Penalties For Thai Male 18 Years Old Caughin Disco

[caughtintheact]

The 18 year old brother of a friend was caught in a disco last night (26 April 2004) in Petchaboon Province, where the family lives. This is a first offense.

What is the current penalty for an 18 year old caught in a disco?

I was told that the police want B60,000 as a guarantee (I think it means bail), and after 15 days when the case comes to court or whatever, there would be a penalty of B5000. After the penalty is paid (assuming no jail time as this is a first offense), the money will be refunded.

But I was also told that if the guarantee is not placed within two days, the 18 year old would be sent to jail for 6 months to 5 years.

I've been asked to help, naturally, with the bail money, but would like to know

1. Is the two day time to post the guarantee normal? or is it a means to get the guarantee fast.

2. Is the penalty for going to a disco really be as severe as 6 months to 5 years in jail?

3. Is there is any chance the B60,000 will actually be refunded?

2. If it will be, how long does it take?

about how long it will take

3. Is the information above on processing and the penalty accurate?

Any info will be most appreciated.

I am having some problems accessing my normal email, so if you can send any responses to [email protected] in addition to hitting the Reply button, it will be most appreciated.

[GuestHouse]

You are asking the wrong question.

You should ask, what is the penalty to me if I pay?

This sounds like a new twist to the "Sick Buffalo, Mother needs a heart operation' scam.

Pay the bail by all means but don't expect to get any of it back, if you get half back you will have done well.

What you will have done is teach your "friend" that you are a souce of money and your "friend" will be back for more.

Believe me, the Thais can sort these things without your help.

And that brother..... there will be more bills to pay in the future.

[GuestHouse]

Look at it another way, if he gets banged up for five years, that's five years until he can get into more trouble that you have to pay for.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Where is the offense ? Was he into funny smokes or yaa baa ?

[caughtintheact]

Problem solved. The family will put up their land as collateral for bail/guarantee and get it back when the kid goes to court and ays a 5000 baht fine (first offender). No drugs involved. The kid is 18, but now I hear that the law has been changed to 20. I'll be checking with my lawyer later today to confirm all of this.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Problem solved. The family will put up their land as collateral for bail/guarantee and get it back when the kid goes to court and ays a 5000 baht fine (first offender). No drugs involved. The kid is 18, but now I hear that the law has been changed to 20. I'll be checking with my lawyer later today to confirm all of this.

If the law has changed, fine. If not, he could enter a bar at 18. Let us know what the lawyer says. Thanks.

[kurgen]

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime

[translator]

Why is it now your problem...

if you pay once you will be asked again...

as mentioned above, thais can sort things out themselves.

first time small offender will be to rehabilitate, not jail...

You have to understand he knew the law before he went clubbing, he took a chance and lost...why is it your problem ?

[Goat Roper]

Please educate me a little here, I don't disagree about the arrest of this young boy being somewhere he is not authorized to be and I have no idea what the Thai laws are regarding these kinds of infractions, my question is this, "Does the disco proprietor or it's owner have any responsibility here as well", I see no mention of this? I don't think it really matters one way or the other but I am just curious.

[lopburi3]

"Does the disco proprietor or it's owner have any responsibility here as well"

Well his business may well be shut down for a night/week/month/forever so I would say he may pay a rather high price for letting underage customers in.

[Bluecat]

Problem solved.  The family will put up their land as collateral for bail/guarantee and get it back when the kid goes to court and ays a 5000 baht fine (first offender).  No drugs involved.  The kid is 18, but now I hear that the law has been changed to 20.  I'll be checking with my lawyer later today to confirm all of this.

If the law has changed, fine. If not, he could enter a bar at 18. Let us know what the lawyer says. Thanks.

I'm pretty much sure it is 20 years old, Dr.

My eldest son is 21 but he has some friends who are less than 20 and the ones below 20 are ALWAYS refused entrance to the discos and entertainment places (that is when they are people checking at the entrance).

The reason being, that's the law,...

If the owner does not apply it and a below 20 is found, he risks the closure of his place, a fine,...

The funny thing is that you can WORK in a bar when you are 18 but not visit it before you are 20.

[Goat Roper]

Many years ago I had a job as a doorman/bouncer at a Honky Tonk in the southern part of the US, We were instructed by the owner that if any young looking person(s) showed up at the door and wanted in and we felt they were not of age(even though they had proper ID) we were insructed to turn them away, no law against that at the time and I am sure we turned lots of legal age people away, reason being it was a US$5000 fine for first offense at that time which maybe would be ten times that in todays(?) money but as far as I remember the perpetrator(false ID) mostly all got off as a minor offense, don't really know but the charge was a monor one. Don't know what that has to do with the situation we are talking about but just thought I would throw that in. No offense intended here.

[caughtintheact]

Thanks for all the very interesting suggestions and comments.

Sorry for not getting back sooner, but I never did contact my lawyer about this, as the matter was settled through putting up the land as bail bond.

I have some informal confirmation that the law was changed to 20 years old a couple of years ago, but nothing official.

A couple of relevant points:

The kid did not know what the law is. There are parts of Thailand where no one pays attention to news (and yes, ignorance of the law is no excuse...then again excuses are accepted)

There were no drugs involved.

One thing I do want to make clear is that I never loan money to anyone. In my 26 years here, I have learned that making loans and trying to collect them is not worth my time or effort. If I believe that someone has a real problem, then I give them the money, no strings attached, but only to people I know or through charitable foundations.

[chanchao]

Hello??????

What's the offense?? Did you all have your coffee this morning? Underaged kids being caught in a disco does NOT land those kids in jail! It may result in fining or temporarily closing the nightspot!!

If he is in fact in jail then it's quite likely he was arrested for either drugs or brawling (fight, etc.)

If they don't tell you the whole story then chances of money flowing upcountry just got reduced by, oh, 95% or so.

If it is in fact drugs or brawling then serving some time may straighten the dude out! If you pay to get him out then he will just learn that sugardaddy can get him out and you will end up with a miniature AiSatChalerm or AiHaaChalerm or whatever those thugs changed their names to.

Cheers,

Chanchao