Civil and Criminal Cases in Thailand

Handling legal cases in Thailand requires an understanding of local procedure, institutional structure, evidentiary rules, jurisdictional differences, timelines, and strategic engagement with lawyers, courts, enforcement agencies, and dispute mechanisms. Civil and criminal cases follow fundamentally different paths. Civil cases focus on private rights, compensation, and legal standing, while criminal cases deal with offenses against the state, penalties, public prosecution, and regulated evidence. A clear strategy—from case intake, documentation, filing, pretrial engagement, hearings, appeals, enforcement, detection negotiation, bail decisions, and procedural ethics—will often determine success or failure within Thailand’s judicial system.

Although both case types fall under Thailand’s national justice framework, they take place within different venues and institutions, and require distinct procedural planning under Thai law.

1. Understanding Institutional Ownership of Each Case Type

Civil cases are generally filed under the national judiciary system administered by the Court of Justice through a range of first-instance courts such as provincial courts, civil courts, or specialized commercial benches depending on case subject, damages, and location jurisdiction.

Criminal cases, even when initiated by a victim complaint, are usually prosecuted through the office of the public prosecutor under the authority of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). Police investigations are led by the Royal Thai Police (RTP), which collects evidence, performs witness intake, questions suspects, prepares investigation dockets, and forwards reports to prosecutors who decide whether to file charges with the courts.

Understanding which institution owns each stage prevents procedural missteps. Many first-time complainants mistakenly file a criminal complaint expecting compensation orders, or file civil litigation expecting police enforcement powers. In Thailand, those mechanisms are legally separate.

2. Engaging a Lawyer and Building a Case Strategy

Legal counsel is central. Foreign or Thai litigants typically engage lawyers licensed by the Law Society of Thailand. Lawyers help structure claims, analyze legal standing, draft pleadings, challenge evidence roadblocks, negotiate liability terms, and position arguments according to Thai law.

Civil lawyers build cases around breach of contract, tort liability, negligence claims, property ownership, inheritance, consumer claims, family matters, corporate disputes, and employment damage. Most civil actions seek repayment, cancellation of contracts, declaratory judgments, monetary damages, injunctions, or contractual enforcement.

Defense lawyers handling criminal matters focus on rebutting criminal offense classification, questioning investigation procedure, challenging unlawfully obtained evidence, arguing proportional penalty, filing petition requests for bail, questioning intent elements, improving negotiation positioning for public prosecution strategies, or encouraging out-of-court settlements where legally allowed (for compoundable offenses).

A structured lawyer strategy typically includes these pillars:

• legal classification,

• evidence sufficiency,

• documentation chain integrity,

• witness credibility,

• damages calculation (civil),

• intent elements (criminal),

• bail or remand planning (criminal), and

• enforcement feasibility (both).

3. Filing a Civil Case in Thailand

Civil filings require attention to jurisdiction, court fee calculation, damage evaluation, evidence completeness, translated documents where relevant, and procedural accuracy. A civil case begins when a plaintiff files a Complaint (คำฟ้อง / kham fong) at the appropriate court registry. Court fees are applied based on damages claimed; lower claims result in lower filing fees, while larger commercial claims require significantly higher registry fees.

Foreign documents (contracts, receipts, communications, licenses, invoices, corporate documents, foreign affidavits) may be submitted, but if written outside Thai language they often require certified translation or authentication, particularly in contested cases. While Thailand has no universal mandatory notarization requirement, authentication becomes strategically valuable in high-value disputes, international trade claims, or contract enforcement challenges.

Once filed, the defendant receives a court summons. The defendant will typically file a Statement of Defense (คำให้การ / kham hai gan). After the defense is submitted, the court schedules hearings, mediation options, and evidence examination stages.

Many civil cases may be diverted to court-supervised mediation administered by institutions such as the Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC) if both parties voluntarily consent to arbitration as an alternative to full litigation.

Civil trial stages include:

1. Complaint Filing

2. Defense Submission

3. Mediation (optional but increasingly recommended)

4. Pretrial Conferences

5. Evidence Examination

6. Hearings (Witnesses, Documents, Expert Opinions)

7. Judgment

8. Appeal (if filed)

Appeals are submitted to the Court of Appeal if either party contests the lower court judgment on factual or legal grounds.

4. Filing a Criminal Case in Thailand

Criminal matters begin differently. A victim may file a direct report with police investigators at local stations under the authority of the Royal Thai Police, or file a private criminal complaint directly at criminal court only for certain offense types where legal standing allows (e.g., defamation or financial fraud categories). However, most mainstream offenses—assault, theft, cybercrime, public safety violations, workplace fatal negligence, corporate–criminal breach, bribery, embezzlement, robbery, homicide, drug distribution, document forgeries, online scam networks, trafficking—must first pass police investigation, after which prosecutors determine whether to file charges.

Police investigators create an Investigation Report (สำนวนการสอบสวน / samu-an gan sob suan) and deliver it to prosecutors. Prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General decide whether evidence meets the burden to proceed. If approved, prosecutors file a Bill of Indictment (คำฟ้องอาญา / kham fong a-ya) at the criminal court registry.

Once charges are filed, criminal procedure follows these stages:

1. Police Intake / Complaint Report

2. Investigation Stage

3. Prosecutor Charge Decision

4. Indictment Filing

5. First Hearing (Arraignment / อ่านฟ้อง)

6. Defense Examination

7. Trial / Evidence Examination

8. Judgment

9. Appeal or Supreme Appeal (if filed)

Appeals are handled by the Court of Appeal for criminal matters if filed by either prosecution or defense. For final discretionary appeals, petition requests may move to the Supreme Court only where appeal grounds meet statutory thresholds.

5. Bail Procedure and Pretrial Detention in Criminal Matters

One of the biggest differences between civil and criminal cases is pretrial detention risk. In criminal matters, if a suspect is arrested, bail petitions are submitted rapidly—typically through defense counsel—requesting provisional release.

Judges handling bail matters operate under the criminal remand or bail authority of the Court of Justice. Bail decisions consider:

• flight risk,

• offense severity,

• public safety impact,

• witness interference risk,

• repeat offense probability, and

• evidence tampering risk.

Bail may be issued with conditions (travel ban, reporting schedule, asset bond, witness protection orders).

Civil cases do not involve bail or detention because no criminal penalty applies.

6. Evidence Rules and Different Burdens of Proof

Evidence strategy is decisive. Civil cases follow the burden of preponderance of evidence (น้ำหนักพยาน / nam nak paya-yan), meaning the plaintiff must prove the claim is more probable than not. Documentary evidence, contracts, invoices, chats, payment receipts, employment offers, letter agreements, medical expense reports, photographs, diagrams, witness statements, expert testimony, or digital logs may support civil plausibility.

Criminal cases follow a far higher standard—beyond reasonable doubt (ปราศจากข้อสงสัย / bradjag kor song sai). Prosecutors must prove every statutory element including intent (เจตนา / chet-ta-na), act (การกระทำ / gan gra-tam), consequence (ผลของการกระทำ), and legal classification under criminal statute emerges clearly from evidence.

The Thailand Civil and Commercial Code governs civil liabilities, while criminal penalties and offense classification fall under the Thailand Criminal Code.

7. Settlement Options, Mediation, and Compoundable Offenses

Not all criminal cases can settle privately. Thailand permits private settlement only for compoundable offenses (ความผิดอันยอมความได้) such as defamation, some fraud categories, minor trespass, or certain non-violent financial crimes. If settled, the victim may withdraw the complaint and prosecutors may discontinue charges.

Mediation and arbitration are primarily civil tools but may also strategically reduce escalation in commercial and employment matters.

8. Judgment Enforcement: Civil vs Criminal

In civil judgments, enforcement must be petitioned after the ruling. Enforcement officers operate through execution divisions of the Court of Justice. Compliance may involve wage garnishment, asset seizure, eviction orders, contract cancellation enforcement, injunction enforcement, or monetary repayment.

Criminal judgments focus on penalties—imprisonment, fines, probation, business closure orders, public liability enforcement, or criminal damage rulings if compensation is attached to the indictment filing, but compensation is not the default outcome of all criminal case types.

9. Transparency, Documentation, and Ethical Compliance

To manage either case type effectively:
✅ maintain a document chain,
✅ record digital evidence,
✅ keep formal notices in writing,
✅ retain timelines, witnesses, and contractual standards,
✅ comply with procedural filing rules,
✅ translate foreign documents when strategic, and
✅ engage counsel early.

Conclusion

Civil and criminal cases in Thailand operate as different legal universes under one judicial system. Civil actions protect private rights and compensation; criminal actions protect public order and apply state penalties. Handling both successfully requires aligning legal strategy with the correct institution, filing path, evidentiary burden, and enforcement mechanism. With strong legal counsel, complete documentation, credible witnesses, and procedural accuracy, Thailand’s dispute system becomes a structured path to justice rather than uncertainty.