Thailand

• The Constitution, which has been replaced many times since 1932
• Codes and statutes, above all the Civil and Commercial Code, the Penal Code and the procedure codes
• Decisions of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, which are very persuasive but not formally binding
• Islamic law, applied to Muslims in family and inheritance cases in four southern provinces

• The Courts of Justice (for civil and criminal cases): first-instance courts, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court
• The Administrative Courts, for disputes with public bodies
• The Constitutional Court, and separate military courts

A law degree and a licence from the Lawyers Council of Thailand. Many also take the barrister-at-law course run by the Thai Bar, which is also a route to judicial and prosecution careers.

• A single code covers both civil and commercial law, so there is no separate commercial code.
• There are several parallel court systems, divided by subject.
• In four southern provinces, Islamic law applies to Muslims in family and inheritance matters.
• The constitution has changed many times, but the main private-law codes have stayed in place.

Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Vietnam

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Thailand as: Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria.

• NYU GlobaLex: A Summary of the Thai Law and Legal System

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.