Section 4: Proper court for filing a claim
Statutory text (Thai original)
เว้นแต่จะมีบทบัญญัติเป็นอย่างอื่น
(๑) คำฟ้องให้เสนอต่อศาลที่จำเลยมีภูมิลำเนาอยู่ในเขตศาล หรือต่อศาลที่มูลคดีเกิดขึ้นในเขตศาลไม่ว่าจำเลยจะมีภูมิลำเนาอยู่ในราชอาณาจักรหรือไม่
(๒) คำร้องขอ ให้เสนอต่อศาลที่มูลคดีเกิดขึ้นในเขตศาล หรือต่อศาลที่ผู้ร้องมีภูมิลำเนาอยู่ในเขตศาล
English translation
Except where otherwise provided:
(1) a plaint shall be submitted to the court within whose territorial jurisdiction the defendant has domicile, or to the court within whose territorial jurisdiction the cause of action arose, whether or not the defendant has domicile in the Kingdom;
(2) a petition shall be submitted to the court within whose territorial jurisdiction the cause of action arose, or to the court within whose territorial jurisdiction the petitioner has domicile.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 4 is the default territorial venue rule of the Code and the anchor for the more specific provisions that follow in Chapter 1. It gives a plaintiff a choice between the court of the defendant's domicile and the court where the cause of action arose, and it applies whether or not the defendant is domiciled in the Kingdom. The key interpretive question is the meaning of cause of action, which the courts read as the origin of the infringement of right that gives the plaintiff standing, not merely the place of any related event. The rule opens with except where otherwise provided, so it yields to the special venues in Sections 4 bis to 4 sex and to the overriding rules in Section 7.
Why this matters in practice
Because a plaintiff can usually choose between the defendant's home court and the court where the cause arose, filing decisions often turn on convenience, witnesses, and where enforcement will be easier. Getting the cause of action location right is essential: if it is not clearly within the chosen court's area and the defendant is domiciled elsewhere, the plaint can be rejected. This matters a great deal in debt and contract disputes, where you may prefer a court near the defendant's assets. See our debt collection service for how venue choices affect enforcement.
Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 1824/2567 (2024)
Under Section 4(1) the cause of action means the source of the infringement of right that gives the plaintiff standing; in a sale-of-goods dispute it arises where the ordering and dealing between the parties took place.
The question was whether the plaintiff could sue defendant 2 at the trial court. Applying Section 4(1), the court explained that cause of action means the origin of the dispute over a right, and for this sale contract the place where the goods were ordered from the plaintiff was relevant to fixing the proper court.
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Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 3412/2565 (2022)
By resolution of the Grand Chamber, the cause of action under section 4(1) means the origin of the infringement of right that gives the plaintiff standing to sue. Where an insurer sues its own insurer for failing to pay initial compensation under the Protection for Motor Vehicle Accident Victims Act, the claim is on the insurance contract, so the cause of action arises both where the policy was made and where the accident occurred, since the accident is what triggers the insurer's liability.
The plaintiff sued defendant 1 to recover money, alleging that defendant 1 had breached the insurance contract by failing to pay the initial compensation to the victim as required by section 20 of the Protection for Motor Vehicle Accident Victims Act B.E. 2535. The Grand Chamber held this was a claim on the insurance contract and not, as the plaintiff argued, a subrogated claim in tort, so the place where the policy was made, Surin, was one place where the cause of action arose. Because the insurer's liability arises only when a victim suffers loss from the insured vehicle, the place of the accident, Chonburi, within the trial court's area, was another. The trial court therefore had power to try the case.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 151 Supreme Court decisions (1951 to 2025)
Décisions de citation sélectionnées
- Decision 9161/2568 (2025)
- Decision 1824/2567 (2024)
- Decision 3412/2565 (2022)
- Décision 527/2561 (2018)
- Décision 6458/2559 (2016)
- Decision 1475/2559 (2016)
- Decision 1193/2559 (2016)
- Decision 5726/2558 (2015)
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.
Le plus souvent cité aux côtés de
- Article 223 bis 22
- Section 5 16
- Section 7 11
- Article 249 9
- Section 2 7
- Thai CCC s. 71 7
Sections qui apparaissent le plus souvent dans les mêmes jugements que celui-ci. Le chiffre correspond au nombre de décisions.
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
Où puis-je déposer une plainte au civil en Thaïlande ?
En vertu de l'article 4(1), vous pouvez intenter votre action soit devant le tribunal du domicile du défendeur, soit devant celui du lieu où est née la cause d'action. Le demandeur choisit entre ces deux tribunaux, sous réserve des règles de compétence territoriale applicables à la nature de la demande.
Que signifie la notion de cause d'action dans le choix d'un tribunal ?
Les tribunaux considèrent la cause d'action comme l'origine de la violation du droit qui confère au demandeur la qualité pour agir. Dans le cadre d'un litige contractuel, par exemple, elle est liée au lieu où s'est déroulée la transaction ayant engendré le litige.
Guides connexes sur ThaiLawOnline
Citer cette section
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Citation simple
Civil Procedure Code, s. 4 (Thailand) -
Citation académique
Civil Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 4. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-4/ (accessed 1 septembre 2026). -
Citation thaïlandaise
ป.วิ.พ. มาตรา 4 -
Lien permanent
https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-4/ -
Intégrer sur votre site
<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-4/"><p>Except where otherwise provided: (1) a plaint shall be submitted to the court within whose territorial jurisdiction the defendant has domicile, or to the court within whose territorial jurisdiction the cause of action arose, whether or not the defendant has domicile in the Kingdom; (2)…</p><footer>Civil Procedure Code, s. 4 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/fr/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-4/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.