The Law of King Mangrai has attracted much attention
among Thai researchers. We have selected several topics concerning
agriculture and land in the law, in order to consider the
role of customary law in the formation of state law, partially
comparing them with similar aspects of the Three Seals Law.
The problem of the invasion of others' land is a good example.
The provisions of the Law of King Mangrai, as well as those of the
Three Seals Law, include the traditional belief in the function of
spirit-beings, when someone violates another's right of land-holding.
Generally speaking, however, the symbolic spirit-beings who
protect land tenure itself are not encountered as often as those
who protect the crops and surface soil. This finding may suggest
that the state was more interested in claiming possession of all the
land than in allowing private ownership.
It can be observed that the state actively used the customary
conception of spirit-being in codifying the state law. Therefore,
we can partially reconstruct both customary law and culture by
analyzing the content of the state law.
『マンラーイ法典』における土地侵犯と所有
KH_008_1_003.pdf
(1.26MB)
