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Research protocol

1. Identify the legal area — Civil, criminal, commercial, administrative, family, etc.
2. Find the law — search with site:krisdika.go.th (Thai or English terms both work)
3. Read the provision — open the section text with knowledge(command="read")
4. Check currency — look for amendments, repeal, and the effective date in the Royal Gazette
5. Verify citations — every section number you cite must appear in the text you read
6. Web search — For Supreme Court decisions, Office of the Council of State opinions

• Civil law system — Codified, drawing on French and German models; Supreme Court precedents (คำพิพากษาฎีกา) are highly persuasive
• Constitutional monarchy, unitary state — national laws apply throughout

Sources of Law (ลำดับชั้นของกฎหมาย)

Hierarchy: รัฐธรรมนูญ (2017 Constitution in force; the 8 Feb 2026 referendum approved drafting a new one — check progress) → พระราชบัญญัติ (Acts) and พระราชกำหนด (Emergency Decrees) → พระราชกฤษฎีกา (Royal Decrees) → กฎกระทรวง (Ministerial Regulations) → ประกาศ/คำสั่ง (Notifications/Orders)

Court System (ระบบศาล)

ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ (Constitutional Court)
ศาลปกครองสูงสุด (Supreme Administrative Court)
ศาลฎีกา (Supreme Court of Justice)
    ↑
ศาลอุทธรณ์ (Courts of Appeal — regional)
    ↑
ศาลชั้นต้น (Courts of First Instance):
  - ศาลแพ่ง (Civil Court)
  - ศาลอาญา (Criminal Court)
  - ศาลแรงงาน (Labour Court)
  - ศาลภาษีอากร (Tax Court)
  - ศาลทรัพย์สินทางปัญญา (IP & International Trade Court)
  - ศาลล้มละลาย (Bankruptcy Court)

Key legal areas / ด้านกฎหมายสำคัญ

Civil and Commercial Code (ประมวลกฎหมายแพ่งและพาณิชย์ — CCC)

• Books: 1 General Provisions, 2 Obligations, 3 Specific Contracts, 4 Property, 5 Family, 6 Succession

Contract Law

• CCC Books 2-3 — Offer, acceptance, capacity, lawful object; no consideration doctrine; some contracts need writing or registration (land sale, lease over 3 years)
• Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979) — Consumer rights; OCPB enforcement
• Electronic Transactions Act B.E. 2544 (2001) — E-contracts, digital signatures
• Unfair Contract Terms Act B.E. 2540 (1997) — Protection against unfair terms
• Limitation — Generally 10 years (CCC § 193/30); shorter for specific claims

Employment Law

• Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 (1998) — Core employment rights
• Working hours — Max 8h/day, 48h/week; hazardous work 7h/day, 42h/week
• Annual leave — Minimum 6 days after 1 year of service
• Minimum wage — 2026: ฿337–400/day by province (400 in Bangkok); set by the Wage Committee
• Severance pay — Based on years of service (up to 400 days' wages)
• Maternity leave — 120 days, 60 fully paid by the employer, plus 15 days' leave for a spouse after birth (Labour Protection Act No. 9, from 7 December 2025)
• Labour Relations Act B.E. 2518 (1975) — Trade unions, collective bargaining
• Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (1990) — SSO contributions; health, disability, pension
• Workmen's Compensation Act B.E. 2537 (1994) — Workplace injury

Criminal Law

• Penal Code (ประมวลกฎหมายอาญา) and Criminal Procedure Code — right to silence and to counsel on arrest (public defender available); bail at court discretion
• Lèse-majesté (มาตรา 112) — Section 112 Penal Code; strict enforcement

Data Protection — PDPA

• Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) — PDPA — Thailand's GDPR-equivalent
• Effective — Fully enforced from 1 June 2022; PDPC has issued administrative fines since 2024
• Key rights — Access, rectification, erasure, portability, objection; consent needed unless another lawful basis applies, explicit for sensitive data
• Penalties — Administrative fines up to ฿5M, criminal (up to 1 year / ฿1M for unlawful disclosure of sensitive data), and civil (actual damages + punitive up to 2x)
• Data breach notification — 72 hours to PDPC; without undue delay to data subjects

Cybercrime & Digital Law

• Computer Crime Act B.E. 2550 (2007), amended 2560 (2017) — Cybercrime offences
• Cybersecurity Act B.E. 2562 (2019) — Critical information infrastructure protection
• ETDA — Electronic Transactions Development Agency; oversight

Business & Company Law

• CCC (partnerships, limited companies), Public Limited Companies Act B.E. 2535; registration at the DBD
• Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999) — Restricted activities need majority-Thai ownership or a Foreign Business Licence/BOI promotion; Thai nominee shareholding is a criminal offence
• Bankruptcy Act B.E. 2483 (1940) — Insolvency

Property Law

• Land Code B.E. 2497 (1954) and Land Department (กรมที่ดิน) — title registration; only a chanote is full title
• Foreign ownership — Foreigners generally cannot own land; condo units up to 49% of a building's floor area (Condominium Act B.E. 2522)
• Lease — Foreigners can register a lease of up to 30 years; a renewal option is only a contractual promise, not a registered right

Family Law

• CCC Book 5 — Marriage, divorce, parental power
• Marriage — Registration at district office (อำเภอ); minimum age 18 and same-sex marriage since the Marriage Equality Act (23 January 2025); under 20 needs parental consent
• Divorce — Mutual consent or court order; grounds include adultery, desertion, abuse
• Child custody — Best interests of the child; joint custody possible
• Inheritance — CCC Book 6; statutory heirs in 6 classes

Intellectual Property

• Patent Act (20 years), Trademark Act, Copyright Act (life + 50, automatic); DIP (กรมทรัพย์สินทางปัญญา)

Tax Law

• Revenue Code (ประมวลรัษฎากร) — Income tax, VAT, specific business tax
• Personal income tax — Progressive 0-35%; for Thai tax residents (180+ days a year), foreign income earned from 1 January 2024 is taxable whenever it is brought into Thailand — check current Revenue Department guidance
• Corporate income tax — 20% standard rate
• VAT — 7% (statutory 10%, reduced by royal decree, currently to 30 September 2027)

Resources / แหล่งข้อมูล

• ratchakitcha.soc.go.th (Royal Gazette), krisdika.go.th (English translations), supremecourt.or.th (ศาลฎีกา decisions)
• Agencies: pdpc.or.th, dbd.go.th, boi.go.th
• Lawyers Council of Thailand — lawyerscouncil.or.th
• Thai Bar Association — thaibar.or.th
• Legal aid — Lawyers Council legal aid and the Justice Fund (กองทุนยุติธรรม) for those who cannot afford a lawyer