การละทิ้งร้างอันเป็นเหตุฟ้องหย่า (มาตรา 1516)

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อัปเดตล่าสุดเมื่อ 5 กันยายน 2569

การละทิ้ง (การทิ้งร้าง, kan thing rang, also pleaded as การละทิ้ง) is the wilful leaving of one spouse by the other, without reasonable cause, for more than one year. It is a statutory ground for divorce under Section 1516(4) of the Thai ประมวลกฎหมายแพ่งและพาณิชย์. It is the ground most used by a foreigner whose spouse simply left and cannot or will not sign a divorce by consent at the amphur, because it does not depend on the absent spouse’s cooperation.

What Section 1516(4) requires the court to find

Three elements must be established. First, one spouse left the other: the matrimonial home was abandoned, or the deserting spouse refused to live with the other. Second, the leaving was wilful and without reasonable cause; a spouse who moved out because of violence, or who was driven out, has not deserted. Third, the desertion has lasted more than one year, counted to the day the petition is filed. Desertion is a continuing state, so the one-year limitation in Section 1529, which applies to adultery and misconduct, does not cut off the claim while the absence goes on.

Neighbouring grounds are often confused with it. Section 1516(4/1) covers a spouse imprisoned for more than one year for an offence in which the other took no part. Section 1516(4/2) covers three years of voluntary separation, or separation under a court order, which needs no fault. Section 1516(5) covers a spouse adjudged to have disappeared or absent for more than three years with no certainty whether they are alive. Section 1516(6) covers failure to maintain and support the other spouse. Each has its own evidence.

Proving desertion when the spouse cannot be found

The petition goes to the Juvenile and Family Court. The evidence is usually documentary: the house registration (ตะเบียน บาอัน) showing who lives where, messages in which the spouse refuses to return, bank records showing no contributions, testimony from the village head or neighbours, and immigration records if the spouse left the country. Where the defendant’s address is unknown, the court permits service by publication and the case proceeds in their absence.

Practical points for a foreigner: keep a record of every attempt at contact, think before letting the spouse back for short stays, because that can reset the period, and translate foreign evidence into Thai. A well-prepared undefended case is usually decided within four to eight months. The procedure is in the guide to contested divorce in Thailand; the court fee for a divorce petition without a property claim is 200 baht.

Desertion, separation and what happens after

Desertion is not the same as separation. Spouses who agree to live apart have separated, and after three years either can divorce under Section 1516(4/2) without proving fault. Desertion requires that one spouse left against the wishes of the other. A spouse who refuses all contact but keeps paying the household bills may have separated rather than deserted, and the court looks at the whole conduct.

A divorce on this ground still requires the court to divide the ซิน ซอมรอส equally under Section 1533 and to decide การดูแล on the child’s interests. The deserted spouse may also claim a living allowance under Section 1526, which must be pleaded in the divorce action itself. If the absent spouse reappears and both agree, the matter can be settled as an การหย่าร้างโดยไม่มีข้อโต้แย้ง at the amphur instead.

คำถามที่พบบ่อย

ดูเพิ่มเติม: grounds for divorce, การนอกใจ, การหย่าร้างที่มีการโต้แย้ง, ศาลเยาวชนและครอบครัว, and the guides to contested divorce in Thailand และ การหย่าร้างในประเทศไทย.