Section 254: Court Fees and Fee-Waiver Applications
Statutory text (Thai original)
ภายใต้บังคับแห่งมาตรา ๒๕๓ วรรคหนึ่ง ในคดีที่ผู้เสียหายเรียกร้องให้คืนหรือใช้ราคาทรัพย์สิน หรือใช้ค่าสินไหมทดแทนซึ่งติดมากับฟ้องคดีอาญา หรือที่ฟ้องเป็นคดีแพ่งโดยลำพัง ให้เรียกค่าธรรมเนียมดังคดีแพ่งคดีในส่วนแพ่งตามวรรคหนึ่ง
ถ้าผู้เสียหายซึ่งเป็นโจทก์ประสงค์จะขอยกเว้นค่าธรรมเนียมศาลในศาลชั้นต้น
ชั้นอุทธรณ์ หรือชั้นฎีกา
ให้ยื่นคำขอต่อศาลชั้นต้นที่ได้ยื่นฟ้องไว้พร้อมกับคำฟ้องคำฟ้องอุทธรณ์หรือคำฟ้องฎีกา
แล้วแต่กรณี
หากศาลชั้นต้นเห็นว่าคดีอาญาที่ฟ้องมีมูลและการเรียกเอาค่าสินไหมทดแทนนั้น
ไม่เกินสมควรและเป็นไปด้วยความสุจริต
ให้ศาลมีคำสั่งอนุญาตตามคำขอแต่ถ้าศาลมีคำสั่งยกเว้นค่าธรรมเนียมศาลให้แก่โจทก์แต่เฉพาะบางส่วนหรือมีคำสั่งยกคำขอ
ก็ให้ศาลกำหนดเวลาให้โจทก์ชำระค่าธรรมเนียมดังกล่าว
คำสั่งของศาลชั้นต้นที่ให้ยกเว้นค่าธรรมเนียมศาลหรือยกคำขอให้มีผลสำหรับการดำเนินคดีตั้งแต่ชั้นศาลซึ่งคดีนั้นอยู่ในระหว่างพิจารณาไปจนกว่าคดีจะถึงที่สุด
เว้นแต่ในกรณีที่พฤติการณ์แห่งคดีเปลี่ยนแปลงไป
ศาลที่พิจารณาคดีจะแก้ไขเปลี่ยนแปลงคำสั่งนั้นได้ตามที่เห็นสมควรห้ามมิให้อุทธรณ์หรือฎีกาคำสั่งของศาลตามวรรคสอง
English translation
Subject to section 253, paragraph one, in a case where the injured person claims the return or payment of the value of property, or the payment of compensation, attached to the criminal charge, or filed as a civil case on its own, fees shall be demanded as in a civil case. In the civil part under paragraph one, if the injured person who is the plaintiff wishes to seek exemption from court fees in the court of first instance, the appellate court, or the Supreme Court, that person shall file the application with the court of first instance where the charge was filed, together with the plaint, the appeal, or the petition, as the case may be. If the court of first instance finds that the criminal charge has merit and that the compensation claimed is not excessive and is made in good faith, the court shall order the application granted; but if the court orders exemption for only part or dismisses the application, the court shall set a time for the plaintiff to pay such fees. An order of the court of first instance granting exemption from court fees or dismissing the application shall have effect for the proceedings from the instance in which the case is pending until the case becomes final, except that where the circumstances of the case change, the court hearing the case may amend that order as it sees fit. No appeal or petition shall be allowed against the court's order under paragraph two.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 254 sits opposite section 253: where the fee exemption of section 253 does not apply, the victim's civil claim carries ordinary civil fees, whether attached to the criminal charge or filed alone. It then builds a fee-waiver mechanism run through the court of first instance, requiring the application to accompany the plaint, appeal, or petition, and conditioning a full waiver on the criminal charge having merit and a reasonable, good-faith compensation claim. A waiver order spans the instance until finality unless circumstances change, and the waiver ruling itself is final and unappealable under paragraph two.
Why this matters in practice
If your civil claim in a criminal matter is not fee-exempt under section 253, budget for ordinary civil court fees, but you can apply to waive them at the same time you file. File the waiver application together with the plaint, appeal, or petition, not later. Remember the court's decision on the waiver cannot be appealed, so present a complete case for merit and good faith the first time. Firms can advise on how these costs work, see what to know before you go to court in Thailand.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 1869/2565 (2022)
Where the prosecutor is the plaintiff and a claim for the return or the value of property is attached to the criminal charge under Section 43, or the injured person applies for compensation, Section 253 paragraph one applies and no fees may be demanded on the civil part from the outset. Section 254 paragraph two, on applying for exemption from court fees, therefore has no application. If the compensation claimed is excessive or the case is brought in bad faith, Section 253 paragraph one lets the court order the joint plaintiff to pay the fees in whole or in part, and no exemption may then be sought.
The prosecutor prosecuted for joint theft, joint damage to property and joint trespass and asked that the defendant return or pay 668,953.50 baht, while the joint plaintiff applied for compensation of 18,835,776.50 baht. The joint plaintiff then applied for exemption from the civil-part court fees on a further appeal under Section 254 paragraph two. The Supreme Court held that provision inapplicable: because the claim was attached to a prosecutor's charge under Section 43, Section 253 paragraph one applied and no fees were payable on the civil part from the outset. If the compensation claimed were excessive or the case brought in bad faith, the court could order the joint plaintiff to pay the fees under Section 253 paragraph one, and no exemption could be sought from such an order.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 1443/2511 (1968)
Where the prosecutor does not appeal an acquittal but the joint plaintiff appeals alone with a restitution claim attached, the joint plaintiff must pay fees as in a civil case under section 254.
After the first-instance court acquitted and the prosecutor did not appeal, the prosecution ended there; the joint plaintiff's solo appeal carrying a restitution claim required payment of civil-case fees under section 254.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 8 Supreme Court decisions (1949 to 2022)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 1869/2565 (2022)
- Decision 1443/2511 (1968)
- Decision 626/2493 (1950)
- Decision 1897/2492 (1949)
- Decision 276/2537 (1994)
- Decision 1262/2511 (1968)
- Decision 793/2493 (1950)
- Decision 1557-1558/2493 (1950)
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.
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
Does a victim pay fees on a standalone civil claim from a criminal matter?
Yes. Under section 254, where section 253's exemption does not apply, the victim's property or compensation claim carries fees as in a civil case, whether attached to the criminal charge or filed alone.
Can the ruling on a fee-waiver application be appealed?
No. Section 254 paragraph two states that no appeal or petition is allowed against the court's order on the fee-waiver application.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Criminal Procedure Code, s. 254 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Criminal Procedure Code (Thailand), s. 254. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-254/ (accessed 1 September 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.วิ.อ. มาตรา 254 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-254/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-254/"><p>Subject to section 253, paragraph one, in a case where the injured person claims the return or payment of the value of property, or the payment of compensation, attached to the criminal charge, or filed as a civil case on its own, fees shall be…</p><footer>Criminal Procedure Code, s. 254 (Thailand): <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-criminal-procedure-code/section-254/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.