มาตรา 4 — Application of the law
Statutory text (Thai original)
กฎหมายนั้น ต้องใช้ในบรรดากรณีซึ่งต้องด้วยบทบัญญัติใด ๆ แห่งกฎหมายตามตัวอักษร หรือตามความมุ่งหมายของบทบัญญัตินั้น ๆ เมื่อไม่มีบทกฎหมายที่จะยกมาปรับคดีได้ ให้วินิจฉัยคดีนั้นตามจารีตประเพณีแห่งท้องถิ่น ถ้าไม่มีจารีตประเพณีเช่นว่านั้น ให้วินิจฉัยคดีอาศัยเทียบบทกฎหมายที่ใกล้เคียงอย่างยิ่ง และถ้าบทกฎหมายเช่นนั้นก็ไม่มีด้วย ให้วินิจฉัยตามหลักกฎหมายทั่วไป
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
คำแปลภาษาอังกฤษ
The law must be applied in all cases which comes within the letter and spirit of any of its provisions. Where no provision is applicable, the case shall be decided by analogy to the provision most nearly applicable, and, in default of such provision, by the general principles of law.
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 part of Book 1 (General Principles) of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code. This entry is awaiting firm-authored commentary; the statutory text above is verbatim from the Office of the Council of State (OCS Krisdika) Thai source, with the English translation from the FAO/UN FAOLEX repository. Always rely on the Thai original for legal proceedings.
Why this matters in practice
For lawyers: whenever a client's situation lacks a direct statutory provision, this section is the gateway to analogical reasoning and general principles — cite it when arguing that a rule from a related area should extend to fill the gap. For laypeople: Thai law will never simply refuse to decide a dispute because there is no law; a judge is required to find an answer by working down this hierarchy.
Legislative history
Part of the original Civil & Commercial Code codification; no major subsequent amendment.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 7830/2560 (2017) ★ Landmark
When no statutory provision or local custom covers a situation, the court must reason by analogy from the nearest applicable provision under section 4 paragraph 2.
A company director had fled the country as a fugitive suspect and was unreachable, but this did not amount to a vacancy in the representative position under section 73 CCC. Because no provision directly governed the situation and there was no applicable local custom, the Court applied section 4 paragraph 2 and reasoned by analogy to section 73 as the nearest applicable provision, since the practical effect — the juristic person lacking a functioning representative — was the same.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 6407/2554 (2011)
A procedural gap in a special statute is filled by analogy to the nearest general procedural provision, as required by section 4.
The Consumer Protection Act exempted government consumer-protection officers from all court fees but contained no provision expressly requiring the opposing party to reimburse those fees, as provided for indigent litigants under the Civil Procedure Code. The Court applied the analogical reasoning method of section 4 and treated the CPC provision as the nearest applicable rule, thereby extending fee-reimbursement liability to the opposing party.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Frequently asked questions
What happens when a court faces a dispute that no statutory provision covers?
The court must first look for applicable local custom. If none exists, it reasons by analogy from the closest available provision. Only if that too is absent does it apply general principles of law. The court cannot refuse to decide.