British Retirees Escape Thai Jail After Violent Land Dispute

[hotsun]

Thailand seems like a risky place to invest anything in these days

[Kaopad999]

100% more to this story. Something does not add up

[thesetat]

11 hours ago, Sickocock said:

How low can you get by attacking elderly people.

They got lower by making charges against the old couple years later. Desperate for money and pissed they had to pay damages to the old couple for their assault. Those 2 should have been put in a prison rather than settling monetarily with the old couple. 

Just goes to show you how twisted the law system is in Thailand. 

[CecilM]

9,000 Baht fine. 
OK, so that is the equivalent of how many days in jail? 
"Narrowly avoid" sounds like a lengthy prison term... which a 9k Baht fine doesn't seem to indicate. 

[Mark Hopkins]

15 hours ago, Gaccha said:

Let's be clear:

 

You cannot sell what you don't own. 

 

There was clearly no risk of prison, as anyone could see from reading about their case. 

 

The legal fees won't have cost much. 

 

Their campaign to get diplomats and politicians involved had no effect on the verdict.

How can you possibly know that their legal fees didn't cost much?

That is a ridiculous assumption and very likely incorrect. Lawyers in Thailand aren't cheap.  You shouldn't jump to conclusions without accurate information.

[Peterphuket]

15 hours ago, JoePai said:

Thai legal system is crazy

Nay, you forget that it is a third world country, and they are doing all they can to keep it that way.

[NorthernRyland]

12 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Foreigners  CAN NOT own land in Thailand. 

Use your imagination. They didn't own it with their name on the title but it was held through some other proxy. It doesn't matter who owns the land if they give you full unfettered  access to it.

[NorthernRyland]

Why did it cost him the price of a Hua Hin villa in court fees? Did the property dispute ever get resolved?

 

Since when do people get in a fight and it turns in to a massive court battle costing millions of baht? Usually both sides are required to pay compensation and it's ended there.

 

None of this story makes any sense.

 

 

[cdemundo]

I had not noticed in the original article that the person who beat them was a fellow Brit.

Kind of puts a different slant on it.

[NorthernRyland]

33 minutes ago, CecilM said:

9,000 Baht fine. 
OK, so that is the equivalent of how many days in jail? 
"Narrowly avoid" sounds like a lengthy prison term... which a 9k Baht fine doesn't seem to indicate. 

 

Can anyone think of a time a fight got a person a "length prison term" in Thailand? How badly did the old man injure the other guy that his case was even considered? Interesting they've not shared any details about the other guy and only now released he was from the UK.

[MeRakThai]

13 hours ago, 300sd said:

Speaks volumes!

Thats crazy! Anyone know why The two who assaulted this elderly couple weren't sentenced to time in jail? Their injuries look shocking.  

[Ben Zioner]

12 hours ago, Sickocock said:

How low can you get by attacking elderly people.

No need to go any lower than the Thai level...

[jippytum]

Seems like the Brits got rough justice here comparing the vidio evidence. 

I guess the Thai's had better lawyers. 

 

[Freddy42OZ]

12 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Foreigners  CAN NOT own land in Thailand. 

 

Old and tired debate.  The result ends up the same.  Foreigners CAN NOT own land in Thailand. 

Yes, but you CAN buy a house in a retirement community on land owned by the company running the community. 

That is apparently what they did and that is what they are selling.
 

[300sd]

9 minutes ago, MeRakThai said:

Thats crazy! Anyone know why The two who assaulted this elderly couple weren't sentenced to time in jail? Their injuries look shocking.  

What's crazy? They pleaded guilty and were not sentenced to jail time. They got a fine. The "elderly" couple were also charged and did not plead guilty so they had to go through a prolonged court case that cost them dearly. This is how the Thai "justice" system works.

[Freddy42OZ]

1 minute ago, jippytum said:

Seems like the Brits got rough justice here comparing the vidio evidence. 

I guess the Thai's had better lawyers. 

 

 

 

The person that attacked them was another BRITISH man, who happened to have a Thai wife.    

[Bohemianfish]

Hard to comment when only 5 or 6 facts without any context are given. Sounds like a one-sided story.

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, Freddy42OZ said:

Yes, but you CAN buy a house in a retirement community on land owned by the company running the community. 

That is apparently what they did and that is what they are selling.
 

yeah........... they own the house, not the land !!

[Freddy42OZ]

17 minutes ago, MeRakThai said:

Thats crazy! Anyone know why The two who assaulted this elderly couple weren't sentenced to time in jail? Their injuries look shocking.  

Possibly because the 'victims' did something to provoke the argument that escalated into violence. 

The 'attacker' was a British man, not a Thai.   I suspect a lot of arguing and stubbornness on the part of the victim is what led to it turning violent. 

My understanding is the couple bought a space in the retirement home but were not told that if other homes were built that part of 'their' plot would be taken to provide access to the other home(s).  

Although as usual reporting here is so bad the real story is hard to find.

[Old Croc]

In my experience people nearly always exaggerate (or downplay) their version of an event particularly when talking with the media.

There is much more to this than the Brits have revealed in their sympathy seeking interviews. 

I don't know what happened or who started the physicality, although it's clear how it ended. You don't have to look far into Pattaya or Patong news videos to find silly old farts starting fights with bouncers or whatever. It rarely ends well.

There's no doubt the other couple went way too far in the altercation. They admitted blame and paid compensation. They didn't mention it, but presumably the old couple accepted some payment after the police took their cut.

The Thai legal system is based on English Common Law but with their own versions built in.  Many crimes and disputes are settled with agreed compensation without resorting to charges and courts. It generally works well for both parties.  That charges were leveled at the old couple suggests they were more involved in the initial dispute than they admit. It doesn't indicate a corrupt breakdown of the Thai legal system.  The couple were never going to be jailed, that was part of their sympathy seeking version.

The Thai supreme court recently ruled that leases can only be for a 30 year period, any extension has to be renogotiated after that time. This will have upset  many people all over Thailand particularly so in the HH region where many developers have been hawking 90 year leases. 

[brianburi]

Find it strange that the other participants in this case have never been named.

 

When the British couple are back in the UK i expect more details to come out.

The Mail, Sun, Mirror etc have some sort of agenda with Thailand.

[Cabradelmar]

Still no mention of the charges the elderly where guilty of. In any event, time for these 2 to get out of town while the getting is good.

[crazykopite]

This story is very vague and if as says they were attacked by the neighbours who then had to pay compensation why the hell did they the victims end up in court ! Very confusing !!!!!

[crazykopite]

11 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

In my experience people nearly always exaggerate (or downplay) their version of an event particularly when talking with the media.

There is much more to this than the Brits have revealed in their sympathy seeking interviews. 

I don't know what happened or who started the physicality, although it's clear how it ended. You don't have to look far into Pattaya or Patong news videos to find silly old farts starting fights with bouncers or whatever. It rarely ends well.

There's no doubt the other couple went way too far in the altercation. They admitted blame and paid compensation. They didn't mention it, but presumably the old couple accepted some payment after the police took their cut.

The Thai legal system is based on English Common Law but with their own versions built in.  Many crimes and disputes are settled with agreed compensation without resorting to charges and courts. It generally works well for both parties.  That charges were leveled at the old couple suggests they were more involved in the initial dispute than they admit. It doesn't indicate a corrupt breakdown of the Thai legal system.  The couple were never going to be jailed, that was part of their sympathy seeking version.

The Thai supreme court recently ruled that leases can only be for a 30 year period, any extension has to be renogotiated after that time. This will have upset  many people all over Thailand particularly so in the HH region where many developers have been hawking 90 year leases. 

Less of the silly old farts I’ve been here 20 years never ever in trouble and I’m a young 74 years of age it’s time that age discrimination was made an offence one day if the man upstairs likes you he might allow you a long extended life I hope you don’t end up being called a S.O.F 

[NorthernRyland]

31 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

Yes, but you CAN buy a house in a retirement community on land owned by the company running the community. 

The whole idea of protecting land ownership for Thai's has basically been thrown out the window at this point because property developers are making projects targeted at foreigners.

 

If the company upholds their end of the bargain and lets them stay in the house then they can continue making these projects forever. That's why you see these stupid expensive prices like 7mb for some concrete box with big windows and a pool.

[ronnie50]

2 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Doesn't exist in Thailand, it isn't as system per se, only a set of traditions maintained to protect the powerful. There is no place in those traditions for foreigners.

Exactly. The criminal libel law is probably the best example of that. It's part of a deliberate stitch-up to shield the wealthy and powerful. Since both parties were mainly farang, it left the authorities with a pain in the neck. The farang with the Thai wife followed the Thai route of settling with police as conciliators. But there are many holes in this story. It's incomplete. For example, if the other side 'paid compensation' so why did the elderly couple sell their place to pay 'legal costs'. As someone else said they'd never end up in jail anyway (they probably had bad advice from someone who was bound to gain financially by giving the bad advice). The old guy's face looks like he took a kicking though. 

[Old Croc]

3 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

Less of the silly old farts I’ve been here 20 years never ever in trouble and I’m a young 74 years of age it’s time that age discrimination was made an offence one day if the man upstairs likes you he might allow you a long extended life I hope you don’t end up being called a S.O.F 

I've lived here for 15 years, never started a fight in my life. I am a month shy of my 77th birthday. 

However, I can recognise there are many silly old farts here without identifying myself,or you, as one.

[FritsSikkink]

2 hours ago, Lopburikid said:

They can only Lease it. 30 years, 30 years, 30 years totalling 90 years. You buy the house on one contract and lease the land on another contract. any other way is not legal.

30-30-30 is not legal

[twizzian]

I would have just moved to another Thailand location, not all are evil here.

With the destruction of the UK, a broken & dreary country would be a very last in my thoughts to move back too.

[kingstonkid]

13 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Foreigners  CAN NOT own land in Thailand. 

 

Old and tired debate.  The result ends up the same.  Foreigners CAN NOT own land in Thailand. 

But could they hve owned the building and everything on the land but leased the land on a 30 year lease?  If tht was the case then they would not own the right of way and it would have been open for discussion.

 

My question is, why when this started, if they were in the right, did they not get a lawyer involved to sort it out before it came to blows?  Surely they had a few Thai friends that they could have gone to.