Section 97: Prescription for preventive detention
Statutory text (Thai original)
ในการฟ้องขอให้กักกัน ถ้าจะฟ้องภายหลังการฟ้องคดีอันเป็นมูลให้เกิดอำนาจฟ้องขอให้กักกัน ต้องฟ้องภายในกำหนดหกเดือนนับแต่วันที่ฟ้องคดีนั้น มิฉะนั้น เป็นอันขาดอายุความ
English translation
A prosecution seeking an order of preventive detention is barred by prescription after six months counted from the date of filing the case in which preventive detention is sought.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 97 fixes the prescription period for a request for preventive detention (kakkan), a measure for safety rather than an ordinary punishment. Unlike the tiers in Section 95, this period is a single flat six months, and it runs not from the offence but from the date the underlying case in which detention is sought is filed. It complements Section 100, which separately bars enforcement of a preventive detention order not carried out within three years. Read together, these provisions confine both the seeking and the enforcing of preventive detention to defined time windows, reflecting that such measures are directed at future risk and lose their justification if not pursued promptly.
Why this matters in practice
Preventive detention is an added measure on top of a sentence, so its short six-month prescription is a practical limit worth checking whenever the prosecution seeks it: if the request is not made within six months of filing the underlying case, it falls away. For a defendant already facing enhancement or habitual-offender allegations, confirming that any detention request is timely is a concrete point to raise. Because preventive detention interacts with recidivism and sentencing strategy, it is best assessed with counsel who can review the timeline; you can book a consultation.
Cited in 13 Supreme Court decisions (1991 to 2024)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 6930/2561 (2018)
- Decision 1069/2547 (2004)
- Decision 1449/2544 (2001)
- Decision 2566/2534 (1991)
- Decision 5387/2547 (2004)
- Decision 5925/2537 (1994)
- Decision 3686/2566 (2023)
- Decision 3374/2566 (2023)
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 11
- Section 3 7
- Section 83 6
- Section 17 6
- Thai CrPC s. 159 6
- Section 92 6
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 long is the prescription period for seeking preventive detention?
Under Section 97 it is six months, counted from the date the case in which preventive detention is sought is filed.
Is preventive detention the same as a prison sentence?
No. Preventive detention is a safety measure aimed at future risk, not an ordinary punishment. Section 97 sets the deadline for seeking it, while Section 100 limits enforcing an order already made.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Penal Code, s. 97 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Penal Code (Thailand), s. 97. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-97/ (accessed 21 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.อ. มาตรา 97 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-97/ -
Embed on your site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-97/"><p>A prosecution seeking an order of preventive detention is barred by prescription after six months counted from the date of filing the case in which preventive detention is sought.</p><footer>Penal Code, s. 97 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-penal-code/section-97/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.