Lawyers In Chiang Mai

[Lily76]

Hi guys!

Can anyone recommend me a RELIABLE lawyer in Chiang Mai, who actually knows Thai law.. ? It would be an advantage ( but not necessary ) if he/she could speak English and also knows a bit more about the rights of foreigners living in Thailand ( absolutely necessary ).

I have had some bad experiences with lawyers who actually were not lawyers, alcoholic and greedy or unexperienced ( and had to look up all my questions in a book ). Please advise, I am really looking forward to the results

[caf]

I have sent you a pm

caf

[thaimiller]

The only lawyer I have ever had dealings with in Chiang Mai is Summalee at Tanin law. She speaks very good English and I have got nothing but praise for her. She is very friendly and she helped me a lot when was starting a business.

[AndersSN]

Personally I had a bad experience with Tanin law setting up a work permit. After waiting for a month and a half, including no reply to phone calls. mesages or email. When I finnaly got fed up I went to Siam Legal wich I had avoided because of people telling me it was too expencive. Got my work permit in 10 days at a good price.

[rickthailand]

The only lawyer I have ever had dealings with in Chiang Mai is Summalee at Tanin law. She speaks very good English and I have got nothing but praise for her. She is very friendly and she helped me a lot when was starting a business.

i also had a good experience with tanin sumallee is experienced and speaks good english

rick

[anonymouse]

Personally I had a bad experience with Tanin law setting up a work permit. After waiting for a month and a half, including no reply to phone calls. mesages or email. When I finnaly got fed up I went to Siam Legal wich I had avoided because of people telling me it was too expencive. Got my work permit in 10 days at a good price.

While I rate and have used Khun Sumalee at Tanin before I'd agree that sometimes she can be very busy and takes on to much which isn't always a good business practice.

I would recommend Khun Khrit at Sunbelt, though [sponsors] I wouldn't recommend any of the farang clown consultants they have running the Chiang Mai office

[uptheos]

Sumalee is good, but she prioritises according to the fee involved, that's why she seems slow....she has a lot of big spenders I can assure you....and she will put you on the back burner if they need something.

[mild7even]

Previous thread on lawyers here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Good-Lawyer-...awyer&st=25

Have used both Khun Krit and Sumalee, for will and house purchase respectively. Satisfied on both counts, but would choose Sumalee for anything in the future.

[caf]

Personally I had a bad experience with Tanin law setting up a work permit. After waiting for a month and a half, including no reply to phone calls. mesages or email. When I finnaly got fed up I went to Siam Legal wich I had avoided because of people telling me it was too expencive. Got my work permit in 10 days at a good price.

She tends to set her own agenda and is not good at responding to emails or phone calls. Most Thais do not use lawyers they go direct to the amphur, land office, family court etc.

Most if not all Thai lawyers take advantage of the fact that westerners believe that it is the norm to use lawyers here as it is in the west.

caf

[anonymouse]

Personally I had a bad experience with Tanin law setting up a work permit. After waiting for a month and a half, including no reply to phone calls. mesages or email. When I finnaly got fed up I went to Siam Legal wich I had avoided because of people telling me it was too expencive. Got my work permit in 10 days at a good price.

She tends to set her own agenda and is not good at responding to emails or phone calls. Most Thais do not use lawyers they go direct to the amphur, land office, family court etc.

Most if not all Thai lawyers take advantage of the fact that westerners believe that it is the norm to use lawyers here as it is in the west.

caf

True but as a westerner I reckon your a lot better off using a lawyer, both times the wife and me have bought houses out here there have been minor problems that were sorted out by our lawyer.

[Flatouthruthefog]

Personally I had a bad experience with Tanin law setting up a work permit. After waiting for a month and a half, including no reply to phone calls. mesages or email. When I finnaly got fed up I went to Siam Legal wich I had avoided because of people telling me it was too expencive. Got my work permit in 10 days at a good price.

My vote goes to Sumalee at Tanin every time, for every purpose except court hearings (criminal or civil) which she does not do under orders from her doctor as she must avoid stress.

For court work I would recommend another woman, Nittaya, a Muslim lady with an excellent 'fighting reputation', but I am assured that she is so busy she is currently taking on no new clients. And I have lost her contact details!

Very sadly, after 15 years here, 2 as an employee and 10 of them running a business, I cannot recommend any other lawyers in Chiang Mai.

I do not know why you would need a lawyer to obtain a Work Permit, unless maybe you are going back many years when English language in the CM Labour Office was minimal. The company needing your services should look after the whole thing.

Last for now, it can be a seriously retrograde step to take a lawyer along to CM Immigration. The officers there do NOT like lawyers and, thus, the foreigners using them. The reasons they have given (to my wife in Thai of course) are that the lawyers seldom know Immigration law and only confuse and slow down the process.

[venturalaw]

PM sent to the OP.

[ChiangMaiFun]

Hi - with these PMs can someone send me one if you know a good lawyer but cant post it here? many thanks

[Gonzo the Face]

Is "Good-Lawyer" considered an oxymoron, like "Military Intelligence"

[ChiangMaiFun]

Is "Good-Lawyer" considered an oxymoron, like "Military Intelligence"

Yes its a bit of a contradiction as lawyers often are only marginally above estate agents on the top 100 (estate agents are number 99) but... your enemies enemy is your friend

[uptoyoumyfriend]

I'd like to get on the wagon as the topic is already going.

i am looking for a long term lease that will have to be recorded at the land office.

i also wonder how much i will have to shell out?

[lingnoi1977]

Like any profession, you get what you pay for.

Most of the lawyers here in Chiangmai do a semi-adequate job for the bucks you pay. I personally would not hire any of them for critical, potentially life altering documentation. They are just not capable, or willing to cross the t's and dot the i's, leaving you in a potentially precarious position many years later.

Here is my advice (free):

1. pay good money for a good lawyer, even if they are stationed outside chiangmai. e.g Bangkok;
   
2. it depends what time of the month you approach the two afore-mentioned lawyers;
   
3. any documents should be translated in english by a professional translator and checked by another (not your lawyer)
   

Good luck.

[siftasam]

I think the Nittaya mentioned in one post might be Miss Nittaya Wangpaiboon. She is recommended by the Consulate and I had a very helpful (and free) 30 minutes with her - her English is adequate.

She is based at 168/48 Changklan Road, CM5000. I phoned her in the morning and she saw me that lunchtime. She seemed very well acquainted with the perils for farangs when it comes to land and house ownership and 30year leases etc.

[clinique]

since the import of your question was "reliable" thenwe would ahve to suggest you use a bangkok based firm ,, one of the bigger ones,,, they are MORE reliable..

Sumalee is good but you may end up in her "que" which could effect the reliability..

no point in going to any farang lawyers (actually they are consultants ONLY), as they pass the work on to licenced Thai lawyers..and you dont know how reliable or professional they are.

Just a word ..even the BIG firms in Bangkok, while MORE reliable do NOT always get it right..

AND by the way make sure you ask them if they work for the other party to your enquiry.. IF they DO then DONOT use them,, because if things go awry the lawyer will side with the Thai party,,

in any event pay as little as possible upfront ..

[scorecard]

Dear CM members,

I'm looking for a CM lawyer just for one specific purpose, I want to ensure everything is done properly, everything is recorded correctly on the chanut when some land is transferred soon to my Thai (adult) son's name, in a new CM housing village.

The developer seems to very professional but I'd rather have the peace of mind of having a lawyer check the documents as they are processed.

In fact, maybe some members could please share their experiences / knowledge in regard to the following:

- Very soon (next week) the land will be transferred to my son's name.

- Right now the piling has been completed but no other building has started (which is as planned)

- A large percentage of the houses have been completed and the other owners all seem to be very pleased with the work and several have commented that they are very satisfied with all their dealings with the developer.

I'm aware that there should be documentation which shows ownership of the land (the chanut) and I'm aware that there should be documentation to show ownership of the house (which will be in my son's name).

I'm guessing (repeat guessing) that there should be some wording on the chanut saying something like 'land and all swellings and developments' or something similar.

Is this correct or is the house ownership recorded on a different document?

Look forward to your kind advice.

Thanks

[noise]

I'm guessing (repeat guessing) that there should be some wording on the chanut saying something like 'land and all swellings and developments' or something similar.

Is this correct or is the house ownership recorded on a different document?

My limited experience says that if you do not care that the land and house are both in your son's name, you do not have to specify anything about the house on another document. The owner of the land owns what is on the land unless specified differently.

In asking a lawyer about his back ground, you might ask if they simply studied law or passed the bar and are allowed to appear in court and similar questions. Some people referred to as lawyers are really legal counsels (or paralegal in the U.S.) . For an item like this, that may be sufficient. But if there is any chance you might have to go to court later on, just be aware the legal counsel can not represent you.

I may not have the terms correct, but you should understand what I am trying to convey.

[ilovemangos]

i like Marina at siam legal.

she returns calls, gives up to date advice and will admit if she does not have an answer, so of course will find out and get back in a short amount of time.

pluse she is cute to boot

[kudroz]

I wholeheartedly recommend Khun Krit at Sunbelt. He's helped me with a bunch of corporate matters and work permits since 2007. He's also helped on some personal matters when I had a car accident and some issues I had with the Chiang Mai Ram hospital. He's been great all around and very swift in his e-mail replies and fast on execution.

His linkedin profile:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/krit-suktakchan/10/623/751

Phone number:

053 283 845

Edited April 10, 2010 by kudroz

[RxDan]

i like Marina at siam legal.

she returns calls, gives up to date advice and will admit if she does not have an answer, so of course will find out and get back in a short amount of time.

pluse she is cute to boot

Hi Do you have her contact number

[0zz1]

Hello,

I urgently need a good lawyer for child custody case. By urgently I mean tomorrow morning latest! I would prefer women as it would be easier for my step daughter to speak with women.

Im going to police with my step daughter trying to stop her grandmother taking her to Issan. My time runs out around 5pm tomorrow.

Please sms or pm me with contact details. 081.304.8038

edit: If anyone have some good advice even if not lawyer now would be the time.

This is the case in short.

My girlfriend (we had our wedding ceremony but failed to get the paper work done) died 1.5 months ago. She left behind 13 year old daughter that has been living with us for past 2.5 years (before that she was raised by her grandma). She is like daughter to me.

After funeral grandma moved to live with us in Chiang Mai and wanted to look after the girl. Everything was ok (never good) until yesterday night when she snapped and after kicking the dogs started beating my daughter. First she broke one hanger into 4 pieces by hitting her so hard with it and once she got wooden stick in her hand I had to go in the middle of it. She was so furious that she would not listen anybody or anything. My daughter was so scared that she pied in her pants... and this has been happening over and over again when she (grandma) higher her voice. I know from my "wife" that grandma used to beat her up frequently when they where living together.

Now after this incident I told that I want her to go back to Khong Kaen and not to stay with us. I had translator coming to my place as well (I speak ok Thai, but cant understand Lao very well). She explained how I felt and that she should leave tomorrow (Monday).

Well grandma snapped again and now she is leaving tomorrow but she is taking my daughter with her. I can not allow this to happen. First of all she would have to quit school and go to work to support grandma, secondly Im seriously scared that she might loose her life if grandma goes crazy again.

Now the plan was this: My daughter asked that she could still go to school tomorrow (btw. she is really scared of the grandma). Then I would go pick her up from there midday and we would go to police and try to get help. She would explain that she does not want to go and that grandma is violent. We would ask for police to also help to remove the grandma from my house (this is very it starts to get dangerous for me as well).

Now the plan is not very good... but its the best I can think of now... as far as I know since both of her parents are dead the grandma is the legal guardian? So it does not look too good for me... also Im not her father (by blood) and I was never even married to her mother (in paper). But her mothers will (unwritten) was that I would take care of her daughter. The doctor at Suan Dok hospital was in the room when we where talking about this and decided to get written will (which did not make it on time to hospital). There might also be some other withnesses that can testify that it was her will that the custody would come to me. How much this counts for - I dont know.

The other thing is... that in the case I get somehow her kept here and grandma removed from Chiang Mai... I would not be surprised that if one night pick up truck comes to my house and punch of red shirts (Issan farmers) comes with bamboo sticks and guns... So Im not sure If we would be safe in Chiang Mai anymore, but thats maeby not to worry yet.

Other family members who might also want the custody if grandma does not get it and ask them to help would be my wife's 4 bothers.

So if my chances to get the custody are not too good... even a child custody officers would be better option than grandma.

Please any good advice...

Edited September 5, 2010 by 0zz1

[Mapguy]

I think the Nittaya mentioned in one post might be Miss Nittaya Wangpaiboon. She is recommended by the Consulate and I had a very helpful (and free) 30 minutes with her - her English is adequate.

She is based at 168/48 Changklan Road, CM5000. I phoned her in the morning and she saw me that lunchtime. She seemed very well acquainted with the perils for farangs when it comes to land and house ownership and 30year leases etc.

The list provided by the US Consulate is NOT --- repeat --- NOT a list of recommended lawyers. Caveat emptor! Really! Good English is not a justification for hiring one.

That is a warning. Otherwise, I do not understand why this thread seems to have turned into a recommendation for one lawyer in particular. There are many threads regarding lawyers in Thailand on this forum. Check them out! There are also useful sources about Thai law for foreigners. Check them out.

Interesting how PMs seem to be more popular than usual! Wonder why?!

[noise]

Watching a friend wind his way through a court case (disput....not yet finished) in Chiangmai changing lawyers, I noticed two things in common with two sets of offices (he changed lawyers from a Chiangmai office to a big Bangkok office).

1. While they may speak good English, they find "essay" (for lack of a better adjective) level letters and/or emails hard to read and understand so they generally ignored them. The English wording level may or may not be the real reason they ignore these, it may be my comment #2.

2. They, like many U.S. lawyers, think they understand the case once they take it on and are best qualified to define how the case should be conducted in court, out of court, what questions to ask, what avenues to persue. They do not want to spend (waste to them) time discussing it in detail (or reading long emails) with the client.

So, if you want to be a "hands on" client, you probably will have some frustrations. Like other posters mentioned, the lawyers have other clients and priorities. Who ever you hire will make court dates (or specific appointments at the land office, etc.), but will set their own priorities for the rest of the time. You may have a meeting set up with them at 10 am for what you think should be a 2 hour discussion and just end up getting told after 30 minutes of polite time, "We have your case under control, there is no need to go through this. I have another meeting and your primary lawyer couldn't make it, anyway."

It has been an education for me watching from the side lines