Need Good Lawyer In Bangkok

[Patong Bob]

Thanks to all who have supplied names of lawyers, and to those who PM'd me with lawyers. They have all been passed on to Jim.

He has been talking to the UK consul, so I will keep the forum updated as to what happens.

Query to moderators I posted in General forum asking for a lawyer in Bangkok, so why was it moved to the Phuket forum ?

[LivinginKata]

Query to moderators I posted in General forum asking for a lawyer in Bangkok, so why was it moved to the Phuket forum ?

Thought it might be of interest to the Phuket area readers. A link was left in General, so covered both bases.

[losworld]

Just go settle the thing. 500,000 baht... tell them you can only pay 300,000 baht. Legal fees will take up hundreds of thousands of baht with a good lawyer.

[Patong Bob]

Jim has today been sentenced to one year in jail..He is currently on bail, pending an appeal. Let me re-iterate : he was apparently legally parked, he was asleep in bed when a woman on a motor bike ran into the back of his car at 0330.

No, I don't know the penal code section number. I can't even imagine what the charge, other than illegal parking, could possibly be. I know he is in shock.

We all love Thailand and think it is wonderful, but when something like this happens I think I may change my retirement plans to somewhere like my home town of Melbourne.

[Bedrockguesthouse]

the 2 law firms mentioned in this thread are excellent and i have used them both. however determine their approx costs first

Good luck

Rgds mark

[steelepulse]

I'd like to know what he actually got charged with IF he was parked legally. Hopefully he can appeal on some sort of basis.

[fiddlehead]

Wow! This is incredible.

I remember taking my driver's test and one of the questions showed 4 pictures and asked you to pick out the legal park job.

Turned out to be the one where the car was parked in the left lane of traffic.

I argued (pointlessly of course) with the woman about the correct answer, but she said: That's legal in Thailand.

Now this.

I hope she is made aware of this decision.

And i hope he wins his appeal.

Perhaps some international coverage on this would help?

[kirmizi]

An email to his hometown newspaper or TV station might generate some much needed international coverage. Perhaps local news outlets would be useful too though not sure about this.

The details of the charge need to be made clear first. There must be something in the court documents specifying what his conviction is for.

Best of luck to him.

[LivinLOS]

Jim has today been sentenced to one year in jail..He is currently on bail, pending an appeal. Let me re-iterate : he was apparently legally parked, he was asleep in bed when a woman on a motor bike ran into the back of his car at 0330.

No, I don't know the penal code section number. I can't even imagine what the charge, other than illegal parking, could possibly be. I know he is in shock.

We all love Thailand and think it is wonderful, but when something like this happens I think I may change my retirement plans to somewhere like my home town of Melbourne.

Sorry to hear this about Jim, hes a nice fella and doesnt deserve it..

All that said.. Theres a reason we said settle !! Thai law will do what it wants if you let it, and they will operate a 'rich farang pays' policy that if you try to fight can do things like end up with a year in jail for something you could settle for maybe 300 plus.

[SantiSuk]

TV (Thaivisa) has its fair share of these stories ..... and they all to often kick off thick on detail about what has happend or occured, but very thin on detail regards the legal situation - against the background of Thai law.

So-and-so was bailed - fair enough, but what were they bailed for, and/or what are the bail terms, or so-and-so was put into the cells for an amount of time, then charged - but little or not detail is shared regards the actual charge e.g. the Charge pertained to what section of the Thai legal code?

Or, in the case of RTA's (road traffic accident), the thread will kick off with some comments about the fact that the deceased's relative(s) are banging on the door with a demand for x amount of money - fair enough, but what is the demand based on (from a Thai legal persepective) - is the equivilant of reckless driving, Section x,y,z sub section blah blah balh been alleged ... and just who is making the allegation? Is it the police taking the action, or are the relatives taking the action, or over and above any police action, are relatives pursuing with their own personal claim - is it a civil or criminal claim ..... and a whole bunch of other relivant points need to be understood, without which no-one can really offer much in the way of advice or help.

What this all to often illustrates is exactly where the problem lies when ex-pats run into legal problems: a poor understanding of the actual situation one is in from a Thai law/legal point of view - and without that understanding as it applies to whatever is been claimed or alleged aginst you, one cannot hope, firstly to get much in the way of anything usefull from folk (however good intentioned comments maybe), but secondly and probably more importantly, one cannot hope to be able to defend themselves with any degree of success.

If you find yourself in one of these situations, other than keeping your mouth shut and saying the absolute min - top of your list of things to do is to get INDEPENDENT legal advise, and to make sure that you understand top to bottom what is been alleged against you, and how it ties into the Thai legal code. The quicker you get an understanding of this, the less vunerable you will feel, the better placed you will be to defend yourself, and the better placed folk will be to offer advise, as folk can now understand exactly what is been alleged.

The OP was only looking for recommendations of good independent legal advice. He was not looking for advice (or gratuitous brickbats) about the situation.

Typical TV - poster asks a simple question of help needed and he gets respondents wanting to have chapter and verse so they can get their rocks off on second guessing the situation.

[NamKangMan]

Just goes to show - as a farang, you are never safe in Thailand. Can someone tell me what happens in a year's time? Can he stay in the Thailand (not that he would want to) or does he get deported? Also, had he settled with the 500,000 baht, is that an admission of guilt, also rendering him liable to deportation?

[TaoNow]

Thanks to OP for posting this story. It is relevant to all us ex-pats living here.

But surely there has to be more to this story.

It is very hard to believe that, if someone is legally parked, they can be jailed if someone else crashes into their parked vehicle and suffers injury or death.

If this were the case, we'd be hearing many more reports of this from Thais and ex-pats.

It's equivalent to jailing you if someone crashes their bike into the wall around your house.

Please provide more details if possible.

[LivinLOS]

They say it wasnt legally parked.. Despite it being not on a red and white zone and a place he has parked for a LONG time.. While it was standard practice for a year or two, now that a Thai hit his parked car and hes farang, they can now make him liable for the death.

In a sane system he could be given a parking ticket, it was stationary, its the riders responsibility to avoid to be in control and avoid a stationary object. But its not a sane system.

[stevenl]

How do you know it wasn't legally parked? Patong Bob wrote: "he was apparently legally parked".

I would like to know what he was convicted for before claiming: this is because he was a foreigner and all kind of other accusations..

[Samuian]

The whole case is ridiculous!

Even IF wrong parked unless obscured from sight by whatever - under "normal circumstances"

it's entirely up the driver who drove into it, while parked!

[MyphuketLife]

The whole case is ridiculous!

Even IF wrong parked unless obscured from sight by whatever - under "normal circumstances"

it's entirely up the driver who drove into it, while parked!

Nothing is "Normal" when it comes to this country and how they deal with "farangs"

[LivinLOS]

How do you know it wasn't legally parked? Patong Bob wrote: "he was apparently legally parked".

I would like to know what he was convicted for before claiming: this is because he was a foreigner and all kind of other accusations..

Post 23 indicates he was parked on the dual carriageway with the side solid white line.. Common but not legal.

[phuketster]

By parking illegally he positioned a large, hard, non-illuminated object on a fast-moving road. Now a young person is dead. He deserves more than a parking ticket.

[stevenl]

How do you know it wasn't legally parked? Patong Bob wrote: "he was apparently legally parked".

I would like to know what he was convicted for before claiming: this is because he was a foreigner and all kind of other accusations..

Post 23 indicates he was parked on the dual carriageway with the side solid white line.. Common but not legal.

I'm sorry, but I just don't understand how people can post in this thread indicating that the Thai legal system is crazy, that they are after the farang, etc., without knowing what he was convicted for.

Nobody here knows the factual situation, but that is not stopping people from presuming and based on those presumptions posting, without indicating any doubt their presumptions may be wrong.

The one closest to the fire writes: 'he was apparently legally parked', but everybody here presumes he was parked illegally and was convicted because of that.

[LivinLOS]

Whatever the basis on his parking.. The fact you can be sentenced to a year in jail, when someone kills themselves crashing into your vehicle, legally parked or not, when it is stationary... Thats crazy !! What about breakdowns or fuel problems, theres many reasons why a car may need to stop on a road.

But crazy or not, it happens, as I said someone I know had to pay 800k cos a granny stumbled out in front of him in the dark.. Multiple people report being crashed into by unlicensed, unlit, uninsured people on the wrong side of the road and its a case of the bigger / richer / car driver pays.

[neverdie]

Jim has today been sentenced to one year in jail..He is currently on bail, pending an appeal. Let me re-iterate : he was apparently legally parked, he was asleep in bed when a woman on a motor bike ran into the back of his car at 0330.

No, I don't know the penal code section number. I can't even imagine what the charge, other than illegal parking, could possibly be. I know he is in shock.

We all love Thailand and think it is wonderful, but when something like this happens I think I may change my retirement plans to somewhere like my home town of Melbourne.

I am gathering that Jims passport has been confiscated and held by either the police or the court?

[LivinLOS]

I am gathering that Jims passport has been confiscated and held by either the police or the court?

Even if it hasnt, Jim has invested in a resort and not in much position to cut and run..

One of the issues that always worries me about having assets here, the issue like the above. A guy I know had to do 9 months in the monkey house to retain his resort.

[WOOHOO]

The OP was only looking for recommendations of good independent legal advice. He was not looking for advice (or gratuitous brickbats) about the situation.

Typical TV - poster asks a simple question of help needed and he gets respondents wanting to have chapter and verse so they can get their rocks off on second guessing the situation.

Sorry but I think you're wrong. The OP has already thanked the contributers to this thread, for assisting with lawyers names. I also believe there has been a sincere interest, and positive input to this thread. (Have just read it now for the first time) and not the usual biased nonsense we so often get.

Firstly, I think it was extremely unfair for the OP, in his very first post, to say 'The British consul is useless'. When quite clearly he hadn't yet been informed or asked to get involved. The one time I needed advice from the man, he was nothing other than sincere, and would have undoubtedly done everything he could to help.

I also find it very worrying that 'Patong Bob' the OP, over three months after his first post, and when his friend has already been sentenced to a year in prison, would say that he still has no idea what he has been charged for!!

The problem is, the world is liability/sue mad, which is undoubtedly due to our American friends. They've made it so bad that the words "Caution Hot" has to be put on the side of a take away coffee cup. I think it was Maccy D's who got sewed, because someone burnt their lip drinking hot coffee!! My point being, you do anything illegal, and there's a claim to be had, and someone ultimately, has to be liable.

I do however, believe that this man doesn't deserve prison time for this offense, but ultimately will have to pay, for nothing more than having parked in the wrong place at the wrong time. It would be nice for his insurance company to have a back bone and cough up, but it's not likely. Wish him all the best.

[neverdie]

Even if it hasnt, Jim has invested in a resort and not in much position to cut and run..

One of the issues that always worries me about having assets here, the issue like the above. A guy I know had to do 9 months in the monkey house to retain his resort.

Interesting. Im with you regarding the assets and investments. What happened with ur mate that did 9 months in the monkey house, was he deported after or released & continued on with life as if nothing happened?

12 months in a thai monkey house would seriously be a very long 365 days divided into 8760 long hours, i won't work the minutes, i think everyone gets the idea. Poor chap, my thoughts are with him.

[LivinLOS]

Interesting. Im with you regarding the assets and investments. What happened with ur mate that did 9 months in the monkey house, was he deported after or released & continued on with life as if nothing happened?

12 months in a thai monkey house would seriously be a very long 365 days divided into 8760 long hours, i won't work the minutes, i think everyone gets the idea. Poor chap, my thoughts are with him.

He stayed here and ran his resort and is still here.. Reason he went to jail was crossing the tuktuks, he was then set up and had to do time. Thai biz 101.

[neverdie]

OK, nothing would surprise me.

[bunnaag]

Assuming you park not according to the law and your car is fully insured.Can you claim money from the insurance company to cover the costs of the victim?Maybe a stupid question.

[Denim]

Wow! This is incredible.

I remember taking my driver's test and one of the questions showed 4 pictures and asked you to pick out the legal park job.

Turned out to be the one where the car was parked in the left lane of traffic.

I argued (pointlessly of course) with the woman about the correct answer, but she said: That's legal in Thailand.

Now this.

I hope she is made aware of this decision.

And i hope he wins his appeal.

Perhaps some international coverage on this would help?

I was surprised to find out that it is not illegal to ride a motorcycle on the pavement.

[Patong Bob]

Jim's car was fully insured. The insurance company refused to settle ( a bad idea as it has turned out) and paid for the court cases. They have also paid the bail.

My apologies to the British consul, as I was wrongly advised

It has been suggested that he parked an unlit car. I don't know how you light a parked car at night, however he was parked under a streetlight and he has reflective stickers on the back of his car.

No, I still don't know the section of the penal code and it's not the time to be pressing Jim for details.

I know I'm dealing with a lot of cynical people, but I promise you that I am being as honest as I can.

[TaoNow]

Patong Bob, I respectfully disagree. This is exactly the time to be "pressing Jim for details".

And this is why: If all he did wrong was park an "unlit car" and gets a one-year jail sentence then this is immediately national news: For the Bangkok Post, The Nation, and the popular Thai mass dailies.

If your report is accurate, then this judgment by the court is highly newsworthy for anyone who operates a vehicle in Thailand.

But it is not plausible without further details explaining the penal code infraction and reasoning of the court.

Also, in other TV threads about Thai court decisions that I've seen here, the majority of posts seem to say that the court rulings are fair to ex-pats.

So, yes, there is a need for more facts of this case. Bob, You started this thread -- now you owe it to the Forum to provide the full story. Otherwise, it starts to become trollish and fodder for the "urban myth" rumor mill.