BOOK III
SPECIFIC CONTRACTS
TITLE I
SALE
CHAPTER I
NATURE AND ESSENTIALS OF THE CONTRACT OF SALE
PART I
General Provisions
Section 453. Sale is a contract whereby a person, called the seller, transfers to another person, called the buyer, the ownership of property, and the buyer agrees to pay to the seller a price for it.
Section 454. A previous promise of sale made by one party has the effect of a sale only when the other party has given notice of his intention to complete the sale and such notice has reached the person who made the promise.
If no time has been fixed in the promise for such notification, the person who made the promise may fix a reasonable time and notify the other party to give a definite answer within that time whether he will complete the sale or not. If within that time he does not give a definite answer, the previous promise loses its effect.
Section 455. The time of the completion of the contract of sale is referred to hereafter as the time of sale.
Section 456. A sale of immovable property is void unless it is made in writing and registered by the competent official. The same rule applies to ships or vessels of six tons and over, to steam launches or motor boats of five tons and over, to floating houses and to beasts of burden.
An agreement to sell or to buy any of the aforesaid property, or a promise of sale of such property is not enforceable by action unless there is some written evidence signed by the party liable or unless earnest is given, or there is part performance.
The provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall apply to a contract of sale of movable property where the agreed price is five hundred baht or upwards.
Section 457. The costs of a contract of sale are borne by both parties equally.
PART II
Transfer of Ownership
Section 458. The ownership of the property sold is transferred to the buyer from the moment when the contract of sale is entered into.
Section 459. If a contract of sale is subject to a condition or to a time clause’, the ownership of the property is not transferred until the condition is fulfilled, or the time has arrived.
Section 460. In case of sale of unascertained property, the ownership is not transferred until the property has been numbered, counted, weighed, measured or selected, or its identity has been otherwise rendered certain.
In case of sale of specific property, if the seller is bound to count, weigh, measure or do some other act or thing with reference to the property for the purpose of ascertaining the price, the ownership is not transferred to the buyer until such act or thing be done.
CHAPTER 11
DUTIES AND LIABILITIES OF THE SELLER
PART I
Delivery
Section 461. The seller is bound to deliver to the buyer the property sold.
Section 462. Delivery may be made by doing anything which has the effect of putting the property at the disposal of the buyer.
Section 463. If the contract provides that the property sold shall be sent from one place to another, delivery takes place at the moment when the property is delivered to the carrier.
Section 464. The costs of transportation of the property sold to a place other than the place of performance are to be borne by the buyer.
Section 465. In a sale of movable property:
| (1) | Where the seller delivers the property less than he contracted for, the buyer may reject it; but if the buyer accepts it, he must pay the proportionate price. |
| (2) | Where the seller delivers the property more than he contracted for, the buyer may accept the property according to the contract and reject the rest, or he may reject the whole. If the buyer accepts the whole of the property so delivered, he must pay the proportionate price. |
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(3) |
Where the seller delivers the property he contracted for mixed with the property of a different description not included in the contract, the buyer may accept the property according to the contract and reject the rest, or he may reject the whole. |
Section 466. In a sale of immovable property where the total area is specified and the seller delivers the property less or more than he contracted for, the buyer has the option either to reject or accept it and pay the proportionate price.
If the deficiency or excess does not exceed five per cent of the total area so specified the buyer is bound to accept it and pay the proportionate price, provided that the buyer can rescind the contract if the deficiency or excess is such that had he known of it he would not have entered into the contract.
Section 467. No action for liability on account of deficiency or excess can be entered later than one year after delivery.
Section 468. When there is no time clause for payment of the price, the seller is entitled to retain the property sold until the price is paid.
Section 469. Even though there is a time clause for payment, if the buyer becomes bankrupt before delivery, or was bankrupt at the time of sale without the knowledge of the seller, or impairs or reduces security given for payment, the seller is entitled to retain the property sold, unless the buyer gives proper security.
Section 470. When the buyer is in default, the seller who retains the property under the foregoing sections can, instead of using the ordinary remedies for non-performance, notify the buyer in writing to pay the price and incidental charges, within a reasonable time to be fixed in the notice.
If the buyer fails to comply with the notice, the seller can sell the property by public auction.
Section 471. The seller shall deduct from the net proceeds of the public auction what is due to him for the price and incidental charges and deliver forthwith any surplus to the buyer.
PART II
Liability for Defect
Section 472. In case of any defect in the property sold which impairs either its value or its fitness for ordinary purposes, or for the purposes of the contract, the seller is liable.
The foregoing provision applies whether the seller knew or did not know of the existence of the defect.
Section 473. The seller is not liable in the following cases:
| (1) |
If the buyer knew of the defect at the time of sale, or would have known of it if he had exercised such care as might be expected from a person of ordinary prudence.
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| (2) |
If the defect was apparent at the time of the delivery, and the buyer accepts the property without reservation.
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| (3) | If the property was ;old by public auction. |
Section 474. No action for liability for defect can be entered later than one year after the discovery of the defect.
PART III
Liability for Eviction
Section 475. The seller is liable for the consequences of any disturbance caused to the peaceful possession of the buyer by any person having over the property sold a right existing at the time of sale or by the fault of the seller.
Section 476. The seller is not liable for a disturbance caused by a person whose rights were known to the buyer at the time of sale.
Section 477. In any case of disturbance where an action arises between the buyer and a third person, the buyer is entitled to summon the seller to appear in the action to be joint defendant or joint plaintiff with the buyer, in order to enable the Court to settle disputes between all the parties to them in one action.
Section 478. The seller is also entitled, if he thinks proper, to intervene in the action in order to deny the claim of the third person.
Section 479. The seller is liable if, by reason of eviction, the buyer is deprived of the whole or part of the property sold or if the property is subject to a right, the existence of which impairs its value, fitness, use or benefit and of which the buyer had no knowledge at the time of sale.
Section 480. If an immovable property is declared to be subject to a servitude established by law, the seller is not liable unless he has expressly guaranteed that the property was free from servitudes, or from that particular servitude.
Section 481. If the seller was not a party to the original action, or if the buyer has made a compromise with the third person, or has yielded to his claim, no action for liability on account of eviction can be entered later than three months after final judgment in the original action, or after the date of the compromise, or of the yielding to the third person.
Section 482. The seller is not liable for eviction in the following cases:
| (1) | If no action was entered, and the seller proves that the rights of the buyer were lost on account of the fault of the buyer, or |
| (2) | If the buyer did not summon the seller to appear in the action, and the seller proves that he would have succeeded in the action if summoned to appear, or |
| (3) | If the seller appeared in the action, but the claim of the buyer was dismissed on account of the fault of the buyer. |
In any case the seller is liable whenever he is summoned to appear in the action and refuses
to take the part of the buyer as joint defendant or joint plaintiff.
PART IV
Clause for Non-Liability
Section 483. The parties to a contract of sale may agree that the seller shall not incur any liability for defects or eviction.
Section 484. Unless the non-liability clause specifies otherwise, such clause does not exempt the seller from the repayment of the price.
Section 485. A non-liability clause cannot exempt the seller from the consequences of his own acts or of facts which he knew and concealed.
CHAPTER III
DUTIES OF THE BUYER
Section 486. The buyer is bound to take delivery of the property sold and to pay the price in accordance with the terms of the contract of sale.
Section 487. The price of the property sold may be fixed by the contract, or may be left to be fixed in manner thereby agreed, or may be determined by the course of dealing between the parties.
When the price is not determined as aforesaid, the buyer must pay a reasonable price.
Section 488. If the buyer has discovered defects in the property sold, he is entitled to withhold the price or part of it still unpaid, unless the seller gives proper security.
Section 489. The buyer is also entitled to withhold the price wholly or partly, if he is threatened, or has good reason to believe that he is about to be threatened, with an action by a mortgagee or by a person claiming the property sold, until the seller has caused the danger with which he is threatened to cease, or until the seller has given proper security.
Section 490. If a time is fixed for the delivery of the property sold, it is presumed that the same time is fixed for the payment of the price.
CHAPTER IV
SOME PARTICUlAR KINDS OF SALES
PART I
Sale with Right of Redemption
Section 491. Sale with right of redemption is a contract of sale whereby the ownership of the property sold passes to the buyer subject to an agreement that the seller can redeem that property.
Section 492. Where the property sold is redeemed within the period fixed by the contract or by law, or where the person who redeems deposits the price of redemption to a deposit office within the period by waiving the right to withdraw the price, the ownership of the property shall be vested in the person who redeems from the time of payment or deposit of the price, as the case may be.
In the case of deposit under paragraph one, an official of the deposit office shall immediately give notice of it to the redeemed person, whereby the person who redeems does not have to comply with Section 333 paragraph three.
Section 493. The parties may agree that the buyer shall not dispose of the property sold. If he disposes of it contrary to his agreement, he shall be liable to the seller for any injury resulting thereby.
Section 494. The right of redemption cannot be exercised later than:
(1) Ten years after the time of the sale in case of immovable property.
(2) Three years after the time of sale in case of movable property.
Section 495. If a longer period is provided in the contract, it shall be reduced to ten years and three years respectively.
Section 496. The period of redemtion may be afterward extended by a contract, but if the total period is in excess of the period under Section 494, it shall be reduced to the period under Section 494.
The extension of the period under paragraph one must, at least, have some written evidence signed by the redeemed person. In case of the property whose sale must be made in writing and registered by the competent official, the extension can not be set up against a third person who has, for value and in good faith, acquired and registered his right unless such writing or written evidence is registered or recorded by the competent official.
Section 497. The right of redemption may be exercised only by:
(1) The original seller or his heirs, or
(2) The transferee of the right, or
(3) Any person expressly allowed to redeem by a contract.
Section 498. The right of redemption may be exercised only against:
| (1) | The original buyer |
| (2) | The transferee of the property or of a right on the property, provided that, in case of movable property, he knew at the time of the transfer that such property was subject to a right of redemption. |
Section 499. If no price of redemption id fixed, the property may be redeemed by reimbursing the price of the sale.
If the price of redemption or the price of the sale, at the time of redemption, is higher than the real price of the sale more than fifteen percent per year, it shall be redeemed at a real price including fifteen percent per year of profit.
Section 500. Costs of the sale borne by the buyer must be reimbursed together with the price.
Costs of redemption are borne by the person who redeems.
Section 501. The property must be returned in the condition in which it is at the time of redemption, provided that if the property has been destroyed or deteriorated through the fault of the buyer he must pay compensation therefore.
Section 502. The person who redeems the property recovers it free from any rights created by the original buyer or his heirs or transferee before redemption.
If a hire of property held subject to a right of redemption is registered by the competent official, it shall be valid for not more than one year of its remaining duration, provided that it is not made for the purpose of injuring the seller.
PART II
Sale by Sample; Sale by Description; Sale on Approval
Section 503. In a sale by sample, the seller is bound to deliver property or properties corresponding to the sample.
In a sale by description, the seller is bound to deliver property corresponding to the description.
Section 504. No action for liability on account of non-correspondence to the sample or description can be entered later than one year after delivery.
Section 505. A sale on approval is the selling contract that the buyer having an option to buy when verifying the buying property.
Section 506. To verify the property, if there is no buying deadline, the seller may specify the reasonable deadline period and give a notice to the buyer to accept or reject the buying or not.
Section 507. The property that the buyer having option to verify before delivery, if the buyer does not accept it within the deadline stated in the contract or commercial practice or deadline setting by the seller, the selling contract is unbound.
Section 508. When the property is delivered to the buyer for verifying, the selling and the buying shall be absolutely completed in the following cases:
(1) If the buyer does not reject the purchasing within deadline specified in the contract or by commercial practice or setting by the seller; or
(2) If the buyer does not return the property to the seller within the said deadline; or
(3) If the buyer fully uses all the property or in some parts; or
(4) If the buyer sells the property or makes any buying signals.
Section 509. The auction shall be completed when the auctioneer accepts the final price by knocking the wood hammer or any practical acts in auct ion; otherwise the bidder can withdraw his bid in anytime.
Section 510. During bidding process, the bidder must comply with the bidding procedure that the auctioneer has announced in each bidding.
Section 511. The auctioneer cannot make a bid or let any person to make a bid for his own benefit that he is control the bidding process.
Section 512. The seller cannot make a bid or let any person to make a bid, except specified in the bidding terms and conditions that the seller has the right to bid.
Section 513. If the auctioneer thinks that the bidding price is not high enough, he may withdraw the said property auction.
Section 514. The bidder shall be unbound from his bid when other person offers a higher bidding price, even though the said bidding is complete or not, or when the auctioneer withdraws the said property auction.
Section 515. Bidder who offers the highest bidding price must pay in cash when the auction is complete or the deadline specified in the bidding advertising.
Section 516. If the bidder who offers the highest bidding price does not pay the money, the auctioneer may renew the auction. If the renew bidding price is lower than the previous one, such default bidder must liable for the short.
Section 517. If some or all of the proceed from auction is unpaid that the cause comes from the ignorance of the auctioneer under Section 515 or Section 516, the auctioneer has to liable for the unpaid amount.
TITLE II
EXCHANGE
Section 518. Exchange is the contract that both parties transfer the right of ownership to each other.
Section 519. In any provisions of the laws relating to the selling and buying, the exchange is also included in such provision by implying that both parties are seller and buyer for such transfer of such properties.
Section 520. If any exchanging party accepts to add money with the exchange of property to anther, the selling price shall include such additional cash payment too.