Section 587 — Hire of services — definition
Statutory text (Thai original)
อันว่าจ้างทำของนั้น คือสัญญาซึ่งบุคคลคนหนึ่ง เรียกว่าผู้รับจ้าง ตกลงรับจะทำการงานสิ่งใดสิ่งหนึ่งจนสำเร็จให้แก่บุคคลอีกคนหนึ่ง เรียกว่าผู้ว่าจ้าง และผู้ว่าจ้างตกลงจะให้สินจ้างเพื่อผลสำเร็จแห่งการที่ทำนั้น
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
English translation
The hire of work is a contract whereby a person, called contractor, agrees to accomplish a definite work for another person, called employer, who agrees to pay him a remuneration of the result of the work.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 587 is part of Book 3 (Specific Contracts) 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: contracts for legal representation, advertising, and consulting are typically hire of work; the fee falls due on completion of the specified task, not by time spent. For laypersons: if you hire a contractor to build something and pay on completion, that is hire of work — not employment.
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. 3660/2551 (2008)
A contract for legal representation is a hire of work; the fee is earned on delivery of the defined result (final judgment), not on time spent.
A contract for legal representation is a hire of work under Section 587; the lawyer's fee falls due when the case reaches a final conclusion, and parties may agree on phased payment tied to case outcomes.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 8032/2556 (2013)
A roofing subcontract at a unit rate is hire of work; the contractor may be a 'merchant' attracting the two-year prescription, not the five-year artisan's prescription.
A subcontract to dismantle and extend steel roofing, priced per square metre with the contractor supplying tools, was classified as hire of work under Section 587; the contractor was a 'merchant or industrialist' under Section 193/34(1) and not merely an artisan, so the five-year prescription under Section 193/33(5) did not apply.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.