THAI LAW - Compromise

THAI LAW - Compromise

Thai Law Compromise

                       Here in Thailand’s court system whenever you have a case between two parties; civil or criminal, you will always have the chance to compromise the case. Even a murder case that is submitted by a private person can be compromised with the case withdrawn at anytime, though there are limits to this power. Big cases such as drugs or a murder case that is being prosecuted by a district attorney or the police cannot be compromised by the law though the punishments may be altered by a judge within the boundaries of the law according to their judgment.

                       Another way that compromising works with Thailand’s legal system is through the Thai police. Small cases such as car accidents etc. can be compromised by the police; this extends to civil cases such as damages, enabling them to settle and then terminate a case before it reaches the court system if both parties agree. If the two sides do not agree they will then have to go through the court system to seek justice, this is usually a waste of time and resources and even if you are in the right it can take years to receive compensation. Though it depends on a case by case basis, what type of case and what they stand to win.

                       During any court process between two parties the court will always try to get both parties to negotiate in an effort to move the process along quickly and smoothly without wasting the resources of the court whilst operating within Thai law. It seems to be that compromising is usually to the benefit of all parties involved as the party that needs to pay up can negotiate a lower fee to close the case, the party that is in the right will receive payment of damages or compensation swiftly though it may not be the full amount owed and the court will close a case that could be fought over for years to come. You should always be prepared to compromise or at least listen to the other parties offers as the Thai court process is slow and requires a lot of patience.

                       It is the courts job to be fair and they will always try to work for the benefit of all parties involved. By having a system in place that places negotiations and mediation first, it allows most cases to be talked out and conflicting sides to be able to come to an agreement if possible. Though they will give you every chance to make a deal, once a case has gone past that phase there is no turning back. The court will stress to the prosecutor that they may stand to win nothing at all if they were to lose the case, along with lawyer fees stacking up as well. With the alternative of getting payment today or in the near future to a reasonable sum from the amount requested. Taking a case or a disagreement to a courtroom has been known to be a negotiation tactic before, whereby the party takes another party to court in order to get a better price on the amount of money they feel they’re entitled to.

                       Though we are experts when it comes to the Thai legal court process, we will always recommend you to exhaust your options first. Many clients are culture shocked when they experience the Thai justice system themselves for the first time; it is not like in the west or any other country as a matter of fact and can be confusing and exhausting. By protecting yourself and having the right advice and counsel you will be prepared and will be able to make the decisions that are right for you.

THAI LAW - Compromise

THAI LAW- Family Court & Juvenile Centre

THAI LAW- Family Court & Juvenile Centre

Thai Family law 

                             Thai law | Usually a divorce that is between partners who have children will continue with custody proceedings, child custody can be a simple or difficult process depending on different factors and conditions. If you have any case in family court that involves custody you will have to go to the local province Juvenile Observation and Protection Centre to make the statement before you can proceed in the court. Or if a case concerns a juvenile that is younger than 18 years old and get a criminal charge then this office will help to check the bio data records and criminal records. These records are regarding the history of the juvenile such as any drug history including smoking; sexual relations past conduct such as criminal records etc. The Thai courts will always strictly consider these reports as they are a third party that is also a government office that is set up to report the truth and provide vital information to the court systems.

Thai law

                             If a young person in the criminal court is convicted of a crime under Thai law then this office has facilities for detention which is an alternative to jail. They will be given a suspended sentence and may even be allowed to stay at home with family wither immediately or after a certain amount of time has passed. This is subject to certain conditions set by the court that takes in factors such as the severity of the crime, past offenses and whether the family is able to properly support and care for the child. This is similar to a parole system as the child will have to report back to the facility every three, four or six months depending on the court order and be subjected to drug tests and interviews with both the child and parents on their progress. This is also the responsibility of this office.

Thai law siam firm

                    The Juvenile office also can investigate custody cases by interviewing children themselves, such as in cases where a parent is requesting sole custody. The questions asked will include which parent the child is more suitable to care for them and which parent they would like to live with and why. The accuracy of these reports is usually accurate as they are trained professionals and the family court takes these reports very seriously when deciding how to act in a custody case. In family court if a divorce is filed the court doesn’t worry about who you are but will care more for the future of the child or children, this is always their focus. If you’re a good person and in a good financial situation then the court will always give benefit over a bad person who is in a bad financial situation, as they care for the children’s security and welfare.

Thai law

                             What you have to do is prove to the court that you’re good enough to provide this care and will do your utmost to keep the interests of the child or children a top priority. Parents who win custody will have to follow strictly what is in the court order, if they don’t then they may end up losing custody altogether. An example is a case where a mother who had a job that requires frequent trips overseas had filed and won sole custody of her daughter, but as she had to continue to travel overseas she left the daughter in the care of her mother for large amounts of time. After discovering this the father sued for custody and won as the mother was breaching the court order that was issued.

Another example is when two parents receive joint custody and then the mother took the child away from her house and to another province, this is a breach of the court order and the father submitted a petition to the court. This resulted in the court issuing a warrant of arrest as the mother did not respond to the court summons to bring forth the child. If you ask for your rights and you receive the backing of the court you must adhere to what is agreed or maybe one day you will lose that right altogether or even have a warrant issued with your name on it.

THAI LAW- Family Court & Juvenile Centre

THAI LAW - A woman scorned

THAI LAW - A woman scorned

Thai law

                      Thai law | There was a case a while ago where a foreigner, after moving to Thailand, struck up a relationship with a Thai girl.  The couple stayed together for many years and life was good.  However the foreigner never actually married the Thai girl.  He was independently rich and owned a lot of property on the form of houses, cars and motorcycles, all in his name.  The Thai girl received an allowance from him every month of 10 to 20 thousand baht.  But all was not well and the foreigner got into serious trouble.

                      They had been together for 8 years when things started to turn sour.  Constant fights broke out and misunderstandings which led the foreigner to kick the girl out of his house and sying he didn’t want to see her again.  She couldn’t return as he had also locked her out.  The Thai girl was not very happy, to say the least.  Her clothes and possessions were in the house and she wanted them back.  She tried several times to break into the house to no avail.  She finally managed to break in by jumping over a fence and breaking a lock.  Following the removal of her possessions, she had a face to face meeting with the foreigner who was not at all happy that she had broken into his house. Arguments turned into a fight and the foreigner assaulted the girl.

                      The Thai girl didn’t like what had happened but took no further action regarding the assault and went about her way.  A few days later, she broke into the house again but took nothing!  Everything was fine for the next few days until the police turned up at the foreigner’s house with an warrant to search the house.  They duly carried out the search and uncovered a stash of unregistered guns and ammunition.  Despite the foreigners insistence that he knew nothing of the weapons, the case was presented to the public prosecutor.  The foreigner was taken to court charged with possession of unregistered weapons.  This is a very serious offence under Thai law and worse for a foreigner.

                      Unlike the west, where breaking off a relationship quite amicably and each party goes their own way, in Thailand the injured party (in this case the Thai girl) will not let it go.  After all, she lost the most having spent a chunk of her life with the foreigner with no return.  She will want some form of justice or you may call it revenge.  She created a situation putting the foreigner in dire straits.  If you’re going to split with your partner, then try to do it in a nice way where both parties are happy. In this case, a judgment from the court is still pending.  In the meantime, the foreigner has had to submit huge amounts of cash for bail, had his passort confiscated by the courts which debars him from leaving the country without the court’s permission. Remember, if you push someone into a corner, they will fight back.

THAI LAW - A woman scorned