Many creditors think of garnishing the salary first once they have won, because a debtor with a regular job looks like the most dependable source of money. But salary garnishment comes with conditions and limits that disappoint some creditors. If you know these limits before you sue, you can plan which route to take to get your money back.
When can a salary be garnished?
Garnishing a salary is part of enforcement of judgment, so the sequence is: sue, the court gives judgment, and the court issues an order requiring the debtor to pay within a set time. If the time passes and the debtor has not paid, the creditor then applies for a writ of execution and files a request for the enforcement officer to garnish the salary.
Before judgment, a creditor cannot ordinarily garnish a salary, unless the creditor asks the court for interim protection in a case where the law's grounds are met, for example where there is evidence that the debtor is moving or hiding assets.
The law protects part of the salary for the debtor
The part of salary, wages and similar income that the law sets aside for the debtor's living expenses is not subject to enforcement. The general threshold is currently 20,000 baht per month. Only the amount above that can be garnished, as the enforcement officer determines.
The court may adjust the protected amount up or down within the range the law sets, looking at the debtor's circumstances and burdens, such as the number of children or other persons the debtor must support.
Some kinds of money receive special protection under the law, such as pensions and money the debtor receives on leaving a job. The details differ for each type and should be checked case by case.
The figures and thresholds in this article are general rules. They may be amended and there are exceptions in particular cases. Check with a lawyer before you plan enforcement.
If you do not know where the debtor works
To garnish a salary you must know who the debtor's employer is. A creditor without this information has to start with asset tracing. Information the debtor gave when the contract was made, in an application, or in documents the debtor once sent is often a good starting point, and at the enforcement stage some kinds of information can be requested through the enforcement officer or the court.
A debtor who is self-employed or owns a business has no salary to garnish, but may have money that business partners must pay. That can be garnished as a claim the debtor holds.
An employer that receives a garnishment order
For an HR team that receives a notice garnishing an employee's salary, what must be done is to deduct the money as the order directs and pay it to the enforcement officer as required. An employer that does not comply, or that keeps paying the garnished portion to the employee, may itself be liable to the creditor for that amount.
If the employee has resigned, the salary is below the threshold, or garnishment orders from several cases have arrived at the same time, notify the enforcement officer in writing. Do not decide on your own not to deduct.
Salary is not the only asset
For a large debt, garnishing the salary alone can take many years to clear it. Creditors who recover faster usually trace several kinds of assets at once, such as land, vehicles, shares in a company and money that other people must pay the debtor, and then start enforcing against the assets that bring in money fastest and are worth the cost. All of this must be done within the 10-year period from the date of judgment.
📌 See more: Asset tracing and enforcement · Guide to debt collection, suing debtors and enforcement of judgment
If you have won your case but the debtor still has not paid, consult our lawyers. We will help assess what assets the debtor has that can be enforced against, and where to start.
This article is general information, not legal advice for any particular case.
