Section 45: Post-release zone prohibition
Statutory text (Thai original)
เมื่อศาลพิพากษาให้ลงโทษผู้ใด และศาลเห็นสมควรเพื่อความปลอดภัยของประชาชน ไม่ว่าจะมีคำขอหรือไม่ ศาลอาจสั่งในคำพิพากษาว่าเมื่อผู้นั้นพ้นโทษตามคำพิพากษาแล้ว ห้ามมิให้ผู้นั้นเข้าในเขตกำหนดเป็นเวลาไม่เกินห้าปี
English translation
When the court passes a sentence of punishment on any person, if the court is of the opinion that releasing that person will cause harm to arise in any locality or place, the court may order that person prohibited from entering the specified locality or place for a period not exceeding five years from the date of release from punishment.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 45 gives the court power to impose the safety measure defined in Section 44 as part of a sentence. Two elements must be met: the person is being sentenced to punishment, and the court forms the view that releasing the person will cause harm in a particular locality or place. The ban runs for a period the court sets, capped at five years, counted from the date of release from the punishment rather than from the judgment. It is a forward-looking protective measure, not additional punishment, and its geographic scope is limited to the place specified.
Why this matters in practice
This ban is imposed at the court's discretion when it fears further harm in a specific place, and it only begins to run after release, so it can extend a person's restrictions well beyond the prison term. Because it is a discretionary safety measure, defense submissions on the age, conduct, and circumstances of the offender can matter to whether the court imposes it. If a post-release ban is being sought against you, preparing for the court hearing with counsel is advisable.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 1554/2539 (1996)
When sentencing an offender, the court may be asked under Section 45 to bar the person from entering a specified place, such as Buddhist temples and places of religious worship, for not more than five years from release.
In a case of stealing Buddha images from a temple, the prosecution invoked Section 45 seeking an order barring a defendant from entering temples or Buddhist places of worship for not more than five years from release. The decision itself turned mainly on whether the stolen image was an object of public worship under Section 335 bis.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 4 Supreme Court decisions (1989 to 2023)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 4200/2535 (1992)
- Decision 2421/2532 (1989)
- Decision 911/2566 (2023)
- Decision 4393/2565 (2022)
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
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
How long can a post-release zone ban last in Thailand?
Under Section 45 the ban may last for a period the court sets, but not more than five years counted from the date the person is released from punishment.
Is a zone ban under Section 45 an extra punishment?
No. It is a safety measure the court may add when it believes releasing the person would cause harm in a particular place, not an additional criminal penalty.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 45 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 45. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-45/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 45 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-45/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-45/"><p>When the court passes a sentence of punishment on any person, if the court is of the opinion that releasing that person will cause harm to arise in any locality or place, the court may order that person prohibited from entering the specified locality or…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 45 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-45/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.