Respect the court

[hugh2121]

A French friend, unaware of money laundering checks, sold a property in France some months ago and transferred the proceeds to his Thai bank account. This amounted to about 5M THB and was before the coup or martial law. He supplied all the paperwork requested as to where the money had come from but the bank decided it had to seek court approval to release the money. The court case was duly heard this week and my friend appeared with his Thai lawyer. The first thing the court did was to fine him 11,000 THB because he did not "respect the court". Eventually he found out that "respecting the court" involves presenting the court with a "gift". He also had to pay the court fee (about 7,000 THB) after which he was told how much of his money would be made available in his account after another 2 or 3 weeks. The amount was about 43,000 THB less than his transfer. The deduction was for the court's expenses.

Morals? Don't disrespect the court and keep your transfers under 2M THB.

Edited July 26, 2014 by hugh2121

[Neeranam]

Alternatively, get a better lawyer.

[h90]

I doubt that this is the full story of it. Something is missing/wrong.

[submaniac]

I would suspect that he faces more problems from France, since I'm sure France requires payment of some type of tax when selling property within its borders.

[ukrules]

This disrespecting the court thing sounds suspicious to me, is he sure his lawyer wasn't just screwing him out of the 11k or was it for something else like to cover a fee to audit the transfer ?

Are there official documents to back this up ?

[Seastallion]

I really want the law experts to comment here as the story is astounding.

I'm particularly interested in what sort of gift the appellant was supposed to have given the court.

The fees seem a bit high too...7000 and 43000.

And the 43000 was taken directly from the bank, not invoiced.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Seastallion

[Seastallion]

Yeah, re-reading...if a gift was a normal expectation, the lawyer should have known it. If it was not normal, the lawyer should have questioned it as a matter of law.

OP's friend needs to question his lawyer before he pays him.

[Seastallion]

Yeah, re-reading...if a gift was a normal expectation, the lawyer should have known it. If it was not normal, the lawyer should have questioned it as a matter of law.

OP's friend needs to question his lawyer before he pays him.

With respect There Country, there Courts, there Lawyers, there judge. Do you think you will get any Satisfaction from them.

Brother, you need to have a holiday out of the country. You seem very cynical and tired of Thailand, and I'm sorry about whatever it was that brought you to this feeling.

(BTW.... try "their" and it is easier to understand) (whispering).

Edited July 26, 2014 by Seastallion

[thairastawoman]

Keep your transfers under 2MB ? this is what I spend monthly, so how could I eat ? Ridiculous.

[ATF]

This is not a Thai issue it is a Money Laundering issue. The Thai bank is duty bound to report any suspicious activity.

Disrespecting the Court is probably contempt of court. Maybe the op didn't dress appropriately or act or speak in a respectful way.

There is no such thing as a gift for the court. 43k seems steep did this include a public defendants fee?

Next time check with the bank on transfer amounts.

[ABCer]

NEVER ! did I have any problems with money coming into my Thai Bank.

Do not expect any problems with taking it out of the country if/when I sell my property.

Don't want to be rude, but there is a fishy smell all over the OP. Sorry.

[gerry1011]

A property sold for around 125,000 Euro (5 million baht) in France must be a very small "property"...

When sending money from abroad, the bank sending the money should provide the reason of the transfer (condo purchase, personal expenses or whatever is in their list).

If the bank sending the money did not give the reason, the local bank receiving the money will contact the recipient to know the reason. There is no paperwork to give. Just the reason.

I never had a single problem to transfer money to Thailand, following that very simple procedure. Amounts far about the amount mentioned.

But, of course, if the sender did not mention the reason, the funds' recipient was not contactable, the reason given by the recipient to the local bank was suspicious, or the transfer was suspicious by itself,... Then who knows what can happen.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Edited July 27, 2014 by gerry1011

[p_brownstone]

I once had to attend a Court hearing because one of my Company's employees was suing for wrongful dismssal.

Without thinking I sat with my legs crossed and was firmly told by the Judge to sit properly or be fined. It was not "disrespacting the Court" per se but disrespecting the Monarchy, because when the Court was in Session the Kings' Tiered Umbrella was on display and that was what merited respect.

I rather discount the story about a "gift" to the Court too - I can't imagine any Judge making such a demand in open Court!

Patrick

[submaniac]

In the USA, I had a judge who had a habit of telling attorneys before him to take their hands out of their pocket because it was direspectful to the Court. Another judge said it was disrespectful to have your tie crooked.

Moral of the story, there are people who are drunk with power who are judicial officers in many jurisdictions of the world.

[samran]

Need to bow to the judge when entering and leaving an Australian courtroom.

[CharlieH]

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[ATF]

I once had to attend a Court hearing because one of my Company's employees was suing for wrongful dismssal.

Without thinking I sat with my legs crossed and was firmly told by the Judge to sit properly or be fined. It was not "disrespacting the Court" per se but disrespecting the Monarchy, because when the Court was in Session the Kings' Tiered Umbrella was on display and that was what merited respect.

I rather discount the story about a "gift" to the Court too - I can't imagine any Judge making such a demand in open Court!

Patrick

You're right about crossing your legs. It's a no no, but you don't get fined unless you are a repeat offender.

Shirt, tie, long trousers and proper shoes are required of course.

[kannot]

I once had to attend a Court hearing because one of my Company's employees was suing for wrongful dismssal.

Without thinking I sat with my legs crossed and was firmly told by the Judge to sit properly or be fined. It was not "disrespacting the Court" per se but disrespecting the Monarchy, because when the Court was in Session the Kings' Tiered Umbrella was on display and that was what merited respect.

I rather discount the story about a "gift" to the Court too - I can't imagine any Judge making such a demand in open Court!

Patrick

You're right about crossing your legs. It's a no no, but you don't get fined unless you are a repeat offender.

Shirt, tie, long trousers and proper shoes are required of course.

which is hilarious when you often see the bizarre rulings handed down here, like any of the above things should affect the outcome in any country.............sadly of course we know it does.

[ATF]

which is hilarious when you often see the bizarre rulings handed down here, like any of the above things should affect the outcome in any country.............sadly of course we know it does.

Well to be honest I'd rather put up with this than the Western Judicial system where it takes years to extradite or prosecute proven offenders.

Understand what you mean though.

[benalibina]

I once had to attend a Court hearing because one of my Company's employees was suing for wrongful dismssal.

Without thinking I sat with my legs crossed and was firmly told by the Judge to sit properly or be fined. It was not "disrespacting the Court" per se but disrespecting the Monarchy, because when the Court was in Session the Kings' Tiered Umbrella was on display and that was what merited respect.

I rather discount the story about a "gift" to the Court too - I can't imagine any Judge making such a demand in open Court!

Patrick

In an "open" policestation an officer asked me ...if i needed a friend......so am not surprised about the giftstory.

Shameless.