Bangkok is one of the largest cities in the world and the capital city of one of Asia’s leading economies. Finding an attorney in Bangkok can be difficult if you have never been to Bangkok before. Moreover foreigners are not allowed to practice law in Thailand and operate as consultants. This makes finding an expatriate Bangkok attorney very difficult.
There are ways around this by consulting other expatriates who have used an attorney before. Always make sure that the person you speak to is an attorney in his home country. Find out where he practiced law and in which state or county and contact their law society to see if he was ever a member of their bar council. This is a sure fire way to find a reputable and qualified attorney in Bangkok.
What has occurred over the years is that visa applications mainly US Visa applications for a Thai fiancee or spouse has taken off. With this has come some very odd firms offering the impossible. This has done nothing more than to create a mushroom industry of people who have no knowledge of law or for that matter immigration rules. This in the short term might make you think you are saving money as their services are cheap. In the long term however you do pay and could very well make major losses when things do go wrong.
There was a very well highlighted matter of a visa agent telling a British expat to place all his property in his Thai fiancee’s name as it would make the application form look good. Remember they are only good at filling in forms, not giving advice. What he came to discover was that once they had married in the UK he was about to loose his house, car and everything he had worked for. All of this being footed by the British tax payer as she used the Legal Aid system to get the property. This is not the first and will not be the last.
The next problem you have in Thailand is that there are no ‘Trust Accounts’ like you would have in your home country. If your ‘attorney’ decides to make a runner, that’s your money gone. Litigation and getting the money back will be pointless and throwing good money after bad. There is also no ‘Fidelity Fund’ like you have in other Western countries so there is no insurance to protect you either. Be warned!
Speak ot us at Siam Legal with offices in all the main cities of Thailand. Our reputation ensures that you will not loose money or receive incorrect advice!