Juvenile and Family Court in Thailand

Reviewed by ThaiLawOnline, a licensed Thai law firm practising in Thailand since 2006. Thai lawyer of record: Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556.

Last updated on September 5, 2026

The Juvenile and Family Court (ศาลเยาวชนและครอบครัว, san yaowachon lae khropkhrua, usually just the family court) is the specialised court of first instance that hears family cases and criminal cases against children and young persons in Thailand. It sits under the Juvenile and Family Court and Juvenile and Family Case Procedure Act B.E. 2553 (2010), with the Central Juvenile and Family Court in Bangkok and a juvenile and family court in every province. A foreigner meets it in a contested divorce, a custody or maintenance dispute, a legitimation petition or an application to appoint a guardian.

Jurisdiction and how the court sits

What it hears. Civil family cases under Book V of the Civil and Commercial Code: contested divorce on the grounds in Section 1516, division of marital property, parental power and contact, maintenance, legitimation, adoption disputes, guardianship, and cases under the Domestic Violence Act. It also hears petitions to declare a person incompetent and criminal charges against persons under 18, under a separate juvenile procedure built around rehabilitation. Uncontested divorces and registered custody agreements do not pass through it; they are done at the district office.

How it sits. A family case is heard by professional judges sitting with associate judges, lay members drawn from the community with experience in family or child welfare, and the panel must include a woman. The court has its own social workers and psychologists, who interview the parents and child and report on the home. Judgments are appealed to the Court of Appeal for Specialised Cases, and a further appeal to the Supreme Court requires permission.

What a foreign litigant should expect

Proceedings are in Thai. Every foreign document, from a marriage certificate to a bank statement, is filed with a certified Thai translation, and a party who does not speak Thai gives evidence through an interpreter. The court is inquisitorial in flavour: judges question the parties directly, and the social worker’s report often carries more weight than the lawyers’ submissions. Hearings in family matters are closed to the public.

Mediation comes first. The court refers every family case to conciliation before trial, and a settlement reached there is recorded as a consent judgment enforceable like any other. Pre-filing mediation under the Civil Procedure Code carries no court fee. Where the case goes to trial, a first-instance judgment usually takes six to twelve months, and the losing party has one month to appeal. Court fees follow the civil scale, 2% of any monetary claim capped at 200,000 baht, with a small fixed fee for claims such as divorce or custody that carry no sum.

Family court, district office and civil court compared

The amphur registers what the parties agree: marriage, divorce by consent, custody and maintenance clauses, legitimation with consent, and adoption once approved. It decides nothing. The family court decides what the parties cannot agree, and is the only forum for divorce on grounds, contested custody, legitimation without consent, guardianship and incompetence. The ordinary civil court has no jurisdiction over these matters.

The practical difference lies in evidence and time. A registered divorce at the amphur takes an afternoon; a contested divorce takes the better part of a year and turns on documents, witnesses and the social worker’s findings. Foreigners who can reach agreement, even a partial one, and register it at the district office save most of that cost and delay.

Frequently asked questions

See also: contested divorce, child custody, courts of first instance, court fees, and the full guides to contested divorce in Thailand and child custody in Thailand.