Snake on side of road On Nut

[FarangFB]

A friend that lives in Pattaya needs to provide a notarized statement (overseas), but doesn't know where to start. I tried finding by myself, but no luck, it doesn't seem like an usual procedure around here.

Does anyone know where to get this?

[Pattaya46]

Hi. I used "Thailiving Law" on Thapraya Rd on the left going to Jomtien.

They have a "Notary Public" sign on their left side.

Notarization was 500 baht for one page or a small set of pages.

It took about 15 minutes and 500 baht for the 6 pages of my document.

Very nice people, good service, good price : I recommend them

Position on Google Maps : https://maps.google.com/?ll=12.907108,100.868909&spn=0.002175,0.001998&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=12.907236,100.868973&panoid=YoKX_3j_31i5KcXOYdjsfg&cbp=12,107.69,,1,-1.09

Their website : http://www.thailivinglaw.com/index.php?page=location-map

[OMGImInPattaya]

It depends on what the notarization is for and where (country) it will be used. If its a Thai document for use in Thailand then any roadside thai notary office will do. If it's a document for use in one's home country, most likely it will have to be notarized at one's respective embassy.

[craigt3365]

I had one done here and the company refused it. They would only accept one from the embassy. Smart, as the notary here never even looked at the doc or my ID.

[WaywardWind]

The German-Thai Law office on Pattaya-Naklua Road notarized some documents for my wife for use in an estate in Australia and they were accepted there just fine.

http://www.german-thai-group.com/2011/06/attorney-notary-services/

The alternative is to use the consular services at the embassy of the country where the documents will be utilized.

Edited September 15, 2013 by WaywardWind

[Smokin Joe]

As pointed out in the first reply the purpose of the document can matter. If it is something important that may be used in a divorce case, child custody dispute or anything where the document could be challenged don't use a Thai lawyer for the notary service.

Thai notary would not be valid (at least in the US). The only legitimate notary service in Thailand (valid in the US) is at the US Embassy or a U.S. consulate. I believe other countries embassies also offer the same service.

If you just need a fancy looking notary stamp which would be accepted by most places a Thai lawyer might work fine. I also used the Thai-German office in Naklua once and the notarized documents were accepted by a US bank. I would never use them again however due to the high price charged.

[Orac]

I had some done by Siam Legal on Pattaya Nua last week to open an overseas bank account - translation of bank statement and driving licence plus notarisations on 5 pages was THB.3000.

[bigwilly]

I recently had a whole pile of papers "certified as true copys" and Stat Dec's for use on the Isle Of Man, for a life insurance claim they were all accepted without question, nice fancy stamps and impressive looking Notary Public seal and number. Tad expensive though at 1,000Bt per stamp. P.J. Law in Soi Thepprasit.

Regards BW.

[Pattaya46]

Hi. Yes I think some notarizations will have to be made in your Embassy, but for many administrative or financial files a Thai "Notary Public" will be fine. I used "Thailiving Law" on Thapraya Rd (to Jomtien) this year to open a bank account offshore: No problem

It's made by a lawyer and you get the same "nice fancy stamps and impressive looking Notary Public seal" than in other notary or law offices, except that they only take 500 baht for a page or a small document when most places ask for 1,000 baht or more by page.

Why pay more for the same (good) result ?

[Arkady]

There is no law in Thailand governing notaries public. So legally there aren't any. However the lawyers association has stepped in to fill the gap with internal regulations to do with notarial services provided by their members. Another problem is that Thailand is not a signatory of the Hague Convention on Legalisation of Documents which means that cannot get an apostile in Thailand. Signatories to the convention have a system for registering notaries public and an apostile certifies that the notary is registered (the UK is different and only allows the FCO in London to apostile documents). Yet another issue is that Thailand was blacklisted last year by the international money laundering people which meant that international banks would not accept anything notarised by a Thai resident, except by embassies and consulates. The ban was lifted in June 2013 but some banks, e.g. HSBC in HK, are still using forms with a list of acceptable countries for notarisations that excludes Thailand.

Probably for most purposes getting a Thai lawyer to notarise and put a fancy stamp on the document will do but read the small print. Just call them and ask them how much they charge. Sometimes this will not do because the Thai lawyer cannot prove he is a notary public, as understood in other jurisdictions, since he isn't. Indeed, it is true that most Thai lawyers will not bother to check what they are notarising and often don't even bother to make the "certified true and correct" photocopies themselves. In the few cases where an apostile is called for, you cannot get the job done in Thailand, unless your embassy provides this service - the British Embassy doesn't. I have had been unable to register certain types of investment in my my name in Europe due to inability to provide an apostile.

[KittenKong]

It all depends on the body which is requesting the certified copy.

I have had certified copies of ID made for free by my Thai bank and these have been accepted by banks in the UK and elsewhere in the world. I know someone who had his ID copy certified by a doctor here and that was acceptable for his needs.

However other bodies have required certification by a lawyer/notary and these I had done by a lawyer (well, it said lawyer on his shop window) in Soi Post Office for about 400B each, after negotiation, though this included witnessing my signature. Another bunch of scumbags place near Tukcom wanted 2500B for one copy, and you can imagine what I said to them.

1000B for a stamped copy is a rip-off in any language or country as far as I'm concerned.