Section 388: Indecent exposure in public
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดกระทำการอันควรขายหน้าต่อหน้าธารกำนัล โดยเปลือยหรือเปิดเผยร่างกาย หรือกระทำการลามกอย่างอื่น ต้องระวางโทษปรับไม่เกินห้าพันบาท หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๖ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๒) พ.ศ. ๒๕๕๘]
English translation
Whoever commits a shameful act in public view by being naked, by exposing the body, or by any other obscene act shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand baht.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
The elements are (1) an act that is shameful, (2) done to phana kamnan, meaning in public view where ordinary people can see it, and (3) committed by nakedness, exposure of the body, or another obscene act. What the section requires is public visibility rather than a public place as such, so conduct visible from a road or a neighbouring building can qualify even where it takes place on private property, while the same conduct in genuinely private surroundings does not. The penalty is a fine only, not exceeding 5,000 baht, with no imprisonment available, which sets this section well apart from the serious sexual offences elsewhere in the Code. The rate was set by Section 6 of the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 22) B.E. 2558.
Why this matters in practice
This is the section a foreign visitor is most likely to meet over swimwear, urinating in public, or nudity at a beach or a hotel pool, and the exposure is limited to a 5,000 baht fine with no imprisonment. The contested element is almost always whether the act was in public view, so the practical questions are who could see it and from where. Note that photographing or streaming the act can attract separate and much heavier liability under the Computer Crime Act B.E. 2550 and the obscene-material provisions in Section 287, so the petty offence is rarely the whole picture.
Cited in 3 Supreme Court decisions (1963 to 2008)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 1069/2506 (1963)
- Decision 6668/2551 (2008)
- Decision 2207/2532 (1989)
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
Is public nudity a crime in Thailand?
Yes. Under Section 388, doing something shameful in public view by being naked, exposing the body, or committing another obscene act is a petty offence punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 baht.
Does Section 388 carry a prison sentence?
No. The only penalty is a fine not exceeding 5,000 baht, with no imprisonment available for this petty offence.
Does the act have to happen in a public place?
Not exactly. What the section requires is that the act be in public view, so conduct visible from a road or a neighbouring building can qualify even on private property, while the same conduct in genuinely private surroundings does not.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 388 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 388. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-388/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 388 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-388/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-388/"><p>Whoever commits a shameful act in public view by being naked, by exposing the body, or by any other obscene act shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand baht.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 388 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-388/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.