Any person who is utthalum, that is, a person who never appreciates the kindness of his/her own father, mother, grandfather or grandmother, and accuses the latter before any sort of court, shall be punished with flagellation, in order that such evil deed will not be followed by others.
"Later in the codification of the Civil and Commercial Code, the drafting committee resolved to derive certain rules of virtue from the Code of the Three Great Seals, including the principle of utthalum.
[4] The Civil and Commercial Code, Book 5: Family, Title 2: Parent and Child, Part 2: Rights and Duties of Parent and Child, which is in force still, prescribes: "Section 1562.
The public prosecutor may, however, take up the case upon application of such person or his or her close relative.
"As Section 1562 results in the restriction of rights of persons, Thai courts tend to interpret that the term "ascendant" (Thai: บุพการี; RTGS: bupphakari; from Sanskrit, purvakarī, or Pāli, pubbakarī, "one who nurtures another first") does not cover adoptive parents or grandparents.