Translation:Civil and Commercial Code Amendment Act (No 16), 2550 BE
Table of contents
- Act
- Preamble
- Section
- Title
- Commencement
- Amendment to sections 1445–1446: engagement-related compensation
- Amendment to section 1447/1: limitation governing claim for engagement-related compensation
- Amendment to section 1516: grounds for divorce
- Amendment to section 1523: right to compensation upon divorce
- Transitory provision
- Responsible officer
- Statement of grounds
Volume 124Issue 53A
Royal Gazette
12 September 2550

Civil and Commercial Code Amendment
Act (No 16),
2550 BE
Bhumibol Adulyadej R
Given on the 30th day of August 2550 BE
Being the 62nd year of the present reign
His Majesty King Maha Bhumibol Adulyadej is pleased to give a Great Royal Command that it be announced as follows:
Whereas it is appropriate to amend the Civil and Commercial Code;
Therefore, by and with the advice and consent of the National Legislative Assembly acting as the National Assembly, He is graciously pleased to enact the following Act:
Section1.This Act is called the Civil and Commercial Code Amendment Act (No 16), 2550 BE.
Section2.This Act shall enter into operation from the day following the day of its publication in the Royal Gazette onwards.
Section3.The dispositions of sections 1445 and 1446 of the Civil and Commercial Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following dispositions:
“Section1445.An engaged man or woman may claim compensation from a person who has had sexual intercourse with the person engaged to him or her when that person knew or should have known of the engagement, after having rescinded the engagement contract according to section 1442 or 1443, as the case may be.
Section1446.An engaged man or woman may claim compensation from a person who has raped or attempted to rape the person engaged to him or her when that person knew or should have known of the engagement, without having to rescind the engagement contract.”
Section4.The disposition of paragraph 3 of section 1447/1 of the Civil and Commercial Code, which has been amended by the Civil and Commercial Code Amendment Act (No 10), 2533 BE, shall be repealed and replaced by the following disposition:
“The right to claim compensation under sections 1445 and 1446 shall be subject to six-month limitation from the day the engaged man or woman knew or should have known of the act of the other person which would ground a claim for compensation and knew of the person who should pay compensation, but it must not be exercised later than five years from the day the said act was committed by such other person.”
Section5.The disposition of (1) of section 1516 of the Civil and Commercial Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following disposition:
“(1)when the husband or wife maintains or honours a third person as his wife or or her husband, commits adultery, or habitually has sexual intercourse with a third person, the other may institute an action for divorce”.
Section6.The disposition of paragraph 1 of section 1523 of the Civil and Commercial Code shall be repealed and replaced by the following disposition:
“Section1523.Once a court has granted a divorce on the ground under section 1516(1), the wife or husband has the right to receive compensation from the husband or wife and from the person maintained or honoured or the person grounding the divorce.”
Section7.This Act does not affect the juristic acts, rights, duties, or liabilities under the law which have been done or have taken place since before the day of its entry into operation.
Section8.The Minister of Justice shall be in charge of the implementation of this Act.
Countersignature
General Surayud Chulanont
Prime Minister
Note: The grounds for promulgation of this Act are as follows: Section 3 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), 2549 Buddhist Era, provides protection to all the human dignity, rights, freedoms, and equality which have been protected for the Thais under the custom of the democratic administration of Thailand with a Monarch as Chief. But the provisions of sections 1445, section 1446, section 1447/1, paragraph 3, section 1516(1), and section 1523, paragraph 3, of the Civil and Commercial Code, give rise to unfair discrimination against persons on account of their sexual differences, it is appropriate to rectify the said provisions so that they be in line with the principle of equal rights between men and women and the principle of prohibition of unfair discrimination against persons on account of their sexual differences, which have been protected under the custom of the democratic administration of Thailand with a Monarch as Chief. It is therefore necessary to enact this Act.
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