Notary Services And Certified Copies

[GuyDow]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but there have been posts about finding notaries and this is a closely related subject.

Over the last couple of years I have had requests from time to time from various institutions in the UK to provide "certified copies" of documents. If you are resident in the UK this is easy. You just visit your solicitor or bank, they make a copy of the relevant document, stamp and sign it and make a nominal charge.

Here in the Land of Smiles it is quite different. The "certified copy" has to be certified by someone in a position of responsibility i.e.bank manager, accountant, police officer, etc. Without exception Thais in such positions refuse to get involved in something they do not understand. They think they are being asked to verify the document (e.g. the passport being copied is not a forgery) instead of merely stating that the copy itself has not been tampered with in any way.

The British Embassy will certify copies but their charges are, in my view, excessive at THB1500 per document. Also, they will only certify copies of UK issued documents. They will not touch anything in Thai. Last year I had to get a death certificate certified and it was so difficult I ending up sending the original which was something I really didn't want to do.

Can anyone recommend a legal firm that can provide this service at a reasonable price? Ideally located in the Ploenchit/ Sukhumvit/Asoke area.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[necronx99]

The concept of certification just does not exist in many countries. I think you will find Thailand is one of them.

Additionally the standard of certification is dictated by the requesting Authority. The UK would have a Schedule of Authorized persons and no one in Thailand would be on that schedule,even of their job description or title is the same. Embassy is your only option for a legally certified document intended for a UK authority.

[GuyDow]

The concept of certification just does not exist in many countries. I think you will find Thailand is one of them.

Additionally the standard of certification is dictated by the requesting Authority. The UK would have a Schedule of Authorized persons and no one in Thailand would be on that schedule,even of their job description or title is the same. Embassy is your only option for a legally certified document intended for a UK authority.

I accept the point you make but it does depend on the circumstances.

For some purposes, for example where the requirement arises from internal procedures, institutions can have some flexibility in what they are prepared to accept. In other cases, for example where they are constrained by regulations, there is no flexibility. I have experienced both of these approaches.

[necronx99]

The concept of certification just does not exist in many countries. I think you will find Thailand is one of them.

Additionally the standard of certification is dictated by the requesting Authority. The UK would have a Schedule of Authorized persons and no one in Thailand would be on that schedule,even of their job description or title is the same. Embassy is your only option for a legally certified document intended for a UK authority.

I accept the point you make but it does depend on the circumstances.

For some purposes, for example where the requirement arises from internal procedures, institutions can have some flexibility in what they are prepared to accept. In other cases, for example where they are constrained by regulations, there is no flexibility. I have experienced both of these approaches.

the other practical aspect of certification is that at the end of the day it is a stamp, a scribble and a phone number, the amount of diligence applied by the receiver, particularly for a foreign cert is, questionable.....how does your name look in thai?

[GuyDow]

the other practical aspect of certification is that at the end of the day it is a stamp, a scribble and a phone number, the amount of diligence applied by the receiver, particularly for a foreign cert is, questionable.....how does your name look in thai?

Indeed, maybe I should just get some rubber stamps knocked up!!

[Mario2008]

Some lawyers do notary service, but there is no law regulating that. As a result always keep in mind for what you need the document, as a document by a Thai lawyer can be challenged in a court of law.

For UK institutions the docuemtn notarized by a lawyer will probably be OK, as far as I understand.