Notary Public

The notary public or notarial services attorney is there to perform functions such as authenticating documents as well as statements under oath. You have to pass a special examination in the West in order to be a Notary Public. Many of the documents required for a foreign visa or applying for a new passport. As a foreigner the Embassy would at times require a Notary Public to authentic documents. Many Embassy due to cost cutting no longer provide this service. Likewise see also the MFA legalisation process on here as we wrote about this before.

Thailand does not have notaries public however certain lawyers have been given this authority by the Lawyers Council of Thailand. It is this Council which regulates the services and the Thai lawyer would be referred to as a public notary in Bangkok. Lastly there is also the legalized translation in Thailand which you may need. This as well as the visa document translation as well. Much like in the West there is a special course for this which needs to be passed. The notarial attorney can do the following:

· So they can administer oaths and affirmations;

· Also they can be a witness when documents are signed;

· They can certify certain classes of documents;

· Then they can certify the identities of the parties in an agreement.

The issue with the notary public in Thailand is that Thailand is not a signatory to The Hague Convention on Legalization of Foreign Public Documents. This means that certain documents would again have to be authenticated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand. Also, this can also be done at an Embassy however many of them no longer provide this service as part of their cost cutting efforts.

See also: the power of attorney in Thailand and the Tabian Baan. 

The information contained on our website is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For further information, please contact us.