceived or a third person to make, revoke or destroy a document of right. What Section 343 adds is the audience. The false statement must be asserted to the public, or the concealed fact must be one which should be disclosed to the public. It is the mode of address that makes the offence public, not the number of people who were actually taken in, so a fraudulent public advertisement or prospectus is within the section even if only one investor parted with money. Paragraph one carries up to five years, or a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both, against three years and 60,000 baht for ordinary fraud. Paragraph two applies where the offence also has one of the characteristics in Section 342, namely impersonating another person or taking advantage of the lack of intelligence of a child or the weakness of mind of the person deceived, and raises the penalty to six months to seven years and a fine from 10,000 to 140,000 baht, both imposed. The most important consequence is procedural. Section 348 makes the offences in this Chapter compoundable with one exception, and the exception is Section 343. Fraud on the public therefore cannot be settled between the parties and proceeds as a public prosecution however fully the victims are repaid. The current rates were set by Section 4 of the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 26) B.E. 2560.