The Svay Rieng provincial court is set to mediate a long-running dispute today between the employees of a Thai company and the owner of a house which he claims was burned down by the Thais.
The case stems from a complaint between an unidentified villager in Svay Rieng and the employees of the Napawong Construction Company.
According to Khou Long, the defense attorney for Napawong, the villager sued the company because a company employee and his wife allegedly burned down a house that the company was renting from the plaintiff in August.
Khou Long contended no one was at the house at the time of the fire.
Soon after the house was razed, a group of youths attacked the wife of the employee, Khou Long said. The youths bit the woman, broke her hand and caused her to have a miscarriage because she was four months pregnant, the lawyer said.
The woman was sent to Thailand to receive medical treatment and she and her husband have not returned to the area. The company, however, filed a criminal case in connection with the alleged assault against an unnamed defendant, requesting the defendant pay $40,000 in damages, said a Thai official who is currently working on the case.
The owner of the house, however, counter-sued in the Svay Rieng province court, asking it to order the Thai company and the employees to pay for damages. Svay Rieng Governor Hun Neng estimated the total damages to be about $20,000.
The house owner is asking for $37,000 from the company, Khou Long said.
Since the company and renters did not pay for any of the alleged damages, the Svay Rieng court last week confiscated some of the company’s road construction equipment to offset the damages caused by the fire, Khou Long said.
The Napawong company has since filed a brief with the provincial appeals court, asking it to return the equipment.
The mediation between the Napawong company and the house owner scheduled for today will attempt to settle the matter outside of the courtroom. If the parties do not find a solution to the problem, the case will go to trial, Khou Long said.
“The company is waiting to see what stance the plaintiff will take [today],” Khou Long said. “I do hope we can resolve this because [the Napawong company] is willing to solve this.”
Reached by phone earlier this week, Svay Rieng Court Judge Ken San declined to comment on the case, except to say the complaint filed by the house owner is now under investigation.
