Jouner88

Yes, my girlfriend and her mother have been doing most of the talking.

I agree that some tenants are bad, and I in principle am not necessarily unwilling to pay more. If there is valid reason and evidence. However, I think expecting actual official receipts is basically a minimum expectation. I plan on retaining a lawyer and having all future communication go through the lawyer.

This is in Phuket.

I stayed in a Condo for about a year and a half. I am a teacher here so I live here. I recently moved to a location closer to school. When I moved out, there were some things that needed to be fixed. I acknowledged that and told the landlady to keep the 10,000 baht deposit for that purpose. That was more than I think the fixing costs actually were, but I didn't feel like arguing about it and was hoping it would just be let go.

Problem is, in addition to the real things that needed fixing she also made up a few things. For example, the lock was completely fine when I left, and she sends a picture of the metal cover knocked off. Wasn't like that when I left, and supposedly fixing that little cosmetic thing is 800 baht.

The prices for other things, like a new coat of paint for a small area, seems really exaggerated as well. 3000 baht to paint the (tiny) kitchen.

The little plastic door in the refrigerator needed to be replaced, but she wants to charge me for an entirely new fridge (5,000-6,000 baht). The thing works fine. That seems a bit crazy, but I suppose I would be willing to buy a new one if legally that was required. However, I would insist on getting the old one since I am effectively buying it.

Long story short, she says I owe 19,000 baht, approximately, (9,000 if you subtract the deposit). The problem is that I have repeatedly told her that actual official receipts for all this stuff would be needed or I wouldn't even consider the requests. And of course, even with receipts I would depute several of the things she claims I broke, because I didn't break them. The only thing she sent me was a piece of paper on which she wrote presumably made up numbers. Ya, that isn't going to work.

Well, in addition to refusing to send me receipts to even begin the negotiation, she has continually been a pest. First she called the school. Which I don't think the school cares, but I told them to please ignore her and tell her not to call them anymore. I also let the school know she refuses to provide real receipts.

Well, tonight she calls and says she is at the police station and that I need to go there right now. Obviously I am not going to do that.

In the US, this would be considered a civil matter and a court case would need to be filed. The police wouldn't get involved at all, and wouldn't have authority anyway. Does that work the same in Thailand, or can the police actually decide on this matter? Are they going to come pick me up tomorrow over it? I would find it very hard to believe that this would happen, but I would rather get it confirmed by someone who knows better.

It seems like it is coming to the point where I need to get a lawyer. Or else it might be getting close. Can anyone recommend a Lawyer in Phuket who can help me with this?

Money isn't really an issue, I would be more interested in fighting it and spending more in the long run if necessary.