Section 37: Enforcement of forfeiture orders
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าผู้ที่ศาลสั่งให้ส่งทรัพย์สินที่ริบไม่ส่งภายในเวลาที่ศาลกำหนด ให้ศาลมีอำนาจสั่งดังต่อไปนี้ (๑) ให้ยึดทรัพย์สินนั้น (๒) ให้ชำระราคาหรือสั่งยึดทรัพย์สินอื่นของผู้นั้นชดใช้ราคาจนเต็ม หรือ (๓) ในกรณีที่ศาลเห็นว่า ผู้นั้นจะส่งทรัพย์สินที่สั่งให้ส่งได้ แต่ไม่ส่ง หรือชำระราคาทรัพย์สินนั้นได้ แต่ไม่ชำระ ให้ศาลมีอำนาจกักขังผู้นั้นไว้จนกว่าจะปฏิบัติตามคำสั่ง แต่ไม่เกินหนึ่งปี แต่ถ้าภายหลังปรากฏแก่ศาลเอง หรือโดยคำเสนอของผู้นั้นว่า ผู้นั้นไม่สามารถส่งทรัพย์สินหรือชำระราคาได้ ศาลจะสั่งให้ปล่อยตัวผู้นั้นไปก่อนครบกำหนดก็ได้
English translation
If a person whom the court has ordered to deliver forfeited property fails to deliver it within the time set by the court, the court has the power to order as follows:
(1) to seize that property;
(2) to have the value paid, or to seize other property of that person to pay the value;
(3) where the court is of the opinion that the person is able to deliver the property ordered to be delivered but does not do so, or is able to pay the value but does not pay, the court may order that person detained until compliance with the order, but not exceeding one year. However, if it later appears to the court itself, or on the submission of that person, that the person is unable to deliver the property or pay the value, the court may order the person released before the full term.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 37 supplies the enforcement machinery behind a forfeiture order where the property itself is not surrendered. Its three measures escalate: seizure of the item, substitution by paying or seizing assets for its value, and, only where the person can comply but will not, coercive detention capped at one year. The detention is compliance-driven, not punitive, so the court must release the person early if delivery or payment turns out to be genuinely impossible. It operates downstream of the forfeiture powers in Sections 32 to 34 and the vesting rule in Section 35.
Why this matters in practice
If a court has ordered you to hand over forfeited property, ignoring the order can escalate to seizure of that item, seizure of your other assets for its value, or detention of up to one year if the court finds you can comply but refuse. The key defense to detention is genuine inability: if you truly cannot deliver the property or pay its value, tell the court, which can order early release. Detention here enforces compliance and is not an additional criminal penalty.
Cited in 15 Supreme Court decisions (1962 to 2018)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 8967/2561 (2018)
- Decision 3073/2545 (2002)
- Decision 2741/2544 (2001)
- Decision 140/2536 (1993)
- Decision 2280/2521 (1978)
- Decision 804/2505 (1962)
- Decision 2871/2561 (2018)
- Decision 7898/2554 (2011)
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 33 8
- Section 78 7
- Section 29 7
- Section 30 6
- Section 371 5
- Section 90 5
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
What if someone refuses to hand over property the court ordered forfeited?
Under Section 37 the court may seize the property, order its value paid or seize other assets, or detain a person who can comply but refuses for up to one year.
Can you be jailed for not surrendering forfeited property?
Only if the court finds you are able to comply but will not; the detention lasts up to one year and ends early if compliance becomes genuinely impossible.
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 37 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 37. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-37/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 37 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-37/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-37/"><p>If a person whom the court has ordered to deliver forfeited property fails to deliver it within the time set by the court, the court has the power to order as follows: (1) to seize that property; (2) to have the value paid, or to…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 37 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-37/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.