Section 448 — Prescription period for tort claims
Statutory text (Thai original)
สิทธิเรียกร้องค่าเสียหายอันเกิดแต่มูลละเมิดนั้น ท่านว่าขาดอายุความเมื่อพ้นปีหนึ่งนับแต่วันที่ผู้ต้องเสียหายรู้ถึงการละเมิดและรู้ตัวผู้จะพึงต้องใช้ค่าสินไหมทดแทน หรือเมื่อพ้นสิบปีนับแต่วันทำละเมิด แต่ถ้าเรียกร้องค่าเสียหายในมูลอันเป็นความผิดมีโทษตามกฎหมายลักษณะอาญาและมีกำหนดอายุความทางอาญายาวกว่าที่กล่าวมานั้นไซร้ ท่านให้เอาอายุความที่ยาวกว่านั้นมาบังคับ
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
คำแปลภาษาอังกฤษ
A claim for damages arising from a wrongful act is barred by prescription after one year from the day when the wrongful act and the person bound to make compensation became known to the injured person, or ten years from the day when the wrongful act was committed. However, if the damages are claimed on account of an act punishable under the criminal law for which a longer prescription is provided, such longer prescription shall apply.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 448 contains two clocks: a one-year subjective clock running from discovery, and a ten-year long-stop. Plaintiffs frequently lose on the one-year limb because they delay between learning of the harm and filing. Where the same conduct is criminal — typically assault, fraud, or homicide — the criminal prescription period (which can be up to 20 years for serious offences) is borrowed wholesale.
Why this matters in practice
Lawyers: The one-year clock does not start until the claimant has knowledge of both elements simultaneously — act and identity. Injury not yet realised means the tort is not yet complete and prescription has not begun. In cases where the tortious act is also criminal, check the applicable criminal prescription; if longer, it governs the civil claim too. The absolute ten-year bar runs from the date of the act regardless of knowledge. Laypersons: If you are injured by someone's wrongdoing, you generally have one year from the time you found out who did it to sue; but do not wait more than ten years in any case.
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. 11027/2558 (2015) ★ Landmark
The one-year tort prescription begins only when the claimant simultaneously knows both the fact of the wrongful act and the identity of the liable person; earlier knowledge of the act alone does not start the clock.
The Court held that the one-year prescription under section 448(1) begins to run only from the day on which the injured party has knowledge of both conditions together: (i) that a wrongful act was committed and (ii) the identity of the person who must pay compensation. The earlier filing against a different defendant (Rural Roads Department) did not interrupt prescription against the present defendants because they were different persons.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 1993/2562 (2019)
Where the claimant has not yet suffered actual damage, the tortious act is not yet complete and the section 448 one-year prescription period has not yet begun to run.
The plaintiff municipality had not yet incurred the election re-run costs (the damage) when it received a court order on 11 December 2013. The Court held that because the actual loss had not yet materialised at that date, the tortious act was not yet complete and the one-year prescription under section 448 could not have started running on that date. Prescription only began from when the plaintiff actually suffered measurable damage.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 14700/2557 (2014)
Where the tortious act also constitutes a criminal offence carrying a longer criminal prescription, section 448's proviso requires the court to apply the longer criminal period to the civil tort claim.
Defendants illegally encroached on and logged a national park, constituting both a civil wrongful act and criminal offences under the National Park Act. The applicable criminal prescription for those offences was longer than the one-year civil tort prescription. The Court applied section 448's final proviso and adopted the longer criminal prescription period for the civil damages claim.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Frequently asked questions
If I only find out years later who caused my injury, does the one-year period under section 448 still apply?
Yes, the one-year period runs from when you knew both the wrongful act and the identity of the wrongdoer — not from when the act occurred. However, there is an absolute maximum of ten years from the date of the act. So if you discover the wrongdoer's identity nine years after the event, you have only one year left (not a full year from discovery, since you would hit the ten-year absolute bar). In practice, the ten-year absolute bar often becomes the operative limit in latent-harm cases.