Thais Wills, Is English Enough?

[Jingthing]

I have been informed by a law office (not sure they are correct) that I can make a Thai will in English and it is enforceable in Thailand in English and never needs to be translated into Thai. If this is true this is preferable to me as my heir is a farang. Any comments on whether this English only option is really OK under Thai law?

Edited October 26, 2007 by Jingthing

[rak sa_ngop]

I have been informed by a law office (not sure they are correct) that I can make a Thai will in English and it is enforceable in Thailand in English and never needs to be translated into Thai. If this is true this is preferable to me as my heir is a farang. Any comments on whether this English only option is really OK under Thai law?

I'll be interested to hear other comments on this as well.

I have made a "Thai assets only" will in English with the understanding that on my death, the law firm that has the copy of my will will translate it into Thai to be presented to the courts. As it is a very simple will with only one farang beneficiary I would expect the beneficiary to be able ensure that the will is accurately translated into Thai so that his interests are protected.

The advantages for me are that I can easily make changes to the will in English and that the legal costs for preparing the Thai version will be taken out of my estate after my death.

I was told by the company that set this up in Pattaya that they had prepared over 60 wills like this, but (un)fortunately nobody had passed away yet so they had yet to prove the system.