THE fountain of justice for all subjects in this land
The landmark judgment of the Supreme Court against our former prime minister is a test case to prove that our society is mature enough to continue existing into the new millennium.
Many countries suffer from the partisan from an ideological conflict. The election or the number of seats in the parliament is not always equated
to democracy. The balance of power is the magic keynote to maintain harmony and equilibrium in the country.
Thai people are not familiar with the word “diversity”. In India, the concept of “unity within diversity” is the benchmark to unify people from diverse background.

Lord Acton, the 19th century upholder of freedom and a “magistrate ” of history, claimed that while power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely

In Thailand, the word “difference” is used instead of “diversity”. Some people use the concept of the former US president who always pointed his finger at his adversaries and said “If you’re not with us, you are against us”.
The constitutional doctrine to separate sovereign power to maintain the equilibrium in the Kingdom has consistently existed since our first westernized constitution in 1932.
“Sovereign power belongs to all Thai people” is the preamble in all Thai constitutions. The King exercises the sovereign power by three channels, namely, executive power by the cabinet with a prime minister as a chief, legislative power by a parliament with a house speaker as a chief and judicial power with the judicial president.
The ones who have an educational background from Europe could spontaneously understand this doctrine which is influenced by Montesquier.
There is a word of wisdom of Lord Acton saying that power trends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
In the Kingdom of Thailand, we adopt a double court system from continental countries, i.e.,  France, Germany and Japan, etc. Judicial power is separated into, the Court of Justice with a president of the Supreme Court as a chief, the Administrative Court with a president of the Supreme Administrative Court as a chief and Constitutional Court with a president of the Constitutional Court as a chief. The double court system is quite different from the UK.
“The Court of Justice” has three tiers, namely, Court of First Instance, Appeal Court and Supreme Court. In every province and big city, there is a provincial court, for example, Chonburi Provincial Court and Pattaya Provincial Court. In Pattaya, all civil and criminal cases are tried by Pattaya Provincial Court except family and juvenile cases which must be tried by the Family and Juvenile Court in Chonburi.
The Appeal Court is mainly in Bangkok and other region heads, for example, there is the Appeal Court in Rayong Province with the jurisdiction for the eastern region for both civil and criminal cases. A party who is not satisfied with a judgment may file the appeal to the higher court under the conditions specified by the law. The Supreme Court is only in Bangkok for both civil and criminal cases.
Pattaya has many civil criminal cases which is a hard work for judges in Pattaya Court. This problem is solved by an alternative dispute resolution with reconciliation. The mediators from many respected persons in a community are appointed to implement this alternative justice mechanism.
“Delay of Justice is Denial of Justice” should not be the question anymore in Pattaya by this policy. However, if the mediation cannot be mutually reached, the dispute must be solved by the formal judicial process with the consecutive hearings which will be one to two years.
As a multicultural society, Pattaya Court of Justice is quite unique. “Are foreigners under equal access to justice in Thai court?” is the candid and common question in the minds of many foreigners. Foreigners are always equal to Thai nationals in the court of law. However, the main problem for foreigners is a linguistic barrier because the law requires that all process must be made in the Thai language. All courts arrange for a pro bono or free qualified translator for a criminal case. But for a civil case, you have to arrange for a translator yourself. Most of the judges in Pattaya Court of Justice have the additional overseas graduate education.
The judicial power is independent without any intervention from the executive power. All judges will be appointed by His Majesty the King for the judicial apprentice who can pass the highly demanding examination. There is no jury in Thai courts.
“Judge” is a revered profession exercising the judicial power under the name of His Majesty the King who is deemed a “Fountain of Justice” for
all subjects in this Kingdom of Justice regardless of race, nationality, religion culture or political band.
Section 4.- of our draft constitution 2007, acknowledges a dignity of all persons to enjoy rights, freedom and equality under the Thai constitution and international commitments. The term persons definitely mean Thais and foreigners with diversity of background.