THAILAND'S LEGAL SYSTEM

Thailand laws follow the pattern of civil law countries of conventional Europe.
When a dispute is brought before the judge, the court will decide a case based on an
interpretation of the statutory provisions. The court's interpretation is not as broad as that
of a court in a common law country and unlike a common law court; its decision will not
develop a body of law. lthough, interpretations by the highest courts !"ika #ourt or
$upreme #ourt% become precedent under the doctrine of stare deices.
Thailand laws derive from two major sources; the legislative and e&ecutive branches
of both central and local governments. The judicial decisions are not law because they
apply to an individual; not withstanding the fact that that the court will normally adhere
to precedent for subse'uent cases with the same situation in order to attain stability and
fairness. (eversal of precedent based on decisions however doe not happen very often.
Constitutional Law
constitutional based law defines the powers and the relationship of the three branches
of )overnment to each other and the relationship between the )overnment and citi*ens in
regards to fundamental rights and responsibilities.
Acts
n act is the most common known law and is made by parliament. E&amples of cts are
the #opyright ct, Trademark ct and +nvestment promotion ct.
Royal Decree
(oyal decree is promulgated by the E&ecutive ,ranch normally though the -inister of
the concerned -inistry authori*ed under a specific ct to set forth the details from time
to time under the guidelines of the ct. .or e&ample a (oyal "ecree to revise the ta&
rates under the (evenue #ode.
Emergency Degree
n emergency "ecree is enacted by the e&ecutive branch, though the cabinet in an
emergency to protect the country from imminent harm but subject to subse'uent
confirmation of the /arliament.
Coes
The civil and commercial code, penal code, civil and #riminal /rocedure #odes are well
known features of civil law countries legal system. +nitially, codified law consisted of
multiple chapters of subject matter, but this is no longer necessary.
Aministrati!e Agency orers
dministrative agencies are empowered by the legislature to promulgate rules and
regulations to carry out government functions.
Ca"inet Resolutions
#abinet (esolutions have no binding effect but will influence the )overnment gencies
in the enforcement or interpretation of rules and regulations.
Munici#al $rinances
,uilding, health and city planning codes are e&amples of local government laws.

T%e T%ai Legal System & T%e 'uicial System
Thailand has three classes of courts which can be classified by their retrospective
methods of hearing.

Courts o( (irst instance )Trial Courts*
#ourts of first instance !Trial #ourts% conduct the original trial of cases and render
decisions. The judge decides both issues of fact and law. +n a big province such as
,angkok, #ourts of first +nstance may be called differently depending on their subject
matter jurisdiction, such as #ivil #ourt, #riminal #ourt, 0abor #ourt or 1uvenile and
.amily #ourt. +n rural areas, a /rovincial #ourt has jurisdiction over all matters subject to
a few e&ceptions.
T%e Court o( A##eals
+f a party disagrees with the decision of the lower court, they can appeal to a #ourt of
ppeals, The court of ppeals will normally entertain legal issues rather than factual
issues.
Di+a Court )Su#reme Court*
$ubject to the statutory prohibitions, a party who disagrees with the decision of the court
of appeals can take its case to "ika #ourt !$upreme #ourt%. The decision of "ika #ourt is
final.
+n a civil suit, an interested party may initiate proceedings by filing a complaint or
petition to a court having jurisdiction over the matter. +n a criminal suit, only the
individual injured party may be a plaintiff alone or joint plaintiff with the public
prosecutor depending upon the type of offense.
,oreign 'ugment
Thailand does not recogni*e foreign judicial judgments. party may not enforce a
judgment adjudicated in a foreign country and a new proceeding must be initiated.
2owever foreign arbitrate awards are recogni*ed and enforceable under the rbitration
ct of ,.E. 3456 !.". 789:%; providing that such arbitrate award is covered by a treaty,
convention or international agreement to which Thailand is a party and will have effect
only as far as Thailand accedes to be bound.

T%e T%ai Legal System & Ar"itration
En(orcement o( ,oreign Ar"itral Awar
.oreign arbitral award refers to an award resulting from arbitration, the proceedings of
which were in whole, or in the most part, conducted outside Thailand and wherein one of
the parties involved in the dispute was not a person of Thai nationality.
;nder $ection 38 of the rbitration ct of 789:, a foreign arbitral award will be
recogni*ed and enforceable in Thailand, only if it is made in accordance with bilateral or
multilateral treaties or conventions which Thailand is a party of or has acceded to.
#urrently, these treaties and conventions are the 783: #onvention on the Enforcement of
.oreign rbitral wards !)eneva #onvention%; the 7849 #onvention on the (ecognition
and Enforcement of .oreign rbitral wards !<ew =ork #onvention%; and the Treaty of
mity and Economic (elations between the >ingdom of Thailand and the ;nited $tates
of merica.
The rbitration ct of 789: e&pressly states that the action for enforcement of arbitral
award !by way of a confirmed judgment% must be initiated in a Thai court within one year
from the date the award was sent to the parties by the arbitrators. The ct also states
clearly the preconditions for enforcement as well as the reservations made by Thailand
under both the )eneva and <ew =ork conventions. .or instance, the court may refuse
recognition if the subject matter of the dispute is not resolvable by arbitration or the
recognition would be contrary to public policy or the good morals of Thailand. +n
addition, it must be legally valid and final in the country where the arbitration was held
and at least one of the parties to the dispute must be a subject of one of the member
countries of these conventions.
Entering Ar"itration
Thai courts will compel arbitration if a written agreement to arbitrate e&ists between the
parties.
+nterlocutory arbitration may be sanctioned by the courts upon the written re'uest from
the litigants concerned, if the court's view is that e&peditions and fair resolutions of the
cases can be achieved by arbitration. $uch a re'uest may be made at any time during the
trial, but must be submitted before the final judgment. n arbitrator will be appointed
pursuant to the agreement of the litigants. .ailing such an agreement, the court may
appoint any arbitrator as it deems appropriate.
-re&%earing -roceure
/re?arbitration remedies are available as @temporary measures before judgment@. )ood
cause must be shown to the court by a petitioner, that there is an urgent necessity to
protect his interests during the arbitration proceedings. Temporary measures are granted
by the court in the form of orders for attachment, sei*ure, restraint or through a cease, or
desist order.
There are no definite re'uirements regarding advanced notice to the parties concerned.
The court merely wishes to be satisfied that an action by one party be made known to the
other party and that this party has sufficient time to respond.
-roceure at t%e Hearing
,efore giving an award, the arbitrators are re'uired to hear all the parties and may make
in'uiries as they deem appropriate. +n the absence of a written agreement of the parties
concerned or an order of the court, the arbitrators are also empowered to define issues or
disputes and to adopt their own rules and procedures for hearings. The parties may
present evidence and e&amine or cross?e&amine witnesses during the arbitration
proceedings. Through the authority of the court, the arbitrators may summon documents,
subpoena witnesses and re'uest witnesses to testify under oath. The rules of evidence and
procedure stipulated in the #ivil /rocedures #ode may be made applicable to arbitration
mutates mutandis. rbitrators' fees may be fi&ed by agreement of the parties or by the
courts. Witnesses' fees may be fi&ed by the arbitrators, taking into consideration the
@going rates@, which are generally approved by the courts.
Institutional Ar"itration
n institutional arbitration may be conducted in Thailand under the auspices of either the
rbitration Tribunal of the ,oard of Trade !The Thai #hamber of #ommerce% or under
the rules called the @Thai #ommercial rbitration (ules@, which were modeled after the
+##'s #onciliation and rbitration (ules. The rbitration Affice of the -inistry of
1ustice adopts its own arbitration rules. These rules are 'uite comprehensive and
substantially reflect a constructive combination of the +##'s, ;<+#+T(0's and
merican rbitration ssociation's rules. The Affice has maintained a list of e&perts and
e&perienced persons, 739 in total, who are capable of serving as arbitrators in such areas
as labor, investment, international trade, maritime law, intellectual property, insurance,
land, minerals and petroleum, torts and contracts, etc. The Affice also makes available to
interested parties facilities and office e'uipment for conciliation and arbitration
proceedings at a nominal cost.

Thailand, with its >ing as 2ead of $tate, bases its judicial and legal systems on the
democratic nation's #onstitution, which recogni*es four courtsB the #onstitutional #ourt,
the #ourts of 1ustice, the dministrative #ourt, and the -ilitary #ourt.
The responsibilities of each court vary.
T%e Constitutional Court renders judgment or decision on the constitutionality of
the provisions of law and other powers as provided for in the #onstitution and other
laws.
T%e Aministrati!e Court tries and adjudicates administrative disputes between the
private sector and $tate organs concerning the issue of abuse of power by such $tate
organs.
T%e Military Court tries and adjudicates cases involving persons within its
jurisdiction as prescribed by the ct for the Argani*ation of the -ilitary #ourt ,.E.
3C89 !" 7844%.
T%e Courts o( 'ustice try and adjudicate all cases e&cept those specified by the
#onstitution or other laws to be within the jurisdiction of other courts.
The #ourts of 1ustice are classified into three levelsB the #ourts of .irst +nstance, the
#ourts of ppeal, and the "ika #ourt !Thailand's $upreme #ourt%.
The #ourts of .irst +nstance are trial courts that consist of general courts, juvenile
and family courts, and speciali*ed courts. ll cases commence at a #ourt of .irst
+nstance.
ppeals against #ourt of .irst +nstance judgments shall be filed with the #ourt of
ppeals, subject to certain restrictions.
The $upreme !"ika% #ourt has jurisdiction over cases appealed from the #ourt of
ppeals, subject to certain restrictions provided by the #ivil /rocedure #ode, #riminal
/rocedure #ode, and other procedural lawsDcodes applicable for proceedings carried out
in the speciali*ed courts, i.e. in the 0abor #ourt, the Ta& #ourt, the +ntellectual /roperty
and +nternational Trade #ourt, and the ,ankruptcy #ourt.
T%ailan generally (ollows t%e ci!il law system. Howe!er/ one must reali0e t%at
T%ailan "elongs to t%e ci!il law system only "y t%e (act o( its coi(ication. T%e
contents o( t%e coes are as !arie as t%e ma1or legal systems o( t%e worl.

ThailandEs 0egal $ystem
Roy 'oe -ete L. $#eniano
,irst Year&Tee%an+ee