Thai Legal Studies (2024) Vol. 4 No. 2 | 255–259
https://doi.org/10.54157/tls.277989
© 2024 by Lasse Schuldt

This is an open access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Book Review

Thai Criminal Law

Ronnakorn Bunmee
LexisNexis (2024)
478 pp., ISBN 978-981-5225-25-9

Reviewed by Lasse Schuldt*

Thai Criminal Law by Ronnakorn Bunmee is the most recent addition to the growing number of English-language textbooks on Thai law.¹ The book covers the general rules and principles of criminal law as well as selected offenses. It therefore departs from the more traditional practice of publishing a book on the general part and a separate volume on specific offenses.² While it is not the first English book on the subject,³ Thai Criminal Law provides the best English-language explanation and discussion so far and is likely to become the key resource for students in Thailand’s English-language law programs.⁴ In the acknowledgments, Ronnakorn expresses the hope that the book would serve “as a valuable tool for both students and practitioners of criminal law, and for anyone interested in the nuances of Thai and comparative criminal law.” The well-written textbook indeed appears most suitable for legal education on undergraduate and graduate levels. Its engaging style gives readers the feeling of attending one of Ronnakorn’s popular criminal law lectures at Thammasat University.

The book consists of a short introductory chapter on the context, history and sources of Thai criminal law (Chapter 1), ten in-depth chapters on general rules and principles (Chapters 2–11), and five chapters on selected offenses (Chapters 12–16). The table of contents is followed by a table of cases, whose remarkable length reflects not only the impressive amount of Thai Supreme Court decisions processed by the author, but also the continued relevance of court cases for the application and interpretation of Thai criminal law. As far as other domestic, foreign and international decisions are referenced throughout the book, they are listed here as well. A table of legislation facilitates retrieving specific sections and paragraphs of the Penal Code and other laws. A detailed index at the end of the book is particularly helpful to navigate the material. Ronnakorn’s careful English translation of the Penal Code’s entire First Book, as well as of various specific offenses from Books 2 and 3, deserves particular mention. Not only is the translation of high quality, it also closes an availability gap as the Office of the Council of State does not currently provide a translation of the Thai Penal Code;⁵ most other online sources are of dubious quality, and previous published translations have become outdated.⁶

Chapter 1 provides a short introduction to the overall subject and discusses different views on the purposes of punishment, before it moves to a brief overview of the history of criminal law in Thailand.⁷ These snapshots deserve to be expanded in future editions of the book. Some readers may be interested in more detailed accounts of how the subject of criminal law has been conceived of in Thailand from past to present, including more references to the views of Thai scholars in this regard. The compressed historical account of the pre-modern period sheds some light on criminal punishment in Ayutthaya, but Ronnakorn advances quickly to the making of the Three Seals Code in 1804. Here, a few more words about the concept and content of traditional Siamese criminal law and its legacy for the current Thai system would be welcome. The chapter then moves through the era of modernization that saw the introduction of foreign legal concepts and provisions under the Kings Rama IV and Rama V in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. But the fusion between Siamese, English and continental ideas, encapsulated in the 1908 Penal Code, and the continued reflection of such legal transfers in today’s law, deserve additional space as readers might be unfamiliar with these historic developments. Chapter 1 then concludes with an overview of the sources of criminal law in Thailand and the classification of offenses.

Chapters 2–11 cover the general part of Thai criminal law: application, acts and omissions, causation, the mental elements, justification, excuse, mistake, attempt, participation, and mitigating circumstances. These chapters are a delightful read for every student of criminal law. They contain numerous illustrations and case scenarios, for example on Thai territorial jurisdiction,⁸ tricky problems of causation,⁹ or the conditions and limits of self-defense.¹⁰ One of the book’s strengths is clearly the skillful presentation and discussion of relevant Supreme Court cases. Rather than reproducing lengthy passages from key decisions, Ronnakorn briefly introduces the relevant facts and moves to the discussion and critique of the rulings. He presents alternative solutions without imposing them. Where necessary, he also points to decisions that “should be approached with caution and not be regarded as a precedent,” such as, later in the book, in a case involving larceny of immovable property.¹¹ Comparative perspectives are included as well. For instance, regarding the classification of necessity as justification or excuse, Ronnakorn points to interesting differences between Thai, German and English law. Regarding the mental elements of offenses, a comparative view at jurisdictions that recognize conditional intent, or dolus eventualis, could be considered for future editions.¹²

Some readers might have been interested to learn Ronnakorn’s opinion on recent controversies, such as the Penal Code provisions on limitation periods¹³ and their application in cases involving suspects of the Tak Bai incident of 25 October 2004,¹⁴ or the doctrinal limitations of duress¹⁵ regarding forced offenders in so-called cyber scam centers.¹⁶ Another recent development, in terms of legislation, was the enactment of the Act on Pinai Offenses B.E. 2565 (2022) that switched a large number of criminal provisions outside the Penal Code into regulatory offenses.¹⁷ Not only law students but also legal practitioners might be eager to learn to what extent and how general concepts of criminal law continue to be relevant in the application of this new offense type. These issues and questions could be addressed in subsequent editions.

For Chapters 12–16, Ronnakorn decided to address selected offenses from the Penal Code’s Book 2: homicide offenses, non-fatal offenses against the person, sexual offenses, non-violent and violent property offenses. While the choice of these offenses is not elucidated, the provisions selected for this book usually serve as the “material” to explain the general rules and principles of criminal law to first- and second-year students. The focus on so-called street crime during early legal education certainly deserves reflection, and reform, as young legal minds risk growing up under the impression that white-collar and corporate offenses are not that serious:¹⁸ They only qualify as mala prohibita (wrongs as prohibited) that are often described as not “inherently wrongful.”¹⁹ Of course, the textbook market cannot ignore a reality where universities continue teaching particular sets of offenses. Be that as it may, Ronnakorn does an excellent job in explaining the elements and intricacies of all offenses selected for this book which, in fact, do include the more white-collar offenses of fraud and embezzlement. His expertise draws upon the extensive scope of his prior publications, including his works on abortion law and rape crimes.²⁰ The five chapters covering specific offenses are thus highly instructive, with an abundance of references to relevant Supreme Court cases. In addition, the book provides references to relevant literature in both Thai and English at the end of each chapter.

Thai Criminal Law therefore accomplishes much more than just closing a gap in Thailand’s legal literature. While the book can primarily be expected to find a large student audience, it offers important insights for anyone interested in the Thai criminal law system, as envisioned by the author. At the same time, the book continues a tradition of Thai legal scholarship that has consistently been merging the explanation of Thai law with references to and ideas from other jurisdictions, i.e., the jurisdictions where the authors received their postgraduate education. For instance, the seminal textbook on the general part of criminal law by Kanit Na Nakorn explains Thai law with reference to the German three-step test of criminal liability and introduces German legal terminology at various instances in the book.²¹ Kanit had completed his doctoral studies at the University of Bonn in Germany. Kanaphon Chanhom, who received his PhD from the University of Washington in Seattle, includes various references to Anglo-American cases and materials in his widely used criminal law textbook.²²

Ronnakorn holds LLB, LLM and LLD degrees from Thammasat University, an LLM from the London School of Economics, and a PhD from the National University of Singapore. His prior co-authored textbooks in Thai language explained and illustrated numerous concepts and principles with frequent references to foreign sources.²³ It is thus perhaps no accident that the very first footnote in Thai Criminal Law is a reference to Simester and Sullivan’s Criminal Law, a seminal account of modern English criminal law. Other sources from the English-speaking world, and beyond, are used to elucidate legal concepts throughout the book. In common law fashion, Ronnakorn treats justification and excuse as “defenses,”²⁴ while some may consider the clear distinction between the two a rather distinct feature of the Civil Law world,²⁵ which arguably includes Thailand.

Yet, for better or worse, the criminal law of Thailand has been pulled back and forth between its Siamese roots, initial late 19^th century English influences, and Civil Law-style codification since the 1908 Penal Code. English law was taught side-by-side with Siamese law at the country’s first law school that was later integrated into Thammasat University.²⁶ Throughout the 20^th century, the Supreme Court maintained English legal concepts and thus irritated a legal system whose main coordinates were increasingly continental.²⁷ Ronnakorn’s Thai Criminal Law reflects these fascinating tectonic layers²⁸ of Thai law that are not only the result of legislative and judicial choices; they are also the product of Thailand’s diverse legal scholarship that continues to actively shape legal concepts and doctrines with frequent inspiration from abroad.

Suggested Bibliographic Citation:

Schuldt, Lasse. “Book Review: Ronnakorn Bunmee, ‘Thai Criminal Law.’” Thai Legal Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, December 2024, pp. 255–259. https://doi.org/10.54157/tls.277989.