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Finally reported: Kasit off to Germany to retrieve royal jet


Flashermac

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"The government is in the process of a legal battle, especially against Walter Bau's exercise of its rights," Mr Abhisit said. "They might be referring to the arbitration, but we are talking about the compensation lawsuit in New York."

 

Sounds like the Thai government has been told to pay by two independent institutions .

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"The government is in the process of a legal battle, especially against Walter Bau's exercise of its rights," Mr Abhisit said. "They might be referring to the arbitration, but we are talking about the compensation lawsuit in New York."

 

Sounds like the Thai government has been told to pay by two independent institutions .

 

The Thai government is in the unfortunate situation that:

a) owernship announcements by high ranking government officials (foreign minister, e.g.) are being ignored

b)new ownership papers aren't regarded as legit

d) neither bribing nor changing the judges is possible

e) more or less veiled threats against Germany are being ignored (the threats even didn't make it into the back pages of the newspapers)

f) there is no option f)

 

deal.gif

 

Maybe this is a helpful reality shock, but more probably not...

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Option f - pay quietly

 

What they fail to realize, (and this is something I encountered with the Japanese a long time ago), is that once they step over the borders of their country, the Thai elite are just short little arrogant businessmen.

 

The world has a culture and a history that predates Thailand.

 

China on the other hand, goes back aways, and in some respects, seems to have more respect for other cultures.

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'No impact' from German caseBusinessmen see it as a one-on-one dispute

Published: 29/07/2011 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Business

 

The dispute between the Thai government and a German contractor is unlikely to affect trade and investment between the two countries, German and Thai executives say.

 

Rolf-Dieter Daniel, president of the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the court case between Walter Bau AG and the Thai government had nothing to do with businesses.

 

Walter Bau, currently in liquidation, was a shareholder in the consortium that constructed the Don Muang Tollway in the 1980s. Because of repeated intervention by the government over contractual conditions for the investment, the consortium was not able to run the project profitably. It sought damages and on July 1, 2009 an ad-hoc tribunal under the Geneva-based UN Commission on International Trade Law awarded Walter Bau 36 million (1.54 billion baht) in its claims against the Thai government, a decision the German Embassy to Thailand claimed to be final in its statement on Tuesday.

 

Walter Bau brought the matter before the US District Court in New York on March 26 last year for the enforcement of the award and the court later ruled in its favour.

 

The Thai government said it is in the process of appealing the ruling but the German Embassy argued in its statement that the New York case was only for the enforcement of the arbitration in the United States.

 

Walter Bau also filed a claim with the German Civil Court seeking enforcement of the arbitration and a Thai plane was held on July 11 when the court ordered the seizure of the assets of the Thai government.

 

"This is a normal legal proceeding," said Mr Daniel. "The court is totally independent so that even the government could not intervene."

 

The German Embassy posted a statement on its website calling on the Thai government to pay compensation to Walter Bau after the Thai side refused to put up a 20 million (860 million baht) bank bond to secure the release of HRH Crown Price Maha Vajiralongkorn's jet that has been impounded at Munich airport.

 

The plane was impounded by the German insolvency administrator to force the Thai government to pay Walter Bau.

 

Outgoing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday warned the German government to step back, saying it had no right to pressure Thailand to pay the compensation.

 

But Mr Daniel, who returned from Germany on Wednesday, said there was no concern about investing in Thailand among German firms about such an issue.

 

"It will not have a long-term impact on bilateral trade and investment and for the short term, I don't think it would. They are totally different issues," he said.

 

Nonetheless, Visit Limprana, chairman of the Thai-EU Business Council and vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, supported Mr Abhisit, saying the German government should not interfere with the case.

 

"This case probably will cause some negative short-term impacts but it will last long once the dispute is resolved," he said as the Thai-EU Business Council yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Asean Business Centre to promote trade and investments between both sides.

 

The councils agreed to push forward a delayed free-trade agreement between Thailand and the EU pending issues involving agriculture and service sectors.

 

Mr Daniel, also managing director of the stationery firm Staedtler (Thailand), said the failure to conclude the FTA with Thailand meant German products would be less competitive in the country as they are subject to 20% import duty.

 

He also pointed out that the public debt concerns in Europe are overblown. Affected countries are relatively small such as Greece and Iceland while the German economy is still robust with tremendous growth of exports.

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The German court has now sought help from a professor who will come up with an expertise til end of September . The issue is who owns that plane under THAI law ?

 

As the Thai government has already banned the Walter Bau receiver from entering the Kingdom the unknown professor should think twice what he says , otherwise Annies's Massage might soon become a distant dream but maybe he is gay .

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It's getting more crazy every day.

It seems to that it begins to dawn to the Thai government that they really lost the case at the international arbitration tribunal.

Now they just want to make to tribunal go away.

 

I am struggling with a comparison, but this reminds of children who cover their eyes and think that other can't see them anymore and therefore the others can't do anything bad to them.

 

Bring case to Thailand

'By The Nation

Published on July 30, 2011

Office of the Attorney-General says Walter Bau must approach a Thai court if it wants to pursue compensation.

"If they really want compensation, they should bring the case to a Thai court. There is so much Thai government property here," said Attorney-General Julasing Wasantasing.

 

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) yesterday challenged the German construction firm Walter Bau to bring the investment conflict case over Don Muang Tollway to a Thai court to enforce the compensation awarded by an international arbitration tribunal.

 

"The arbitration tribunal awarded the company two years ago, why haven't they brought the case to a Thai court for enforcement? Why ask the German court to enforce the case and seize the royal plane?" he asked.

monkeydance.gif

 

The investment conflict has turned into a war of words between Thai and German officials since German insolvency officials seized a Boeing 737 used by HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn while it was parked at Munich Airport in southern Germany this month.

 

The move was aimed at forcing the Thai government to pay compensation owed to the company. The German regional court of Landshut decided last week that the plane could be released only after the Thai government paid a ¤20-million (Bt850.8 million) deposit, but the government refused.

 

The OAG will file a lawsuit against Germany for unfair seizure of the plane, Julasing said, but declined to disclose whom he would sue, on what grounds, when or where. "If they are still bothering us, we have to do something to pay them back," he said.

drunk.gif

 

On July 1, 2009, an international arbitration panel in Geneva made a final judgement in favour of Walter Bau. The Thai government was ordered to pay ¤36 million in damages to the company for breaching obligations set out in the tollway contract. The decision was final.

 

Walter Bau brought the matter before the US District Court in New York on March 26 last year, seeking enforcement of the award in the United States. That court ruled in favour of Walter Bau, but the Thai government appealed on July 28 last year against the decision.

 

The company also brought the case to a German court in Berlin asking for enforcement of the arbitration tribunal's decision. The case is now under consideration, Julasing said, adding that he would bring a key witness to the trial to prove that the international tribunal mishandled the case.

 

Thailand had a witness who was very familiar with the investment contract from the beginning, but the international arbitration tribunal refused to take this witness into account and made an unfair judgement against the Thai government, Julasing said.

 

"If the German court in Berlin learned about this key witness, I believe the court would agree with Thailand that the tribunal made the wrong decision on the case," he said. "Therefore enforcement to compensate the company would be impossible." The Berlin court has asked both sides to submit documents and evidence for its consideration by August 16, he said.

 

The OAG also filed a case at the Thai Administrative Court asking it to terminate the international arbitration tribunal's decision.snow_laugh.gif

 

The Primary Administration Court forwarded the case to the Supreme Administrative Court for consideration, he said.

 

 

The Nation

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" I am struggling with a comparison, but this reminds of children who cover their eyes and think that other can't see them anymore and therefore the others can't do anything bad to them. "

Even then, children usually have an innate sense of fairness and will throw in the towel once an avenue is found to be a dead end.

The comments : " "If they are still bothering us, we have to do something to pay them back," he said."

... say it all.

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Chulasingh vows no let-up in jet case fight

 

 

Attorney-General Chulasingh Vasantasingh talks to KING-OUA LAOHONG about the strategy the government will adopt to argue the case related to the impounding of a plane belonging to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn.

 

 

What are the latest developments in the case? The plane remains impounded [in Munich]. A Berlin court ruled against us, but the prosecution appealed against the court's decision on Thursday. The case is not yet over.

 

Initially, the court seemed to believe [our] explanations. But when the plaintiff disputed our arguments, it was decided witnesses would be summoned to testify before a court in Germany in August, though a precise date has yet to be fixed.

 

The prosecution will travel to Germany again and will prepare additional documents to fight the case.

 

As His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn recommended that the government not pay a surety of 20 million euros [856 million baht] for the release of the plane, the jet is still grounded.

 

However, the German insolvency administrator [Werner Schneider] has been asked to allow maintenance crew to look after the plane.

 

We expect that the appeal will be accepted next month or in early September.

 

Do we have a chance to win the appeal lodged with a court in New York?

 

First, I want to answer why the government refused to pay the surety despite the arbitration ruling. To seek enforcement of the arbitration ruling, one must take the case to court. This is an international practice. The case has been taken to New York where the New York Convention was adopted.

 

How will the prosecution make its case before the court of appeal?

 

We have a key witness who knows about the negotiations on commercial arbitration. If he can testify as a witness, we will know that the convention cannot be applied to the contract.

 

This witness is important and we must try to go after him.

 

If we fight to the end and we still lose the case, the government will have to pay up anyway.

 

Did this witness work in the consortium [that constructed the Don Muang Tollway in the 1980s]?

 

No, but he liaised between the Thailand and German governments.

 

This witness was involved in the negotiations on commercial arbitration. He is not a shareholder in the company. He is the key witness.

 

When will the prosecution present the evidence to the court in Germany?

 

On Aug 16. We also expect to find the witness and submit his name.

 

Will the move to seek enforcement of the arbitration awards both in New York and Berlin become a case of double jeopardy?

 

The case is filed at New York because the city is the origin of the New York Convention.

 

I wonder why the suit was not lodged in a Thai court, because all the assets are in Thailand.

 

According to international practices, enforcement of the arbitration ruling can be sought anywhere and I want it to happen here in Thailand.

 

However, I am confident that we will win the case anyway.

 

How long do you expect to fight the case?

 

It doesn't matter how long it will take, but we have to secure the release of the plane first. This is an urgent matter.

 

 

Bangkok Post

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We have a key witness who knows about the negotiations on commercial arbitration. If he can testify as a witness, we will know that the convention cannot be applied to the contract.

This witness is important and we must try to go after him.

If we fight to the end and we still lose the case, the government will have to pay up anyway.

 

Did this witness work in the consortium [that constructed the Don Muang Tollway in the 1980s]?

No, but he liaised between the Thailand and German governments.

This witness was involved in the negotiations on commercial arbitration. He is not a shareholder in the company. He is the key witness.

 

When will the prosecution present the evidence to the court in Germany?

On Aug 16. We also expect to find the witness and submit his name.

 

Ah, well, they have a key witness, but they don't have his address. Do they have is name? I wonder if he is Thai. If so they have two weeks left to train him as a key witness. hubbahubba.gif

My guess: the witness will 'confess' that the signed contract with the international arbitration ruling actually is not a 'real' contract and that there was an understanding that every problem should be dealt with at Thai courts. I mean what else will a 'key witness' say. dunno.gif

 

Will the move to seek enforcement of the arbitration awards both in New York and Berlin become a case of double jeopardy?

The case is filed at New York because the city is the origin of the New York Convention.

 

I wonder why the suit was not lodged in a Thai court, because all the assets are in Thailand.

According to international practices, enforcement of the arbitration ruling can be sought anywhere and I want it to happen here in Thailand.

 

Yes, if you don't like an international ruling, just ignore it and move the case to a Thai court where you can control the outcome.

BTW what was again the reason why foreign companies include the international arbitration ruling clause in their contracts? hmmmer.gif

However, I am confident that we will win the case anyway.

How long do you expect to fight the case?

It doesn't matter how long it will take, but we have to secure the release of the plane first. This is an urgent matter.

 

Of course it doesn't matter how long it will take, best for the Thai government would be that it would take forever, maybe the German company just would go away - too bad that there is a certain grounded airplane involved. soapbox.gif

 

 

Bangkok Post

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