Section 92: General recidivism, one-third increase
Statutory text (Thai original)
ผู้ใดต้องคำพิพากษาถึงที่สุดให้ลงโทษจำคุก ถ้าและได้กระทำความผิดใด ๆ อีกในระหว่างที่ยังจะต้องรับโทษอยู่ก็ดี ภายในเวลาห้าปีนับแต่วันพ้นโทษก็ดี หากศาลจะพิพากษาลงโทษครั้งหลังถึงจำคุก ก็ให้เพิ่มโทษที่จะลงแก่ผู้นั้นหนึ่งในสามของโทษที่ศาลกำหนดสำหรับความผิดครั้งหลัง
English translation
Whoever, having been finally sentenced to imprisonment, commits, while still undergoing the punishment or within five years from the date of release, an offence for which imprisonment may be imposed, shall, if the court is to impose imprisonment, have the punishment for the later offence increased by one third of the punishment fixed by the court 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 92 is the general recidivism provision in Book 1's chapter on repeat offences. Its elements are a prior final sentence of imprisonment, a fresh imprisonable offence committed within five years of release, and a court decision to impose imprisonment for the later offence; when these are met, the later punishment is increased by one third. It is the milder of the two enhancement rules: Section 93 imposes a one-half increase where the repeat offence falls in the same statutory category as the prior one. Both are read subject to Section 94, which excludes offences by negligence, petty offences, and offences committed while under eighteen from counting toward enhancement. The increase is calculated on the punishment the court fixes for the later offence.
Why this matters in practice
If you have a prior imprisonment sentence, a new charge within five years of release exposes you to an automatic one-third increase on top of the base sentence, so the prior record is a live sentencing factor, not just background. The prosecution normally must plead the enhancement and the defendant is usually asked to confirm identity with the person in the earlier case. Defences and mitigation still apply: negligent, petty, and under-eighteen prior offences do not count under Section 94, and a guilty plea can reduce the base before the one-third is added. If a prior conviction may be raised against you, review your record early; the firm can help with criminal records checks in Thailand.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 7491/2568 (2025)
Where a defendant with a prior imprisonment sentence commits a further imprisonable offence, the court adds a one-third increase to the base term under Section 92.
The defendant was convicted of a firearms offence and sentenced to one year. Because the conditions for recidivism were met, the court increased the term by one third under Section 92, making it one year and four months.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 399 Supreme Court decisions (1958 to 2026)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 7491/2568 (2025)
- Decision 33/2568 (2025)
- Decision 8583/2568 (2025)
- Decision 6187/2567 (2024)
- Decision 1855/2567 (2024)
- Decision 1016/2567 (2024)
- Decision 246/2567 (2024)
- Decision 226/2567 (2024)
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 78 282
- Section 91 192
- Section 83 192
- Section 90 112
- Section 33 104
- Section 29 86
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 extra punishment does Section 92 add?
Section 92 increases the punishment for the later offence by one third of the term the court fixes, where a prior imprisonment sentence and a new imprisonable offence within five years of release are shown.
Do all prior convictions count toward the increase?
No. Under Section 94, prior offences committed by negligence, petty offences, and offences committed while under eighteen do not count toward the enhancement under Section 92.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 92 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 92. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-92/ (accessed 17 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 92 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-92/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-92/"><p>Whoever, having been finally sentenced to imprisonment, commits, while still undergoing the punishment or within five years from the date of release, an offence for which imprisonment may be imposed, shall, if the court is to impose imprisonment, have the punishment for the later offence…</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 92 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-92/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.