A day in a Thai court ...

An interesting blog story on one case before Thai justice system written by a westerner (Mr Richard Barrow) who has taught at a school in Samut Prakhan since the early 1990's. The case involves one of his former students, and he was invited to attend the proceedings by the student and his parents.

The denouement to this story has not yet been concluded as the case has just happened recently, but Barrow has promised to conclude his narrative when it's all over with. Meanwhile, a fascinating description of proceedings in a Thai courtroom. ( Found on http://www.thai-blogs.com )

Mr. Barrow is apparently completely fluent in both spoken & written Thai, and all the observations written down are first hand.

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3

Cheers ...

thank you sharing, this is very interesting.

I think we all have fears, fed by various things we have read or heard, of the thai legal system and especially the thai penal system. I shall never reside in the Bangkok Hilton (and/or they will never take me alive!).

The once concept that's intrigued me is the idea that a person who pleads guilty (thus saving the court system the time and trouble and, more importantly perhaps (?), expressing contritition) receives a much lighter sentence than the person found guilty of the same offense after a trial. It seems this occurs almost universally in Thailand (it occurs in the western courts too but I have a sense that it's not as often). In a sense, it's almost the concept of throwing yourself at the feet of the "respected" judges and/or waiing your elders in respect and, in return, you get a break. I can understand that the true remorse of a guilty criminal defendant probably should have a bearing on the sentence given; however, I suspect in many cases the "true" remorse is expressed for the calculated reason that it saves one time in the penal system. And, right or wrong, I've always had mixed feelings about somebody (like in the Barrow article) ratting out a friend.

Maybe (just loosely thinking here), this concept to some degree works to the benefit of the poor and ignorant who, I surmise, probably confess more often and will simply plead guilty (being overwhelmed by the criminal justice system - and, occasionally and maybe more often than we want to know, being overwhelmed by the batonk of the investigating officer).

Regardless, I read the entire article by Mr. Barrow and I'm left with the feeling that lady justice in this case was a two-dollar whore plying her corner hotspot in Patpong. Maybe that's a little harsh but that's how I felt. And, right or wrong, the only
slightly decent feeling I had about the story was that the guy who seemingly tried to get a break for himself by ratting out Mr. Barrow's student ended up getting about double the prison time.

The more I have read about thai history (relating to how the rich control the country, the massive and endemic corruption, and how government has evolved and behaved in general), the more cynical I have become regarding the reality behind the many smiles of the thai people. I admire their toleration but I also wonder why they truly won't or can't do anything about it (hmmmm......sounds like this could be said of my own government!).

My next thought is to see if there are some articles or books I can get me hands on about the thai legal system - how the judges are selected and who they answer to, the relationship of those judges with the police, the underlying procedural rules, the alleged constitutional guarantees, and the like. Or maybe it's better not to know.....