Curious if there are any war stories from the employer side of labor court. Is it a sure-fire blood bath or are judges sensible and look at all the facts?

I'm not talking about the labor mediation thing that former employees can easily drag you into - rather what it's like in an actual lawsuit if the former employee presses things that far.

In my limited experience with other police and court-related disputes, typically people behave sensibly including judges. And almost everyone backs down and stops bluffing when they see you have a lawyer and evidence. But as we all know, those lawyers ain't cheap.

So, I'm curious what I'm getting into if I refuse to settle with this guy and "see him in court" (my guess is he disappears never to be heard from again - my bookkeeper seems much more willing to spend the company's money to settle with him).

I can offer my experience of taking an ex-employer to the Labour Court.

They terminated my employment as I would not sign an agreement which would see me not receiving termination payment in accordance with thai labour laws, so they terminated me any way without notice. Pack your bags and leave within one or two minutes scenario - not nice.

The labour court had 3 officials. I assume they were judges of some description.

Both parties had to be represented by Thai lawyers in the court.

The officials tried to get me to drop the case at one of the hearings (there were several hearings over a 15-18 month period); I would not agree to do.

Our cases were presented. Officials seemed fair as advised my my lawyers.

To cut a long story short, my ex-employer eventually agreed to pay me in accordance with thai labour law.

After I paid my lawyers, there wasn't a huge amount left, but to me my ex-employer was in the wrong and I wanted them to have to accept that.

So if you decide to go to court with your lawyer, and your opposition turns up with a lawyer, the case will be decided by the court, taking as long as it takes.

Thanks for the comments @Bredbury Blue - it sound like your former employer was acting like a real jerk to try and skirt the whole thing.

Did the court require you to retain a lawyer or was it a personal choice? I've heard the court probably doesn't require this for Thai citizens, potentially making their costs to keep things going significantly lower. I'm worried that if someone has a vendetta and essentially zero running costs, it's a losing game from the start... but some people still like to play.

Employer 'from across the pond'.

It was some years back so I don't remember if the labour court required me to retain a lawyer or not. After I filed my case at the labour court office, I employed a well known international law firm here - I knew one of the farlang directors - and one of their Thai lawyers represented me in every court appearance (think there were 3).

On 4/1/2026 at 9:56 AM, Bredbury Blue said:

After I paid my lawyers, there wasn't a huge amount left . . . .

No discussion around costs being paid by the losing party, or is that not a thing in Thailand?

On 4/1/2026 at 1:54 PM, SbuxPlease said:

So, I'm curious what I'm getting into if I refuse to settle with this guy and "see him in court" (my guess is he disappears never to be heard from again - my bookkeeper seems much more willing to spend the company's money to settle with him).

I'm thinking the "guy" will have already gone to the Labour Dept. if he thinks under law he was illegally treated.

I had a guy resign and then come to the office with a document for me to sign so "He could apply for unemployment benefits".

I spelled rat and told the bookkeeper to get rid of him as I suspected the document stated he was illegally dismissed which was not the case. He was simply a weasel.

1 hour ago, treetops said:

No discussion around costs being paid by the losing party, or is that not a thing in Thailand?

I don't think this is a thing in Thailand.

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

I'm thinking the "guy" will have already gone to the Labour Dept. if he thinks under law he was illegally treated.

I had a guy resign and then come to the office with a document for me to sign so "He could apply for unemployment benefits".

I spelled rat and told the bookkeeper to get rid of him as I suspected the document stated he was illegally dismissed which was not the case. He was simply a weasel.

My ex-staffer says he captured conversations that put him in the right, but hasn't been able or willing to show it. Says he's ready to go to court, but filed his claim at the labor department 2 weeks after he left. Signed a document with us understanding he didn't pass probation. Told my colleague he decided to file the claim because he felt his boss was mean.

From my observation he was the only one on the team taking hour long naps at noon, so I don't think he's the man of action he wants us to believe. My best guess is he had a barstool chat with someone who told him he could easily extract some cash from his boss.