Section 127 bis — Returning original evidence to the submitter
Statutory text (Thai original)
ต้นฉบับพยานเอกสารหรือพยานวัตถุอันสำคัญที่คู่ความได้ยื่นต่อศาลหรือที่บุคคลภายนอกได้ยื่นต่อศาล หากผู้ที่ยื่นต้องใช้เป็นประจำหรือตามความจำเป็นหรือมีความสำคัญในการเก็บรักษา ศาลจะอนุญาตให้ผู้ที่ยื่นรับคืนไป โดยให้คู่ความตรวจดู และให้ผู้ที่ยื่นส่งสำเนาหรือภาพถ่ายไว้แทน หรือจะมีคำสั่งอย่างใดตามที่เห็นสมควรก็ได้
English translation
As regards the original of important documentary evidence or material evidence that a party has submitted to the court, or that a third person has submitted to the court, if the person who submitted it must use it regularly or as necessary, or it is important to keep it in safe custody, the court may allow the person who submitted it to take it back, upon the parties inspecting it and the submitter filing a copy or photograph in its place, or the court may make any order as it thinks fit.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 127/2 gives the court a practical power to release an original document or physical exhibit back to the person who submitted it, whether a party or a third person, where that person needs it regularly, as a necessity, or for safekeeping. To protect the record, the release is conditioned on the parties inspecting the original and the submitter filing a copy or photograph in its place, though the court may make any other fitting order. In effect, once the court accepts a substitute copy in lieu of the returned original, that copy may be relied on as evidence in the case. The provision is common with documents such as powers of attorney that a business must reuse across many matters.
Why this matters in practice
If you filed an original that you need back, for example a power of attorney your company uses across many cases, ask the court under Section 127/2 to return it and to accept a certified copy in its place. Make sure the other side is given the chance to inspect the original first, so the substituted copy is not later challenged. Handle the swap carefully, because the copy the court keeps becomes the version relied on as evidence.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 13509/2553 (2010)
Where the court accepts a copy in place of a returned original because the submitter must use the original regularly, that amounts to permission under Section 127/2 to take back the original, and the court may rely on the copy as evidence.
Because the plaintiff needed the original powers of attorney regularly for its many suits, the trial court's acceptance of copies in place of the originals amounted to permission under Section 127/2 to take back the originals, so the court could admit the copies as evidence.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get my original document back from the court?
Yes. Under Section 127/2, if you need the original regularly or for safekeeping, the court may return it and keep a copy or photograph in its place.
Does returning the original weaken the evidence?
No. The parties inspect the original first and a copy is filed in its place, so the court may still rely on that copy as evidence under Section 127/2.