The Informal Way the Thai Justice System Works

Take a seat in a Thai court and watch the proceedings and note how all sides are trying to avoid conflict. Technically the system is adversarial as in western countries but you’ll not witness the cut and thrust of arguments being tested by prosecution and defence lawyers in front of a jury and a judge.

Investigative journalists have to take great care and the defence of public interest is not as strong in Thailand as it is elsewhere. Andrew Drummond, a staunch advocate for fairer justice in Thailand, had to leave the country as his life was threatened for exposing some expats who were in collusion with the Thai authorities. Jonathan Head, the BBC’s South East Asia’s correspondent, has also now left Thailand.

Thais will gossip about a bad builder but not take any other action. A builder I have used in the past, Chamnaan, can now only get work some distance away from our village. “Jungle drums” are used effectively in Thailand!

When I had a problem with poor building work, I suggested what I thought was a reasonable price for what the builder had done and the cost of rectification. I agreed the figure with Chamnaan in front of our village headman, the pooyaibaan.

As usual, the builder and pooyaibaan were taking photos. There was no point in the builder doing so but the village will get to see the photos the headman took. That is how Thais get round the strict libel and slander laws — informal gossiping and information sharing.

Most pooyaibaans are fair to all parties in a dispute, and their word is almost law.