Section 82: Voluntary desistance from attempt
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดพยายามกระทำความผิด หากยับยั้งเสียเองไม่กระทำการให้ตลอด หรือกลับใจแก้ไขไม่ให้การกระทำนั้นบรรลุผล ผู้นั้นไม่ต้องรับโทษสำหรับการพยายามกระทำความผิดนั้น แต่ถ้าการที่ได้กระทำไปแล้วต้องตามบทกฎหมายที่บัญญัติเป็นความผิด ผู้นั้นต้องรับโทษสำหรับความผิดนั้น ๆ
English translation
Whoever, having commenced the commission of an offence, desists of his own accord from carrying it through, or turns back to prevent the act from achieving its result, shall not be punished for that attempt to commit the offence; but if what has already been done itself constitutes another completed offence, that person shall be punished for that other offence.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 82, in Book 1 within the Title on Attempt, rewards voluntary withdrawal. It has two limbs: desisting of one's own accord from carrying the offence through, and, where the act has already been completed, actively turning back to prevent it from achieving its result. In either case the offender bears no punishment for the attempt itself. The key word is voluntary: the offender must stop by choice, not because of an external obstacle or because the plan was frustrated. The proviso is important, it does not wipe the slate clean: whatever completed offence has already been committed along the way, such as an assault or property damage, remains punishable. It stands apart from section 80, where the attempt is punished, and section 81, where an impossible attempt is punished at a reduced rate.
Why this matters in practice
The practical prize under this section is complete escape from liability for the attempt, but it is available only where the withdrawal was genuinely voluntary and, in the second limb, active enough to prevent the result. Courts read voluntariness strictly: handing over an item to complete the plan, or stopping only because caught or thwarted, does not qualify. Even when the section applies, count on being charged for any completed offence already committed on the way to the abandoned goal, so the defence should map exactly which acts were finished and which were abandoned.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 334/2564 (2021)
Completing the intended act, rather than voluntarily desisting or turning back to prevent the result, does not fall within section 82 and does not excuse the offender.
The defendant argued no liability under section 82, but the court held that handing over the hard disk to unlock the trial software was carrying the act through, not a voluntary desistance or turning back to prevent the result, so section 82 did not apply.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 339/2564 (2021)
Desistance under Section 82 must be voluntary. Where the offender stopped only because of outside factors, here the child's physical immaturity and her pushing his hands away, that is not desisting of his own accord, and the exemption from punishment for the attempt does not apply.
The defendant attempted to rape a child on many occasions between the ages of about ten and thirteen, but never completed the act because she was physically immature and pushed his hands away. The Supreme Court held this was not voluntary desistance, so Section 82 gave him no exemption, and he was liable for attempted rape of a child under Section 277 paragraphs one and three (former) read with Section 80. The Court of Appeal Region 3, which had not punished him under those provisions, was reversed.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 26 Supreme Court decisions (1959 to 2023)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 339/2564 (2021)
- Decision 334/2564 (2021)
- Decision 6582/2551 (2008)
- Decision 3078/2537 (1994)
- Decision 5881/2533 (1990)
- Decision 2213/2530 (1987)
- Decision 1218/2530 (1987)
- Decision 7/2525 (1982)
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 11
- Section 80 10
- Section 78 10
- Section 83 8
- Section 90 6
- Section 288 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
If I stop a crime myself, am I still punished?
Under section 82, if you voluntarily desist or turn back to prevent the result, you are not punished for the attempt. But you remain liable for any separate offence already completed before you stopped.
Does stopping only because I was caught count under section 82?
No. Section 82 requires a voluntary withdrawal. Stopping because of an external obstacle, or because the plan was frustrated or discovered, does not qualify as desisting of one's own accord.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 82 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 82. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-82/ (accessed 21 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 82 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-82/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-82/"><p>Whoever, having commenced the commission of an offence, desists of his own accord from carrying it through, or turns back to prevent the act from achieving its result, shall not be punished for that attempt to commit the offence; but if what has already been…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 82 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-82/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.