{"id":6586,"date":"2026-09-05T19:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T12:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/glossary\/damages\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T19:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T12:09:17","slug":"damages","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/damages\/","title":{"rendered":"Damages (Kha Sin Mai Thot Thaen) in Thai Civil Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>D\u00e9g\u00e2ts<\/strong> (\u0e04\u0e48\u0e32\u0e2a\u0e34\u0e19\u0e44\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e17\u0e14\u0e41\u0e17\u0e19, <em>kha sin mai thot thaen<\/em>; contract damages are <em>kha sia hai<\/em>) are the money a Thai court orders a wrongdoer or a defaulting party to pay to make good a loss. The principle is compensation, not punishment: the award puts the claimant in the position he would have been in had the tort or breach not happened, and no more. That single idea explains why foreigners who expect awards on the scale of their home courts are disappointed, and why the receipts kept after an accident matter more than the eloquence of the pleading.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table des mati\u00e8res<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#how-the-civil-and-commercial-code-measures-damages\">How the Civil and Commercial Code measures damages<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#practical-points-for-a-foreign-claimant-or-defendant\">Practical points for a foreign claimant or defendant<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#compensatory-damages-penalties-and-punitive-awards\">Compensatory damages, penalties and punitive awards<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-the-civil-and-commercial-code-measures-damages\">How the Civil and Commercial Code measures damages<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>In tort<\/strong> the court fixes compensation according to the circumstances and the gravity of the wrongful act (Section 438). The Code then lists the heads of loss. Where death results: funeral expenses, medical costs before death, and loss of the support the deceased owed to those legally entitled to maintenance (Section 443). Where the injury is to body or health: expenses and loss of earning capacity, present and future (Section 444), plus a sum for non-pecuniary loss such as pain and disfigurement (Section 446).<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>In contract<\/strong> damages cover the loss that ordinarily arises from the breach, and unusual loss only if the defaulting party foresaw or should have foreseen it (Section 222). If the claimant contributed to the loss, or failed to warn of an unusually large risk, the award is reduced (Section 223). On money debts, interest runs at the statutory default rate, 5% per year since the 2021 amendment (Section 224), from the date of default, and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/tort\/\">d\u00e9lit<\/a> awards from the date of the wrongful act.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"practical-points-for-a-foreign-claimant-or-defendant\">Practical points for a foreign claimant or defendant<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>Prove it.<\/strong> Thai judges award what is documented: hospital invoices, salary slips, repair quotations. Non-pecuniary awards for pain and suffering are modest by Western standards, often tens or low hundreds of thousands of baht, and loss of future earnings is discounted heavily unless the claimant shows a stable income. Claiming an inflated figure is expensive, because the court fee is 2% of the amount claimed, capped at 200,000 baht.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>Collect it.<\/strong> A judgment is not money. Enforcement goes through the Legal Execution Department, which seizes assets or garnishes wages, and depends on the defendant having something to take. Before suing, ask whether the defendant, or an employer jointly liable for him, can pay. In criminal cases a victim can claim compensation inside the prosecution, which spares the separate fee.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"compensatory-damages-penalties-and-punitive-awards\">Compensatory damages, penalties and punitive awards<\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Taper<\/th><th>Base<\/th><th>Available in Thailand?<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Compensatory damages<\/td><td>Sections 222, 438 to 446<\/td><td>Yes, the general rule<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Agreed penalty in a contract<\/td><td>Sections 379 to 383<\/td><td>Yes, but the court may reduce it<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Punitive or exemplary damages<\/td><td>Consumer and product liability statutes only<\/td><td>Only in those cases, usually up to double the loss<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Compensation from a spouse&#8217;s lover<\/td><td>Article 1523<\/td><td>Yes, in a divorce for adultery<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/penalty-clause\/\">clause p\u00e9nale<\/a> is the contractual cousin of damages: a sum fixed in advance for breach, which the court can cut down if disproportionate. Punitive damages exist only under the Consumer Case Procedure Act and the Product Liability Act, both of B.E. 2551 (2008), and are rarely large. For everything else the measure is the loss the claimant can prove, which is why the guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/civil-liability-in-thailand\/\">responsabilit\u00e9 civile en Tha\u00eflande<\/a> begins with evidence rather than law.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/h2>\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">How much compensation do Thai courts award for personal injury?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>The documented medical expenses, proven loss of earnings and a modest sum for pain and suffering under Sections 444 and 446 of the Civil and Commercial Code. Awards are compensatory and conservative: a serious injury commonly produces hundreds of thousands of baht, not the millions seen in some Western courts.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Are punitive damages available in Thailand?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Not under the Civil and Commercial Code. Thai damages are compensatory only. The exceptions are the Consumer Case Procedure Act and the Product Liability Act of 2008, under which a court may award a multiple of the actual loss against a business, usually up to double.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">What is the interest rate on damages awarded by a Thai court?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Since the 2021 amendment to Section 224 of the Civil and Commercial Code, default interest is 5% per year: the 3% statutory rate plus 2%. It runs from the date of default on a contract debt and from the date of the wrongful act on a tort claim, unless the contract validly fixes another rate.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Voir aussi\u00a0: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/tort\/\">Tort (Section 420)<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/penalty-clause\/\">Penalty clause (Section 383)<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/court-fees\/\">Frais de justice<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/prescription\/\">Ordonnance<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/civil-liability-in-thailand\/\">Civil liability in Thailand<\/a> ET <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/thai-legal-system-explained\/\">Thai legal system explained<\/a>.<\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Damages (\u0e04\u0e48\u0e32\u0e2a\u0e34\u0e19\u0e44\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e17\u0e14\u0e41\u0e17\u0e19, kha sin mai thot thaen; contract damages are kha sia hai) are the money a Thai court orders [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":214,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"damages thai law","rank_math_title":"Damages in Thai Law: What Courts Award | ThaiLawOnline","rank_math_description":"Damages under Thai law (kha sin mai thot thaen): what a court compensates in tort and contract, the heads of loss in Sections 438 to 446, and interest.","rank_math_breadcrumb_title":""},"class_list":["post-6586","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6586\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}