Section 397: Bullying, harassment or nuisance
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดกระทำด้วยประการใด ๆ ต่อผู้อื่น อันเป็นการรังแก ข่มเหง คุกคาม หรือกระทำให้ได้รับความอับอายหรือเดือดร้อนรำคาญ ต้องระวางโทษปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งหมื่นบาท
ถ้าการกระทำความผิดตามวรรคหนึ่งเป็นการกระทำในที่สาธารณสถานหรือต่อหน้าธารกำนัล ต้องระวางโทษจำคุกไม่เกินหนึ่งเดือน หรือปรับไม่เกินหนึ่งหมื่นบาท หรือทั้งจำทั้งปรับ
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
English translation
Whoever, by any means, does an act to another person that bullies, oppresses or harasses that person, or causes that person to be humiliated or annoyed, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht.
Where the offence under paragraph one is committed in a public place or in the presence of others, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding one month, or a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht, or both.
ThaiLawOnline translation, written from the Thai original and verified
Firm annotation
The elements are any act of bullying, oppression, threatening or harassment, or causing annoyance or nuisance to another, done without reasonable cause. Paragraph one is fine-only, while paragraph two makes commission in a public place an aggravated form that adds imprisonment of up to one month. The current text lists คุกคาม (threatening or harassment) among the prohibited acts and includes the public-place variant, a broader wording than earlier versions of the provision applied in older decisions. It is distinguished from continuous harassment under Section 394, which requires continuity, and from causing fear by threat under Section 392. The offence is compoundable under Section 398.
Why this matters in practice
Paragraph one is fine-only, but the public-place form in paragraph two adds jail exposure, so where the harassment occurs, a street, market, or other public place, matters to the penalty. The offence is compoundable under Section 398, so the injured person controls the case and may settle. It is commonly used for harassment, nuisance, and threatening or menacing conduct that does not reach the level of assault or a threat causing fear. A complainant should be ready to show the absence of reasonable cause. For general context, see our guide to Thai criminal law.
Cited in 16 Supreme Court decisions (1960 to 2024)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 6046-6048/2567 (2024)
- Decision 9811/2551 (2008)
- Decision 2874/2528 (1985)
- Decision 1908/2518 (1975)
- Decision 3098/2566 (2023)
- Decision 1398/2506 (1963)
- Decision 12983/2558 (2015)
- Decision 388/2505 (1962)
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 29 7
- Section 30 7
- Section 393 7
- Section 91 5
- Section 90 4
- Section 78 4
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 harassment or catcalling in public a crime under Section 397?
Bullying, threatening, or causing nuisance to another without reasonable cause is punishable under Section 397, and committing it in a public place raises the penalty to up to one month imprisonment or a 10,000 baht fine.
Why does committing the offence in a public place matter?
Paragraph one alone carries only a fine of up to 10,000 baht, but paragraph two makes the same conduct in a public place an aggravated offence that adds up to one month imprisonment.
Is a Section 397 charge compoundable?
Yes. Section 398 makes the offence under Section 397 compoundable, so the injured person may settle and withdraw the complaint before final judgment.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 397 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 397. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-397/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 397 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-397/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-397/"><p>Whoever, by any means, does an act to another person that bullies, oppresses or harasses that person, or causes that person to be humiliated or annoyed, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand baht. Where the offence under paragraph one is committed…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 397 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-397/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.