Thailand Royal Pardon 2020: Many in Thai Prisons Receive Sentence Reductions

A couple of days ago, an announcement was made that certain prisoners will be eligible for sentence reductions as part of a royal pardon. The most prominent case picked up by the media was that of the 2 Burmese convicted of the murder of 2 foreigners in Koh Tao. However, it is currently understood that the pardon will positively affect many. Some details have been released in Thai language, showing that certain prisoners currently on probation or other alternative sentence will have the remainder of their prison terms commuted.

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

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

The Importance of Witness Testimony in Criminal Cases in Thailand

In today’s post, we would like to discuss how important witness testimony is in criminal cases in Thailand. This critical element of the criminal case trial process should not be ignored, since the judges in the criminal courts of Thailand can consider witness testimony from a credible witness to be as important as physical evidence. The lawyers and case managers at Thailand Bail have seen other Thai lawyers make the mistake in not preparing adequately for trial, especially for the witnesses from the prosecution. In this post, we will look at what kind of witnesses will have their testimony considered by the court and what makes a witness credible or not credible. Finally, we will briefly examine some ways in which witnesses can be made to seem not credible. 

Thailand Bail Achieves Positive Result in Court in Under 1 Week

Thailand Bail recently got a very positive result for a criminal case involving a foreign defendant in the Samut Prakarn Provincial Court in Samut Prakarn, Thailand, charged with violating the Firearms Act of Thailand. This case was very challenging for our lawyers and interpreters, since we needed to accomplish a positive decision in a very short amount of time. Faced with the challenge of time constraints, we worked overtime and through the weekend to complete all work.

Thailand Bail Success: How Thailand Bail Was Able to Bail Out 2 Defendants When Others Could Not

As you have been reading Thailand Bail’s other posts and success stories, you have seen that Thailand Bail specializes in taking on difficult and challenging criminal cases in Bangkok, Koh Samui, Udon Thani, and the rest of Thailand. Our success story today is taken from a case we just completed after a challenging situation presented to us in the Koh Samui Provincial Court. Two defendants had been in the Koh Samui Prison for over 1 month when they hired a different lawyer based in Bangkok to handle their bail. The charge they had was collectively committing theft, as well as being in Thailand illegally. For Thailand Bail, this is a fairly routine and straightforward bail case, which we could have taken care of quickly. However, the other lawyer failed to bail out the two defendants Read more

The Case for the Case Visa in Thailand

One of the most commonly asked questions we receive from our own clients, as well as clients of Thai lawyers and Thai law firms, has to do with what sort of visa defendants in Thailand can receive whilst their cases are ongoing. This is a very important topic, as it can save defendants from getting charged with another crime, getting deported out of Thailand, or blacklisted from entering Thailand. In today’s post, we will make the case for the case visa and explain the benefits to remaining legal in Thailand. This post is about case visas in Thailand and will be of particular importance for people who have a case in Thailand. This includes defendants who have been granted bail from the Thai court Read more