Section 347: Insurance property fraud
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดเพื่อให้ตนเองหรือผู้อื่นได้รับประโยชน์จากการประกันวินาศภัย แกล้งทำให้เกิดเสียหายแก่ทรัพย์สินอันเป็นวัตถุที่เอาประกันภัย ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินห้าปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งแสนบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๔ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever, in order that he or another person may obtain a benefit under non-life insurance, wilfully causes damage to property which is the subject matter of the insurance, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 347 addresses insurance fraud at the claim stage, in the cheating and fraud chapter. Its elements are an act that wilfully causes damage to property which is the subject matter of non-life insurance, done in order that the offender or another person may obtain a benefit under that insurance. Unlike Section 341, no deception of a specific victim is required as the core element; the wrongdoing is the deliberate harming of the insured property with the intent to trigger a payout. Deceiving the insurer itself, for instance at inception or in the claim documents, is ordinary cheating under Section 341, not this section; Section 343 is a different provision altogether, aimed at fraud committed by asserting a false statement to the public or concealing a fact which should be disclosed to the public, and it has nothing to do with insurers. The offence under Section 347 is complete on the damaging act done with the requisite intent.
Why this matters in practice
Exposure runs up to five years or a fine, or both. Because the offence turns on the purpose of obtaining an insurance benefit, proving intent is central, and cases often rest on the circumstances of the loss, the policy coverage and the claim that follows. A defence may contest whether the damage was deliberate rather than accidental, or whether it was done with the aim of claiming insurance. Such conduct is frequently charged together with related offences where forged documents or false claims are involved. Anyone facing such a charge should preserve the policy, the claim file and evidence about how the loss occurred. See our guide to fraud and scam laws in Thailand.
Cited in 4 Supreme Court decisions (1988 to 2017)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 5501/2560 (2017)
- Decision 4168/2536 (1993)
- Decision 1188/2531 (1988)
- Decision 429/2535 (1992)
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.
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 conduct does Section 347 punish?
It punishes damaging, destroying, reducing the value of, or rendering useless insured property in order to obtain a non-life insurance benefit for oneself or another person.
What is the penalty under Section 347?
Imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht, or both.
How does Section 347 differ from Section 343?
They are not a matched pair. Section 347 punishes wilfully damaging insured property in order to obtain a non-life insurance benefit, so it targets manufacturing the loss. Section 343 is fraud on the PUBLIC: cheating under Section 341 committed by asserting a false statement to the public, or by concealing a fact which should be disclosed to the public. It says nothing about insurers. Deceiving an insurer, whether at inception or in the claim, is ordinary cheating under Section 341.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 347 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 347. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-347/ (accessed 6 September 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 347 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-347/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-347/"><p>Whoever, in order that he or another person may obtain a benefit under non-life insurance, wilfully causes damage to property which is the subject matter of the insurance, shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 347 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-347/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.