Section 117 — Order of examining witnesses
Statutory text (Thai original)
คู่ความฝ่ายที่อ้างพยานชอบที่จะตั้งข้อซักถามพยานได้ในทันใด ที่พยานได้สาบานตนและแสดงตนตามมาตรา ๑๑๒ และ ๑๑๖ แล้ว หรือถ้าศาลเป็นผู้ซักถามพยานก่อน ก็ให้คู่ความซักถามได้ต่อเมื่อศาลได้ซักถามเสร็จแล้วเมื่อคู่ความฝ่ายที่อ้างพยานได้ซักถามพยานเสร็จแล้ว คู่ความอีกฝ่ายหนึ่งชอบที่จะถามค้านพยานนั้นได้เมื่อได้ถามค้านพยานเสร็จแล้ว คู่ความฝ่ายที่อ้างพยานชอบที่จะถามติงได้เมื่อได้ถามติงพยานเสร็จแล้ว ห้ามมิให้คู่ความฝ่ายใดซักถามพยานอีก เว้นแต่จะได้รับอนุญาตจากศาล ถ้าคู่ความฝ่ายใดได้รับอนุญาตให้ถามพยานได้ดังกล่าวนี้ คู่ความอีกฝ่ายหนึ่งย่อมถามค้านพยานได้อีกในข้อที่เกี่ยวกับคำถามนั้นคู่ความที่ระบุพยานคนใดไว้ จะไม่ติดสืบพยานคนนั้นก็ได้ ในเมื่อพยานคนนั้นยังมิได้เบิกความตามข้อถามของศาล หรือของคู่ความฝ่ายที่อ้าง แต่ถ้าพยานได้เริ่มเบิกความแล้ว พยานอาจถูกถามค้านหรือถามติงได้ถ้าพยานเบิกความเป็นปรปักษ์แก่ความฝ่ายที่อ้างตนมา คู่ความฝ่ายนั้นอาจขออนุญาตต่อศาลเพื่อซักถามพยานนั้นเสมือนหนึ่งพยานนั้นเป็นพยานซึ่งคู่ความอีกฝ่ายหนึ่งอ้างมาการซักถามพยานก็ดี การซักค้านพยานก็ดี การถามติงพยานก็ดี ถ้าคู่ความคนใดได้ตั้งทนายความไว้หลายคน ให้ทนายความคนเดียวเป็นผู้ถาม เว้นแต่ศาลจะเห็นสมควรเป็นอย่างอื่น
English translation
The party who has cited the witness is entitled to examine the witness immediately after the witness has taken the oath and identified themselves under Sections 112 and 116; or, if the court examines the witness first, the parties may examine only after the court has finished. When the party who cited the witness has finished examining, the other party is entitled to cross-examine that witness. When cross-examination is finished, the party who cited the witness is entitled to re-examine. When re-examination is finished, no party may examine the witness again, except with the permission of the court. If a party is granted permission to examine the witness as stated, the other party may cross-examine again on matters relating to that examination.
A party who has listed a witness need not call that witness, so long as the witness has not yet testified in answer to the questions of the court or of the party who cited them; but if the witness has begun to testify, the witness may be cross-examined or re-examined.
If a witness testifies adversely to the party who cited them, that party may seek the court's permission to examine that witness as though the witness were one cited by the other party.
In examination, cross-examination, or re-examination, if a party has appointed several lawyers, only one lawyer shall put the questions, unless the court sees fit otherwise.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 117 lays out the adversarial sequence of witness examination that follows the mode chosen under Section 116: examination-in-chief by the calling party, cross-examination by the opponent, then re-examination, with any further questioning requiring leave. It also settles several practical points: a party may decline to call a listed witness before that witness starts testifying, a witness who gives adverse evidence can, with leave, be examined as if hostile, and only one of a party's several lawyers may question a given witness. The order operates together with Section 118 on the permissible form of questions. Courts have contrasted this general civil sequence with the different, court-controlled examination used in specialised courts such as the labour courts.
Why this matters in practice
Get the sequence right: raise your new points in examination-in-chief, attack the other side's account in cross-examination, and use re-examination only to repair damage, because questions outside the allowed order can be shut down. If your own witness turns against you, ask the court's leave to treat them as hostile rather than being stuck with their evidence. And where you have more than one lawyer, decide in advance who questions each witness. These are core skills that come with choosing the right Thai litigation lawyer.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 13145/2558 (2015)
In ordinary civil cases Section 117 requires the party citing a witness to examine that witness first and then allows the other party to cross-examine, and both parties may question in that order without needing the court's prior leave, unlike the court-controlled examination used in labour cases.
Contrasting labour procedure with ordinary civil procedure, the Supreme Court explained that Section 117 gives each party the right to examine in turn, the calling party first and then the other party in cross-examination, without prior leave of the court, whereas in labour cases all questioning is treated as court-led examination and differs from this general rule.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 6044/2551 (2008)
The right of cross-examination in the second paragraph of Section 117 is not absolute in effect: where a party was not permitted to cross-examine a co-party's witness but suffered no real disadvantage, the court need not order the proceedings to be retaken.
Although the second paragraph of Section 117 gives the opposing party the right to cross-examine, the Supreme Court held that where the first defendant was not permitted to cross-examine the second defendant's witness but was not thereby placed at a real disadvantage, it was unnecessary to send the case back for the proceedings to be retaken.
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 is the order of questioning a witness in a Thai civil trial?
Under Section 117 the party who called the witness examines first, the other party then cross-examines, and the calling party re-examines. After that, no more questions are allowed unless the court gives permission.
What happens if your own witness testifies against you?
Section 117 lets the party who called the witness seek the court's permission to examine that hostile witness as if the witness had been called by the other party.