Hi,

could anyone tell me if they have used a law firm called

A.J Law International

or

EXIM law co.

seems many of us have and got skinned.

please contact me or thonglor police station as they need to know how may people have been cheated.

crimes include imbezilment,fraud,passport theft etc ,etc

[email protected]

info will be used for police and immigration only.

Can you please give some more info what happend?

Anyone heard about a new husband and wife team here from England

- Kitt and Murray ?

Just for everyone's general knowledge - non-Thai lawyers who relocate to Thailand cannot serve as practicing lawyers here. They can start a company, and hire Thai lawyers - and they frequently use titles such as "counsel" or "managing partner" or similar. But - they are basically nothing more than business managers - they are not legal practitioners here.

My company competes with law firms here - most such companies with whom I compete are managed by non-Thais.

My own (self-serving) pitch is: if you need to go to court, get a lawyer. If you want to purchase property, get a lawyer. But if you want to conduct routine business, or pursue regulatory approval processes here - well, you don't need lawyers for these sorts of things. These are adminstrative processes, not legal processes. Get a good administrator - and getting help from someone with good business sense (who can see things from the client's perspective) doesn't hurt.

In my experience (with one great exception - that being the US manager of the Intellectual Property practice at Tilleke & Gibbens - who has my utmost respect), western lawyers who reside and work in Bangok are generally a sorry lot of losers who couldn't make it back home. Half of them (or more) are crooks to boot. Really good lawyers want to practice law - not watch locals practice law from the sidelines.

Good luck to all.

Steve

Indo-Siam

www.thaistartup.com

The legal firms that I respect in Bangkok are

Mulvana de Angeli & Associates. Tsar has done thousands of contracts in his career. Very intimidating figure at 6 foot 10 inches. I always want him on my side representing buyers. He works daily with the Fortune 500 companies.

Vickery & Worachai Ltd. Harold is a licensed lawyer in Bangkok. Only one of six foreign lawyers that can claim that. Perhaps less than six now as David Glickman no longer practices law. Only foreign lawyers grandfathered in before 1975 are able to be licensed.

Blumenthal Richter & Sumet Ltd. Ira is known for being a pit bull in due diligence.

All of these American lawyers charge Western rates. $250-$350 per hour is the going rate. For those fees you expect they would be good and they are.

www.sunbeltasia.com

A.J Law International

or

EXIM law co.

Sorry to hear about this hardship.

You have a web site for them? I googled them but can't find nothing.

www.sunbeltasia.com

thanks all, for the info.

At the moment there about 8-10 of us that have been cheated(thai,english,australian,german,singaporean etc)

The main guy is singaporean with the initials A.J.W....

he has been here about 10 years and speaks thai, he uses the emporium suites and other central business locations, he advertises in the bangkok post under different disguises.

he say he does work permits,co reg, etc

once he takes your money and docs thats the last you will see of him.

police , immigration,embassies etc have been informed but little interest has been shown, even we have his work permit, copy of passport etc.

dept of labor cancelled his wp but no one else is interested.

we have even reported him in singapore!

latest news from the dept of labour is to submit wp applications in person, do not use law firms as they know this is a common practice and if your company is legit you should have already all the doc required. price for work permit 3,500 baht.

All please beware.

thanks

If the companies’ secretary helped on the work permit and she had experience. Maybe, and this would be a big maybe, depending on how big the firm was, you could get a work permit without legal advice. But the odds that something was wrong and it would be rejected would be very high. For a farang to do it himself, without speaking and writing Thai, a trip to Pluto might be easier. Simply couldn’t fathom the thought of it. I could understand the reservation of paying 70,000 Baht or even 100,000 Baht+ which some firms charge for a work permit but our professional fee is 9,500 Baht. It's the lowest of ANY firm in Thailand. On the 3,500 Baht I take it you mean government fees? The norm is 3,000 government fee for the year.

Our Legal fees

New work permits are 9,500 Baht

Renewal of a work permit is 3,900 Baht

Extension of a work permit is 1,600 Baht

Cancellation of a work permit is 1,600 Baht.

It pays to deal with a reputable firm. Just don't group all firms together because some firms like ours, take pride in doing the right thing.

Why don’t you state the guys name and plaster his picture on the Internet. That should get his attention.

www.sunbeltasia.com

The legal firms that I respect in Bangkok are

Mulvana de Angeli & Associates. Tsar has done thousands of contracts in his career.  Very intimidating figure at 6 foot 10 inches. I always want him on my side representing buyers. He works daily with the Fortune 500 companies.

Vickery & Worachai Ltd. Harold is a licensed lawyer in Bangkok. Only one of six foreign lawyers that can claim that. Perhaps less than six now  as David Glickman no longer practices law. Only foreign lawyers grandfathered in before 1975 are able to be licensed.

Blumenthal Richter & Sumet Ltd.  Ira is known for being a pit bull in due diligence.

All of these American lawyers charge Western rates. $250-$350 per hour is the going rate. For those fees you expect they would be good and they are.

www.sunbeltasia.com

Ole John Hancock of Baker McKenzie is a lawyer in Thailand too. And a good operator.