Jurisdiction and Proper Venue in Civil Litigation
Jurisdiction and Proper Venue in Civil Proceedings
Under Section 3 of the Civil Procedure Code, the right to file or join an action cannot be exercised if the claimant does not possess Thai nationality, where such status is required by law.
Pursuant to Section 5 paragraph 2, a co-plaintiff must have domicile or habitual residence within Thailand; otherwise, joinder is not permissible. In this case, the person concerned has no domicile in Thailand and therefore cannot join the claim before the Nakhon Pathom Provincial Court.
However, under Section 4 paragraph 2, the plaintiff may file the action with the court having jurisdiction over the defendant’s domicile. As the defendant’s domicile is within the jurisdiction of the Nakhon Pathom Provincial Court, such court is competent to hear the case.
The action cannot properly be instituted before the Civil Court in Bangkok merely on the basis of temporary presence within the Phra Nakhon area. The competent venue is either the court where the defendant is domiciled or, where applicable, the court where the cause of action arose.