Difference between "property" and "thing"?

Under the New Civil Code, the word "thing" is used as a synonym for the word "property."

However, it must be pointed out that, technically, "thing" is a broader term because it includes both appropriable and non-appropriable objects. The moon and the stars are "things" but they are, technically speaking, not "property" because they are neither capable of appropriation nor are they under the appropriation of men.

Forces of nature are generally "things" but, if brought under the control of human beings, they become "property." For example, lightning is a thing until humans capture it to produce electricity in which case it becomes "property."