Section 348: Fraud offences are compoundable
Statutory text (Thai original)
ความผิดในหมวดนี้ นอกจากความผิดตามมาตรา ๓๔๓ เป็นความผิดอันยอมความได้
English translation
The offences in this Chapter, other than the offence under Section 343, are compoundable offences.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 348 is a penalty-enhancement provision applying across the fraud offences under Sections 341 to 345. It raises the penalty where the fraud is carried out by impersonating another person or by exploiting the feeble-mindedness of the person deceived, and where that method results in the offender obtaining more property than would be the case normally. The enhancement therefore builds on any of the listed base fraud offences plus one of the two aggravating means and a heightened result. It reflects the greater culpability of using a false identity or preying on a vulnerable victim to extract a larger gain, and it carries the higher five-year penalty band rather than the three-year band of base fraud.
Why this matters in practice
Exposure rises to five years compared with three years for base fraud, so the enhancement materially increases sentencing risk. Because it operates on the underlying fraud offences, whether the case can be settled depends on the base section charged and the compoundability rule that governs it. A defence will often contest the aggravating features: whether the accused genuinely impersonated another, whether the victim's feeble-mindedness was actually exploited, and whether the method truly produced a larger-than-normal gain. Anyone facing a charge that stacks Section 348 onto a base fraud section should get advice early. See our guide to fraud and scam laws in Thailand.
Cited in 5 Supreme Court decisions (1958 to 2022)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 747/2565 (2022)
- Decision 11732/2557 (2014)
- Decision 1221/2515 (1972)
- Decision 1341/2501 (1958)
- Decision 4752/2545 (2002)
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
When does Section 348 increase the penalty for fraud?
When fraud under Sections 341 to 345 is committed by impersonating another person or by exploiting the feeble-mindedness of the victim, resulting in obtaining more property than normal.
What is the penalty under Section 348?
Imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht, or both, higher than the base fraud penalty.
Can a case under Section 348 be settled?
Because the enhancement operates on the underlying fraud offences under Sections 341 to 345, whether it can be settled depends on the base section charged and its compoundability rule.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 348 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 348. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-348/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 348 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-348/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-348/"><p>The offences in this Chapter, other than the offence under Section 343, are compoundable offences.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 348 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-348/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.