Local Justice in Thailand
It is very difficult for a foreign person to take his case to the Thai court and it’s almost impossible to win. The Thai court do not accept any other language then Thai and everybody speaks Thai and they should this is Thailand.
Local courts in Thailand
It is even more difficult to understand the Thai justice system; even most Thai police do not understand the Thai justice system they just make things up along the way. As I told you before in earlier posts, always bring a lawyer that knows the Thai law to the Police station as a counterpart. It is very easy to think that you are not guilty so why would I bring a lawyer? It is not about the guilty or not guilty it is about corrupt Thai police, favors being done behind your back and in many cases the Thai police do not know the case or law. When the first bail is set it is up to the police in charge to make up the amount and if you have no clue what to do it can be rather complicated and your bail can be higher than if you did not have a lawyer.
Fight in Bangkok
The best place to fight in court in Thailand is in Bangkok because you can always go higher up in rank or take your case to the Embassy. Local lawyers, Judges, or Police officer probably knows the other party and that is not good for justice. It is not crime but it could in the end lead to corruption.
When you fight something in local court in Thailand always check the background of the people involved and make sure that you bring the case to Bangkok if you feel you been duped. If possible bring the case to the media’s attention and to you embassy. The more pressure you can put on the local justice system the better your case will go or at least you will get a fair and balanced court.
Attack is the best defense
If you are accused of doing something against another person or company and you think they did something wrong as well then file a complaint against them as well. This is how the Thai people do it and most of the time it lead to a compromise. Nobody want to pay bail and go to court in Thailand and when the other party see that they do not think it’s so fun anymore.
Make sure you don’t slander people in Thailand since that is a crime as well and you can get in even deeper problems. But just sit around and do nothing will lead you anywhere, in this case the Thai calm do not count they will fight until the supreme court.
Bail ladies
In Thailand they use bail and the Thai Police officer in charge of the case will set the bail for you the first time if he thinks you will run away or that the case is solid. If you cannot post bail you be put in jail in the police station and after 3 days not counting weekends your case will go in front of a Judge and he will correct your bail or let you go. If you have been free until the prosecutor made up his mind about the case make sure that you bring money to the first day in court since the court can put bail on you there as well. Many people forget this and end up in jail with no phone or money. You can post bail with money, land or a civil servant or lawyer. If you want to use land as a bail papers need to be drawn up and that can take a while. There is always a bail lady that has connections with the court or police hanging around the police station or court. She will post your bail for you but the fee is really high, for example a bail on 1.2 million THB the fee would be 170 000 THB money you never get back.
The Thai police have actually no right what so ever to keep your passport it is state property of your country and should returned to you or your Embassy.
You never win
Many foreigners think that justice should be fair and that they will win and show the Thai people in court how it’s done. Just don’t it will never work you will never “win†the money that you have the pay for lawyers and the time wasted for years in court will never come back. Even the Thai person knows this and most cases with Thai people never goes to court. If you feel that you will end up in prison for a number of years and you are not guilty cut your losses and run. Cambodia is always around the corner and even Thailand former PM likes it. Many forginers in Thailand now up to 1000 is facing the Thai courts in a matter of month, my advice is to them is to cut your losses and run for it. If you are convicted for something your assets probably will be confiscated anyway or sold gone by the time you come back from jail. You will get a better price for your things now then when you are a bars.
Good Lawyers
I am sorry i can not recommend you to any good lawyers it is really tragic but true, i only know one in Pattaya that i would recommend but not from a the bottom of my heart. The only thing i can recommend to you is a good translator and advice along the way.
