Phuket Opinion: Tourist Court vs Holiday Justice

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Phuket Opinion: Tourist Court vs Holiday Justice
Phuket Gazette


Will the much-heralded Tourist Court deliver holiday justice to tourists in Phuket? Only time will tell. Image: Gazette Graphics

PHUKET: -- The opening of a new court to resolve non-criminal cases involving foreign tourists in Phuket tomorrow is a welcome step in the right direction, but only time will tell if the initiative will achieve its goal of bringing about prompt justice for visitors and improving Thailand’s image as a tourist destination abroad.

When the idea of establishing such a court was raised earlier this year, we were skeptical. We opined that the sheer number of legal and bureaucratic hurdles that would need to be cleared to establish a new, independent court under Thailand’s rather arcane judicial system would probably end up becoming just another “pie in the sky” dream that would never be realized.

Fortunately, we were wrong. The Administrative Court system has displayed a great deal of flexibility and efficiency in setting up the court, not as a completely independent body, but under a pre-existing mandate.

The court will technically be known as the regional “Tourist Protection Section” until it is eventually upgraded to full division status (story here).

While cautiously optimistic, we have many concerns about the functioning of the new court. Will it be administered under a framework similar to that commonly in use in “small claims” courts in the West and, if so, what criteria will be used to determine which cases can be adjudicated therein?

What criteria will be used to determine who qualifies to seek justice through the new body? Will it be restricted to foreigners here on tourist visas or will those with non-immigrant visas or even resident status qualify? Stateless people? Will foreigners who have overstayed – quite possibly as a result of having been victimized – be allowed to lodge cases as plaintiffs?

Many questions remain, yet one thing is clear: whether the court is effective will depend to a large degree on whether tourists are aware of its existence. This will require a great deal of publicity and assistance from honorary consuls, district police branches, Immigration Police and the Tourist Police, to name just a few.

A good first step would be to set up a comprehensive “tourist court” website detailing the exact scope of the court’s jurisdiction and procedures, accurately translated into the languages of all major tourist source markets.

We have reservations about the ethics of establishing a “special” court specifically for tourists, especially if cases involving Thais are delayed as a result.

The extraordinary nature of this kind of court is itself a cause for reflection on the extent to which Thailand relies on tourism.

Theoretical issues aside, if the court functions as hoped it could be a big practical improvement over the existing system that has needlessly inconvenienced and in some cases wreaked havoc on the lives of both Thais and foreigners, delivering benefits only to lawyers and corrupt officials.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-Opinion-Tourist-Court-vs-Holiday-Justice-22312.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-09-23

[uty6543]

Justice is always so slow. For example you take someone to court and win a claim are they given 30 days to pay by which time a lot of tourists will have gone home. How is this going to work? I can see delaying tactics being used to avoid cases being resolved.

Edited September 23, 2013 by uty6543

[deecee10]

I am skeptical that tourists in Thailand for 2 or 3 weeks will get any kind of satisfactory resolution to claims of fraud or scamming. Only the the most minor of claims/incidents have any hope of being dealt with in that time frame.

This scheme may be well intended but I think that the sheer practicality of implementing a fair and just procedure quickly enough, before most tourists have departed Thailand, will be impossible.

I can imagine a backlog building up after a few days, eventually bringing the whole system to a grinding halt.

[upena]

Big waste of time. Just another show by the Thai government that doesn't offer solutions to the real problems.

[Just1Voice]

To me, they wouldn't even need this "special courts" if they simply cleaned up the rampant corruption, and those guys running around in uniforms actually doing their real jobs of upholding the law, instead of just pretending to be police, while demanding their share of the scams that go on.

[tomross46]

A kangaroo court is "a mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted"

[Benmart]

Some folks seem to think if the officials act, it is too slow, it won't work or isn't beneficial and if officials don't act, it is too slow, it won't work and isn't beneficial. Some people won't ever be satisfied regardless who does what, how much or when.

[harrry]

It only takes a few well chosen cases for this to help. Singapore did something similar about 40 years ago to combat the same problem. People had returned home and hence could not give evidence. THe Government paid their fares back and provided a free holiday in return for their testimony, Did not take many cases before things cleaned up.