Section 392: Causing fear by threat
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดทำให้ผู้อื่นเกิดความกลัว หรือความตกใจ โดยการขู่เข็ญ ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินหนึ่งเดือน หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ หมายเหตุ: [อัตราโทษ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๖ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา (ฉบับที่ ๒๒) พ.ศ. ๒๕๕๘]
English translation
Whoever causes another person to be frightened or alarmed by threatening shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding one month, or a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht, or both.
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 an act of threatening or intimidation and a resulting state of fear or alarm in the victim. As a petty offence it is distinguished from coercion under Section 309 and extortion under Section 337, both of which require that the threat compel the victim to do, refrain from, or submit to something, or to hand over a benefit; Section 392 requires no demand or result beyond the inducement of fear itself. Where a weapon is pointed only to frighten the victim, without intent to kill or injure, the conduct can amount to this offence rather than attempted murder. It is compoundable under Section 395.
Why this matters in practice
Penalty exposure is minor and the offence is compoundable under Section 395, so the complainant may settle. A key procedural lesson from the case below is that a court cannot convict under Section 392 unless the prosecution has both pleaded the intimidating conduct in the complaint and requested punishment for it, even where the evidence clearly shows the victim was frightened. This section is commonly relevant in disputes where a weapon is brandished or a person is menaced. For an overview, see our guide to Thai criminal law.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 4404/2564 (2021)
Pointing a firearm at a person merely to intimidate and frighten them, without intent to kill, is not attempted murder but may constitute causing fear by threat under Section 392; however, a court cannot convict under Section 392 where the prosecution neither described that conduct in the complaint nor requested it in the prayer.
The Supreme Court found that the defendant aimed a gun at the victim only to threaten and frighten, so the attempted-murder conviction could not stand. Although the act would amount to an offence under Section 392, the prosecution had not pleaded it in the complaint or sought it in the prayer, so no punishment under Section 392 could be imposed.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 49 Supreme Court decisions (1960 to 2025)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 4404/2564 (2021)
- Decision 3116/2558 (2015)
- Decision 7685/2553 (2010)
- Decision 4722/2550 (2007)
- Decision 5385/2544 (2001)
- Decision 1203/2542 (1999)
- Decision 924/2542 (1999)
- Decision 6496/2541 (1998)
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 91 35
- Section 90 24
- Section 371 20
- Section 78 20
- Section 83 17
- Section 29 14
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
Is pointing a gun at someone to scare them a crime under Section 392?
Yes. Aiming a firearm at a person only to intimidate and frighten them, without intent to kill, can constitute causing fear by threat under Section 392 rather than attempted murder.
How is Section 392 different from extortion?
Section 392 only requires that the threat cause fear, while extortion under Section 337 requires that the threat compel the victim to hand over property or a benefit, and carries a much heavier penalty.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 392 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 392. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-392/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 392 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-392/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-392/"><p>Whoever causes another person to be frightened or alarmed by threatening shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding one month, or a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht, or both.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 392 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-392/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.