Section 58: Activation of suspended punishment on reoffending
Statutory text (Thai original)
เมื่อความปรากฏแก่ศาลเอง หรือความปรากฏตามคำแถลงของโจทก์หรือเจ้าพนักงานว่า ภายในเวลาที่ศาลกำหนดตามมาตรา ๕๖ ผู้ที่ถูกศาลพิพากษาได้กระทำความผิดอันมิใช่ความผิดที่ได้กระทำโดยประมาทหรือความผิดลหุโทษ และศาลพิพากษาให้ลงโทษจำคุกสำหรับความผิดนั้น ให้ศาลที่พิพากษาคดีหลังกำหนดโทษที่รอการกำหนดไว้ในคดีก่อนบวกเข้ากับโทษในคดีหลัง หรือบวกโทษที่รอการลงโทษไว้ในคดีก่อนเข้ากับโทษในคดีหลัง แล้วแต่กรณี[๓๓] แต่ถ้าภายในเวลาที่ศาลได้กำหนดตามมาตรา ๕๖ ผู้นั้นมิได้กระทำความผิดดังกล่าวมาในวรรคแรก ให้ผู้นั้นพ้นจากการที่จะถูกกำหนดโทษ หรือถูกลงโทษในคดีนั้น แล้วแต่กรณี
English translation
When it appears to the Court itself, or upon the statement of the public prosecutor or of a competent official, that within the time fixed by the Court under Section 56 the person upon whom judgment was passed has committed an offence which is not an offence committed through negligence or a petty offence, and the Court passes a sentence of imprisonment for that offence, the Court trying the later case shall determine the punishment which was reserved from determination in the earlier case and add it to the punishment in the later case, or shall add the punishment the execution of which was suspended in the earlier case to the punishment in the later case, as the case may be.
But if, within the time fixed by the Court under Section 56, that person has not committed an offence as mentioned in the first paragraph, that person shall be relieved from having the punishment determined, or from undergoing the punishment, in that case, as the case may be.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 58 sits in Book 1 under Punishments and Measures of Safety and completes the suspended-sentence regime begun in Section 56. It fixes the consequence of breaching probation: a qualifying reoffence within the period set by the earlier court triggers determination of the punishment that was left undetermined, or execution of the punishment whose execution was suspended, in addition to the new sentence. Offences committed through negligence and petty offences do not count. Completing the fixed period without a qualifying offence discharges the reserved punishment entirely.
Why this matters in practice
For anyone under a suspended sentence, Section 58 is the reason a fresh conviction during the probation period can revive the earlier prison term on top of the new one. Only an offence that is neither negligent nor petty, and for which the later court passes a sentence of imprisonment, triggers it, so the exposure turns on the nature of the new offence rather than on any fresh application by the prosecutor. Serving out the full period fixed under Section 56 with a clean record wipes out the reserved punishment. Anyone facing a second charge while on a suspended sentence should take early advice from a Thai lawyer on the combined exposure.
Cited in 383 Supreme Court decisions (1965 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 5073/2566 (2023)
- Decision 3546/2566 (2023)
- Decision 1824/2565 (2022)
- Decision 1142/2565 (2022)
- Decision 534/2563 (2020)
- Decision 11/2561 (2018)
- Decision 5307/2560 (2017)
- Decision 1095-1096/2560 (2017)
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 78 288
- Section 91 211
- Section 83 197
- Section 33 126
- Section 90 114
- Section 29 106
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
Does a negligence or traffic conviction activate my suspended sentence?
No. Section 58 excludes offences committed through negligence and petty offences; only an intentional, non-petty offence punished with imprisonment can activate the earlier suspended punishment.
What happens if I complete the probation period without reoffending?
Under Section 58, if you commit no qualifying offence within the time fixed under Section 56, you are discharged from the punishment that was reserved or suspended.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 58 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 58. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-58/ (accessed 20 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 58 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-58/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-58/"><p>When it appears to the Court itself, or upon the statement of the public prosecutor or of a competent official, that within the time fixed by the Court under Section 56 the person upon whom judgment was passed has committed an offence which is not…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 58 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-58/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.