Section 178 — Reply to the counterclaim
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าจำเลยฟ้องแย้งรวมในคำให้การ ให้โจทก์ทำคำให้การแก้ฟ้องแย้งยื่นต่อศาลภายในสิบห้าวันนับแต่วันที่ได้ส่งคำให้การถึงโจทก์ บทบัญญัติแห่งมาตราก่อน ให้ใช้บังคับแก่คำให้การแก้ฟ้องแย้งนี้โดยอนุโลม
English translation
If the defendant brings a counterclaim within the answer, the plaintiff shall make an answer in reply to the counterclaim and file it with the court within fifteen days from the date the answer was served on the plaintiff. The provisions of the preceding Section shall apply mutatis mutandis to this answer in reply to the counterclaim.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 178 completes the pleading exchange started by the counterclaim allowed under Section 177. It gives the plaintiff, now in the position of a defendant to the counterclaim, fifteen days from service of the answer to reply, and imports the standards of Section 177, including the clear admit-or-deny-with-grounds requirement, by analogy. Once the reply is filed, the issues on the counterclaim are joined alongside those on the original claim, which the court must then decide. The section is part of the general ordinary procedure in courts of first instance and does not automatically extend to special procedures, such as labour cases, that have their own pleading rules.
Why this matters in practice
A plaintiff who is counterclaimed against effectively becomes a defendant and must not ignore the fifteen-day reply window. Treat the reply with the same care as an answer: address each head of the counterclaim clearly and state your grounds, because the same rules and the same risk of points being treated as admitted apply. In specialised courts with their own procedure, this deadline may not apply, so check the governing statute before relying on it.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 2599/2541 (1998)
Section 178, which sets the fifteen-day period for a reply to a counterclaim, does not apply by analogy in labour cases, because the Labour Court procedure allows a defendant to file the answer before the hearing date and is designed to be convenient, economical, and swift.
In a labour dispute, the plaintiff filed the reply to a counterclaim after fifteen days. The Court held that the ordinary fifteen-day rule of Section 178 could not be applied by analogy given the special features of Labour Court procedure.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 3604/2540 (1997)
Where the defendant validly counterclaims on a matter connected with the original claim under Section 177 paragraph three, and the plaintiff replies under Section 178, the pleadings generate the issues in dispute that the court must decide to determine who wins or loses.
The Court held that once a connected counterclaim is accepted and the plaintiff files a reply under Section 178, the resulting issues must be adjudicated, so the trial court properly decided both the original claim and the counterclaim.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a plaintiff have to reply to a counterclaim in Thailand?
Fifteen days from the date the defendant's answer is served on the plaintiff, under Section 178. The reply follows the same rules as the defendant's answer.
What happens if the plaintiff does not reply to the counterclaim?
Because Section 177 applies by analogy, an unanswered or bare reply risks the same consequences as a defective answer, including points in the counterclaim being treated as admitted.