Types of Costs	Rate (Thai Baht)
A. Services provided by TAI
1. Refreshment and snacks	100/meal
Transcription of testimony (in Thai)	600/hour
Transcription of testimony (in English)	2,000/hour
Over-time remuneration for officials 4.1 business day after 16.30 hrs. 4.2 holiday with not less than 7 hours of work (not including 1-hour break)	In both cases, 210/hour/person but not exceeding 1,250/person
Remuneration for officials for working out-of-office during office hours	300/day/person
Arbitrator’s meal	Actual cost
Transportation and remuneration for witnesses summoned to testify or expert witnesses	As set by the arbitral tribunal
B. Other equipment used in the arbitral proceedings
8. Equipment for preparing case files- Folder – Index – Box file	200/folder 50/set 100/box file
Sound recording onto CD or DVD	50/CD or DVD
10. Video recoding onto DVD	200/DVD
11. Delivery of documents (each party is responsible for its own documents delivery)	Actual cost
12. Other expenses relating to arbitral proceedings for example, transportation, accommodation, etc	As set by the arbitral tribunal
13. Certified copy of the award and/or any rectifications thereof (excluding photocopy fee)Certified copy of other case-related documents	100/copy50/copy
14. Photocopy	2/page
15. Other office supplies (if any)	Actual cost

The parties must each pay an advance for costs and expenses to the TAI. The TAI will normally ask that the payment be made within 30 days from receipt of the payment notification from the TAI. The amount of advance payment may vary as it depends on the TAI’s discretion. The minimum amount is usually Thai Baht 15,000 each.

The Claimant must pay the first installment of its share of the advance Costs payment upon filing of the statement of claim. The first installment amount may vary pursuant to TAI’s discretion, for example:

• Thai Baht 5,000 if the language of the proceedings is Thai and both parties reside in Thailand;
• Thai Baht 10,000 if the language of the proceedings is Thai but either one or both parties reside outside Thailand (may be higher depending on the distance between the party’s residing country and Thailand);
• Thai Baht 10,000 if the language of the proceedings is not Thai but both parties reside in Thailand; and
• Thai Baht 20,000 if the language of the proceedings is not Thai and either one or both parties reside outside Thailand (may be higher depending on the distance between the party’s residing country and Thailand).

When the arbitral proceedings end, the TAI will summarize costs and expenses and notify the arbitral tribunal in order to incorporate such in the award. If there is any balance, it will be returned to the relevant parties. If, however, the advance sum is not sufficient to cover all costs and expenses, the parties will be required to pay the shortfalls.

 

When there is a dispute between an employer and an employee in Thailand that cannot be settled informally one of the parties may consider taking the issue to court. By way of the Labor Court Establishment and Procedure Act (1979) (the “Act“), Thailand has established a special Labor Court and procedure to resolve employment-related disputes.

The Labor Court has jurisdiction over disputes involving the following:

A. Employment contracts.

B. Wrongful acts between employers and employees in connection with a labor dispute or in connection with the performance of work under an employment agreement.

C. Appeals against a decision of a member of the Labor Relations Committee or the Minister of the Interior (where A or B above were first submitted to the Committee or Minister rather than directly to the Labor Court).

By far the most common case filed in Labor Court is by an employee against a former employer. Under Thai law, the potential “remedies” to which such an employee may be entitled (assuming the employee has not committed what the law considers to be a wrongful act against the employer) are as follows:

1. Unpaid salary for work time completed. It should be noted that if an employer does not pay any such outstanding amount within after seven days of date payment is due, without reasonable cause, interest at the rate 15% will be applicable and compounded every seven days thereafter.

2. Unpaid holiday pay. If the employer terminates the employment contract or the employee resigns, the employer must pay the employee’s unpaid wages for any annual leave due to the employee at the time of employment termination.

3. Payment in lieu of notice. The employer must give the employee notice of the employer’s intention to terminate the contract before or at the time of payment in order for that notice to take legal effect at the following time of payment. However, if the employer wishes the employee to stop working immediately the employer can do so as long as the employer pays the employee’s wages through the end of the notice period mentioned above.

4. Severance Pay. Severance pay is compensation that is paid to an employee who is terminated without legal cause. The amount of compensation depends upon the employee’s duration of employment.

Duration of employment	Severance pay (= amount equivalent to what the employee would receive at the employee’s most recent wage rate for following number days)
120 days ≤ 1 Years	30
1 ≤ 3 Years	90
3 ≤ 6 Years	180
6 ≤ 10 Years	240
10 Years or more	300

5. Unfair Dismissal Compensation. Apart from the above-mentioned rights, if an employee believes that his termination of employment contract is unfair, he may also request to the Labor Court consider awarding him this additional remedy available under the Act.

The Act does not explicitly define what type of termination qualifies as “unfair” but the following decisions by the Labor in cases awarding and denying such additional unfair termination remedy are instructive.

Cases where the Labor Court DID grant the unfair termination remedy:

a.  An employee’s husband was working for other competitive company.

b.  An employee worked as a technician who needed a professional license to lawfully do his work. His license expired and the employer fired him. The employee was able to prove that many of his colleague’s licenses were also expired; yet only he was terminated.

c.  An employer’s annual business profit decreased in comparison with previous years (note: the employer was still profitable). The employer then reduced expenses and costs by terminating some of its employees.

d. An employee was gambling outside of working hours. The employer’s work regulations stated that the penalty for such would be a decreased of wages, but the employer terminated the employee.

e. An employer changed an employee’s employment terms without the employee’s consent.

f. An employer was responsible for, or failed to remedy, the employee’s work environment being hostile to the employee.

g. An employer terminated an employee because the employee refused to accept less compensation.

Cases where the Labor Court DID NOT grant the unfair termination remedy:

a. An employee did not pass the employment probation period.

b. Termination was pursuant to the retirement required by the employer’s official work regulations.

c. An employer was not profitable for several years. The employer took several steps to try to become profitable (e.g., provided for voluntary employee resignations) but such measures were not successful and the employer remained unprofitable. The employer then terminated some employees to save the business.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

DUENSING KIPPEN is an international law firm specializing in business transaction and dispute resolution matters, with offices in Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand and affiliated offices in 45 other countries. Visit them at: duensingkippen.com

 

When there is a dispute between an employer and an employee in Thailand that cannot be settled informally one of the parties may consider taking the issue to court. By way of the Labor Court Establishment and Procedure Act (1979) (the “Act“), Thailand has established a special “Labor Court” and procedure to resolve employment-related disputes.

The Labor Court has jurisdiction over disputes involving the following:

1. employment contracts.
2. wrongful acts between employers and employees in connection with a labor dispute or in connection with the performance of work under an employment agreement.
3. appeals against a decision of a member of the Labor Relations Committee or the Minister of the Interior (where 1 or 2 above were first submitted to such Committee or Minister instead of going directly to the Labor Court).

 Pursuant to the Act, a typical Labor Court case would proceed as follows:

1. A party who initiates a labor case (the “Plaintiff”), against the other party, files a “Plaint” detailing their grievance to the local Labor Court branch where the work place is located. The Plaint can be filled either in writing or orally.
2. The Labor Court is then required to fix the date and time for a hearing and, without delay, summon the Defendant to appear in the Labor Court on that date.
3. If the Defendant would like to file an Answer to reply to and defend against the Plaint, the Defendant may do so within the time fixed by the Labor Court prior to the hearing date.
4. Prior to the first hearing, and for the purposes of protecting the relationship between the parties, the Labor Court will require the Plaintiff and Defendant to meet with a representative of the Labor Court to discuss a possible amicable settlement of the dispute.
5. If the parties are able to reach such a settlement they will then enter a compromise agreement and withdraw the case. Note: such a compromise agreement would then be fully and virtually “automatically” enforceable by the Labor Court should one party not honor such agreement.
6. However, if the parties cannot settle the dispute, the litigation will continue. In which case, the parties will then submit any relevant evidentiary documents in support of their claims or defenses to the Labor Court.
7. The first hearing of evidence will then proceed. Note: this may be on the same day as the unsuccessful settlement negotiations or it may be at a later date as determined by the Labor Court but once such hearing has begun it may not be adjourned for more than seven days until completed.
8. After all the necessary evidence has been taken, the hearing will be pronounced closed and the Judgment deciding the case will be pronounced within three days from such date.
9. The Act requires that the Judgment be made in writing and specify, in brief, the relevant facts, decisions, and reasons therefor, as found and decided by the Labor Court.
10. It should be noted that the Act provides that that Labor Court is directed to consider an employee’s particular: working conditions; costs of living; personal hardships; wage level; employment rights, and other employment benefits, as compared to a similarly situated employee elsewhere — in making it’s decisions.
11. Either party may appeal the Judgment directly to the Supreme Court of Thailand within fifteen days from the date of the pronouncement of the Judgment.
12. Timing from the date that the Plaint is filed until the Judgment is rendered is generally nine to twenty-four months. However, a complicated case may require significantly more time. And completion of the any appeal will likely take several years.
13. Finally, with regard to costs, it should be noted that the Act exempts all Labor Court cases from any court filing fees.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

DUENSING KIPPEN is an international law firm specializing in business transaction and dispute resolution matters, with offices in Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand and affiliated offices in 45 other countries. Visit them at: duensingkippen.com