Article 189: Definition of small claims

Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section

1. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 9500/2556 (2013)

   Whether a case is a small claim under section 189 turns on its amount in controversy as set by the Royal Decree; here an eviction suit met by a counterclaim over land, valued at 240,000 baht, was a small claim, so only the small claims court fee was due.

   An eviction suit became a case with an amount in controversy when the defendant claimed the disputed land; at 240,000 baht it was a small claim under section 189 with the 2003 Royal Decree, so charging each side 6,000 baht in court fees was wrong.

2. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 2472/2554 (2011)

   A claim to be relieved of a grievance calculable in money and not exceeding the Royal Decree ceiling is a small claims case under section 189(1).

   The plaintiff sued for about 22,751 baht in unpaid fees for security-guard services; the court held this was a small claims case under section 189(1).

3. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 3664/2554 (2011)

   Section 189 determines only whether a case is a small claim: a claim for relief capable of being calculated in money and not exceeding 300,000 baht, or the figure fixed by Royal Decree. The court fee is fixed elsewhere - by section 190 quater paragraph one (former) with Table 1(2)(a) annexed to the Code, which sets 200 baht per case. The Act establishing Juvenile and Family Courts B.E. 2534 contains no provision on court fees, so the Civil Procedure Code applies mutatis mutandis in those courts as well.

   The plaintiff sued in the Juvenile and Family Court for the return of 100,000 baht of sin sod and 50,000 baht of wedding expenses on a broken engagement, and paid a court fee of 200 baht. The first court treated the case as an ordinary claim, required an ad valorem fee of 2.5 percent, and refused the plaint when the balance was not paid. On a leapfrog appeal under section 223 bis the Supreme Court held the claim was for relief calculable in money and not exceeding 300,000 baht, so it was a small claim under section 189; the fee for a small claim is set by section 190 quater paragraph one (former) with Table 1(2)(a) at 200 baht per case, which the plaintiff had already paid. The Juvenile and Family Courts Act contains no fee provision, so the Code applied there too.

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