The vast majority of Thailand’s lawyers and law firms are located in Bangkok. Law firms range in size from small and solo practices to large mega firms which are part of an international network.
International Commercial Law
We define an international law firm as a law firm that performs international transactions whether it is part of a multinational firm or is independent. International law generally means international commercial law. Firms concentrating in international commercial law, or having primarily foreign clients, are usually larger firms. Of these firms, there have been a number that have recently entered the market in response to a demand created by the economic crisis and the the restructuring and insolvency work generated there from.
Divorce, Domestic, Criminal and Immigration Cases
Most of the international law firms avoid criminal, domestic and immigration cases, or perform them only as a service to their existing commercial clients.
So a client would generally have to partake of the services of a smaller local firm for cases such as these. Many of these smaller firms provide lawyers and legal services of a very high quality and are able to provide solutions that larger firms are not. Many of these smaller firms are known only locally and do not have a web presence.
Research and Translation
There are numerous translation services, but they generally do not provide research. The largest barrier to a foreign law firm, organization or individual researching Thailand law is the language. Although there are English language translations of the most important Thailand legal documents, the resources are still far from comprehensive. Smaller firms generally do not have the foreign language abilities to translate Thai law correctly into English or other languages. The international firms may do research but their prices are, of course, higher than the non-international firms. There are few services that specialize exclusively in research and translation.
