About Making Lawsuit In Thailand

[dtaanic]

I am rather new foreign citizen in thailand, been here permanently only 6 month. Before i knew the country only as a tourist with a total of 7 month if you add up the months i stayed here.

6 month ago i became a business partner to another farang who lived here 7 years. He is perceived as a good citizen in the area and have apparently never had problems with the law in thailand. After a couple of month i find out that some things are completely wrong contract wise with my business partner who arranged all the legal paperwork for me with his law office. I use some time to find a good lawyer and consult a couple of other. They all say i have to Sue my now ex business partner and the case is very clear. I can only win the case.

I have a claim of 700.000 Bath, a lawsuit will cost me around 100.000. I just have to figure out if it is worth it. I am not rich, Even if i win the case I might not get what i claim back. but I don't really want to let him go around and smile just like that.

just want to hear others opinion on the Thai justice system? does it work, are judges trustworthy persons or are they as corrupt as the police are ?

Nic

[CharlieH]

On the surface, 100k to get 700k is a viable option BUT the first thing is whether or not the person involved actually has assets to that value in his name and that can be accessed ?

Only a legal professional in Thailand could give you definitive answers and recommend a course of action. The Thai legal system in my experience is lengthy and it could be years before you see a result and as stated above if the judgement went in your favour be sure he has the assets or you could be potentially wasting your time and money.

As said, get proper professional advice, and if it were me, I would talk to atleast 3 different Lawyers for a balanced view.

Good Luck

[keeniau96]

Whatever the merits of the case it will take a very, very long time in Thai courts. Also, per above, will you be able to collect a judgment if/when you win?

[DocW]

1) Where in Thailand is this taking place as it makes a huge difference.

2) Actually just to register a law suit in Thailand will cost you 200,000 baht NOT 100k

3) The Thai cours are backed up right now by 4 years and a law suit between farangs will not get put on the top of the priority list.

4) The initial 200k I talked about doesn't even guaranty your day in court and is NON refundable. This will not include your lawyer fees and other fees you will run into and if you lose you might have to pay your ex partners legal fees as well.

After my 11 years here and also some dealings with Thai courts/Law I would suggest that you save some grey hairs and cut your losses and try a different way. It sucks when another farang rips you off but for all it's worth it just aint worth it mate.

[samran]

On the surface, 100k to get 700k is a viable option BUT the first thing is whether or not the person involved actually has assets to that value in his name and that can be accessed ?

Only a legal professional in Thailand could give you definitive answers and recommend a course of action. The Thai legal system in my experience is lengthy and it could be years before you see a result and as stated above if the judgement went in your favour be sure he has the assets or you could be potentially wasting your time and money.

As said, get proper professional advice, and if it were me, I would talk to atleast 3 different Lawyers for a balanced view.

Good Luck

So quite similar to many other places in the world then....

While I've never had to take legal action against someone in Thailand, a few friends have. It does take time, and as long as your case is strong, my friends found the system at a civil level to work pretty fairly.

[midas]

dtaanic did you happen to watch that four-hour seminar they recently aired live on Thai Visa from Pattaya ?

They had four judges from the Pattaya Criminal Court answering questions about the legal system in Thailand.

From my interpretation of what one of the judges said in the seminar it may be possible that the court

itself would be prepared to review your circumstances and tell you if you have a good case or not

before you get involved in a lengthy case. Or you could ask your lawyer to do this for you.

It's worth asking anyway because no one likes to be cheated no matter how much is involved.

The other thing is you could ask if what your partner did to you constitutes an “ economic crime ”

which is more serious in Thailand than some other countries. In other words as well as initiating a civil

action to try to recover your money, what ever your partner did to you may also constitute fraud and

could fit into the “ economic crime ” category in which case I don't think

your partner would want that hanging over him? at the very least you could use it against him as a strong

bargaining tool

Anyway don't give up and get the best lawyer you can and very good luck to you.

Edited September 4, 2011 by midas

[Jaivin2011]

Please be careful. Most lawyers will always tell you to go thru the civil courts way but if you have a good lawyer with the necessary police and prosecutor and court connections, almost everything can be made into a criminal case and until the case is fought in the courts and judgement made, you can use this as a manner to get the parties who cheated you to cough up the monies to you. The lawyer will be able to get either the police to arrest them when the case is lodged and with a bit of money, bail can be denied esp if they are a foreigner. And while they are sufferring in prison, you can always pay the rpison guards a bit of moneyto make their lives miserable so that they rather pay up the money and the case dropped. I have done this at least 3 times involving unscruplous foreigners and it worked. Civil cases will lead you no where. Most lawayers will always calim that the case cannot be made criminal but a good lawyer can find the way. PM me if you need more details or help for free.Saty away from so called International Lawa Firms or those with British staff, etc......

[midas]

Please be careful. Most lawyers will always tell you to go thru the civil courts way but if you have a good lawyer with the necessary police and prosecutor and court connections, almost everything can be made into a criminal case and until the case is fought in the courts and judgement made, you can use this as a manner to get the parties who cheated you to cough up the monies to you. The lawyer will be able to get either the police to arrest them when the case is lodged and with a bit of money, bail can be denied esp if they are a foreigner. And while they are sufferring in prison, you can always pay the rpison guards a bit of moneyto make their lives miserable so that they rather pay up the money and the case dropped. I have done this at least 3 times involving unscruplous foreigners and it worked. Civil cases will lead you no where. Most lawayers will always calim that the case cannot be made criminal but a good lawyer can find the way. PM me if you need more details or help for free.Saty away from so called International Lawa Firms or those with British staff, etc......

interesting point

and you never know what the person may already have hanging over him from the past like this one from today?

Edited September 7, 2011 by midas

[dtaanic]

dtaanic did you happen to watch that four-hour seminar they recently aired live on Thai Visa from Pattaya ?

They had four judges from the Pattaya Criminal Court answering questions about the legal system in Thailand.

From my interpretation of what one of the judges said in the seminar it may be possible that the court

itself would be prepared to review your circumstances and tell you if you have a good case or not

before you get involved in a lengthy case. Or you could ask your lawyer to do this for you.

It's worth asking anyway because no one likes to be cheated no matter how much is involved.

The other thing is you could ask if what your partner did to you constitutes an " economic crime "

which is more serious in Thailand than some other countries. In other words as well as initiating a civil

action to try to recover your money, what ever your partner did to you may also constitute fraud and

could fit into the " economic crime " category in which case I don't think

your partner would want that hanging over him? at the very least you could use it against him as a strong

bargaining tool

Anyway don't give up and get the best lawyer you can and very good luck to you.

No I didn't se the 4 hour seminar, is it still viewable?

Talking about economic crime, I don't know either. Not wanting to pay back 5 month of rent, and make me invest in the company without making me shareholder, changing figures after the contract was signed and threatening loos of work permit and visa if i didn't pay. My lawyer says the case is simple and obvious.

Asking if my lawyer is good, well I hope so. First i talked to 3,4 thai lawyers not very prominent in English, they mostly said yes to everything i wanted to hear. At last i seeked advice within other expats with many years in the country.

A very reputable one, with 30 years experience in the country advised med his lawyer from Bangkok.

[midas]

dtaanic did you happen to watch that four-hour seminar they recently aired live on Thai Visa from Pattaya ?

They had four judges from the Pattaya Criminal Court answering questions about the legal system in Thailand.

From my interpretation of what one of the judges said in the seminar it may be possible that the court

itself would be prepared to review your circumstances and tell you if you have a good case or not

before you get involved in a lengthy case. Or you could ask your lawyer to do this for you.

It's worth asking anyway because no one likes to be cheated no matter how much is involved.

The other thing is you could ask if what your partner did to you constitutes an " economic crime "

which is more serious in Thailand than some other countries. In other words as well as initiating a civil

action to try to recover your money, what ever your partner did to you may also constitute fraud and

could fit into the " economic crime " category in which case I don't think

your partner would want that hanging over him? at the very least you could use it against him as a strong

bargaining tool

Anyway don't give up and get the best lawyer you can and very good luck to you.

No I didn't se the 4 hour seminar, is it still viewable?

Talking about economic crime, I don't know either. Not wanting to pay back 5 month of rent, and make me invest in the company without making me shareholder, changing figures after the contract was signed and threatening loos of work permit and visa if i didn't pay. My lawyer says the case is simple and obvious.

Asking if my lawyer is good, well I hope so. First i talked to 3,4 thai lawyers not very prominent in English, they mostly said yes to everything i wanted to hear. At last i seeked advice within other expats with many years in the country.

A very reputable one, with 30 years experience in the country advised med his lawyer from Bangkok.

Yes I am sure they said it was going to be somewhere on Thai Visa for future viewing so the best way to find out how to do this

is to send a message to the administrators of this forum and just ask them how you can navigate their website to find the video clip.

well I think Jaivin2011 raised a very valid point in his post a few days ago. you have to try to convince your lawyer to also look for a potential criminal aspect to what this guy did to you as well because like all lawyers everywhere they just want to drag things out to charge you more for their time in a civil lawsuit. Meanwhile you at least have to try to scare the guy who cheated you into believing the police will pursue this matter as well. You have the advantage that here in Thailand these things are not so black-and-white as in the West.

Edited September 7, 2011 by midas