Article 166: Costs caused by fault or delay
Statutory text (Thai original)
คู่ความฝ่ายใดทำให้ต้องเสียค่าฤชาธรรมเนียมในกระบวนพิจารณาใด ๆ ที่ได้ดำเนินไปโดยไม่จำเป็น หรือมีลักษณะประวิงคดี หรือที่ต้องดำเนินไปเพราะความผิดหรือความประมาทเลินเล่ออย่างร้ายแรง คู่ความฝ่ายนั้นต้องรับผิดในค่าฤชาธรรมเนียมนั้น โดยมิพักคำนึงว่าคู่ความฝ่ายนั้นจักได้ชนะคดีหรือไม่
English translation
A party who causes court costs to be incurred in any proceeding that has been carried on unnecessarily, or that has the character of delaying the case, or that had to be carried on because of that party's fault or gross negligence, shall be liable for those court costs, regardless of whether that party wins the case.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 166 is an exception to the usual rule that the losing party bears costs. It targets the party who actually generated a particular cost, whether by an unnecessary step, by delay, or by fault or gross negligence, and makes that party pay regardless of the final outcome. In practice courts apply it together with Section 161 to shift a discrete item, such as an execution officer's fee for property seized but not sold, onto the party responsible for it. The provision lets the court reach a fair result on individual costs without disturbing the overall winner and loser allocation.
Why this matters in practice
This section is a caution against litigation gamesmanship: filing needless motions, stalling, or making careless mistakes can leave you paying those specific court costs even in a case you win. It also gives the other side a lever to recover costs wasted by an opponent's delay or serious error. If you are managing a hard-fought case, keep a clear record of steps forced on you by the other party, since Section 166 can shift the cost of those steps back to them.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 4660/2549 (2006)
Under Section 161 paragraph one together with Section 166, a party who conducts a proceeding by its own fault, causing court costs, must bear those costs regardless of whether it wins; so where a plaintiff's seizure was unlawful and had to be withdrawn, the plaintiff alone bears the withdrawal fee.
The court found the plaintiff had seized the second defendant's property unlawfully, so the seizure had to be withdrawn. Applying Section 161 paragraph one with Section 166, it held that a party who causes costs through its own fault must pay them regardless of the outcome, and that the trial court had wrongly placed the withdrawal fee on the defendant instead of the plaintiff.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 4445/2539 (1996)
Where a seizure with no sale was not caused by the plaintiff's fault or gross negligence but resulted from the defendant delaying the execution, the defendant is the party at fault and must bear the officer's fee for the seizure with no sale under Section 161 paragraph one together with Section 166.
After a judgment ordering the parties to divide land, the plaintiff had to seize the defendant's land because the defendant was delaying the enforcement. The court held the seizure with no sale was not the plaintiff's fault or gross negligence but flowed from the defendant's delay, so under Section 161 paragraph one with Section 166 the defendant must bear the officer's fee.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 6395/2543 (2000)
Section 166 shifts a cost only where the proceeding was carried on unnecessarily; where the plaintiff's seizure and the defendant's later deposits were not unnecessary conduct, the plaintiff cannot be made to bear the officer's fee for the seizure with no sale under Section 166.
The court held that neither the plaintiff's seizure of the land and buildings nor the defendant's two later deposits amounted to a proceeding carried on unnecessarily within Section 166. The appellate court had therefore been wrong to order the plaintiff to pay the officer's fee for the seizure with no sale, and the Supreme Court reversed.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 6 Supreme Court decisions (1983 to 2006)
Décisions de citation sélectionnées
- Decision 4660/2549 (2006)
- Decision 3871/2541 (1998)
- Decision 4445/2539 (1996)
- Decision 3377/2547 (2004)
- Decision 6395/2543 (2000)
- Décision 2595/2526 (1983)
Cette liste est sélectionnée automatiquement, en privilégiant les jugements qui reposent sur cet article plutôt que sur ceux qui se contentent de le citer lors du prononcé de la peine. Elle n'a pas encore été examinée par le cabinet.
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Calculé sur l'ensemble du corpus de 83 652 décisions de la Cour suprême du cabinet, de 1921 à 2026. Le décompte est exhaustif ; la plage d'années indiquée élimine les valeurs aberrantes rares afin de refléter la répartition réelle des citations. Ces chiffres sont calculés par nos soins et ne constituent pas des statistiques officielles de la Cour. Comment nous les comptons et ce que nous avons mesuré
Foire aux questions
Une partie qui gagne le procès peut-elle tout de même être condamnée à payer certains frais de justice ?
Oui. En vertu de l'article 166, la partie qui engage des frais en raison de démarches inutiles, de retards ou de négligence grave doit payer ces frais, qu'elle gagne ou non le procès.
Quels types de comportements déclenchent l'article 166 ?
Les procédures menées inutilement, les tactiques qui retardent l'affaire et les mesures imposées par la faute ou la négligence grave d'une partie relèvent toutes de l'article 166.
Citer cette section
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Citation simple
Civil Procedure Code, s. 166 (Thailand) -
Citation académique
Civil Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 166. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-166/ (accessed 1 septembre 2026). -
Citation thaïlandaise
ป.วิ.พ. มาตรา 166 -
Lien permanent
https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-166/ -
Intégrer sur votre site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-166/"><p>A party who causes court costs to be incurred in any proceeding that has been carried on unnecessarily, or that has the character of delaying the case, or that had to be carried on because of that party's fault or gross negligence, shall be liable…</p><footer>Civil Procedure Code, s. 166 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-166/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.