British Couple's Thailand Dream Becomes Legal Nightmare

[Ralf001]

3 minutes ago, Dont confuse me said:

Actually they can! Well at least  49% with 2 other 'investers' having 17% each. (In their company) 

Making them majority share holders and their house becomes their company office.

I owned a property for 6 years like this, sold it at a profit and moved onto the next one using the same system.

 

company owning the land is not the same as a person owning the land.

[Peterphuket]

18 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

why stay on a sinking ship?

Like so many countries now in Europe

[Dogmatix]

Good luck in getting assistance from British Embassy or David Lammy.  The latter is too busy figuring out how to brown nose Donald Trump after slagging him off repeatedly before he was re-elected.

[Harrisfan]

52 minutes ago, Felton Jarvis said:

You cannot win in Thailand. If you were assaulted, it MUST be your fault because you are farang.

At least learn how to fight first.

[Kenny Boy]

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

as neither of them can own land... how did they end up in a land dispute ?

🤡

[Tarteso]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

the couple has been forced to sell their Hua Hin villa to fund their legal costs

Oh Dear ! 

[Sig]

29 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Your source ?????

 

 

 

Google is your friend.

Grok is a MUCH better friend. Makes Google look like an obstructionist.

[soalbundy]

Just now, Peterphuket said:

Like so many countries now in Europe

I wouldn't say that, mainland Europe is great.

[NorthernRyland]

29 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

Try reading the Sun article. It gives a number of details about what exactly the dispute involved. 

OK read the article it sounds like their land was next to some low class thugs who decided to use intimidation to get some land that wasn't technically theirs. It would be shocking to think they couldn't settle this very easily and without all these crazy legal fees, which apparently are in the millions of baht. Something seems fishy to me there. 

[Cabradelmar]

Counter charges claiming injury and mental anguish? Not from what I saw in the video of the attack. Something is not right, or missing. There was clearly history between these 2 couples. If anything, this should be a cautionary tell to all expats... NEVER engage with any angry Thai - man or woman (although it seems the male attacker might be English, married to a Thai); or more simply do anything you can to avoid getting sucked into the Thai judicial system when the likely complainant is Thai. On its face, it seems the law and courts are siding with/favoring the Thai woman (and her English husband) involved here (maybe she's connected, who knows). Sad AF! And the retirees can't even flee as their passports where confiscated.

[spidermike007]

Petty squabbles over minor things here can become a really big deal, and you have a certain class of people who are very emotionally undeveloped and just don't know how to handle confrontation. Add to that incredibly poor policing, very poor police training, and a highly corrupt system, and it becomes a very combustible formula. 

[sqwakvfr]

So I guess as a foreigners in the Land of Smiles the safe route is 1) Don't buy a house or condo 2) Don't buy a car 3) Just rent everytihng 3) Don't get into confrontations wtih the locals 4) Be prepared to permanently leave on short notice. 5) It just seems like being right is irrelavant if the other party is a local.  It appears it is mostly "a no win scenario" for us foreigners? It's gotten to the point that most of my contact with the locals is brief and to the point(like long enough to complete a purchase of a product or service).  i have learned to pick my battles carefully when it comes to the locals.  Often i have just paid, walked out and never return.  This is a sad way to be but I have decided to pay defense and play the "long game".  For me maybe the end of the road is closer than I had planned for? I feel awful for his elderly couple who should not have to face this kind of battle at their age.  

[WDSmart]

It would be interesting to hear the other side of this story...

[rough diamond]

1 hour ago, Cameroni said:

Well clearly Thai police and justice system is very fair,

Based on which side has the biggest brown envelopes/clout.

[BusyB]

1 hour ago, connda said:

For those who can't grasp the culture, it's a really bad idea to move here with the intention of retiring.  Someone should make a documentary of instances like this and make it mandatory viewing for any retirees thinking that Thailand will be their dream-retirement mecca.  Think again.

"Well you retired here!"

I was here in the 1980s and then returned to work 18 years ago.  I've been here since I was in my 50s and I've lived in Thailand communities with working class Thais the entire time. I'm pretty well integrated into the culture and my entire extended family are Thais.  That's a lot different than starry-eyed 60-70+ year old Western retirees showing up and expecting this to be like their home country built on top of a Thai travelogue. Then reality hits them squarely between the eyes. Best of luck! 

 

All due respect for your experience. Fact is though that most (tens of thousands) retirees never have anything remotely like this kind of experience. It's either horrifically bad luck or they ramped up a confrontation - perhaps without realizing what they were doing.

 

I'm sure with the video evidence they'll be OK - the cops went for the assailants in the first instance. This counter claim'll get tossed I'm sure.

[renaissanc]

Des and Mary ... you're doing this all wrong. 

Hire a lawyer and ask him to contact Khun Noom on Channel 33. 
https://www.youtube.com/@honekrasaeofficial

Have the lawyer write to the accusers to say that he will be contacting the programme. If this doesn't scare them off, then have the lawyer write to Noom.

Noom will invite the three of you to the programme (12:35 p.m.) together with the attackers. The whole country will hear about the attack. 

I don't believe the attackers will dare to pursue the court case when they know what is going to happen.

They may say: "I have connections!" No "connections" will dare to get involved in the case because they know about Hone Krasae.

This is the solution to your problem. How do I know? I've watched the programme over many years.

[renaissanc]

I wouldn't bother to contact the British Embassy. Their reputation is "Basement Level Useless, Unwilling to Lift a Finger to Help Anyone,  Too Busy with Cocktail Parties, Don't Disturb Us, & Still Digging to Even Deeper Levels of Uselessness & Can't Be Bothered". See my other comment. It will solve your problem.

[Grumpy one]

2 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

He didn't "get a fat lip" - he was knocked unconscious and then punched in the head 22 times while lying unconscious on the ground.

Out of curiosity how can you say he was hit 22 times, was it on video or what 

[Bruce Aussie]

3 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

as neither of them can own land... how did they end up in a land dispute ?

Lease if land probably. Young kick boxers attacking old couple should be in jail 

[GroveHillWanderer]

Just now, Grumpy one said:

Out of curiosity how can you say he was hit 22 times, was it on video or what 

Yes, and I posted a link to the video already.

[Butts]

Take it to the UK Press for Pressure..... and listen to Twisted Sister "WERE NOT GUNNA TAKE IT" ffs Thailand grow up

[Bruce Aussie]

2 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Im going to emphasize these words:

 

you're not in your home country,

 

Govern yourselves accordingly.

What stand back take a beating from thugs. BS

[BusyB]

18 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

So I guess as a foreigners in the Land of Smiles the safe route is 1) Don't buy a house or condo 2) Don't buy a car 3) Just rent everytihng 3) Don't get into confrontations wtih the locals 4) Be prepared to permanently leave on short notice. 5) It just seems like being right is irrelavant if the other party is a local.  It appears it is mostly "a no win scenario" for us foreigners? It's gotten to the point that most of my contact with the locals is brief and to the point(like long enough to complete a purchase of a product or service).  i have learned to pick my battles carefully when it comes to the locals.  Often i have just paid, walked out and never return.  This is a sad way to be but I have decided to pay defense and play the "long game".  For me maybe the end of the road is closer than I had planned for? I feel awful for his elderly couple who should not have to face this kind of battle at their age.  

 

The case of the Swiss cheese whose dogs have been terrifying the people in Bang Saphan for ages now gives the lie to this uniquely resentful post. So sorry you've had such awful experiences.

 

I've been coming to Thailand for over 20 years, for periods of 3 to 8 months at a time almost every year and I've never had to 'pick battles'. (And don't imagine I'm a shrinking violet either ...)

 

I've also known (through the years) and know quite a few dozens of expat retirees who've had and have a wonderful time in Thailand.

 

Yes what happened here is sad and should be sorted. But it is the exception which of course  sells column space.

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

1 hour ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

Try watching the CCTV footage. I think it's fairly apparent who were the most serious and violent aggressors here. 

 

Incidentally, according to an article in the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, the other couple involved were a British man with a Thai wife, not a Thai couple. 

 

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/des-mary-byrne-thailand-attack-31161162

 

Yes...CORRECT...

This is just two FARANG fighting together, it seems.

 

Both aggressors are from the UK.

And, we all know how easy it is for fights to erupt in the UK.

 

It's just lucky no knives were involved, as often happens in London.

 

So then, what is the name of the other guy involved?

 

I do not know, but I have heard, that it is sometimes risky to get involved in property deals in that city.

I guess we all recall other problems arising over disputes in the past, in HH.

 

 

[renaissanc]

23 minutes ago, Butts said:

Take it to the UK Press for Pressure..... and listen to Twisted Sister "WERE NOT GUNNA TAKE IT" ffs Thailand grow up

@ Butts: No need! As I've pointed out about, the programme Hone Krasae on Channel 33 will solve their problem. The Thais won't dare to pursue the court case when they know that they'll have to face the nation on this programme. The local Police will stop the court case because they will get into trouble with the Central Police Department if the matter escalates to Hone Krasae. The big shots in the Police watch this programme every day and they will tell the local Police to deal with the attackers before the matter escalates into Des and Mary returning to the programme to say that the local Police were unhelpful.  Besides this, the attackers' lawyer will back out when he knows he'll have to go on Hone Krasae because defending such injustice will be bad for his business in such a small town.  It'll be business suicide for him.

[Yagoda]

1 minute ago, Bruce Aussie said:

What stand back take a beating from thugs. BS

There are no thugs in my life. There are no 3am slobber drunk pant peeing nights fighting with ladyboys or hoes, or playing head skittles with Muy Thai bouncers. There are smiles and respect and my wallet is a backup.

 

Y'all need a different milieu.

[Thingamabob]

'An argument over garden territory'. It's far from clear what the argument was precisely about. While the Brits could own the house they could not own the land/garden on which it is located. Possibly some form of lease involved, but unlikely. Something was said to trigger the violence over what was likely to have been a relatively minor issue. In any country, anywhere, foreigners would be well advised to stay calm, and be polite at all times.

[sqwakvfr]

2 minutes ago, BusyB said:

 

The case of the Swiss cheese whose dogs have been terrifying the people in Bang Saphan for ages now gives the lie to this uniquely resentful post. So sorry you've had such awful experiences.

 

I've been coming to Thailand for over 20 years, for periods of 3 to 8 months at a time almost every year and I've never had to 'pick battles'. (And don't imagine I'm a shrinking violet either ...)

 

I've also known (through the years) and know quite a few dozens of expat retirees who've had and have a wonderful time in Thailand.

 

Yes what happened here is sad and should be sorted. But it is the exception which of course  sells column space.

 

 

All of my issues here in LOS have been minor (been lucky so far) but I have learned the best response is to "bite my lip" and maintian a neutral demenaor or a phony smile(which I have never been able to do).  I have not invested much into this country because early on in my time( I have been here full time 8 years) that this country is just not worth it. Renting has been the best course for me and most importantly I have never gotten attached to a local woman.  I maintain a "bug out" bag and can leave for good on short notice.  Not a single local person would miss me for a second.  This feeling is mutual. My time here has been a mixed bag of good and bad but probably was not meant to last a lifetime.  Others will feel differently. I just try and get along with the locals and avoid confrontations as much as I can.

[stoutfella]

I'm sure honest and incorruptible Thai justice will prevail.

[Smithy276]

3 hours ago, hotsun said:

British people dont have a home country anymore. Their government gave their country away

This statement would be funny if it wasn’t true. And the nobody has been able to explain why they did it