Section 357: Receiving stolen property
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดช่วยซ่อนเร้น ช่วยจำหน่าย ช่วยพาเอาไปเสีย ซื้อ รับจำนำหรือรับไว้โดยประการใดซึ่งทรัพย์อันได้มาโดยการกระทำความผิด ถ้าความผิดนั้นเข้าลักษณะลักทรัพย์ วิ่งราวทรัพย์ กรรโชก รีดเอาทรัพย์ ชิงทรัพย์ ปล้นทรัพย์ ฉ้อโกง ยักยอก หรือเจ้าพนักงานยักยอกทรัพย์ ผู้นั้นกระทำความผิดฐานรับของโจร ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินห้าปี หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งแสนบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ ถ้าการกระทำความผิดฐานรับของโจรนั้น ได้กระทำเพื่อค้ากำไรหรือได้กระทำต่อทรัพย์อันได้มาโดยการลักทรัพย์ตามมาตรา ๓๓๕ (๑๐) ชิงทรัพย์ หรือปล้นทรัพย์ ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่หกเดือนถึงสิบปี และปรับตั้งแต่หนึ่งหมื่นบาทถึงสองแสนบาท ถ้าการกระทำความผิดฐานรับของโจรนั้น ได้กระทำต่อทรัพย์อันได้มาโดยการลักทรัพย์ตามมาตรา ๓๓๕ ทวิ การชิงทรัพย์ตามมาตรา ๓๓๙ ทวิ หรือการปล้นทรัพย์ตามมาตรา ๓๔๐ ทวิ ผู้กระทำต้องระวางโทษจำคุกตั้งแต่ห้าปีถึงสิบห้าปี และปรับตั้งแต่หนึ่งแสนบาทถึงสามแสนบาท หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๑๖ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๖) พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๐]
English translation
Whoever assists in concealing, assists in disposing of, assists in taking away, purchases, accepts in pledge, or otherwise receives property obtained through the commission of an offence, where that offence falls within the description of theft, snatching, extortion, blackmail, robbery, gang-robbery, fraud, misappropriation, or misappropriation by an official, commits the offence of receiving stolen property and shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand baht, or both.
If the offence of receiving stolen property is committed for the purpose of trading for profit, or is committed in relation to property obtained by theft under Section 335(10), by robbery, or by gang-robbery, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment from six months to ten years and a fine from ten thousand baht to two hundred thousand baht.
If the offence of receiving stolen property is committed in relation to property obtained by theft under Section 335 bis, by robbery under Section 339 bis, or by gang-robbery under Section 340 bis, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment from five years to fifteen years and a fine from one hundred thousand baht to three hundred thousand baht.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
Section 357 defines receiving stolen property. Its elements are: the accused assisted in concealing, disposing of, or carrying away, or bought, took in pledge, or otherwise received property, that property was obtained through a predicate offence, and the predicate offence is one of the listed property offences (theft, snatching, extortion, blackmail, robbery, gang-robbery, cheating and fraud, misappropriation, or official misappropriation). Crucially, the offender must know the property came from one of those offences; innocent acquisition is not caught. It is a distinct offence from the underlying theft or fraud, and a person cannot be both the principal thief and the receiver of the very same property. The five-year maximum is heavier than simple theft, reflecting the role receivers play in sustaining property crime.
Why this matters in practice
The decisive issue in almost every receiving case is knowledge: the prosecution must prove the accused knew the goods were the proceeds of one of the listed offences, and a buyer who paid a fair price without suspicious circumstances has a strong defence. Exposure is significant at up to five years, heavier than ordinary theft, and unlike the property offences it protects, receiving is not compoundable, so the injured party cannot simply settle it away. Buyers of second-hand vehicles, phones, and machinery are common defendants, which makes documenting the source and price of a purchase important. See our overview of criminal law in Thailand.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 429/2567 (2024)
Receiving property obtained through an offence supports a conviction for receiving stolen property under Section 357 paragraph one, and it is distinct from an unlawful-possession charge that may be acquitted on its own footing.
The defendant was convicted of receiving stolen property under Section 357 paragraph one and sentenced to one year, while the separate charge of possessing another person's registered firearm without a licence was dismissed. The Supreme Court also confirmed the investigation was valid where the defendant had been informed of the alleged facts.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 540 Supreme Court decisions (1959 to 2025)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 3674/2568 (2025)
- Decision 429/2567 (2024)
- Decision 113/2566 (2023)
- Decision 2648/2565 (2022)
- Decision 1522/2565 (2022)
- Decision 1938/2564 (2021)
- Decision 8816/2563 (2020)
- Decision 8343/2561 (2018)
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 335 375
- Section 83 318
- Section 78 254
- Section 334 105
- Section 91 93
- Section 336/2 79
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
Do I have to know the property was stolen to be guilty?
Yes. The prosecution must prove you knew the property came from one of the listed offences such as theft or fraud. A buyer who acquired the goods honestly and without suspicious circumstances is not guilty.
Can the thief also be charged with receiving stolen property?
No. Receiving is a separate offence from the underlying theft or fraud, and the same person cannot be both the principal offender and the receiver of the same property.
Is receiving stolen property compoundable?
No. Unlike theft, fraud, and misappropriation, Section 357 is not listed as compoundable, so the injured party cannot simply settle and withdraw the case.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 357 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 357. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-357/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 357 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-357/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-357/"><p>Whoever assists in concealing, assists in disposing of, assists in taking away, purchases, accepts in pledge, or otherwise receives property obtained through the commission of an offence, where that offence falls within the description of theft, snatching, extortion, blackmail, robbery, gang-robbery, fraud, misappropriation, or misappropriation…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 357 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-357/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.