slipperx

Couldn't the foreigner just get employment, working for a Thai doing a similar business? Guess there's always a hole in the fence, called Thailand.-

As long as the Thai employs five other Thais and is willing to go through the whole work permit procedure - yes! They don;t even bother doing that for a lot of the foreign teachers here and they need them a lot!

Can a foreigner just turn up and work legally for themselves without registering a company in your own country ?

No but I suspect they could spend their spare time painting if they so choose. Maybe he can take his paintings and sell them in Vietnam or somewhere as long as he employs someone to lift them and transport them for him - mind you with the transport costs in Phuket, probably better just to burn them - hmm - wonder if he needs a work permit to do that.

As for him getting a work permit and starting a Thai company to do it and then giving half of it to some other Thai person and employing five more Thais to assist him hold his brushes and paints - well I guess he had better be a pretty good painter.

"Hey, how do you spend your spare time now you have retired after a lifetime of slog and paying taxes?"

"Why, I just paint!"

"Wow - can I have a look?"

"Oh sorry, not allowed I need a work permit to exhibit!"

"Oh"

"Yes - Oh!"

Wow and my wife wanted nothing just me, good luck to them both i am sure he know's what he is doing and sounds like just a fraction of his wealth.

And fair play to him funding her education and encouraging her to study, most Thai girls would just sit back and count the cash and probably mees up along the way, he has waited over 9 years and i am sure he knows he can trust her now.

9 years and three kids was how long it took for the truth to come out about mine! Oh well .....

On the issue of foreigners.

Phuket has a large number of foreigners and makes a huge amount of money from them. One might think some effort might be made to accommodate these cases given the amount of benefit foreigners bring to Phuket. Translators on hand for instance who are impartial and ensure cases are not derailed by delays.

Although probably not in his area of influence, perhaps some amendment to the procedures might help. Also the judges should be more in control of the progress of cases - or at least impose that control if they have it.

The court procedure is something like this from experience:

1. File a claim
2. Claim is sent to Defendant and a hearing date set for mediation.
3. Mediation hearing - often the defendant does not turn up and the case adjourned - sometimes several times if the defence are playing for time - with foreigners time means an increase in cost and may mean deprivation if all your assets are involved since the foreigner will need to uproot and move for safety and the numerous hearings make work difficult as many employers will not accept the necessary time off for the hearings and needed to go through evidence.
4. If there is an interlocutory action such as with land where the claimant asks for the land to be protected from resale or mortgage (another tactic used by defence laywers which if successful makes the case much more difficult for the claimant either meaning a whole new case has to be filed including the new owner who will claim no knowledge of the case and therefore be protected as a buyer in true faith) - then there will be hearings to determine the merit of the grounds of the protection sought which with adjournments take months to resolve (during which time the land will be sold anyway apparently without criminal consequence here in Thailand).
5. Eventually the case proper - frequently 2 years or more for the initial date. Several hearings over several weeks or months for this depending on how complicated the case but the real delays occur in the preceeding procedures.

Bear in mind at each hearing there may be two or three other cases scheduled in both morning and afternoon sessions. The pre main trial hearings are usually scheduled for not more than one am or pm slot during which you will be allocated a couple of hours at best. The lawyers will also be able to curtail hearings if they deem it in their advantage to do so. At this time evidence is given by the various parties, repeated to the judge in Thai if a foreigner is involved who then repeats the evidence as understood into a dictaphone for typing up. No court recorders or anything so things can move a little slowly through this process.

But the real delays occur by the court allowing the lawyers to determine the next hearing date - if there are several lawyers they will huddle together and if they want to delay will just say they are unavailable for each proposed date. Typically the defence will be trying to delay so this is an easy way to make each two hour hearing spaced at 4 months or more apart. A huge waste of time.

The next tactic is for the defendant to move house. The claimant will need to appear even though the case cannot proceed because the summons is returned to court. Adverts in the paper and statutory time limits must be allowed to pass before the case can be rescheduled plus the claimant to serve the summonses all over again. This takes up time for the judge and should be able to be dealt with administratively one would think saving time for the court and expense for the claimant.

Management of court hearings is a huge issue but having hearings scheduled for such short time slots must increase the overall court time taken.

If they want to get through these cases then my suggestion would be to have the hearings scheduled for a longer time slot and for the judges to be more controlling on the dates for subsequent hearings. Also the interlocutories should, in the most part, be able to be dealt with by paperwork rather than a hearing and err on the side of the person who would be affected if not given. After all the claimant has already spent the money putting the case into court and getting himself a decent lawyer - is it fair that the courts allow the defendants to sell of land or mortgage it while the case is being heard? If it were made a more routine process then it could be dealt with without taking up court time in the majority of cases - often several hearings of time!

If it is a criminal case then the defendant will often run away. An arrest warrant will be issued but the police neither actively pursue people subject to an arrest warrant and if they do come across them then an exchange of money will lead to a blind eye. Actually they do not really want to arrest them at all because the cost of transporting the prisoner falls on the station arresting and those costs come out of their budget. They might oblige if you present the prisoner yourself - means you have to find them yourself and pay a policeman to arrest them (if you try to do it yourself you are asking for a counter claim for whatever can be made to stick). Then you will need to pay the arresting station to cover their expense and 20 - 40,000 baht commonly for the 'police fund' for them to bother.

How easily could YOU find someone here if they are Thai and don't want to be found?

First of all the Government has to WANT to educate it's people. The government doesn't want this. Education means knowledge and eventually critical thought whereupon those in power lose their power. The power of the government lies with the ignorance of the people it fails to serve because they are simply too ignorant to see it. Notice I did not say stupid, though ignorance does lead to stupid behaviour.

Unfortunately the huge corruption and self-serving people that are currently in government in every party have no interest in educating people too much and you will therefore see the continuing popular measures that produce nothing but look good. Thais are truly excellent at making evil look good and smiling about it.

Corruption is evil, education is it's enemy!

The beginnings of democracy at work - let's vote for many more complainers from people in positions of some influence. Let's see some more independent bodies set up to control the adolescent tantrums of the government - and it applies to both red & yellow camps - though I have to say one side does seem a little more brash than the other on the face of it..

The response from the police show just why people don't bother trying to report to the police in Phuket. It will rarely bring any benefit and if you are being targeted by anyone involved with the mafia of whichever flavour police, lawyers, tuk tuks, jet skis, taxis you name it, then your case file will be either refused (unless you pay), lost (even if you paid in the first place) or worse still your story will be twisted to make you the one at fault and end up with you in the court as Defendant.

Since justice begins with the Police there is little hope unless the embassies start making a fuss - but they are so lilly livered and useless don't hold your breath.

Truly a manufactured scam of immense proportion - and the average Thai is blind to it. Maybe Thai language newspapers do not report it or maybe their readers are too busy looking at the latest gory pictures that smother the front pages. My goodness how awful for the Thai people who will end up paying for all this.

Yes the real question is why Thai loan sharks are not arrested. I have heard Thai's in court admit to lending at 3% & 4% a month on huge sums of money relating to property illegally obtained which they have 'sold' to them at about 20-30% of value and give a few months to repay (called Sale with Right of Redemption) - once the term runs out they keep the property and the interest, land transfer tax and agents fees they have charged up front. The fact that the legal rate is 15% per year and that Thais are not allowed to lend money on property under Thailand's banking laws - no one in the court turns an eyelid. Of course the real target is the asset which they can then take to the bank and 'negotiate' a deal with a corrupt bank manager using some hapless third party as a new 'buyer' who gets a small cut. The loan shark and bank manager share the new 'mortgage' and get off scott free.

Bank Managers getting involved in the act and making loans on property illicitly obtained using some hapless ignorant village woman, making huge loans against the property where the 'owner' used has no collateral, income or pays any taxes - and the bank manager then pockets the money (at least the lions share).

In both cases the real owner even if in the court process, is unprotected. Even where the court is in the process of granting a prohibition order against sale, which the Thai courts are for some reason are reluctant to grant and the fact that the facts of the case have to be heard first before such an order will be given - which takes months through adjournments while the defending lawyers play the adjournment game - so even where the process and hearing have begun, using the bank to get the max out of the property is the method used.

Once the bank is involved the real 'owner' has a terrible uphill battle against a new defendant with unlimited funds to defend, the people involved with the illicit deal having got their share of the bank loan money run away and the real owner is screwed. The money lender or bank manager get away with the whole affair and no-one cares about arresting them or even investigation. It is reality and it's happening now - how many care?

Why does Thai society produce so many women who want to kill?

Nothing clever about buying a house in someone else's name. On the other hand there's nothing clever about deceiving someone out of all their savings. Disgusting scum that deserve to lead the most miserable life imaginable with their ill gotten gains. no offence intended but you sound like man who lost a house.

Your point being?

Hope it's the beginning of great change in Thailand. The first response is to rebuke what she wants to do, since it seems impossible. You have to get rid of the hateful exploitative Nazi foreigners who act like Imperialist exploiters, who the Thai people of both genders bow down to and serve and obey, as they help Nazis carve out their luxury niches here in Thailand while the children and young women get exploited but feel lucky to have nicer living conditions. If you can try to change Thailand and rid it of this stinking rotting carcass of exploitation that Thai economy feeds off, creating a rotten society of desperate prostitutes and people-for-sale cheap, then you will begin to stop the endless discrimination against women in this society which is supported by all of Thai society, since they don't have many other opportunities in many parts of Thailand except to sell women at cheap and low prices. Good luck, I hope she will bring about positive change and I just offered an outline for a very bad area of exploitation that continues this oppression of women, which the women happily participate in and continue.

I think your medication needs adjusting.

Never heard so much ummmm trash in all my life as the words that issue from the mouths of Thai politicians - they are challenging the Thai police for lies these days.

It is outrageous that a man on trial for his life cannot be given the services of a properly qualified interpreter. How can he get a fair hearing there is any doubt in anybody's mind about what is actually being said in court?

What steps are being taken by Denmark to ensure one of their nationals is treated as equitably as a Thai person before a Danish court would?

Thailand's record on human rights is not a proud one and this case should be taken, if necessary, to the International Court of Human Rights to ensure a fair outcome.

Yes the man should be given a fair hearing whether he turns out to be guilty or not. It is unconscionable that a case of this magnitude is not transparently fair - just picking up any old mucker from the street and trying to persuade their acceptance is just not on. But then again it is Thai culture and its not Chinese New Year anymore. This smells worse than his house. It seems they just want to get the conviction, take the photos and cobblers to justice. Thai style!

This government has failed to do anything much except ramp up the levels of corruption. Maybe it is a corruption boom before bust but I think maybe I am only dreaming.

Tell Lady Luck because education is bottom of the 'to do' list in Thailand primarily because the numbskulls in power will be out on their <deleted> if the masses become Educated.

Too much chicken and no idea of reality. Thailand is already the ASEAN leader in corruption and its floor for education.

The other day Thailand's dear Prime Minister was sucking up to the Belgians that Thailand is a 'Haven for investment'. These stories of criminals getting off with murder just because they are rich or have famous connections shows the world Thailand is but a corrupt state and 'Haven for Rich Criminals'. Like this post if you have never seen a truer word written :-)

UPS were there a while back. Their office is near Tesco Lotus at the main intersection. Coming from Central to Lotus go straight over the traffic lights staying on teh bypass towards the airport road but immediately the other side of those lights take the first turn I think into the shops fronting that corner opposite Tesco (I think some condos behind there if I remember rightly). Not the Billion Plaza but the one opposite that - I think also there is a Bank - is it Thannachart - the one with the orange logo with a black circle thing - on the other side of that bypass dual carriageway. Sorry that was not so clear but that was where UPS was a year or two back last time I used it.

I only ever had one accident here in Thailand. It was mid afternoon and I had not been drinking!

I had just left my office and got into my car (well little truck). I had started the engine and was about to move off when I heard a motorbike revving and clearly accelerating behind me and some shouting (this I later realised were the kids shouting at one another - excited shouting like having fun). As I turned to look a bike flashed past my drivers window - there was a thud and two Thai kids went sprawling across the road. In shock I got out of the truck and started over to where the kids were lying on the road - from nowhere out came several Thais all pushing me and one particular obnoxious individual was screaming at me. I back away and waited by the side of the car - my office staff already coming over to protect me. In due course a policeman appeared and was accosted by the obnoxious one plus several other ruffian looking members of the family who had appeared from a shop cum store cum workshop thing across the road about 100m behind where my car was.

You could see the tire marks from the motorbike where the kids who were maybe 12 or 13 had screamed up the engine and shot across the road, presumably lost control and caught the front bumper. The policeman asked me to go to the police station later and said I was at fault. I was incredulous but said nothing. My staff were all shaking their heads. I called my lawyer, the insurance company and watched the kids be taken away on the backs of a couple of the family open backed toyota vans. About 40 minutes later the lawyer called back and said it would cost me 10,000 baht and not to argue or the police would charge me with a criminal offence and seek to have me deported.

At the police station the insurance arrived and the obnoxious man was there saying the 'FARANG' had to pay and kept going on and on. the insurance guy - a humble little man said he would pay compensation of 1,000 baht to the obnoxious man - it was like a comedy sketch. I called the insurance guy over who spoke pretty good English amazingly and told him what had happened. He asked if I had paid the police and I said I had as I had no choice. He said he understood my car had not moved as the police had already advised him and that I was clearly not to blame and he said he was sorry my VIP insurance did not cover the police 'envelope'. I asked why he was not arguing and he said - there is no point - it is a small amount of money and better just to get the matter over and done with. He was being compensated because the kids would not be able to help him work while they were recovering!!

The kids hospital bills were covered and they were moved to a better hospital at the expense of the insurance.

Before we left the obnoxious man came over to start on me again - at which point the police came over and told him in no uncertain terms to 'sling his hook, a few pointed fingers later and the policeman adjusting his gun belt sent the man off. I never saw him again.

Good luck Mr Foster. If you drink and drive you are putting yourself up for punishment as part of the risk is if you have an accident you will almost certainly be blamed no matter what the circumstances. Whether the person you interacts with is 10 years old riding the wrong way out of your house driveway having just nicked your garden gnome makes no matter - drunk = at fault. However the police are remarkably adept at twisting circumstances to ensure a contribution to their fund - I found this out later when my business was persistently frequented by police looking for money - there was no reason given just an expectation I pay. I didn't and shut the business because the hassle with the police, the tax authorities and all the crap paperwork and mostly useless scheming staff you have to continually watch just made it all neither worthwhile nor enjoyable.

Anyway .....

Making a Statement to the police here is not a very clever thing to do unless you can read Thai or have a translator you trust who can vouch for what is in the written statement. Too many times I have heard of the police making up a story for their own benefit which lies a long way from your 'statement'. Then once you sign it you have no leg to stand n. a dangerous thing to do in my opinion.

Oh for a moment I thought this was news - a tourist - bus driver threatens a Thai woman with a gun? Oh no sorry it's not news really - just a Thai driver of a tourist bus waving a pistol around in Phuket. Thai custom don't you know. At least she didn't meet the Faye of another Thai woman a few weeks ack at the same intersection who was murdered. All in a mouses night.

So sad Thailand!