มาตรา 204 — Default and demand for performance
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าหนี้ถึงกำหนดชำระแล้ว และภายหลังแต่นั้นเจ้าหนี้ได้ให้คำเตือนลูกหนี้แล้ว ลูกหนี้ยังไม่ชำระหนี้ไซร้ ลูกหนี้ได้ชื่อว่าผิดนัดเพราะเขาเตือนแล้วถ้าได้กำหนดเวลาชำระหนี้ไว้ตามวันแห่งปฏิทิน และลูกหนี้มิได้ชำระหนี้ตามกำหนดไซร้ ท่านว่าลูกหนี้ตกเป็นผู้ผิดนัดโดยมิพักต้องเตือนเลย วิธีเดียวกันนี้ท่านให้ใช้บังคับแก่กรณีที่ต้องบอกกล่าวล่วงหน้าก่อนการชำระหนี้ ซึ่งได้กำหนดเวลาลงไว้อาจคำนวณนับได้โดยปฏิทินนับแต่วันที่ได้บอกกล่าว
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
คำแปลภาษาอังกฤษ
If the debtor does not perform after warning given by the creditor after maturity, he is in default through the warning. If a time by calendar is fixed for the performance, the debtor is in default without warning if he does not perform at the fixed time. The same rule applies if a notice is required to precede the performance, and the time is fixed in such manner that it may be reckoned by the calendar from the time of notice.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 204 controls when interest, damages for delay, and force-majeure liability begin to run. Practical drafting point: in any contract worth defending, state an explicit performance date — that converts the default rule from "demand required" into "automatic on the date" and removes a frequent dispute about whether and when notice was served.
Why this matters in practice
For lawyers: when drafting payment clauses, specify the payment date by calendar so the debtor is automatically in default without needing a formal demand letter. For laypersons: if your loan says repay by 30 June, you are in default on 1 July without needing any reminder.
Legislative history
Part of the original Civil and Commercial Code codification; no major subsequent amendment.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 4789/2549 (2006)
A debtor whose obligation matures on a fixed calendar date is in default on that date without any prior demand.
A promissory note maturing on 31 October 2540 that the maker failed to pay put the maker in default immediately on that date under Section 204 paragraph 2, without any demand being necessary.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 147/2544 (2001)
Default on a calendar-fixed payment date triggers the guarantor's liability immediately, and prescription against the guarantor begins from that date.
A sale agreement fixing payment by 3 July 2528 put the buyer in default the next day under Section 204 para 2, triggering the guarantor's liability under Section 686 from that date — not from the date of the guarantee.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.