Article 654: Interest cap, 15% per annum

Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section

1. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 570/2549 (2006) ★ Monument

   Licensed financial institutions are exempt from the Section 654 interest cap and are instead regulated by the Bank of Thailand under the Commercial Banking Act.

   A licensed financial institution is not subject to the interest cap in Section 654 but is instead governed by the Commercial Banking Act, under which the Bank of Thailand has authority to set permissible interest rates for commercial banks.

   Lire la décision complète (deka.in.th)

2. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 3375/2549 (2006)

   Where a loan agreement states two contradictory interest rates and the lender does not prove which was intended, the agreement is read as allowing the higher. At 1.50% a month, or 18% a year, that contravenes the Usury Act with section 654 and the interest term is void altogether, so there is no interest agreement at all and the lender may claim only the default rate under section 224, not a rate reduced to 15%.

   One loan agreement was printed as interest of 1 baht per chang per month but written in immediately after as 1.50% per month, the two contradicting each other. Because the lender did not prove the written figure was mistaken, the Court read the agreement as entitling him to 1.50% a month, that is 18% a year, contravening the Usury Act B.E. 2475 section 3 with section 654. The interest term was therefore void, with the effect that there was no interest agreement at all, and the lender could claim only the default interest of 7.5% a year from the date of default under section 224 paragraph one. In a second agreement the printed and handwritten terms were contradictory and doubtful, so the lender was entitled to lead evidence of the true intention under Civil Procedure Code section 94 paragraph two. Note: section 224 has since been amended and the default rate is now the section 7 rate plus two per cent a year.

   Lire la décision complète (deka.in.th)

Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.