Section 345: Taking food or lodging unable to pay

Firm annotation

Section 345 is a narrow offence directed at a specific situation: the customer who runs up a bill knowing from the outset that he cannot meet it. Its elements are (1) ordering and consuming food or drink, or taking accommodation in a hotel, and (2) knowing, at the time, that he is unable to pay for it. The timing of the knowledge is the whole of the offence. A person who could pay when he ordered and later found that he could not has not committed it, and neither has a person who can pay but simply refuses to, which is a civil debt and possibly a matter for Section 341 if there was a deception. No deception is required here, which is exactly why the section exists: without it, the diner who says nothing false has told no lie to found a fraud charge. The penalty is up to three months, or a fine of up to 5,000 baht, or both, one of the lightest in the Code, and it reflects the fact that the loss is usually small and the real remedy is the bill. Section 348 makes the offences in this Chapter compoundable other than Section 343, so a settled bill ends the case, and Section 96 requires any complaint to be lodged within three months of the injured person learning of the offence and the offender. The current rates were set by Section 4 of the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 26) B.E. 2560.