Section 84 — Instigating an offence
English translation
Whoever causes another person to commit an offence, whether by employing, compelling, threatening, hiring, requesting, or instigating and encouraging, or by any other means, is an instigator.
If the person instigated commits the offence, the instigator shall be punished as a principal. If the offence is not committed, whether because the person instigated refuses to act, has not yet acted, or for any other reason, the instigator shall be liable to only one third of the punishment prescribed 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
Section 84, in Book 1 within the Title on Principals and Supporters, defines and grades the instigator, the person who sets another in motion to commit an offence. The means are drawn broadly, from employing, compelling and threatening to hiring, requesting, inciting, or any other method, so the essence is causing another's criminal act rather than the particular form of pressure. Liability is graded by result: if the person instigated actually commits the offence, the instigator is punished as a principal, the same as under section 83; but if the offence is not committed at all, whether the person refuses, has not yet acted, or for any other reason, the instigator faces only one third of the penalty. It sits alongside section 85 (public advertisement to commit an offence) and section 86 (supporting), and is read together with section 87 where the person instigated goes beyond the scope of the instigation.
Why this matters in practice
The instigator's exposure turns sharply on whether the offence was actually carried out: full principal-level punishment if it was, but only one third if the instigated person never committed it. That makes proof of the causal link, that the accused's words or pressure caused the other person's act, the heart of both prosecution and defence. Because the instigator can be punished as a principal, ordering or hiring someone to commit a serious crime carries the same weight as doing it personally. Where the person instigated overshot the plan, section 87 limits the instigator's liability to what was instigated, unless the excess was foreseeable.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 613/2567 (2024)
Section 84 covers instigating another to commit an offence, such as prosecuting a person for causing another to commit arson under sections 84 and 220.
The decision refers to a related criminal case in which a person was prosecuted, under section 84 read with section 220, for causing another to commit the offence of setting fire to property. The prosecution failed on the evidence, but the case illustrates the form of a section 84 instigation charge.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Frequently asked questions
Is hiring someone to commit a crime punished as seriously as doing it?
Yes, if the crime is committed. Under section 84 an instigator, including someone who hires or requests another, is punished as a principal when the person instigated actually commits the offence.
What if the person instigated never commits the offence?
Under section 84, if the offence is not committed, whether the person refuses, has not yet acted, or for any other reason, the instigator is liable to only one third of the penalty for that offence.