Litigation, Arbitration & | Foreign Party Guide

Thailand's general prescription period is 10 years under Civil and Commercial Code s.193/30 where no other period is fixed, with shorter periods for specific claims. Civil cases follow the Civil Procedure Code; labour disputes go to the Labour Court; arbitration is governed by the Arbitration Act B.E. 2545 (2002), and Thailand is a party to the New York Convention on the recognition of foreign arbitral awards.

Governing authority / legal basis: Civil Procedure Code; Criminal Procedure Code; Civil and Commercial Code s.193/9–193/35 (prescription); Act on Establishment of and Procedure for Labour Court B.E. 2522 (1979); Arbitration Act B.E. 2545 (2002); Mediation Act B.E. 2562 (2019); Consumer Case Procedure Act B.E. 2551 (2008)
Turnaround: Initial case assessment 3–5 working days · court timetables are set by the court, and a first-instance civil case commonly runs over a year
Fees: Quoted per matter once we see the documents, the parties and the deadline. Court, land office and government fees are charged at the authority's own rate and are separate. Confirm scope and fees with our staff by phone, Line or Email before any drafting or filing begins.

What we handle

Limitation check first

Before anything else we date the claim against the applicable prescription period. A strong claim filed out of time is not a claim, and the period differs sharply by cause of action.

Asset and enforceability view

We look at what the defendant owns in Thailand before recommending proceedings, because an unenforceable judgment costs the same as an enforceable one.

Pre-action and mediation

Formal demand, and mediation under the Mediation Act B.E. 2562 or the court's own conciliation, which resolves a large share of commercial matters faster and at lower cost than trial.

Court representation

Pleadings, evidence lists, witness preparation with interpretation where a party does not speak Thai, hearings and appeals in civil, commercial and labour matters.

Arbitration and award enforcement

Arbitration under the Arbitration Act B.E. 2545 or institutional rules, and applications to the Thai court to recognise and enforce a foreign award under the New York Convention.

Evidence from abroad

Foreign contracts, corporate records and affidavits used in a Thai proceeding are translated and legalised so they are admissible rather than argued over.

Documents required

Document	Issued / prepared by	Watch out for
Contract and all amendments	Client	Including annexes and the correspondence that varied them in practice.
Correspondence trail	Client	Email and chat threads, in date order — these usually establish when the cause of action arose.
Evidence of loss	Client	Invoices, payment records, expert quotations; a claimed figure without documents rarely survives.
Company affidavit and signing authority	Department of Business Development	Needed to prove the corporate party's capacity to sue or be sued.
Power of attorney for the lawyer	Client	Signed abroad, it usually needs notarisation and legalisation before it is filed.
Foreign judgment or award, where enforcement is sought	Foreign court / tribunal	Certified copy with a certified Thai translation.

Document lists, official fees and acceptance conditions vary between offices, branches and provinces, and change by notification. Confirm with the receiving authority before you act on this page.

How the process runs

1
Case assessment
Facts, limitation, forum, and a candid view of the range of outcomes. We do not give a probability of winning.
2
Strategy and budget
Litigation, arbitration or settlement, with the cost and time of each set out before instructions are confirmed by phone, Line or Email.
3
Pre-action steps
Demand letter, preservation of evidence and, where useful, mediation.
4
Filing and hearings
Pleadings, evidence, witness statements, interpretation at hearings and attendance throughout.
5
Judgment and enforcement
Execution against assets, or recognition proceedings where the award or judgment came from elsewhere.

Why files get rejected

A foreign court judgment is not directly enforceable in Thailand as such; a foreign arbitral award has a clearer route under the New York Convention. That difference should shape the dispute clause before any dispute exists.
Labour claims are subject to their own short time limits and a different court, so an employment dispute cannot be assessed on the ordinary civil timetable.
Documents in a foreign language must be filed with a Thai translation; a late or careless translation is a common cause of adjournment.
Criminal complaints filed to create commercial leverage carry their own exposure and are assessed on their merits only.
No lawyer can promise an outcome. Anyone who does is not describing how a Thai court works.

Frequently asked questions

คำถามที่พบบ่อย (FAQ)

How long do I have to bring a claim?+

The general period is 10 years under s.193/30 where no other period is fixed, but many claims — including certain contract, tort and wage claims — have much shorter periods. The date of the claim should be checked before anything else.

Can a foreigner sue in a Thai court?+

Yes. A foreign individual or company can sue and be sued in Thailand. Proceedings run in Thai, so pleadings, evidence and testimony require translation and interpretation.

Is arbitration better than court?+

It can be, where confidentiality matters or where the award must be enforced in another New York Convention state. It is not automatically cheaper or faster.

Will a UK, US or Australian judgment be enforced here?+

Not automatically. A foreign judgment is generally treated as evidence rather than as a directly enforceable order, which is why the dispute clause should be drafted with enforcement in mind.

Do you handle mediation only?+

Yes. Mediation under the Mediation Act B.E. 2562 or court-annexed conciliation can be instructed on its own, without filing a case.

Authoritative Sources

References & Citations

Official government, legal, and international sources cited throughout this page.

1
Office of the Judiciary of Thailand· แหล่งทางการ
Office of the Judiciary of Thailand ↗
www.coj.go.th
2
Central Labour Court· แหล่งทางการ
Central Labour Court ↗
iclc.coj.go.th
3
Thai Arbitration Institute· แหล่งทางการ
Thai Arbitration Institute (TAI) ↗
tai.coj.go.th
4
Thailand Arbitration Center· แหล่งทางการ
Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC) ↗
thac.or.th
5
Office of the Council of State· แหล่งทางการ
Office of the Council of State — procedural codes ↗
www.krisdika.go.th
6
Lawyers Council of Thailand· แหล่งทางการ
Lawyers Council of Thailand ↗
www.lawyerscouncil.or.th

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General information, not legal advice on your specific matter. We are not a bank, not an insurance broker and not an agent of any state authority, and we do not guarantee any authority's decision.

Talk to us before you file — reply within 24 hours

Tell us your nationality, visa category and the deadline. Our staff confirms the scope and the fee by phone, Line or Email before any work begins.

Chat on Line Call 094-8958999 Email contact@thainotary.co.th

Explore More

Deep Context and Service Standards

Sourced from the Lawyer Act B.E. 2528 (1985), the Lawyers Council Regulation on Notarial Services Attorneys B.E. 2546 (2003), the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019), the Hague Apostille Convention of 1961, and official publications of the Department of Consular Affairs (MFA).

Firm Overview and Practice Framework

Thai Notary Service is a full-service Thai law office providing document notarization, certified translation, legalization chain management, and international document consultancy. Our team includes Notarial Services Attorneys licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand under the Royal Patronage, and we operate offices in Bangkok, Greater Bangkok, and a partner network in every province across Thailand. We serve individuals, expatriates, cross-border couples, students, corporates, multinationals, and government agencies requiring documents with legal effect both inside Thailand and abroad.

All notarial acts follow the Lawyer Act B.E. 2528 (1985) Section 27 read with the Lawyers Council Regulation on Notarial Services Attorneys B.E. 2546 (2003), the sole legal basis authorizing Thai attorneys to certify documents comparable to a foreign Notary Public. Every attorney on our team has completed the accredited training and examination administered by the Lawyers Council and holds a verifiable registration number searchable on the Lawyers Council public registry.

By choosing a firm that houses Notarial Services Attorneys in-house, clients consolidate a multi-stage legalization chain under one accountable roof: attorney notarization, followed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) legalization at the Department of Consular Affairs, followed by embassy or consular legalization for the destination country. Since 21 November 2024 the Kingdom of Thailand has become a party to the Hague Apostille Convention (Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents). Documents apostilled in Thailand are now accepted in more than 125 member states without embassy re-legalization, materially reducing turnaround time and cost.

General Information and Firm Framework — Deep Context

The firm operates under an ISO 9001:2015 quality-management framework and enforces data protection consistent with the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019). All client documents are stored with AES-256 encryption at rest and in transit and are retained for ten years in accordance with lawyer-record obligations under the Lawyer Act.

Our team combines Notarial Services Attorneys, NAATI-certified translators, and legal specialists in intellectual property, taxation, cross-border family law, corporate law, and immigration law, together with a support team dedicated to documentation, translation, and government-agency liaison.

Fees are transparent and disclosed both on the website and in the pre-engagement quote, separating professional fees, government fees, travel disbursements (if any), and other line items. The firm issues VAT invoices and official receipts and accepts payment by bank transfer, credit card, PromptPay, and cash.

Trust Standards — PDPA, SLA, Quality Assurance

On data protection, the firm strictly follows the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019), Sections 24, 26, and 27 — collecting, using, and disclosing personal data only to the extent necessary for the engagement, disclosing purposes, and obtaining consent from data subjects in advance. Clients retain the right to inspect, obtain a copy, rectify, erase, or withdraw consent at any time through the firm's Data Protection Officer (DPO). For clients in the European Union, processing follows GDPR Article 6 (lawful basis) and Article 46 (Standard Contractual Clauses).

Our Service Level Agreement targets an inquiry response within one hour during business hours (09:00–18:00, Monday to Saturday), attorney appointments within twenty-four hours, standard notarization within one business day (or two to three hours on express service), certified translation within three to five business days per ten A4 pages, MFA legalization within two business days on standard service (one business day express), and embassy legalization typically within three to fifteen business days depending on the mission's own policy.

Every deliverable passes a three-tier quality-assurance chain: (1) the responsible attorney or translator, (2) a Senior Attorney or department head reviewing substance and formatting, (3) a Quality Control desk performing the final pre-delivery check. Any firm-side error is remedied at no additional cost, and if a document is rejected by a government authority due to a firm-side error, we cover the entire re-filing fee.

Contact and Initial Consultation

Initial consultation is complimentary via Line @thainotary or by phone at 094-8958999. The team responds within one hour during business hours. Every inquiry is treated confidentially under the Lawyers Council ethics rules and the Personal Data Protection Act.

Litigation, arbitration and mediation for foreign parties

What we handle

Limitation check first

Asset and enforceability view

Pre-action and mediation

Court representation

Arbitration and award enforcement

Evidence from abroad

Documents required

How the process runs

Case assessment

Strategy and budget

Pre-action steps

Filing and hearings

Judgment and enforcement