Antimicrobial activity and bactericidal activity of Caesalpinia sappan L. extracts were investigated against five food-borne pathogens, E. coli, S. aureus, S. typhimurium, B. cereus and L. monocytogenes. Methanol extract of Caesalpinia sappan L. revealed antimicrobial activities against five pathogens. In particular, by paper disc diffusion the highest activity was shown against L. monocytogenes. Antimicrobial activities of methanol extracts showed the most potent activities, but hexane fraction had no activity. Fractions of ethyl acetate and butanol turned out to have higher antimicrobial activities against Gram(+) bacteria than Gram(-) bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration against five food-borne pathogens was 1.563 mg/ml on Gram(+) bacteria and 3.125 mg/ml on Gram(-) bacteria. The result of antimicrobial activity in a shaking flask method showed that bacterial growth rate fell by more than 99.999% at 3.125 mg/ml of methanol extract. The highest rate of viable reduction (99.998%) was shown at 0.781 mg/ml of methanol extract against L. monocytogenes. After five minutes of reaction between test strains and methanol extracts, the growth rates of five kinds of bacteria were reduced by more than 99.999% at a concentration of 100 mg/ml. Therefore, it is suggested that methanol extracts of Caesalpinia sappan L. can be developed as a natural sanitizer or disinfectant.