Thailand

Legal tradition

Thailand belongs to the civil law tradition. A civil-law system created by choice rather than conquest: never colonised, Siam codified between 1908 and 1935 using French, German, Swiss and Japanese models to secure the abolition of extraterritorial consular jurisdiction. The Civil and Commercial Code of 1925 remains the core private-law instrument, and the Penal Code dates from 1956. Constitutional instability is the defining feature of Thai public law — the country has had twenty constitutions since 1932, and the current text was adopted after the 2014 coup.

How power is divided

Unitary and centralised, with 76 provinces headed by appointed governors plus Bangkok, which elects its own governor. Pattaya has a special administrative status. Local administrative organisations exist at municipal and sub-district level with limited functions, and the deep south provinces are subject to special security legislation.

Where law comes from

The Constitution of 2017

Supreme; reviewed and enforced by the Constitutional Court.

Acts of Parliament and Royal Decrees

Primary legislation; decrees issued under statutory authority.

The Civil and Commercial Code 1925

Core of private law, largely unamended in structure.

Emergency decrees

Issued by the Cabinet in urgent cases, requiring later parliamentary approval.

Supreme Court decisions

Not formally binding but followed in practice and published as guidance.

The legal profession

Lawyers are licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand under the Lawyers Act 1985 after a law degree and the ethics course; a separate and much harder Thai Bar Association examination is required for judicial and prosecutorial careers. Notarial services are performed by lawyers holding a notarial services attorney licence. Foreign lawyers may not appear in Thai courts and foreign ownership of law firms is restricted under the Foreign Business Act.