Thailand Bail recently took on a unique criminal case in Samut Prakarn, Klong Prem. It involved a foreign defendant who was charged with possession of ammunition, which is illegal under the Firearms Act of Thailand, with a possible penalty of up to 10 years in prison. We were contacted by the accused person, who had been arrested at the airport for illegal possession of ammunition. We provided free assistance in the early hours of this matter, which turned out to be very beneficial for our client. Based on the defendant’s obligations back home, we were able to successfully petition all sides of the case to accelerate matter and resolve the case within 1 week. This is rare, and most lawyers who are not experts in criminal matters are not capable of managing such a case, but Thailand Bail proved capable, with the case successfully concluded, no blacklisting, no immigration detention, no prison time, and the entire case concluded within 1 week. 

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The Call

We were called on a weekend, when most law firms close. Thailand Bail strives to be available as close to 24 hours a day as possible, and we have shifts of lawyers and other legal experts who are available by email and phone from early morning to late at night, as well as on weekends and holidays. No one plans to get arrested, and Thailand Bail is there to help in your time of need. Once we got the call, we provided pro bono advice to the arrested person, and even spoke to the police to make sure we understand the charges. After this, the arrested person hired us to provide in-person consultation. Our Thai lawyer and interpreter went to the arrested person at the police station and reviewed the charge sheet, provided interpretation services, as well as legal representation. 

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Bail 

We advised bail to the arrested person, and we provided bail guarantor service for this matter. Accordingly, our client only stayed in detention for less than 2 days, which was enough time to clear bail before being sent to the Samut Prakarn Prison, a very difficult prison for foreigners to be in. Bail was approved, and our client was released. After a shower and a sleep in a proper bed, our client contacted us with the task of solving the case as quickly as possible. 

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The Case

Based on this request, we set about preparing all documents and petitions tp babe the case accelerated. Criminal cases are held in the investigation period for up to 84 days, so in addition to the 48 hours the police can hold you without charge, this amounts to almost 3 months of either staying in a Thai prison or being out on bail, but having to stay in Thailand. This was not acceptable to our client, so we put our most capable lawyers and staff on this case and cleared the entire case within 6 days. The result was extremely positive, with no prison time being given (suspended sentence), a small fine being paid, and no deportation or blacklisting. We accomplished this through around 100 man-hours of work preparing petitions and other documents, including certified translations from English language to Thai language, and all other documents needed for this case. 

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If you have a similar criminal matter in Thailand, contact Thailand Bail for more information about how we may be able to provide a similar service to you.