The Thailand Bail legal team is frequently at the Pattaya Provincial Court, working on criminal defense cases for our clients. Our Pattaya lawyer team is very familiar with the criminal process in Pattaya, and we are currently working on several cases there.

For those who plan to visit the Pattaya Court, there are a few things to take note of, especially when it comes to visitation. If you are planning to visit the Pattaya Court, or if you are looking for a lawyer in Pattaya, it is integral to know a few things before going.

If you have a friend or family member who is scheduled to appear at the Pattaya Court, you can visit them while they wait to appear in the court room. As is the case with most courts in Thailand, there is a holding cell under the court where prisoners are held before and after they appear before the judge. However, if an accused person is out on bail, or has otherwise been released from police or court custody, he or she may appear at the court on his or her own free will. This type of defendant does not have to wait in the holding cell under the court.

Where to Go

At the Pattaya Court, the visiting area is to the left of the main entrance, as one approaches the court from the parking lot. Those who wish to visit prisoners waiting to appear in court should walk around to the back side of the court building. Before you arrive, you will see the entrance for the restaurant and snack bar. Then you will hear the sound of the prisoners’ chains dragging across the concrete floor. Finally, you will see a chain-link fence and a visiting booth. The booth is guarded by a prison guard, and there are usually a handful of people gathered around trying to talk to relatives. At the visitation booth are two corded telephones, which ring to the various holding cells. The last time we visited, one was for the men’s cell and the other was for the women’s. Try to make contact with the person you are visiting, so they can queue up to use the phone. If no one is using the phone, go ahead and pick it up and tell the prison guard whether you are visiting a man or a woman. Then, the person you are visiting will pick up the phone on the other end, and you can talk for as long as you wish. Try to be respectful of other visitors and keep conversations to 20 minutes or less.

Visiting in the Pattaya Court

If you have some Thai language skills, you can locate the day’s agenda as well as what court room everyone will appear in. It is not uncommon for several defendants to appear in the same room during the same court session at the Pattaya Court, so do not be alarmed if you see more than one name listed for the same room during the same time block. The Pattaya Court usually divides the day up into a morning session, which starts at 09:00am (although it almost always starts later than this) and the afternoon session which starts after 13:00pm.

In most cases, you will be able to sit in the court room with the person you are visiting. This means you can get some time to speak face-to-face without having to shout through a broken telephone or through steel and glass.

Sending Food to Prisoners

One of the nice features of the Pattaya Court is that you can buy foo