Thailand has a second criminal court system, run by the Ministry of Defence. In normal times it tries soldiers. After the 2014 coup it also tried civilians for offences committed between May 2014 and September 2016, and some of those trials ran until 2019. Civilians tried for acts done while martial law was in force had no right of appeal at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A common worry comes from civilians, not soldiers: will a case involving a soldier be heard in a military courtroom? Usually it will not, because of one rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A military court tries criminal cases against people who were subject to military jurisdiction when the offence happened. In practice that means serving members of the armed forces. It applies the same criminal law as any other court, plus the military penal law. The Constitution lists military courts as one of Thailand’s four court systems, next to the Constitutional Court, the administrative courts and the ordinary courts of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Discipline is a separate matter. Minor military breaches are handled by commanders under military discipline rules, with punishments such as extra duty or confinement, and never reach a court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The law takes a case out of the military court when a soldier offended together with a civilian, when it is connected with a case already in a civilian court, or when it belongs in the juvenile and family court. Those cases go to the ordinary courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Supreme Court reads “together” widely. In decision 1684\/2521 a soldier and a civilian who fought each other were held to have offended together, so the civilian court had jurisdiction. In decision 1104\/2513 two drivers, one a soldier, were each careless in the same collision, and the case again belonged in the civilian court. In decision 4147\/2541 the Court added that once a civilian court has accepted a charge, it can decide the case even if military jurisdiction appears later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are a civilian and the other side is in uniform, expect the ordinary criminal court. Check it early anyway. A jurisdiction point is far easier to raise at the start than after evidence has been heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are three levels in normal times: a first instance court, the Central Military Court and the Supreme Military Court. A first instance panel has three judges. Two are officers appointed by the commander, who need no legal training. One is a legally trained military judge. The two higher courts sit as five. All of them work under the Ministry of Defence rather than the judiciary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Procedure follows military law first. Where military law is silent, the ordinary criminal procedure rules apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In abnormal times, meaning war or martial law, two things change. The martial law authority can add other offences to the military courts’ work. And no appeal at all is allowed from a military court sitting in those times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That second rule is what hurt civilians after the coup of 22 May 2014. Martial law was declared nationwide on 20 May 2014 and lifted for most of the country on 1 April 2015. Civilians charged for acts done while it was in force had one trial and no appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Days after the coup, the National Council for Peace and Order sent several kinds of civilian cases to the military courts: offences against the monarchy, offences against internal security, breaches of the council’s own orders, and, under a later announcement, offences involving weapons of war. Connected offences went with them. Children and young people stayed in the juvenile and family court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 12 September 2016 the head of the council ended this for offences committed from that date. Cases already started stayed where they were. On 9 July 2019 a further order repealed the announcements and moved the remaining civilian cases to the ordinary courts. Human rights groups counted more than 2,000 civilians tried in military courts over those five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Constitutional Court has never ruled on the announcement that sent civilians to military courts. In 2015 the Bangkok Military Court refused to refer the question, saying the interim constitution had made the announcements valid. The closest Constitutional Court ruling is a different one. In ruling 30\/2563 of 2 December 2020, the Constitutional Court held that the criminal penalties for failing to report to the council, under two of its announcements, were contrary to the Constitution. That ruling concerned the reporting orders only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Groups that monitored these trials, including Thai Lawyers for Human Rights and Amnesty International, reported that military courts refused bail more often, gave heavier sentences in monarchy cases, and closed hearings to the public in sensitive cases. They also reported long gaps between hearings. These are the groups’ findings, not rules written in the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are preparing for a military court today, plan for that history. Prepare bail papers in more depth than usual, keep a full trial record from day one, and raise any jurisdiction point at the first hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government sent a bill to amend the Military Court Act to the House in July 2025. The House passed it on 2 September 2026, and the Senate accepted it in principle on 14 September 2026. It is not law yet. It would abolish the military province courts, let victims who are not soldiers bring their own case in a military court, and allow one appeal against a judgment given under martial law, though still not in war. Cases that military prosecutors filed before it takes effect would stay under the old rules. Until it appears in the Royal Gazette, the 1955 law as amended applies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask straight away which court the case is in and why. If you are a foreigner, ask for an interpreter and tell your embassy. Do not sign a statement you cannot read. Our guides to the police interview in Thailand<\/a>, bail in Thailand<\/a> and appeals to the Supreme Court<\/a> cover the next steps, and our criminal law page<\/a> explains how we defend cases. Conscripts and their families may also want our page on military service in Thailand<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n