Judicial proceeding in Thailand is generally divided into two categories, civil cases and criminal cases. Civil cases may be instituted either as a contentious case or a non-contentious case. Any person is entitled to submit a civil case to a court which has territorial jurisdiction and competency over it. The case shall be first filed in writing with the Courts of First Instance (the Civil Court , the Civil Court of Southern Bangkok , the Thon Buri Civil Court , Provincial Courts or District Courts). However, the District Court has a limited discretion in which the District Court can hear the civil case which has the amount of claim not exceeding 300,000 Baht which will be decided under trivial matter. The trivial matter proceeding is speedy and can be decided in a short period. However, if the case is not under the territorial jurisdiction of the District Court, the parties have to file the case to the Civil Court , the Civil Court of Southern Bangkok, the Thon Buri Civil Court or Provincial Court depending on the jurisdiction of the cases and its matters. On the other hand, criminal cases shall be instituted in criminal courts by either the prosecutor or aggrieved party depending on the types of claims. The case must be filed in writing with the Courts of First Instance (the Criminal Court, the Criminal Court of Southern Bangkok, the Thon Buri Criminal Court, District Courts and Provincial Courts ) . However, if the offense has the maximum punishment of imprisonment not exceeding three years or fine not exceeding 60,000 Baht, the plaint must be filed with the District Court.

     After the case has been filed with the relevant court, the case will be proceeded under the continuous process system. The case will be consecutively decided by responsible judges. The parties have to bring their witnesses to examine-in-chief, cross-examine and reexamine in front of the judges. The judgment will be made by the court with a full power to decide whether the evidence as adduced by the parties is relevant to the issue and is sufficient to be taken as conclusive. The party who is not satisfied with the judgment may appeal to the Courts of Appeal. A judgment of the Courts of Appeal can be later appealed to the Supreme Court. The judgments of the Supreme Court are final.

     Other than the civil and criminal cases as mentioned above, there are also tax, intellectual property, international trade, bankruptcy, constitutional and administrative matters which must be filed with special courts (e.g., Tax Court, Intellectual Property and International Trade Court , Bankruptcy Court, Constitutional Court and Administrative Court ). In addition, if a defendant is a minor, the case must be filed with the Juvenile and Family Court.