Bangkok Legal Service

Mr. Dong is the husband of Ms. Dao, who is near term. Mr. Dong traveled to a province for several days. Upon his return home, Ms. Reed, the mother of Ms. Dao, received him. At the hospital, Ms. Dao and her child are currently staying with Ms. Reed; Mr. Dong promptly went to Ms. Reed’s house to receive Ms. Dao and her child back home. Because Ms. Reed previously disliked Mr. Dong, Mr. Dong abandoned Ms. Dao, who was near term, alone at her residence. When Ms. Reed opened the door of the house and found Mr. Dong, she falsely claimed that Ms. Dao and her child were not home and proceeded to block his path within the house. Mr. Dong then pushed Ms. Reed away to clear the path, and Ms. Reed did not fall. What offenses, if any, did Mr. Dong commit?

Mr. Dong entered Ms. Reed’s house intending to go to her residence to return home. Although Ms. Reed forbade him from entering the house, this does not constitute a violation of trespassing into another person’s dwelling, according to the Penal Code (Section 364, Judgment of the Supreme Court Case No. 6506/2542).

Even if Mr. Dong entered to receive his wife and child at their place of delivery, this is considered an entry with reasonable cause. However, this does not render his entry a crime in itself. The reason for Mr. Dong’s entry did not cause him to commit an unlawful act. Therefore, Mr. Dong pushing Ms. Reed away constitutes the use of force against another person. However, since Ms. Reed was not injured, Mr. Dong’s action to remove her from the path does not constitute a crime under Section 391 of the Penal Code, concerning the use of force to cause injury or harm.