Enforcing a Foreign Judgment or Arbitral Award 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 August 21, 2026

Updated 14 August 2026. You won your case abroad. The money, the company, or the land sits in Thailand. What happens next depends entirely on which piece of paper you are holding. A foreign court judgment cannot be enforced in Thailand and sends you back to the start of a fresh trial. A foreign arbitral award can be enforced, through a court petition, on a three-year clock. This guide covers both routes, what each costs, how long each takes, and the clause you should have written before any of this happened.

The short answer

Thai law draws a hard line between a judgment handed down by a foreign court and an award handed down by an arbitral tribunal. The line decides everything that follows.

	Foreign court judgment	Foreign arbitral award
Enforceable directly in Thailand	No	Yes, on conditions
What you file	A fresh civil action on the original claim	A petition to enforce the award
Governing law	No statute. Supreme Court practice only	Arbitration Act B.E. 2545 (2002), sections 41 to 45
Deadline to start	The Thai prescription period for the underlying claim	Three years from the date the award became enforceable
Can the Thai court reopen the merits	Yes, completely	No. It reviews procedure and public policy
Realistic timeline	12 to 24 months at first instance, longer on appeal	Months, if unopposed. Longer if the debtor resists

Why Thailand does not enforce foreign court judgments

No Thai statute provides for the recognition or enforcement of foreign court judgments. Thailand has signed no bilateral judgment-enforcement treaty, and it is not a contracting party to the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention, which as of 2026 binds the European Union, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Uruguay, Albania, Andorra and Montenegro.

Nothing fills the gap. The consequence is blunt. Inside Thailand, your foreign judgment is not a judgment at all. It is a document.

What actually happens when you bring a foreign judgment to Thailand

You file a fresh action on the original claim

To reach a Thai debtor’s assets, the creditor starts a new civil case in a Thai court on the underlying cause of action: the unpaid invoice, the breached contract, the loan that was never repaid. You plead it under Thai law and you prove it again from the beginning. The foreign judgment goes into the file as evidence of what happened, not as an order the Thai court has to obey.

Three conditions before the judgment counts as evidence

Thai Supreme Court practice, attributed in the published commentary to Decisions No. 2351/2548 and No. 585/2561, sets three conditions before a foreign judgment is admissible in Thai proceedings:

1. the judgment is final in the country that issued it, meaning no appeal is pending and none can still be brought;
2. it came from a court with subject-matter jurisdiction;
3. it does not contravene public order or the good morals of the Thai people.

Judgments on the merits, after proper notice and a real chance to defend, carry weight. Default judgments and rulings decided on procedural technicalities carry much less, because the Thai court can see that nobody tested the facts.

Evidence is not authority

Satisfy all three conditions and the Thai court still owes you nothing. It weighs the foreign judgment alongside the rest of the evidence, applies Thai law to the claim, and can reach a different result on the same facts. Foreign counsel routinely underestimates this. Winning in London does not mean winning in Bangkok. It means arriving in Bangkok with good evidence.

The prescription trap

This is the risk that costs people the entire claim, and no competing English-language page mentions it.

Because the Thai action runs on the underlying claim, the relevant Thai prescription period is the one attached to that claim. Under the Civil and Commercial Code the default is ten years from the date the claim arose (section 193/30), but many commercial and trade claims fall under much shorter periods. A creditor who spent four years litigating in New York may land in Thailand holding a fresh judgment on a claim that expired here while the foreign case was running.

Section 193/32 gives a ten-year prescription to a claim established by a final judgment, and creditors reach for it. Whether a Thai court will apply it to a foreign judgment, given that Thai law does not treat a foreign judgment as establishing anything, is not settled in the published sources. Do not build a recovery plan on it. Get Thai advice on the prescription position before the foreign case ends, not after.

Foreign arbitral awards: the route that works

Arbitration is a different world. Thailand acceded to the New York Convention on 21 December 1959, and it came into force here on 20 March 1960. The Arbitration Act B.E. 2545 (2002), amended by the Arbitration Act (No. 2) B.E. 2562 (2019), follows the UNCITRAL Model Law.

Section 41: the treaty gate

Section 41 makes an award binding on the parties whichever country produced it. Its second paragraph is the sentence that matters most to a foreign creditor: an award made abroad is enforceable by a Thai court only if it is subject to an international convention, treaty or agreement to which Thailand is a party, and only to the extent Thailand has agreed to be bound. Enforcement is conditional, not automatic. In practice the New York Convention is the gate almost every foreign award walks through.

Section 42: three years, and what you file

Section 42 carries both halves of the filing step. The party seeking enforcement applies to the competent court within three years from the day the award became enforceable. The same section lists the documents:

• the original arbitral award or a certified copy;
• the original arbitration agreement or a certified copy;
• a Thai translation of both, made by a translator who has taken an oath before the court, or certified by an authorised official or by a Thai embassy or consulate in the country where the award was made.

The translation requirement quietly sinks timelines. Sworn translation of a long award takes weeks, and a translation the court rejects sends you back to the start. Budget for it early. Our notes on legal interpreters in Thai courtrooms and on notarisation and legalisation cover what Thai courts accept.

Sections 43 and 44: when the court can refuse

Section 43 lists six grounds, and the burden sits on the party resisting enforcement, who has to prove them: incapacity of a party; an arbitration agreement not binding under the chosen law or, failing a choice, under Thai law; lack of proper notice of the tribunal’s appointment or of the proceedings; an award that goes beyond the scope of the agreement; a tribunal or a procedure that departed from what the parties agreed; and an award not yet binding, or set aside or suspended where it was made.

Section 44 lets the court dismiss the application on its own assessment, on two grounds: the dispute is not capable of settlement by arbitration under Thai law, or enforcement would be contrary to public policy.

Read together these mirror Article V of the New York Convention. The court checks the process, not the reasoning. A losing party who simply disagrees with the tribunal has nothing to argue.

Section 45: appeal goes straight to the Supreme Court

Section 45 bars appeals against a court order under the Act except on five grounds: recognition or enforcement is contrary to public policy; the order or judgment is contrary to a provision of law concerning public policy; the order or judgment does not match the award; a judge dissented; or the order concerns interim protective measures under section 16. The appeal goes to the Supreme Court, or to the Supreme Administrative Court where the case started there, skipping the Court of Appeal entirely. That is unusual, and worth knowing before you plan a timeline. Compare the ordinary route in our guide to Supreme Court appeals in Thailand.

Setting aside and refusing enforcement are not the same thing

Readers conflate these constantly, and every competing page lets them.

Setting aside runs under section 40. A party asks the court to annul an award, within 90 days of receiving it. Succeed and the award is destroyed for everyone.

Refusing enforcement runs under sections 43 and 44. The court declines to lend its machinery to this enforcement attempt. The award survives and the creditor can still try to enforce it in another country where the debtor holds assets.

Different applications, different sections, different deadlines, different consequences. Getting the label wrong loses time you may not have.

Public policy in Thai practice, and the Hopewell warning

Here is the part other pages leave out.

Thai courts have read “public policy” under sections 40 and 44 more expansively than courts in comparable New York Convention jurisdictions read Article V(2)(b), and the gap widens when the award runs against a state entity. Thai academic writing has criticised the pattern as excessive judicial intervention. If your counterparty is a Thai ministry, a state enterprise, or a concession grantor, price that risk in.

The Hopewell dispute shows the reach. A Thai Arbitration Institute tribunal awarded Hopewell roughly THB 11.8 billion against the Ministry of Transport and the State Railway of Thailand in September 2008 over the terminated Bangkok elevated road and rail concession. The Central Administrative Court annulled the award in March 2014 on prescription grounds, treating prescription as a matter of public policy. The Supreme Administrative Court reinstated the award in March 2019, refusing to apply a 1999 prescription period retroactively to a 1998 termination. A Constitutional Court ruling in March 2021 reopened the question, a retrial was granted, and on 18 September 2023 the Central Administrative Court held the claim time-barred under section 51 of the Administrative Courts Act. Reporting since indicates no payout has been made and further appeal has been raised.

Thirty years from concession to whatever this now is. The lesson is not that Thai enforcement fails. Commercial awards between private parties are enforced routinely. The lesson is that public policy in Thailand is a live door, and it opens widest against the state.

After the order: the writ of execution

An enforcement order is permission, not payment. If the debtor still does not pay, you take the judgment to the Legal Execution Department (กรมบังคับคดี) of the Ministry of Justice, which has offices nationwide. It can attach and auction movable and immovable property, garnish bank accounts, salaries and receivables, and register liens over land.

Section 274 of the Civil Procedure Code requires the writ of execution to be applied for within ten years of the judgment becoming final. Applications filed after that are dismissed without anyone looking at the merits. Older sources cite section 271, the pre-2017 numbering, so check which edition you are reading.

So a foreign award holder runs two clocks in sequence: three years to petition for enforcement, then ten years to execute. Miss either and the award becomes a souvenir.

What it costs and how long it takes

Thai court filing fees are public and computable. For a monetary claim the fee is 2% of the amount claimed, capped at THB 200,000 for claims up to THB 50 million, with a further 0.1% on the excess above THB 50 million, plus about THB 1,000 for court delivery costs. The fee is paid on filing.

A worked example. You hold a US judgment for THB 30 million against a Thai company. There is no shortcut: you file fresh in Thailand. Court fee at 2% is THB 600,000, capped down to THB 200,000. Add sworn translation of the foreign judgment and the contract file, Thai counsel, and 12 to 24 months to first-instance judgment, longer if the defendant appeals. Then, on winning, up to ten years to execute.

The same THB 30 million as an arbitral award is a petition under section 42, decided on documents, usually inside a year unless the debtor mounts a section 43 challenge. That difference is the whole argument for the next section. If the debt itself is the problem rather than the forum, our debt collection service in Thailand is often the faster first move, and what to know before you go to court in Thailand covers what litigating here actually involves.

The exception: foreign divorce and family status

Family status escapes all of this, and the confusion it causes is unnecessary.

A foreign divorce judgment is not enforced through the courts. It is recorded administratively. Translate it into Thai, legalise it through the Department of Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then present it to a district office, which can record the change in the family status register on form Kor Ror 22. Recording is not automatic and the registrar has discretion, but it does not involve re-litigating your divorce. People who have read that “Thailand does not recognise foreign judgments” often assume their divorce is void here. It is not. See divorce in Thailand with a foreign marriage.

Write the clause that prevents all of this

Everything above is a post-mortem. The cure costs ten lines at signature.

If you contract with a Thai counterparty and you may one day need to collect, choose arbitration over a foreign court. A foreign court judgment buys you a fresh trial in Thailand. An arbitral award buys you a petition. Then name, in the clause itself:

• the institution, by its full name: the Thai Arbitration Institute (TAI), the Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC), SIAC, HKIAC or the ICC;
• the seat, which fixes which courts supervise the arbitration;
• the language, because Thai-language proceedings change your cost base entirely;
• the governing law. Note that under the 2019 amendment foreign representatives still cannot act in arbitrations in Thailand where the dispute is governed by Thai law, so this choice decides who can represent you;
• the number of arbitrators, one for smaller disputes, three when the sums justify it;
• an escalation step, requiring negotiation or mediation before either side files.

Put it in the agreements that carry real money: loan agreements, promissory notes, NDAs and employment agreements. If you are still at the structuring stage, business setup in Thailand and the Foreign Business Act set out who you will be contracting as.

Frequently asked questions

Can a US court judgment be enforced in Thailand?

No. There is no treaty and no statute. You file a fresh civil action in a Thai court on the original claim, and the US judgment goes in as evidence, provided it is final, came from a court with subject-matter jurisdiction, and does not offend Thai public order or good morals.

Is an arbitration award from Singapore or London enforceable in Thailand?

Yes. Both are New York Convention seats, so section 41 paragraph 2 is satisfied. You petition a competent Thai court under section 42 with the award, the arbitration agreement and certified Thai translations.

How long do I have to enforce an arbitral award in Thailand?

Three years from the date the award became enforceable, under section 42. After you obtain the enforcement order, a second clock starts: ten years to apply for a writ of execution under section 274 of the Civil Procedure Code.

What documents do I need to file to enforce a foreign award?

The original award or a certified copy, the original arbitration agreement or a certified copy, and Thai translations of both, sworn before the court or certified by an authorised official or a Thai embassy or consulate in the country where the award was made.

Can a Thai court refuse to enforce an award, and on what grounds?

Yes. Section 43 lists six grounds the resisting party must prove, including incapacity, an invalid arbitration agreement, lack of proper notice, an award beyond the scope of the agreement, an irregular tribunal or procedure, and an award already set aside where it was made. Section 44 adds two the court applies itself: the dispute is not arbitrable under Thai law, or enforcement would be contrary to public policy.

Can I appeal if the Thai court refuses enforcement?

Only on the five grounds in section 45, and the appeal goes directly to the Supreme Court or the Supreme Administrative Court rather than through the Court of Appeal.

How much does it cost to sue in Thailand to enforce a foreign judgment?

The court filing fee is 2% of the claim, capped at THB 200,000 for claims up to THB 50 million, with 0.1% on any excess, plus roughly THB 1,000 in delivery costs. Translation and counsel are on top, and first-instance proceedings typically run 12 to 24 months.

Does Thailand recognise my foreign divorce?

It can, administratively. Translate and legalise the divorce judgment, then ask a district office to record it in the family status register on form Kor Ror 22. The registrar has discretion, but no court case is required.

Is arbitration or a Thai court jurisdiction clause better in a contract with a Thai company?

For a foreign party expecting to enforce against Thai assets, arbitration at a New York Convention seat is usually stronger, because the award is enforceable by petition while a foreign court judgment is not enforceable at all. A Thai court clause can make sense where the counterparty and every asset are Thai and the sums are modest.

My foreign judgment is five years old. Is it too late?

Possibly, and the answer turns on the original claim rather than on the judgment. Because the Thai case runs on the underlying cause of action, the Thai prescription period is measured from when that claim arose. Have Thai counsel check the position before you spend anything further.

How ThaiLawOnline can help

We have advised foreign clients on Thai law since 2006. If you are holding a judgment or an award and the assets are here, we will tell you plainly whether it is worth pursuing before you commit to fees: which route applies, what the prescription position looks like, what enforcement will cost, and what the debtor is likely to argue. If you are still at the contract stage, the arbitration clause is a short conversation that can save you a second trial. Start with our overview of dispute resolution in Thailand, then get in touch.