THE NEED TO SEPARATE A COMMERCIAL CODE FORM A CIVIL CODE IN THAILAND
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Abstract
Thailand reformed its legal system around 100 years ago. Initially, the country adopted Anglo-Saxon English laws before drafting civil laws with legal codes. King Chulalongkorn appointed a committee to draft a civil and commercial code in 1908. With 3 more subsequent committees, Thai Civil and Commercial Code (TCCC) was finished in 1925 during the reign of King Vajiravudh. The drafting committee’s lack of knowledge about the imported rules and concepts and adopted method led to difficulties in interpreting the rules and concepts in question. The committee paid little attention to commercial part of TCCC. A prominent member of this committee claimed that TCCC was modelled after German Civil Code (BGB) through Japanese Civil Code (JCC). After comparing TCCC, BGB and JCC, the comparison shows that the committee did not separate civil and commercial codes as in Germany and Japan. They did not include any provisions from German Commercial Code (HGB) and Japanese Commercial Code in TCCC. Moreover, TCCC has 6 books, but BGB and JCC have 5 books. A Swiss law professor claims that TCCC’s Book II is based on Swiss Obligation Code (SCO). After comparing SCO and TCCC, the comparison indicates that TCCC’s Book II and Book III are modelled after the parts of obligations and specific contracts in SCO respectively. Unlike BGB and JCC, TCCC does not combine both parts into 1 book. Moreover, Anglo-Saxon laws have been profoundly ingrained in Thai legal system. More than 30 statues of commercial laws really confuse Thai businesspersons. To draft a new Thai commercial code consolidating all Thai business laws together. Thai legislators should look at the advancement of commercial laws in France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK and the US for provisions. The new code should use French Commercial Code and Dutch Civil Code (BW) as the main templates and add state-of-the-art provisions commercial laws in these countries and the existing Thai statues.
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