Section 35: Place and time of court hearings
Statutory text (Thai original)
ถ้าประมวลกฎหมายนี้มิได้บัญญัติไว้เป็นอย่างอื่น การนั่งพิจารณาคดีที่ยื่นไว้ต่อศาลใดจะต้องกระทำในศาลนั้นในวันที่ศาลเปิดทำการและตามเวลาทำงานที่ศาลได้กำหนดไว้ แต่ในกรณีมีเหตุฉุกเฉินหรือเป็นการจำเป็น ศาลจะมีคำสั่งกำหนดการนั่งพิจารณา ณ สถานที่อื่น หรือในวันหยุดงาน หรือในเวลาใด ๆ ก็ได้ให้ผู้พิพากษาและเจ้าพนักงานศาลซึ่งปฏิบัติงานในวันหยุดงาน หรือในเวลาใด ๆ นอกเวลาทำการปกติได้รับค่าตอบแทนเป็นพิเศษ ตามระเบียบที่กระทรวงยุติธรรมกำหนด โดยได้รับความเห็นชอบจากกระทรวงการคลัง
English translation
Unless this Code provides otherwise, the hearing of a case filed with a court must be conducted in that court, on a day on which the court is open and during the working hours fixed by the court. However, in a case of emergency or necessity, the court may make an order fixing the hearing at another place, or on a holiday, or at any time.
Judges and court officials who perform duties on a holiday, or at any time outside normal working hours, shall receive special remuneration in accordance with the regulations fixed by the Ministry of Justice with the approval of the Ministry of Finance.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 35 sets the default place and time for hearings: the court where the case was filed, on open days and during working hours. It then grants a flexibility valve, allowing the court, in an emergency or where necessary, to fix the hearing at another place, on a holiday, or at any time. Courts have relied on this power to sit at a branch location covering the area where events occurred, so as to serve convenience, speed, and economy for local people. The second paragraph provides for special remuneration for judges and staff who work outside normal hours, under Ministry of Justice regulations approved by the Ministry of Finance.
Why this matters in practice
For most litigants, Section 35 simply confirms that your case will be heard at the filing court during normal hours, so plan attendance accordingly. The exception matters in urgent or practical situations: a court may order a hearing at another location or outside normal hours, and where it has designated a specific place to sit, you must attend and take the required steps there, or risk your filing being refused. If a hearing is set at an unusual place or time, confirm the details with the court and prepare in advance. Knowing what to expect at court helps you avoid missteps.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 6984/2541 (1998)
Section 35 lays down the principle that a hearing must be held at the court where the case was filed on open days and working hours, but in an emergency or where necessary the court has the power to order the hearing to be held at another place.
The Court set out Section 35 as the source of the Buriram Provincial Court's power to order a sitting at its Nang Rong location, explaining that hearings must ordinarily be held at the filing court on open days and hours, but that in an emergency or where necessary the court may fix the hearing at another place.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 4810/2542 (1999)
Under Section 35 a court may order a sitting at a designated branch location covering the area of the events for convenience, speed, and economy, and a party must bring the matter for hearing at that designated place.
Relying on Section 35 together with Section 15 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the trial court had ordered sittings at the Nang Rong location of the Buriram Provincial Court, which covered the area where the events occurred, for convenience, speed, and economy. The plaintiff therefore had to present and charge the case there, and the court refused a filing brought elsewhere.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 3 Supreme Court decisions (1993 to 1999)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 6984/2541 (1998)
- Decision 496/2536 (1993)
- Decision 4810/2542 (1999)
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
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. The count is complete; the stated year range trims rare outliers so it describes where the citations actually sit. These figures are computed by us and are not official court statistics. How we count these, and what we measured
Frequently asked questions
Where and when are court hearings held in Thailand?
Under Section 35, as a rule a case is heard at the court where it was filed, on the court's open days and during its working hours.
Can a court hold a hearing at another place or outside working hours?
Yes. In a case of emergency or necessity, Section 35 allows the court to order the hearing to be held at another place, on a holiday, or at any time.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Civil Procedure Code, s. 35 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Civil Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 35. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-35/ (accessed 11 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.วิ.พ. มาตรา 35 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-35/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-35/"><p>Unless this Code provides otherwise, the hearing of a case filed with a court must be conducted in that court, on a day on which the court is open and during the working hours fixed by the court. However, in a case of emergency or…</p><footer>Civil Procedure Code, s. 35 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-procedure-code/section-35/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.