Thai Living Will

Every day, people control their own health and finances. Each of us decides whether to go to the doctor when ill or injured. We decide whether to purchase, gift, or sell our assets. In Thailand, the right to refuse medical treatment is expressly provided under Thai law. The Ministerial Regulation prescribes the procedures and rules regarding the living will and was issued under Section 12 of the National Health Act of 2007, enabling every person to have the right to execute a Thai living will. There is also the standard Last will in Thailand that might interest you. 

A living will in Thailand must never be confused with a last will and testament – wherein the latter provides for the distribution of assets and properties. A living will has nothing to do with your properties. Also, a living will does not permit euthanasia or mercy killing. Medical professionals in Thailand are not authorized to inflict death on their patients by performing acts such as lethal injection.

The National Health Act of 2007 and the Ministerial Regulation will relieve a healthcare provider of criminal charges and other liabilities only when the provider acts according to the law and the particular living will. A living will does not include any medical or healthcare power of attorney. Wherein an individual may appoint a person or proxy to decide. This regarding his or her healthcare and other medical treatment when he or she reaches a terminal stage.

Instead, the living will is a legal document that enables a person to inform medical care providers, acquaintances, and relatives about his or her medical wishes in the event where he or she is incapacitated.

The terminal or final stage of life, as defined in the Ministerial Regulation, includes conditions caused by injury or an incurable disease leading a person to imminent death or permanent loss of brain function rendering a person comatose or be unable to communicate. Speak to our Thailand family lawyer about your living will in Thailand.

– Declarant’s complete name, age, Thai ID number, address or contact number;

– Date of drafting of the Living Will;

– Complete name and Thai ID number of both witnesses, and their relationship with the declarant;

– Type of healthcare that the declarant does not wish to receive;

– Complete name and Thai ID number of the writer (for those letters written by another person);

– Signature or thumbprint of the declarant, witnesses and the writer or typist;

Always take proper legal advice when you have the last will and testament or living will completed in Thailand. If you are going to retire in Thailand or register marriage in Thailand then consider the living will in Thailand as an option.