Lawyer For Civil Case

[blakegeee]

I may have to take a travel agent to court for not paying for my ticket that I paid her for. My flight has already been missed, and now I have no ticket and no ticket money. I won't get into all the detail now though. Can anybody recommend a lawyer that is good with civil cases in court?

I know that there have been several threads about 'good lawyers in CM' but most are talking about visa issues etc, and I believe a good lawyer for a civil case is a different breed than that. Thanks in advance for any quality input. If you don't think your reply may help me, please don't post it!

[fvw53]

I was very happy with the services of Khun Orajith (Khun Ta) / at reasonable rates.

H Toosi International Law Office

http://www.htoosi.com

[email protected]

Tel 02 643 8867 till 9

[johninbkk]

All you'll and up doing is your cash to the lawyer.. Just go to the ploice and report the criminal act and let them take action..

bye

[noise]

Assuming you did not use a credit card that would allow you to refuse to pay.....has worked for me several times.......

Here are some things to consider......from personal experience

1. Probably will not get a court date in the near future (courts booked)

2. Statements provided in Thai get translated into misleading English. Example: "I was taken there" in Thai came out as "I was always taken there" and "6 months of no activity after operation" came out as "6 months in hospital"

3. Your claim may be mistranslated into Thai. You may not even be offered a chance to see, in English, what your lawyer intends to file on your behalf.

4. You may not be offered a translation of the defendant's statement.

5. Like lawyers everywhere, lawyers assume they know best and take direction poorly

6. Thai lawyers are not used to being questioned about and argued with over details

7. Your lawyer will decided what he wants to do and may just tell you to show up on a date and you will not know what to expect. He probably will not want to spend the time to practice your testimony.

Not implying they are incompetent or do not care about a farang's case. Just that you have to clearly establish up front what you expect and they need to fully realize how involved you will insist in being in the development of the case. This can be done tactfully, but must be done on day 1 or you will be frustrated later on.

[rodcourt49]

..take your complaint to the Tourist Police Station at Faharm next to Rim Ping Plaza or Call 1155..

[blakegeee]

Thanks for your advice about the lawyers. As far as police, we had called the police from her shop, they came and we all went to the station together. As its a civil matter, all they could do was take statements, and give us a report that can be used in court. As usual, the tourist police were useless and only ended up "trying" to translate my statement but his english was horrible so my wife had to actually translate it to him. In the end he was looking for a handout that he never got.

[uptheos]

You have to weigh up the cost of the ticket, against how much you will end up paying the lawyer, when and if you win the case......it could take a very, very long time.

Lawyers that go to court often 'play the game' too, resulting in multiple appearances...... more charges and once you're hooked in there's a reluctancy to stop, but rather go on and try to win..

If it's a $4,000 ticket it might be worth pursuing, but if its a 40,000 Baht ticket let it go but make sure you report them as previously advised.

[blakegeee]

We talked to some friends and they set us up with their lawyer, (may be one of their relatives but I didn't get that straight). We were with these friends and spoke with this lawyer over the phone. They said that there will be no charge as we are friends, but whatever we want to give him IF he gets the money back will be fine. It sounds like 10% is a reasonable amount. They discussed the police report etc over the phone and the lawyer will go see the police tomorrow as a few details in the reports are a little unusual. He figures that once he gets involved and figures out what is really going on, than she will likely pay up right away without even having to go to court. So he is going to the station tomorrow to clarify things with the police, then we are meeting him after that.

Thanks again for the info and advice!

Edited August 22, 2010 by ThaiPauly

[jayinoz]

We talked to some friends and they set us up with their lawyer, (may be one of their relatives but I didn't get that straight). We were with these friends and spoke with this lawyer over the phone. They said that there will be no charge as we are friends, but whatever we want to give him IF he gets the money back will be fine. It sounds like 10% is a reasonable amount. They discussed the police report etc over the phone and the lawyer will go see the police tomorrow as a few details in the reports are a little unusual. He figures that once he gets involved and figures out what is really going on, than she will likely pay up right away without even having to go to court. So he is going to the station tomorrow to clarify things with the police, then we are meeting him after that.

Thanks again for the info and advice!

Yes Yes heard this one a few dozen times in the last decade blake- Mai Pen Rai from the proposed lawyer (Really a Debt collector). Would love to see you have that in writing (No payment required- we a charity lawyer service and qualified with the council of lawyers). As those qualified with the Council of Lawyers in Thailand must be open and honest about all costs and payments and have you sign off on this. Power of Attorney to represent you must be signed- if not it a debt collector. I doubt this supposed lawyer is qualified with the council.

I would give the Policeman 'Tea money' directly to avoid middle men and avoid the supposed lawyer supposedly getting only a fraction of your money back or none. When in fact he gets it all back. Be directly involved and be there when the One policeman you negoitated with 5K bt tea money will make it happen. Then money handed to YOU... you hand 5K bt to Officer\debt collector for 'His family' when leave Travel Agent.

No one loses face- all are happy- u only 5K bt down.

Chok Dee

Edited August 22, 2010 by jayinoz

[Loaded]

We talked to some friends and they set us up with their lawyer, (may be one of their relatives but I didn't get that straight). We were with these friends and spoke with this lawyer over the phone. They said that there will be no charge as we are friends, but whatever we want to give him IF he gets the money back will be fine. It sounds like 10% is a reasonable amount. They discussed the police report etc over the phone and the lawyer will go see the police tomorrow as a few details in the reports are a little unusual. He figures that once he gets involved and figures out what is really going on, than she will likely pay up right away without even having to go to court. So he is going to the station tomorrow to clarify things with the police, then we are meeting him after that.

Thanks again for the info and advice!

Yes Yes heard this one a few dozen times in the last decade blake- Mai Pen Rai from the proposed lawyer (Really a Debt collector). Would love to see you have that in writing (No payment required- we a charity lawyer service and qualified with the council of lawyers). As those qualified with the Council of Lawyers in Thailand must be open and honest about all costs and payments and have you sign off on this. Power of Attorney to represent you must be signed- if not it a debt collector. I doubt this supposed lawyer is qualified with the council.

I would give the Policeman 'Tea money' directly to avoid middle men and avoid the supposed lawyer supposedly getting only a fraction of your money back or none. When in fact he gets it all back. Be directly involved and be there when the One policeman you negoitated with 5K bt tea money will make it happen. Then money handed to YOU... you hand 5K bt to Officer\debt collector for 'His family' when leave Travel Agent.

No one loses face- all are happy- u only 5K bt down.

Chok Dee

Giving the police something when you are the complainant doesn't guarantee anything except that you are an easy mark. IMO the policeman will then work with the other side to really get a payday from you if he thinks you have a victim mentality. It's a civil case and the accused knows this and also knows the police cannot use threats of law to intimidate him. Plus most farang have absolutely no idea of the procedure and language needed to bribe a policeman without face being lost. It's a skill that requires indirect suggestion and invisible transfer of money. Handing over cash and telling the copper it's a bribe with a smile guarantees lose of face and possibly a messy ending. IMO you take a huge risk when you bribe a Thai policeman in a situation like this plus it's very illegal and can be spun round to bite you very hard.

I've used this solicitor before and was satisfied with his work and integrity. I don't believe he charges for an initial consultation. He didn't charge me. He's called 'ajarn' because he also lectures law at Payap university.

Ajarn Sanyalux Panwattanalikit - LL.B. (Thammasat), LL.M. (Thammasat), Ph.D. (Thammasat) -30 Soi Chumpee Sirimangkalachan Rd. Tombol Suthep Amphur Muang Chaing Mai 50200 (053) 2160101/216012 018173150/019989222 email: sanyalux_p at hotmail dot com

Good luck because you need it in any civil or criminal case in Thailand.