Live Videocast Direct From Pattaya City Hall: Seminar On Rights Of Foreigners In Thailand

[sbk]

Live videocast direct from Pattaya City Hall: seminar on rights of foreigners in Thailand

CHONBURI: -- For the first time ever, Thai judges will be answering foreign expats questions directly and live on the internet. The Chief Justice of the Chonburi Provincial Court and five Criminal Court Judges will preside over a free seminar sponsored by the Pattaya City Administration that will be broadcast live via the internet from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, August 24. The recording will be held in archives for members to view later if they miss the live broadcast.

This seminar will deal with foreigners involved in criminal proceedings, their rights to protect their property, rights if arrested and more. Entitled “Insight into the Criminal Proceedings for Adults in Thailand”, the seminar will be held entirely in English and the moderator, Drew Noyes, Managing Director of PAPPA Co., Ltd. Law Office will submit questions that expats have asked to the judges at the seminar and these will be answered in English by the judges during the seminar.

Further seminars, also in English, are planned for the future and will address such issues as foreigners' rights of property ownership, leases, mortgages, divorce and contract law, wills and other Civil and Commercial Law issues.

The live feed can be seen Wednesday August 24 between 1pm and 4pm at: http://www.thaivisa.com/content/foreigners-thai-law

Please submit your questions here but please do not hijack the topic with discussion. Only questions to be submitted will be allowed. Any off topic posts will be deleted.

[sbk]

Please post in the form of a question that you want submitted, make it clear and to the point. Cheers

[Boater]

Please post in the form of a question that you want submitted, make it clear and to the point. Cheers

what protection will the Thai Courts give to ferang who are scammed by there Thai Wifes and GF? , or by another Thai National in Buiness Dealings , do they have an equal stand in Court?

[sbk]

Hi

Please note that the general theme of this seminar is Criminal, a seminar on wills, rights of property ownership etc will be held at a later date.

This seminar will deal with foreigners involved in criminal proceedings, their rights to protect their property, rights if arrested and more. Entitled “Insight into the Criminal Proceedings for Adults in Thailand”,

So, I am guessing that questions regarding these issues are the ones that will be answered since it is Criminal Court Judges answering the questions.

Cheers

[Murf]

What are the chances of a foreigner actually winning a case if they go to court? Would the judge favour the Thai person because they are Thai Nationality?

[Soutpeel]

What is the proper procedure/steps to be followed should a foreigner feel he or she is the target of extortion by a member of the police or similar goverment employee (s) ?

[conimex]

2 burglars came at my property, they shot and killed my brother in law, did I had the right to shoot them with my wife's registered gun ?

[JustinCredible]

What is the Thai Law regarding compensation to an individual (foreigner) who was detained at Klong Prem for 14 months. He was found Not Guilty by the Court for the offence that he was detained for, but none the less he was deported for Immigration Infringement (not related to the arrest). He was given a letter as he left I.D.C. that states he can return to Thailand at any time (should he want to!).

Would he be entitled to any compensation for the time spent at Klong Prem?

Edited August 23, 2011 by JustinCredible

[CMFarang]

To what extent can we physically protect our rented property from trespass?

Example: burglary or persons we have requested to leave.

By means of :

- Physical

Weapons :

- bludgeon

- knife

- bow and arrow

- trained attack dog

and are we responsible for medical / burial costs of the injured ?

[hansnl]

Your honours,

If a foreigner, or for that matter, a Thai person, is arrested for the alleged committing of a crime, it is often said, that if he will confess to the alleged crime, his punishment will be less severe, or even halved.

If this is the case, might this not lead to the investigating officers of police to pay less attention to find the truth.

Or even worse, bending the results of the investigation around the confession?

Is it not so that even if there is a confession, the investigation need to go on to obtain, beyond a reasonable doubt, the truth?

This bending is not something that is typically Thai, far from it, it happens in all countries of the world.

But, coupled to the lessening of the punishment is there not a big chance the arrested person is "pushed" into confessing?

And after that the investigating officers not really making much more work to find out the real truth?

I know of several cases in the Netherlands where the police stopped looking any further after a confession, even stopped the investigation.

The Public Prosecutor went with the reports of the police, and as a result the courts made juidicial errors, because their findings were based on what they had on paper and the accused only able to say what he had to say.

Withdrawing his confession during the hearing of the case mostly did not help at all, because of the (bent) proof based on his confession.

If, by what means, the punishment was found out to be unjust, or the convicted was found not guilty at all, the resulting upheavel of the public opinion about the juidicial processes, the enormous costs for the state to repair the damage to the image of the courts and the very high cost of supplying the unjustly locked up with compensation plus the loss of faith in the police,were enormous.

I submit the thought that this might also happen in Thailand.

To a Thai person or a foreigner alike.

What are the thoughts of the combined judges on this matter.

Yours,

Hans Slobbe

Khon Kaen

Edited August 23, 2011 by hansnl

[TechnikaIII]

Hi

Please note that the general theme of this seminar is Criminal, a seminar on wills, rights of property ownership etc will be held at a later date.

This seminar will deal with foreigners involved in criminal proceedings, their rights to protect their property, rights if arrested and more. Entitled "Insight into the Criminal Proceedings for Adults in Thailand",

So, I am guessing that questions regarding these issues are the ones that will be answered since it is Criminal Court Judges answering the questions.

Cheers

The questions that concern most of us here are about the laws excluding foreigners' equity in the property we pay for. I wish to bring up for discussion the law which states we have to give money to the wife to buy the house/land and relinquish rights to it, and in fact falsely declare that the money was merely a free and unencumbered gift and we claim no rights to whatever it is used for, whilst everyone knows it being used to pay for the family home.

1. We have no option other than to make this false declaration, and by doing so commit an offence.

2. With regret, I feel compelled to put this law forward as an act of extortion by the Government of Thailand.

With respect I seek our distinguished guest/s' comments on this.

For definition of extorsion I refer to http://www.thefreedi...y.com/extortion

Edited August 23, 2011 by TechnikaIII

[Soutpeel]

Should a foreigner be arrested, what is the procedure/process that should be followed by the arresting officer, specifically:

Is the suspect permitted the presence of a lawyer before answering questions, telephone calls etc etc

Can a suspect be forced to sign documention/confressions written wholly in the Thai language that are legally binding or must translations of the document be provided in the English language translation prior to signing,the document as in effect the suspect is signing legal documents wholly in Thai languge may in fact be prejudicing their case ?

Should a suspect feel he or she had been coerced into signing a document they cannot understand what steps should be taken

Edited August 23, 2011 by Soutpeel

[gleeglee]

Who is legally responsible for the police volunteers in Pattaya and who do you take to court when they assault members of the public, which is on the increase in Pattaya. Who issues them with workpermits

as i understand that only registered charities can offer volunteer workpermits.

Please post in the form of a question that you want submitted, make it clear and to the point. Cheers

[zackxx]

I am British and my wife has both British and Thai duel Citenship. We both have wills made in the UK under English law regarding our properties in both the UK and Thailand. Will Thai law accept English Wills?

Billmont

I own a house in New Zealand and a condominium in Bangkok. When I approached my NZ lawyer to prepare my Will she said that when it comes to 'immovable property' the NZ Will will not have jurisdiction over my Thai condo but probably would over other 'moveable' assets in Thailand such as bank deposits, mutual funds, furniture etc.

As such I needed to prepare a Thai language Will to include my Thailand located immovable property (condo). While I was at it I also included my Thai based moveable property as this would ensure without doubt all my Thai assets would be covered. There are three types of legally recognized Thai Will formats you can choose from, templates of which can be downloaded free from the internet (all in Thai language of course). Alternatively you can pay a local expat Thai legal team THB26,000 baht to do the same thing you can do yourself. I also prepared an English translation to assist my executioner who cannot read Thai.

[webfact]

LIVE VIDEOCAST DIRECT FROM PATTAYA CITY HALL:

Seminar on rights of foreigners in Thailand

The Chief Justice of the Chonburi Provincial Court and five Criminal Court Judges will preside over a free seminar sponsored by the Pattaya City Administration that will be broadcast live via the internet from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, August 24 and then held in archives for members to view later.

This seminar will deal with foreigners involved in criminal proceedings, their rights to protect their property, rights if arrested and more. Entitled "Insight into the Criminal Proceedings for Adults in Thailand", the seminar will be held entirely in English and the moderator, Drew Noyes, Managing Director of PAPPA Co., Ltd. Law Office will submit questions that expats have asked to the judges at the seminar and these will be answered during the seminar.

Further seminars, also in English, are planned for the future and will address such issues as foreigners' rights of property ownership, leases, mortgages, divorce and contract law, wills and other :Civil and Commercial Law issues.

Interested parties can submit questions ahead of the seminar to Thaivisa forums here

Please make sure that the questions involve the seminar's topic of criminal proceedings, rights if arrested, rights to protect property, and other criminal matters.

The live feed can be seen at http://www.thaivisa.com/content/foreigners-thai-law and begins at 1 PM.

-- The Nation 2011-08-23

[kennalder]

How much force can I use to defend my abode against burglars or other unwanted intruders that are using force to gain entry to my living quarters? Does it make a difference if they have already gained entry vs in the process breaking and entering? Can I shoot them, or hack them with a machete? If I prevail in the struggle will I be free in the aftermath?

[theoldgit]

1 - I have been a victim of computer crime whereby a person, I believe to be known to me, hacked into my email email accounts and sent defamatory emails in my name, and about me, I consulted a lawyer, who advised me that in order for the police to investigate my complaint I would have to pay them some cash, is it true that the victims of alleged crimes need to pay police officers before allegations are investigated?

2 - I purchased a house to live in with my wife and her children, putting it in her name, I left the home for a period, leaving my clothes and other property in the house. The day I left my house my wife entered into a 30 year lease with a foreigner, when entering the lease at The Land Registration Department she signed a declaration that she was a widow and had never re-married. The Land Registry Office were not interested in taking action, surely making such a declaration to a Government Official on an official documents is against Thai Law?

[gdf]

I recently took a former Thai employee of mine to court over failing to pay back a loan, the sum was considerable and warranted being pursued through the courts. I attended the Court on seven occasions and the Thai person never once attending and only submitted their testimony via their lawyer. Whilst the questions that they (The Thai) leveled at me had to be answered under oath their testimony was not. I lost the case despite the Court noting that the loan had been made and the transfer and paper trail with regard the money was clearly seen to be used by the person concerned. I feel the Court had sent a wrong message to the individual with regard this theft, the person now claims that they do not owe me anything as the courts have cleared them of the debt by stating that there was no loan agreement in writing so there could be no loan. Should common sense not prevail to show that justice can be seen to be done in Thailand.<BR clear=all>

[bedrock]

Honorable panel

I joined THAILAND ELITE ( T / E ) as a member in back in 2007 ( Thaksins brainchild for Thailand )

The lady showing her business card to me apparently never did have any connection to T/E ( the card was false ) they ...T/E had never heard of her

Albeit she was paid commission for my joining ( Strange )

The same lady is still scamming people like myself, and proposing she is a member of the Kings Royal family.

That I believe is an offense in itself.

She is well informed in many subjects without doubt ..she is : as anyone would say good at her skills

Even has involvements with Thai govt officials whom I have met personally.

Seemed like joining T/E was a good thing , something Thailand should be proud of.

Needless to say after losing 8 million baht , being scammed , rather well ripped off , she is still out there doing the deeds.

So far I have drawn a blank from anyone in office that can help me .

Or even discuss the matter from a Government level.

In the meantime Thailand is struggling to keep face in the worlds view , what with all it's corruption that we see / hear about all the time .

and me being me a member of the country's flagship VIP Membership Card as well.

Sirs / Madam my questions are

1) what advise would you give

2) who infact will see the matter through and under who's direction ??

3) what / who;s cost ?

4) Or should we sweep this one under the carpet too ?????????

I look forward to you learned reply

Edited August 23, 2011 by sbk
no need to bring HM into the discussion

[Gatorade]

Please post in the form of a question that you want submitted, make it clear and to the point. Cheers

I have Thai judgements, civil and criminal, made in my favour against three property fraudsters on Koh Samui. Two of these people presently live in Thailand.

Question: why are they not arrested? The police seem to be relying on my efforts alone to apprehend them.

[msg362]

If a farang feels he /she has been wrongly accused or had money extorted by Police, what is the route to make a complaint?

[RaiBerg]

How can a foreigner defend himself when he is threatened with planting of drugs on his rented property? A person I know in Phuket lives with this threats. He has reported the case to the police.

[Boater]

why , when during a motor collotion between a ferang and a Thai , is the ferang 90% held accounatable, even those it is not there fault? surly if a ferang hits say an un insured Thai Driver, be in motorbike or car, and the motorbike car is at fault, do the police blame the ferang? i have to many examples

[BuffaloRescue]

What rights to Thai police have to confiscate your passport?

If you are accused of a crime, for example you are accused of damaging a jet ski and the police confiscate your passport. Is this legal?

Do you have the right to give some other form of ID such as a driving license.. can you refuse to give the passport?

Edited August 23, 2011 by BuffaloRescue

[a99az]

I have won a judgment against a Thai man who owes me money from a business partnership. He has been ordered to repay all the money with intreat including my part of any profit. However he has run off with the money (he is believed to be in Bangkok or Chiang Mai) and I have no way of tracking him down. The judgment was passed down over a year ago. I have two questions:

(1) Is there a statute of limitations on this kind of judgment, or will he always owe me.

(2) How can I get assistance from the court or police to locate him, so that I can serve him with the order from the judge to pay me, or place a lien on his property?

If anyone knows of a debt collection company who would buy this debt from me, I would sell cheep, as my intreat is to see that I get some payback.

Edited August 23, 2011 by a99az

[Longbow212]

1. Should a foreigner be travelling in a taxi and get stopped by police in a random stop and search without any due cause, what are the rights of the foreigner particularly if they are innocent of any crime and object to such an invasion or privacy?

2. What are the proper channels for pursuing complaints of extortion by the police, particular for false accusations of traffic law violations or simply being stopped and asked for money?

3. Should a police officer at Ekkami bus station attempt to plant drugs in a foreigners bag, what would be the best course of action to follow?

4. What rights does any person in Thailand have to ask for some kind of ID or number of a police officer.

[sbk]

Off topic questions are being removed, please note that this is in regards to criminal issues mainly.

[Huey]

Is their any law for NOISE POLLUTION? Particuraly in reference to construction sites that continue to work until 1-2am at night? Or perhaps noisy Karaoke's or night clubs that are being very loud at thouse times of the night as well.

[lannarebirth]

Why are rich people almost never convicted of crimes, and in the few instances where they are, why are they granted bail pending appeal of their sentence ?

Edited August 23, 2011 by lannarebirth

[webfact]

Dear ThaiVisa.com Members,

We look forward to your participation and seeing you at the event Thai Law Seminar for Foreigners for those of you who have booked tickets at http://thailawseminar.eventbrite.com/

However, we understand distance and time do not allow most of you to attend the live event, so it is being offered exclusively to you on ThaiVisa. We expect at least 200,000 ThaiVisa members and guests to see our streaming video live feed made in cooperation with the Pattaya Times newspaper http://pattaya-times.com/

and our long-time friends at ThaiVisa http://www.thaivisa.com/

Your questions for the judges who will oversee the Thai Law Seminar for Foreigners tomorrow at Pattaya City Hall are EXCELLENT! As the Moderator and the only foriegner involved in the live operation of this seminar I am delighted to have important questions from the expat internet community.

Please continue to send your questions for the seminar and for use in a new book about Thai Law. You may use your real name or your nickname for the published book Q & A.

Chonburi Provincial Court Chief Judge Visit Sripibool, PhD has authored 13 books in Thai and has agreed to co-author my next addition of the "Official Thailand Survival Guide" Thai Law for Foreigners Edition. The book will be completed in November, 2011 and will be available as an e-book online and as a printed book in bookstores all over Thailand.

Again, thank you for your questions and keep them coming for the seminar and the book! We will hold more seminars soon on Thai law, the Foreign Business Act, the Condominium Act, Internet-Related Crimes Act and more.

Best wishes,

Drew Noyes

Managing Director

P.A.P.P.A. Co., Ltd. Law Office