BOOK II
OBLIGATIONS
TITLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER I
SUBJECT OF OBLIGATIONS
Section 194. by virtue of an obligation the creditor is entitled to claim performance from the debtor. The performance may consist in a forbearance.
Section 195. When the thing which forms the subject of an obligation is described only in kind, if its quality cannot be determined by the nature of the juristic act or the intention of the parties, the debtor must deliver a thing of medium quality.
If the debtor has done every thing required on his part for the delivery of such thing, or if he on obtaining the consent of the creditor has designated a thing for delivery, such thing becomes from that time the subject of the obligation.
Section 196. If a money debt is expressed in a foreign currency, payment may be made in Thai currency.
The commutation is made according to the rate of exchange current in the place of payment at the time of payment.
Section 197. If a money debt is payable in a specific kind of money which is no longer current at the time of payment, the payment shall be as if the kind of money were not specified.
Section 198. If several acts of performance are due in such manner that only one of them is to be done, the right to elect belongs to the debtor unless otherwise stipulated.
Section 199. The election is made by a declaration of intention to the other party. The performance elected is deemed to be the only one due from the beginning.
Section 200. If the election is to be made within a period of time, and the party who has the right of election does not exercise it within such period, the right of election passes to the other party.
If no period of time was fixed, when the obligation becomes due, the party who has not the right of election can notify the other party to exercise his right of election within a reasonable time to be fixed in such notice.
Section 201. If a third person is to make the election, it is done by a declaration of intention made to the debtor, who must inform the creditor.
If such third person cannot make the election or is unwilling to do so, the right of election passes to the debtor.
Section 202. If one of the acts of performance is impossible from the beginning, or if it subsequently becomes impossible, the obligation is limited to the other act of performance. This limitation does not arise if the performance becomes impossible in consequence of a circumstance for which the party not entitled to elect is responsible.
CHAPTER II
EFFECT OF OBLIGATIONS
PART I
Non-Performance
Section 203. If a time for performance is neither fixed nor to be inferred from the circumstances, the creditor may demand the performance forthwith, and the debtor may perform his part forthwith.
If a time is fixed, it is to be presumed, in case of doubt, that the creditor may not demand the performance before that time; the debtor, however, may perform earlier.
Section 204. If the debtor does not perform after warning given by the creditor after maturity, he is in default through the warning.
If a time by calendar is fixed for the performance, the debtor is in default without warning if he does not perform at the fixed time. The same rule applies if a notice is required to precede the performance, and the time is fixed in such manner that it may be reckoned by the calendar from the time of notice.
Section 205. The debtor is not in default so long as the performance is not effected in consequence of a circumstance of a circumstance for which he is not responsible.
Section 206. In obligations arising from an unlawful act, the debtor is in default from the time when he committed it.
Section 207. a creditor is in default if, without legal ground, he does not accept the performance tendered to him.
Section 208. The performance must be actually tendered to the creditor in the manner which it is to be effected.
But if the creditor has declared to the debtor that he will not accept performance, or if for effecting the performance an act of the creditor is necessary, it is sufficient for the debtor to give him notice that all preparations for performance have been made and that it is for him to accept it. In such cases the notice by the debtor is equivalent to a tender.
Section 209. If a time certain is fixed for the act to be done by the creditor, tender is required only if the creditor does the act in due time.
Section 210. If the debtor is bound to perform his part only upon counter performance by the creditor, the creditor is in default if, though prepared to accept the performance tendered, he does not offer the required counter-performance.
Section 211. A creditor is not in default if the debtor is not in a position to effect the performance at the time of tender, or, in the case provided by Section 209, at the time fixed for the act of the creditor.
Section 212. If the time of performance is not fixed, or if the debtor is entitled to perform before the fixed time, the creditor is not in default by reason of the fact that he is temporarily prevented from accepting the tendered performance, unless the debtor has given him notice of this intended performance a reasonable time beforehand.
Section 213. If a debtor fails to perform his obligation, the creditor may make a demand to the Court for compulsory performance, except where the nature of the obligation does not permit it.
When the nature of an obligation does not permit of compulsory performance, if the subject of the obligation is the doing of an act, the creditor may apply to the court to have it done by a third person at the debtor’s expense; but if the subject of the obligation is doing of a juristic act, a judgment may be substituted for a declaration of intention by the debtor.
As to an obligation whose subject is the performance from an act , the creditor may demand the removal of what has been done at the expense of the debtor and have proper measures adopted for the future.
The provisions of the foregoing paragraphs do not affect the right to claim damages.
Section 214. Subject to the provisions of Section 733, the creditor is entitled to have his obligation performed out of the whole of the property of his debtor including any money and other property due to the debtor by third person.
Section 215. When the debtor does not perform the obligation in accordance with the true intent and purpose of the same, the creditor may claim compensation for any damages caused thereby.
Section 216. If by a reason of default, the performance becomes useless to the creditor, he may refuse to accept it and claim compensation for non-performance.
Section 217. A debtor is responsible for all negligence during his default. He is also responsible for impossibility of performance arising accidentally during the default, unless the injury would have arises even if he had performed in due time.
Section 218. When the performance becomes impossible in consequence of a circumstance for which the debtor is responsible, the debtor shall compensate the creditor for any damage arising from the non-performance.
In case of partial impossibility the creditor may, by declining the still possible part of the performance, demand compensation for non-performance of the entire obligation, if the still possible part of performance is useless to him.
Section 219. The debtor is relieved from his obligation to perform if the performance becomes impossible in consequence of a circumstance, for which he is not responsible, occurring after the creation of the obligation.
If the debtor, after the creation of the obligation, becomes unable to perform, it is equivalent to a circumstance rendering the performance impossible.
Section 220. A debtor is responsible for the fault of his agent, and of person whom he employs in performing his obligation, to the same extent as for his own fault. In such case the provisions of Section 373 have no application.
Section 221. A money debt bearing interest ceases to bear interest during the default of the creditor.
Section 222. The claim of damages is for compensation for all such damage as usually arises from non performance.
The creditor may demand compensation even for such damage as has arisen from special circumstances, if the party concerned foresaw or ought to have foreseen such circumstances.
Section 223. If any fault of the injured party has continued in causing the injury, the obligation to compensate the injured party and the extent of the compensation to be made depends upon the circumstances, especially upon how far the injury has been caused chiefly by the one or the other party.
This applies also even if the fault of the injured party consisted only in an omission to call the attention of the debtor to the danger of an unusually serious injury which the debtor neither knew not ought to have known, or in an omission to avert or mitigate the injury. The provisions of Section 220 apply mutatis mtandis.
Section 224. A money dent bears interest during default seven and half percent per annum. If the creditor can demand higher interest on any other legitimate ground, this shall continue to be paid.
Interest for default shall not be paid upon interest.
Proof of further damage is admissible.
Section 225. If the debtor is bound to make compensation for the value of an object which has perished during the default, or which cannot be delivered for a reason which has arisen during the default, the creditor may demand interest on the amount to be paid as compensation, from the time which serves as the basis for the estimate of the value. The same rule applies if the debtor is bound to make compensation for the diminution in value of an object which has deteriorated during the default.