After a property contract is rescinded: restoring the parties and claiming damages (CCC 389-392)

You have validly rescinded a villa or land contract. What happens to the money and possession? Under CCC Section 391, each party must restore the other to their former position (without harming third-party rights), and rescission does not affect a claim for damages.

The core rules

• Section 391 — restitution. Each party restores the other to the former condition. Third parties' rights cannot be impaired.
• Interest. Money to be repaid carries interest from the date it was received, so the deposit or instalments are returned with interest, not just face value.
• Services and use. Where restitution is of services or use of property, it is made by paying their value, or the money counter-payment stated in the contract. A buyer who occupied the villa may owe for that use.
• Damages survive. Exercising the right to rescind does not prejudice a claim for damages.
• Section 389 — impossibility through the debtor's fault. If the debtor's own fault makes performance wholly or partly impossible, the creditor may choose to end the contract.
• Section 392 — mutual performance. The obligations arising on rescission are carried out under the rules of Section 369 on reciprocal contracts. Check the Thai text with a lawyer on how this applies to simultaneous return.

Where it bites on Phangan

• Instalments and deposits. Earnest has its own forfeiture rules; see earnest money and rescission notice and penalty clauses.
• Interest rate. The statutory default rate is covered in default interest.
• Third parties. If the seller already resold or mortgaged the land, restitution cannot harm a good-faith third party; see double sales.
• Forcing transfer instead. Often a court judgment for transfer is the better remedy; see buyer remedies.
• Time limits. Claims lapse; see limitation periods.

Takeaway: rescission unwinds the deal, with interest and possible damages, but a rescission that was not properly grounded can itself be a breach. Rescind in writing after taking Thai legal advice. Section texts are unofficial translations; the Thai original governs.