Section 78: Mitigating circumstances
Statutory text (Thai original)
เมื่อปรากฏว่ามีเหตุบรรเทาโทษ ไม่ว่าจะได้มีการเพิ่มหรือการลดโทษตามบทบัญญัติแห่งประมวลกฎหมายนี้หรือกฎหมายอื่นแล้วหรือไม่ ถ้าศาลเห็นสมควรจะลดโทษไม่เกินกึ่งหนึ่งของโทษที่จะลงแก่ผู้กระทำความผิดนั้นก็ได้ เหตุบรรเทาโทษนั้น ได้แก่ผู้กระทำความผิดเป็นผู้โฉดเขลาเบาปัญญาตกอยู่ในความทุกข์อย่างสาหัส มีคุณความดีมาแต่ก่อน รู้สึกความผิดและพยายามบรรเทาผลร้ายแห่งความผิดนั้น ลุแก่โทษต่อเจ้าพนักงานหรือให้ความรู้แก่ศาลอันเป็นประโยชน์แก่การพิจารณา หรือเหตุอื่นที่ศาลเห็นว่ามีลักษณะทำนองเดียวกัน
English translation
When it appears that there are mitigating circumstances, whether or not there has been an increase or reduction of punishment under the provisions of this Code or of any other law, if the court thinks fit it may reduce the punishment to be imposed on the offender by not more than one half.
Such mitigating circumstances include: the offender being ignorant and of feeble understanding, being in grievous distress, having previously had good conduct, feeling remorse and endeavouring to mitigate the injurious consequences of the offence, surrendering to the official, or giving the court information that is beneficial, or any other circumstance that the court considers to be of a similar nature.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Sitting in Book 1 within the Title on Criminal Liability, this is the general mitigation provision applied at the final stage of sentencing. It operates independently of, and on top of, any increase or reduction of punishment elsewhere, so a court can apply a scale reduction under sections 75 or 76 and then still allow a further reduction of up to one half here. The listed circumstances are illustrative, not exhaustive: the closing words let the court treat any circumstance of a similar nature as mitigating. In everyday practice the most common ground is a guilty plea or useful cooperation, treated as giving the court beneficial information and as an endeavour to mitigate the consequences. It is distinct from the mandatory age-based reductions and from the mitigating factors that go to the substantive offence.
Why this matters in practice
This is the section that most often narrows a real sentence, so shaping the mitigation is a central part of defence work: a guilty plea, restitution to the victim, surrender, and a clean prior record all fit the listed grounds. The reduction is discretionary and capped at one half, and courts commonly grant one third for a plea and up to one half where remorse and repair are strong. Because it applies whether or not other adjustments have been made, it stacks on the mandatory reductions for young offenders under sections 75 and 76. Consider taking early advice on how to present mitigation before the hearing; see what to know before you go to court in Thailand.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 2107/2568 (2025)
A defendant's useful presentation of evidence is a mitigating circumstance under section 78, warranting a reduction of the punishment, here by one third.
The defendant was convicted of assault under section 295 and sentenced to six months. Finding the defendant's presentation of evidence beneficial to the proceedings as a mitigating circumstance, the court reduced the punishment by one third under section 78 to four months, and the appellate court affirmed.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 6,875 Supreme Court decisions (1963 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 157/2569 (2026)
- Decision 914/2569 (2026)
- Decision 736/2569 (2026)
- Decision 7491/2568 (2025)
- Decision 7430/2568 (2025)
- Decision 6267/2568 (2025)
- Decision 5398/2568 (2025)
- Decision 3817/2568 (2025)
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 3,610
- Section 83 2,769
- Section 90 2,064
- Section 29 2,033
- Section 30 1,916
- Section 33 1,769
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 much can a court reduce a sentence for mitigating circumstances?
Under section 78 the court may, if it thinks fit, reduce the punishment to be imposed by not more than one half. A guilty plea commonly earns about one third, and strong remorse and repair can reach one half.
Is a guilty plea a mitigating circumstance under section 78?
Yes. A guilty plea or useful cooperation is treated as giving the court beneficial information and an effort to mitigate the consequences, both listed grounds, so it commonly leads to a reduction under section 78.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 78 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 78. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-78/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 78 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-78/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-78/"><p>When it appears that there are mitigating circumstances, whether or not there has been an increase or reduction of punishment under the provisions of this Code or of any other law, if the court thinks fit it may reduce the punishment to be imposed on…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 78 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-78/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.