Article 173 — Lis pendens after filing a complaint
Texte légal (original thaï)
เมื่อศาลได้รับคำฟ้องแล้ว ให้ศาลออกหมายส่งสำเนาคำฟ้องให้แก่จำเลยเพื่อแก้คดี และภายในกำหนดเจ็ดวันนับแต่วันยื่นคำฟ้อง ให้โจทก์ร้องขอต่อพนักงานเจ้าหน้าที่เพื่อให้ส่งหมายนั้น นับแต่เวลาที่ได้ยื่นคำฟ้องแล้ว คดีนั้นอยู่ในระหว่างพิจารณา และผลแห่งการนี้
(๑) ห้ามไม่ให้โจทก์ยื่นคำฟ้องเรื่องเดียวกันนั้นต่อศาลเดียวกัน หรือต่อศาลอื่นและ
(๒) ถ้ามีเหตุเปลี่ยนแปลงเกิดขึ้นในพฤติการณ์อันเกี่ยวด้วยการยื่นฟ้องคดีต่อศาลที่มีเขตศาลเหนือคดีนั้น เช่นการเปลี่ยนแปลงภูมิลำเนาของจำเลย การเปลี่ยนแปลงเช่นว่านี้หาตัดอำนาจศาลที่รับฟ้องคดีไว้ในอันที่จะพิจารณาและชี้ขาดตัดสินคดีนั้นไม่
traduction anglaise
When the court has received the complaint, the court shall issue a summons to serve a copy of the complaint on the defendant so that the defendant may defend the case; and within seven days from the day of filing the complaint, the plaintiff shall request the official to serve that summons. From the time the complaint has been filed, the case is under consideration, and the effects of this are: (1) the plaintiff is prohibited from filing a complaint on the same matter, whether against the same court or against another court; and (2) if a change occurs in the circumstances relating to the filing of the case at the court having jurisdiction over it, such as a change in the defendant's domicile, such change does not deprive the court that accepted the case of its power to try and finally decide it.
Cette traduction anglaise est fournie à titre indicatif uniquement et n'a pas encore été vérifiée de manière définitive ; référez-vous toujours à l'original thaï.
Annotation de l'entreprise
Section 173 marks the moment a case becomes pending and sets out the consequences. On receiving the complaint the court issues a summons, and the plaintiff must ask the official to serve it within seven days of filing. From filing, the case is under consideration, which triggers two effects: a bar on the plaintiff filing the same matter again in any court, the doctrine known as duplicate suit (fong son), and the fixing of jurisdiction so that a later change of circumstances, such as the defendant changing domicile, does not oust the court that accepted the case. Courts have clarified that the duplicate-suit bar in paragraph two (1) applies where the party is in the position of a plaintiff in both the earlier and the later proceeding.
Pourquoi cela est important en pratique
Two practical points follow. First, do not miss the seven-day window to request service of the summons: neglecting it can be treated as abandoning the complaint under Section 174. Second, you cannot run the same claim in two courts at once, so filing a second suit on a matter already pending risks dismissal as a duplicate suit. If the defendant moves or circumstances change after you file, your case stays with the court that accepted it. For debt claims where timing and forum matter, our debt collection lawyers in Thailand can help you file correctly the first time.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 2629/2567 (2024)
A later complaint or petition is a duplicate suit under Section 173 paragraph two (1) only where the party has the position of plaintiff in both the earlier and the later case; a party who was a respondent in the earlier case is not caught by the bar.
The court held that for a duplicate suit under Section 173 paragraph two (1), the party must be in the position of plaintiff in both cases. Although the second respondent had petitioned to be sole estate administrator, in the earlier case that respondent had been sued by the first respondent, so the later petition was not a duplicate suit.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 2165/2564 (2021)
Where a complaint has the same nature of claim and grounds as a matter the plaintiff had already raised as an intervener in an earlier pending case, the later complaint is a duplicate suit prohibited under Section 173 paragraph two (1).
The plaintiff's claim in this case had the same nature and grounds as a matter the plaintiff had raised by intervening, which functioned as a complaint, in an earlier pending case. The court held the later complaint was a duplicate suit prohibited under Section 173 paragraph two (1), and upheld the dismissal.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 3720/2564 (2021)
A later complaint is not a duplicate suit under Section 173 paragraph two (1) where it does not concern the same matter as the earlier case, for example where a tax assessment challenge covers a different period and different items already finally decided in the earlier case.
The court held that a challenge to a property-tax assessment for an additional period, covering items different from those already finally decided in an earlier case, was not a suit on the same matter. It was therefore not a duplicate suit prohibited under Section 173 paragraph two (1).
Décisions sélectionnées avec numéros de dossier vérifiés dans la base de données de la Cour suprême. Les versions anglaises sont des traductions éditoriales réalisées par le cabinet à des fins d'étude.
Foire aux questions
What does it mean that a case is under consideration?
Under Section 173, from the day the complaint is filed the case is pending, which bars the plaintiff from filing the same matter in any court and fixes the court's jurisdiction against later changes.
Can I sue on the same matter in another court while a case is pending?
No. Section 173 paragraph two (1) prohibits filing a complaint on the same matter against the same or another court while the first case is pending; the second filing is a duplicate suit.