Section 80: Attempt to commit an offence
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดลงมือกระทำความผิดแต่กระทำไปไม่ตลอด หรือกระทำไปตลอดแล้วแต่การกระทำนั้นไม่บรรลุผล ผู้นั้นพยายามกระทำความผิด ผู้ใดพยายามกระทำความผิด ผู้นั้นต้องระวางโทษสองในสามส่วนของโทษที่กฎหมายกำหนดไว้สำหรับความผิดนั้น
English translation
Whoever commences the commission of an offence but does not carry it through, or carries it through but the act does not achieve its result, that person attempts to commit the offence.
Whoever attempts to commit an offence shall be liable to two thirds of the punishment prescribed by law for that offence.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
This is the core attempt provision in Book 1, in the Title on Attempt. It has two elements: the offender must have commenced execution of the offence, moving beyond mere preparation, and the offence must remain incomplete either because the act was not carried through or because it was carried through but did not produce the intended result. Where those elements are met, the attempt is punished at two thirds of the completed-offence penalty. Section 80 is the ordinary attempt; it is distinguished from section 81, which deals with attempts that definitely cannot succeed and carries a lighter cap of one half, and from section 82, where voluntary desistance removes liability for the attempt. In serious offences such as attempted murder, the two-thirds rule under section 80 is regularly combined with related rules on foreseeability of the result.
Why this matters in practice
The dividing line between preparation and attempt is often the real battleground: liability under section 80 only begins once the accused has commenced execution, so evidence that conduct was still preparatory can defeat the charge. If an attempt is proved, the exposure is capped at two thirds of the completed-offence penalty, and further reductions for young offenders or mitigation under sections 75, 76 and 78 can bring it lower. For a factually impossible attempt, argue for the lighter treatment under section 81 instead; where the accused stopped of their own accord, argue section 82.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 6876/2568 (2025)
Where the offender can foresee that a shot may hit the victim, that constitutes an attempt to kill under section 80, even without seeing the person.
The defendant fired towards sounds of a person approaching the house. The court held the defendant could foresee that the bullet might strike the victim, who was the defendant's mother, so the conduct amounted to attempted murder of an ascendant under section 80 read with the aggravating provisions.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 1,785 Supreme Court decisions (1959 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 2182/2567 (2024)
- Decision 3129/2566 (2023)
- Decision 2979/2566 (2023)
- Decision 163/2565 (2022)
- Decision 3628/2564 (2021)
- Decision 2787/2564 (2021)
- Decision 339/2564 (2021)
- Decision 1465/2563 (2020)
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 288 1,189
- Section 91 863
- Section 78 798
- Section 83 786
- Section 90 580
- Section 33 432
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
What is the punishment for attempting a crime in Thailand?
Under section 80 an attempt is punished at two thirds of the penalty prescribed for the completed offence, and further reductions may apply for young offenders or mitigating circumstances.
What is the difference between preparation and attempt?
Attempt under section 80 requires the offender to have commenced committing the offence. Conduct that is still mere preparation, before execution begins, is not an attempt and generally is not punishable.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 80 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 80. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-80/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 80 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-80/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-80/"><p>Whoever commences the commission of an offence but does not carry it through, or carries it through but the act does not achieve its result, that person attempts to commit the offence. Whoever attempts to commit an offence shall be liable to two thirds of…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 80 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-80/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.