It's easy to search through a list of lawyers and visit them one by one for a legal opinion. But never having dealt with any of these firms, I don't know if the advice they are giving is more in their interests or mine. I suppose it might be safe to assume that the lawyer who gives me the least chance of success is the most trustworthy but they could also be the most inept.

So, a) if you have had personal experience (or know someone who has) with recovering land/house from a Thai after a relationship has ended and, you used a lawyer that performed to your satisfaction, then I would appreciate your recommendation.

I am located in Chiang Mai but happy to deal with a firm elsewhere if they are good at what they do.

Please PM if you don't want to reply in the forum.

I didn't post any of the details of the situation, because I didn't want the topic to sidetrack into into a discussion of the specifics of my situation. To restate my purpose; I'm looking for people who believe that their lawyer made a difference and allowed for the recovery of some or all of the assets.

I'll say this much, because it might help people to understand why in my case, legal action might be helpful:

The person in question stated categorically, in writing, on several occasions that the properties really belonged to me (from a moral standpoint) and that they would return all of them. They even drew up and sent me a formal agreement (to be signed and witnessed) to transfer the properties to a nominee on a specific date, so long as I paid off their personal bank debt (which I did). However, they did not follow through on the agreement.

If you have been married you are entitled to 50% but if you are not married in general terms you get nothing.

Paying off a personal debt means not much but if you have a written agreement and has it signed by lets say two character witnesses such as a village headmen and another person of good standing such as a principal of a school you could have a chance to get the money back or at least some of it.

As for land as a foreigner you are not allowed to own land so this could be a tricky one.

You might want to try the Ask the Lawyer section on ThaiVisa.