Civil Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Proceedings are commenced (or issued) by the filing of a complaint in a prescribed form and the payment of relevant court fees. The complaint contains the facts and allegations which form the basis of the claim, but may be pleaded generally and without full particulars provided all grounds the plaintiff (or claimant) intends to subsequently rely upon are included.

Following this, and on the basis the complaint is accepted by the court, the plaintiff files a request to the court for a summons and a copy of the complaint to be served on the defendant by a court officer. Depending upon the method of service, a defendant has between 15 – 30 days from the date of service to file an answer to the complaint, as well as any counterclaim. In the event the defendant files a counterclaim within the allowed time, this will be served on the plaintiff who has 15 – 30 days to file an answer to the counterclaim. At this point in the proceedings, extensions are both routinely requested and granted.

Following the issuance of proceedings, a court will generally schedule a hearing to settle the issues in dispute within 2 -3 months. At this stage, courts will encourage the parties to mediate the dispute and one or more mediation hearings are likely to be scheduled within the following 2 -3 months. In the event the parties are unable to settle the dispute, a trial of issues is generally scheduled 4 – 6 months following the hearing to settle the issues in dispute.

While it can be difficult to predict the precise length of proceedings in a Thai court, the courts have, in recent years, become far more efficient at case management and will endeavour to set consecutive hearing dates in order to create a continuous trial. The length of time from filing a complaint to judgment and final order in a court of first instance is approximately one year. Labour disputes, which are heard in a specialist court, are often resolved more quickly.

Interim orders (also known as interim relief) are available in Thai courts, but in practice such remedies can be difficult to obtain, particularly with respect to without notice injunctions or temporary seizure or attachment orders. Summary judgment orders are also uncommon.

Orders for security for costs are available and routinely granted in the event a claimant is not domiciled in or does not carry on business in Thailand or there is good reason to suspect any claimant will seek to evade payment of costs in the event of losing a claim.

Arbitration procedures are well-defined in Thai law and Thai courts will enforce legitimate domestic arbitration awards. Foreign arbitration awards will be enforced by the Thai courts providing they satisfy the requirements of the relevant conventions.

ADR is a significant topic in its own right and will be discussed more fully in a separate Q&A.

Thai courts require a properly drafted and executed PoA in order for a Thai lawyer to act on behalf of any party. Its absence will almost certainly lead to the rejection of any claim or other matter and the challenge of improperly drafted or executed PoAs is frequently a tactic of opposing parties in Thai proceedings.

The proper draft and execution of the document will depend upon the court and where the claimant or defendant is located. If a claimant or defendant resides outside the jurisdiction, the document will generally need to be notarised and additionally authenticated by a local Thai Embassy or Consulate. This can often be a lengthy and time-consuming process, particularly if the claimant or defendant is a company. Good planning is therefore essential, especially if a claim or matter is time sensitive. We can advise and guide you throughout this whole process.

We have significant experience in the conduct of high value cross-border disputes and dealing with the challenges of complex multi-jurisdictional issues.

Equally, if you are based in Thailand and are facing a high value claim in a foreign jurisdiction, we may be able to help you with this, particularly if the claim is in the UK.

If the matter is reasonably straightforward, we can generally arrange to conduct the work on a fixed or capped fee basis.

If the matter is complex, particularly urgent, high value, likely to be especially time-consuming or will necessitate the significant involvement of a foreign consultant (or you would prefer the overall conduct of the matter to be dealt with by a foreign consultant), it is likely that it will need to be dealt with on an hourly rate basis. If the matter involves multiple jurisdictions, it is also likely that a foreign consultant will need to be involved.

Please contact the LAFS dispute resolution practice at info@lafs-legal.com  if you need any further information or assistance with litigation or dispute resolution.