Section 378
Statutory text (Thai original)
มัดจำนั้น ถ้ามิได้ตกลงกันไว้เป็นอย่างอื่น ท่านให้เป็นไปดังจะกล่าวต่อไปนี้ คือ(๑) ให้ส่งคืน หรือจัดเอาเป็นการใช้เงินบางส่วนในเมื่อชำระหนี้(๒) ให้ริบ ถ้าฝ่ายที่วางมัดจำละเลยไม่ชำระหนี้ หรือการชำระหนี้ตกเป็นพ้นวิสัยเพราะพฤติการณ์อันใดอันหนึ่งซึ่งฝ่ายนั้นต้องรับผิดชอบ หรือถ้ามีการเลิกสัญญาเพราะความผิดของฝ่ายนั้น(๓) ให้ส่งคืน ถ้าฝ่ายที่รับมัดจำละเลยไม่ชำระหนี้ หรือการชำระหนี้ตกเป็นพ้นวิสัยเพราะพฤติการณ์อันใดอันหนึ่งซึ่งฝ่ายนี้ต้องรับผิดชอบ
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
English translation
In the absence of agreement to the contrary, earnest is: (1) To be returned or treated as part-payment upon performance (2) To be forfeited, if the party giving it fails to perform, or if the performance becomes impossible in consequence of the circumstance for which he is responsible or if the rescission of the contract is due to his fault. (3) To be returned, if the party receiving it fails to perform, or, if the performance becomes impossible in consequence of a circumstance for which he is responsible.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 378 is part of Book 2 (Obligations) 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.
Cited in 54 Supreme Court decisions (1949 to 2022)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 2883/2563 (2020)
- Decision 7123/2561 (2018)
- Decision 7302/2559 (2016)
- Decision 918/2558 (2015)
- Decision 2569/2556 (2013)
- Decision 13389/2555 (2012)
- Decision 3946/2553 (2010)
- Decision 5941/2552 (2009)
This list is selected automatically, weighted towards judgments that turn on this section rather than ones that merely recite it when passing sentence. It has not yet been reviewed by the firm.
Most often cited alongside
- Section 391 15
- Section 377 14
- Section 383 7
- Section 379 7
- Section 224 6
- Thai CPC s. 142 6
Sections that appear in the same judgments as this one most often. The figure is the number of decisions.
Counted across the firm's corpus of 83,652 Supreme Court decisions, 1921 to 2026. These figures are computed by us and are not official court statistics.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
-
Plain citation
Civil and Commercial Code, s. 378 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Civil and Commercial Code (Thailand), s. 378. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-378/ (accessed 8 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.พ.พ. มาตรา 378 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-378/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-378/"><p>In the absence of agreement to the contrary, earnest is: (1) To be returned or treated as part-payment upon performance (2) To be forfeited, if the party giving it fails to perform, or if the performance becomes impossible in consequence of the circumstance for which…</p><footer>Civil and Commercial Code, s. 378 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-378/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.