Title says it: time to prepare new wills for me and the missus. Grateful for any recommendations. Live in Lampang, so that's the most covenient option, but can easily hop up to Chiang Mai if required.

Likely cost for an uncomplicated will?

TIA

Presuming you have a Thai wife, If you have a pink card, you can make wills at your local amphur office, at a very minimal fee, I'm going tomorrow, they won't do it on passport only as the number changes when you get a new one.

28 minutes ago, brian69 said:

Presuming you have a Thai wife, If you have a pink card, you can make wills at your local amphur office, at a very minimal fee, I'm going tomorrow, they won't do it on passport only as the number changes when you get a new one.

I can't imagine standing/sitting there and writing my will in English, even worse, expecting my wife or someone else to write iit out in thai either from an English version I've written or from my dictation. So I'm curious how it works at the amphur. Be interested if you report back.

you need a lawyer or the amphur to write a new will, you can do it yourself.

Simply download a template from the internet, in english, complete the will in your native language, which I'm guessing is english, have it translated to Thai, and then get both versions witnessed by 2 people. In my case I had 1 friend and the village Pooh Yai Baan as witnesses. The Pooh Yai Baan also uses his official stamp which gives the will validity.

You can then either have both copies securely kept under lock and key until required at the Amphur Office or as I've done, keep both copies at home in our safe.

21 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

you need a lawyer or the amphur to write a new will, you can do it yourself.

Simply download a template from the internet, in english, complete the will in your native language, which I'm guessing is english, have it translated to Thai, and then get both versions witnessed by 2 people. In my case I had 1 friend and the village Pooh Yai Baan as witnesses. The Pooh Yai Baan also uses his official stamp which gives the will validity.

You can then either have both copies securely kept under lock and key until required at the Amphur Office or as I've done, keep both copies at home in our safe.

"...The Pooh Yai Baan also uses his official stamp which gives the will validity."

How does that work? Valididty as set out in what Thai law?

Does your 'source' have any details of what to avoid / what would not be accepted in a Thai court of law?

Mr. Teerapob Soontornkiti

081-672-3565

pahbis(at)yahoo.com

Contact through Thai isa assist, Chiang Mai recommendedHe has done my Thai Will Thai Wife - in both languages

He did my Aussie friend's Thai Will - I was Executor for the Estate here in Thailand. His Thai partner was named as one of the beneficiaries with residual to his adult children in Australia.

1 hour ago, wwest5829 said:

Mr. Teerapob Soontornkiti

081-672-3565

pahbis(at)yahoo.com

Contact through Thai isa assist, Chiang Mai recommendedHe has done my Thai Will Thai Wife - in both languages

He did my Aussie friend's Thai Will - I was Executor for the Estate here in Thailand. His Thai partner was named as one of the beneficiaries with residual to his adult children in Australia.

How much did he charge ? pahbis not work .

6 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

I can't imagine standing/sitting there and writing my will in English, even worse, expecting my wife or someone else to write iit out in thai either from an English version I've written or from my dictation. So I'm curious how it works at the amphur. Be interested if you report back.

As I understand it,; that it is written in Thai, that is why I need 2 witnesses who can speak Thai and English to read it back to me, mine is quite simple all monies, goods and chattels in Thailand will go to my wife I don't have much money elsewhere, but it will still have to go to the family court in my province for arbitration to make sure I don't owe any money to anyone, that can take up to 3 months, but in my opinion the will, will make it easier for her. To get my money out of the bank, she will need the letter from the court to show the bank. 🤞That is what Krungsri bank told me in an e-mail.

20 hours ago, scorecard said:

"...The Pooh Yai Baan also uses his official stamp which gives the will validity."

How does that work? Valididty as set out in what Thai law?

Does your 'source' have any details of what to avoid / what would not be accepted in a Thai court of law?

perhaps the use of the word "validity" was an incorrect usage. Our Amphur advised that if our Pooh Yai Baan was one of the witnesses that he would use his official stamp under his signature, (the same as a lawyer/solicitor would if they were to sign as a witness in their official capacity), which indicates that an elected Govt official was one of the witnesses to the will. Absolutely nothing to do with Thai Law.

My wife is our village's current Pooh Yai Baan and over the past 12 months she has been a witness to the signature of the person making a will 4 Times and used her official stamp under her signature on each occasion. I've attached a template FYI. You just fill in the gaps and adjust the wording to suit your needs. Also bear in mind a Thai will can ONLY be in relation to your assets in Thailand. If you have assets in your home country you will need a separate will for those.THAI LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT & LIVING WILL TEMPLATE.docx

1 hour ago, TigerandDog said:

perhaps the use of the word "validity" was an incorrect usage. Our Amphur advised that if our Pooh Yai Baan was one of the witnesses that he would use his official stamp under his signature, (the same as a lawyer/solicitor would if they were to sign as a witness in their official capacity), which indicates that an elected Govt official was one of the witnesses to the will. Absolutely nothing to do with Thai Law.

My wife is our village's current Pooh Yai Baan and over the past 12 months she has been a witness to the signature of the person making a will 4 Times and used her official stamp under her signature on each occasion. I've attached a template FYI. You just fill in the gaps and adjust the wording to suit your needs. Also bear in mind a Thai will can ONLY be in relation to your assets in Thailand. If you have assets in your home country you will need a separate will for those.THAI LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT & LIVING WILL TEMPLATE.docx

Would have liked a copy of the template but it isn't available, error message

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This attachment is not available. It may have been removed or the person who shared it may not have permission to share it to this location.

Error code: 2C171/1

17 hours ago, brian69 said:

As I understand it,; that it is written in Thai, that is why I need 2 witnesses who can speak Thai and English to read it back to me, mine is quite simple all monies, goods and chattels in Thailand will go to my wife I don't have much money elsewhere, but it will still have to go to the family court in my province for arbitration to make sure I don't owe any money to anyone, that can take up to 3 months, but in my opinion the will, will make it easier for her. To get my money out of the bank, she will need the letter from the court to show the bank. 🤞That is what Krungsri bank told me in an e-mail.

I was interested in the process at the amphur to record / register your will.

Can you take a prepared typed will, have it witnessed, and they record/register and store it,

Or,

do you have to prepare it there and then, have it witnessed, and they record/register and store it.

23 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

you need a lawyer or the amphur to write a new will, you can do it yourself.

Simply download a template from the internet, in english, complete the will in your native language, which I'm guessing is english, have it translated to Thai, and then get both versions witnessed by 2 people. In my case I had 1 friend and the village Pooh Yai Baan as witnesses. The Pooh Yai Baan also uses his official stamp which gives the will validity.

You can then either have both copies securely kept under lock and key until required at the Amphur Office or as I've done, keep both copies at home in our safe.

Interesting that you can keep your will at home. I suppose so long as the witnesses could testify to its authenticity, it would be accepted as your last will.

Thanks for clarifying that point.

I've had some issues before with Amphur staff being involved. My Thai nephe became aware that my Thai son had made a will (using a trusted Thai lawyer). Nephew asked my son to explain why he had made the will. Son responded that he wanted to be sure that if he passed on first there would be no family squabblessson's wife and so that son's estate would not be shared as laid down in the Thai commercial code in situation wher the person died intestate (no will).

Nephew deided he would also make a will, ad he heard that you can make a will at the Amphur office, so he went there. Nephew and wife spoke to an Amphur staff member who was introduced as an expert re making a will. They sat down and discussed then the Aphur 'expert' said come back in 2 days and I will have your will all prepared.

They did that, nephew and his wife sat down and read nephew's newly prepared will, all done by the Amphur 'expert'.

Distribution of nephew's estate at deat started with 'I give 100,000Baht to my wife's mother.' Nephew not happy about that, he called my son and asked 'does your will say 'I give 100,000Baht to my wife's mother.' My son responded 'NO'.

Nephew queried this with the Amphur 'expert' who insisted it was correct. Nephew called his old uni buddy who had also completed a law degree. Some discussion and lawyer buddy said 'I'm close to the Amphur office right now, I'll be there in 5 minutes'.

Lawyer asked the Amphur 'expert', 'Please show me where any 'act' states that 'deceased must give 100,000Baht to his wife's mother.' Amphur lady was shocked and insulted and retorted 'I know this is correct'.

Lawyer called his senior law partner and asked if there was any such law. Senior law guy said 'NO'.

Amphur senior person then asked 'what's the problem?' My nephew and his lawyer buddy explained, and lawyer said again to the Amphur 'Expert'. Amphur senior then asked the 'expert' where does it say in any law or regulation that 'deceased must give 100,000Baht to his wife's mother'.

Amphur expert then fluffed around and insisted she was correct. Amphur senior inisted 'but this must be part of an appropriate law' Amphur 'expert' then said 'but I think It's a nice idea'. Amphur senior guy was shocked at this statement, and at the same moment nephews' lawyer friend said to my nephew and his wife 'please come to my office and I will write will for you and a will for your wife. Nephew scoooped up all the documents and they left the Amphur office.

Within 1 or 2 days 2 new wills all completed and all signed with the lawyer explaining to my nephew and his wife what the appropriate law indicates. No charge.

In the meantime my nephew got a call from the Amphur snr apologizing for the comments / statements made by the Amphur 'expert', indicating that she had been removed from these duties and she had resigned because of loss of face.

During the discussions at the actual lawyer's office the lawyer also mentioned:

• In Thailand there's many wills which would not be accepted if the will was prsented to a court because of wrong interpretations of the law and because what's written in one section of the will clashes with what;s written in another part of the will.

The cheapest and easiest way to get a will done in Thailand if you are leaving everything in Thailand to your Thai partner is to get them to sort it out and pay for it!

That is a great incentive for them to make sure they get it correct.

3 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

The cheapest and easiest way to get a will done in Thailand if you are leaving everything in Thailand to your Thai partner is to get them to sort it out and pay for it!

That is a great incentive for them to make sure they get it correct.

It only costs 80b tax at the amphur.

4 hours ago, brian69 said:

It only costs 80b tax at the amphur.

Actually it was only 60b. I will try to make a full rundown, tomorrow, it took an hour longer than necessary, mainly becoz of incompetence, staff couldn't copy even written English....meanwhile these are photos of their male toilets, pretty well sums them up..............

As promised here is the list of docs. that were required:

Marriage certs..

witness IDs, wife's ID, my pink ID card

Although told my passport was not wanted as the number changes with new passport, it was still asked for, and copied, while holding my passport, was asked my Name and Nationality, not sure if this was to prove I'm sane..

All bank books and a/c numbers that I had to write out...

Then I mentioned 2 cars in my name, that threw a spanner in the works, vehicle make and reg number were not enough, he wanted the blue books, rushed home to get them, Oh dear then the cock ups started, as they were brought second hand, and he only looked at the original owners name, and got the reg numbers wrong as they were changed in my province, backward and forward to another desk, where I swear the bloke could not even read, back in the 'bosses' office, re-sign the papers, back to the front desk again, back in the office again...Our appointment was at 1pm we eventually left some 4hrs later...such incompetence left me very annoyed, my wife said ''you not say thank you to the 'boss' I said no. It was free except for 60b tax and the will was left with them our choice. on my death she just has to show the 'receipts' to release the will. the recite and tax payment of 60b, oh well only once in a life time init.

rrr

On 1/23/2026 at 10:30 AM, Bredbury Blue said:

Interesting that you can keep your will at home. I suppose so long as the witnesses could testify to its authenticity, it would be accepted as your last will.

there's no legal requirement for a will to be registered at the Amphur, it's just an alternative to keeping it at home, especially if you don't have somewhere to keep it under lock and key. My wife is listed as the executor of my Thai estate, and she is the ONLY other person with access to the safe at home, which means she would have IMMEDIATE access to my will, especially if I passed on a weekend or public holiday. It also means that the conditions stipulated in the Living Will section are readily accessible if a situation arises where long term life support and/or no quality of life can be enacted, rather than having to wait for Amphur office hours and bureaucratic procedures to take effect before she could access the will. There's pros & cons for both, but after we discussed it, it was a joint decision to keep the will in the safe at home, which was confirmed a Thai lawyer friend as being 100% ok.

The witnesses wouldn't need to testify to the authenticity of their signatures as a requirement with Thai wills is that if the witness is a Thai they MUST also include their Thai ID card #, and if the witness is a foreigner they MUST also include their passport #. I have a Thai witness and a foreign witness on my will.

The main thing you need to remember is that a Thai will can ONLY apply to your Thai assets AND it MUST be written in your native language and also translated to Thai. If you have assets in your home country or elsewhere outside Thailand those assets requires a separate will.

On 1/23/2026 at 10:27 AM, Bredbury Blue said:

Can you take a prepared typed will, have it witnessed, and they record/register and store it,

Or,

do you have to prepare it there and then, have it witnessed, and they record/register and store it

Anyone?

On 1/24/2026 at 2:24 PM, Bredbury Blue said:

On 1/23/2026 at 10:27 AM, Bredbury Blue said:

Can you take a prepared typed will, have it witnessed, and they record/register and store it,

Or, do you have to prepare it there and then, have it witnessed, and they record/register and store it

Anyone?

Yes, no need for the Amphur to prepare the Will, which, having to be in Thai, would make for a long day, especially since they require specific details about your estate. You, on the other hand, can self prepare, and skip the specific details, instead saying "I leave everything to my wife." Etc.

Secret-Document Thai Will (Sec. 1660): A last will signed and sealed by the testator, then presented sealed to the district officer (Kromakarn Amphoe) with two witnesses. The officer records the declaration, date, and seal on the cover, and all sign. Contents stay confidential until opened. Open to both Thais and foreigners; interpreter allowed if needed.

And the Will can be in your native tongue, unlike an Amphur prepared Will, which has to be in Thai. [But, will need to have a certified translation to Thai after it's popped from the envelope after your death -- and before probate.]

But no need to involve an Amphur, in any aspect of a Will. In the old days, Amphur wills were for the poor, with the Amphur helping in its preparation for a few satang; then upon death, these Wills were self-probating. No longer, as lawyer mafia was losing probate fees, so they put an end to this. And, it's a myth that Wills have to be certified by an Amphur, if you, not a lawyer, prepare the Will.

So, no real advantage to storing your Will in the Amphur -- or even paying a visit. Just get a good template, prepare the Will yourself, and follow a few common sense rules, like making sure witnesses are adults and sane. Thai Civil Code on Wills is not demanding, so with a good template, you ain't gonna screw it up. No need even to have a Thai version of the Will, at least at inception -- only before probate (if you even get that far, as if you only have bank accounts, there are ways to circumvent probate).