Thailand Coronavirus Update: Visa Amnesty Extended Until 26 September 2020

As Thailand Bail has been providing updates for the COVID-19 situation for the last few months, we now have some good news to announce according to the announcement today, 21 July 2020, on the visa amnesty extension. Whilst it is not official until being published in the Royal Gazette (most likely tomorrow 22 July 2020), the government has announced today that foreigners whose “permission to stay” expired after 26 March 2020, and received a previous visa amnesty extension through 31 July 2020, are now automatically included in the new automatic extension through 26 September 2020. This is very good news for foreigners who are still in Thailand but

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What To Do When You Get Arrested in Thailand – 5 Important People

Last year in March 2019, we wrote about 3 things you must do if you get arrested in Thailand. Click here to read that article: http://www.thailandbail.com/the-3-things-you-must-do-if-you-get-arrested-in-thailand/  For this updated article in June 2020, we are focusing on the 5 important people related to your arrest in Thailand. Whether it is in Bangkok, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Phuket, Udon Thani, or anywhere else in Thailand, there are always 5 important people who can greatly impact your case in the first 48 hours – the most critical time in your case. Of course, if you do get arrested in Thailand, the very first thing

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July 2020 COVID-19 Thai Courts and Prisons Update

Thailand Bail is dedicated to providing loads of free advice and information for people who have questions about the Thai legal system. During this unprecedented time of coronavirus or COVID-19, our lawyers and staff have provided constant updates on the situation and how it affects the courts and prisons. We updated everyone in May 2020 here: http://www.thailandbail.com/thailand-bail-covid-19-update-may-2020/ and April 2020 here: http://www.thailandbail.com/thailand-bail-covid-19-update-april-2020/ so we wanted to continue providing updates as the COVID-19 situation changes in July 2020. Please see below our update on COVID-19 in Thailand and

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Thai Drug Police and New Rewards from ONCB

A recent change in the way that Thai drug police get rewarded for their work will be realised at the end of May 2020, according to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB). These changes will provide more reward money to Thai police officers who are working on drug cases. These new changes will be enacted on 31 May 2020. The new rewards structure could potentially mean significant pay-outs for drug cases in Thailand. We have detailed the updates below, based on the % reward and what needs to be done for the police to collect said reward.

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Thailand Bail COVID-19 Update (May 2020)

Thailand Bail is dedicated to providing updated information on the COVID-19 crisis and how it is affecting lawyers, police, court appointments, prison visits, and other aspects of the legal industry in Thailand. This article is a follow-up to the previous post “Thailand Bail COVID-19 Update (April 2020)” which highlighted how the coronavirus was affecting the courts and prisons in Thailand in April 2020. Since that last update, there have been some updates for the courts and prisons in Thailand, and we will go through those in this article.

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Thailand Bail COVID-19 Update (April 2020)

Thailand Bail would like to take this time and reach out to our clients and partners about the COVID-19 situation in Thailand as it relates to criminal cases and immigration issues in Bangkok, Koh Samui, Pattaya, Udon Thani, Phuket, Hua Hin, Samut Prakarn, and other places. This article will address postponed court hearings, as well as court hearings that are not postponed, immigration announcements for case visas / defendant’s visas, as well as general information about the situation of the coronavirus / COVID-19 in Thailand.

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Bail in Thailand 2020: Bail on the Weekends

In what is probably the biggest change the rules on bail in Thailand, the president of the Supreme Court recently announced that bail can now be applied for on weekends. Thailand Bail can confirm that this new rule, announced on 25 December 2019, is now in force at the courts around Thailand. Thailand Bail just managed the successful bail applications for two foreigners who were arrested for drug cases in Koh Phangan and sent to the Koh Samui Provincial Court. Under the old rules, we would have had to wait until Monday to file our bail paperwork, but with the new rule, we were able to file our bail documents on Saturday, and both people were released the same day. 

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Thai Prison – What Life is Like Inside the Bangkok Hilton

If you have ever spent any time inside a Thai prison, you will know how difficult life can be on the inside. There is constant overcrowding, disease, lack of clean food and water, immense heat, lack of access to people outside the prison, occasional violence and death, and other challenges. Whilst some of these aspects are the same in every prison around the world, Thai prisons have certain unique challenges. The Bangkok Hilton, a fictitious name typically associated with the Bang Kwang Prison, has some of the strictest rules of any Thai prison.

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Prisoner Transfer Agreements in Thailand – Thailand to Sign 2 New PTA’s in 2020

The lawyers and international case managers at Thailand Bail have helped many people successfully fight their criminal cases in Thailand and avoid prison. But there are thousands of people each year who we do not have the opportunity to work for, and many of these people end up in Thai prison. We receive emails and phone calls each week from friends and family members of foreign inmates who are in one of the many prisons in Thailand. Thailand Bail does offer post-case legal services, and one of the most-requested services is to help foreign prisoners in Thai prisons get repatriated to their home countries. Therefore, today’s post is about prisoner transfer agreements in Thailand and the recent news that Thailand will sign two new prisoner transfer agreements with Malaysia and Ukraine. Please read below for more details about prisoner transfer agreements between Thailand and other countries. 

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New Law: Military Court Cases Transferred to Civilian Courts

On 30 June 2019, Prime Minister Prayut announced a change in the laws regarding military court cases in Thailand. All current civilian cases in the military courts of Thailand that have not yet been finalised (reached a final judgment) were to immediately be transferred to the civilian courts. This is very significant news for defendants with cases in the military courts around the country. Thai and foreign defendants alike will have their cases moved to the provincial court in the province where the alleged crime happened. Prime Minister Prayut explained that the change was due to the handover of power from the military (from 2014) to the people after the election that saw the military-supported party win the majority. 

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