About Chai Advocates
A Practice Built on Careful Work and Long Attention
Chai Advocates was founded on a simple conviction: that the families who come to us with estate matters deserve measured, honest counsel — not rushed advice and not vague reassurances.
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How Chai Advocates Came to Be
Chai Advocates opened in Pattaya after years of noticing a particular gap: individuals and families with genuine inheritance and estate matters in Thailand — often complicated by international elements — who found it difficult to locate counsel that understood both the legal landscape and the human situation behind it.
The practice grew from that recognition. Our work has always concentrated on a narrow set of services — powers of attorney, heir documentation, and cross-border inheritance coordination — rather than trying to cover every area of law. This focus allows us to develop deeper familiarity with the particular complications these matters tend to produce.
We work with families from Thailand and from other countries — many of them non-residents with property or beneficiaries here, or Thai nationals with assets or family connections abroad. The eastern seaboard region, with its long-established international community, produces many such situations, and it is the environment in which our practice has developed its experience.
Our Mission
What Guides Our Work
Honest Assessment
We tell clients what a matter will realistically involve — the time, the documentation, and where complications may arise — rather than making the path sound simpler than it is.
Family Context
Estate matters are almost always family matters. We try to understand the relationships and circumstances behind each case, not just the documents in front of us.
Quiet Diligence
Good legal work in this area is often invisible — the documents that were properly drafted, the filing made in time, the foreign authority consulted before the problem arose. That is the standard we work toward.
The Team
The People Behind Our Work
Pakorn Charoenwong
Senior Legal Adviser
Called to the Thai bar over fifteen years ago, Pakorn has concentrated his practice on inheritance and estate matters throughout his career, with particular attention to cases involving land title and family documentation in Chonburi province.
Nattaya Srikhao
International Coordination
Nattaya manages the firm's cross-border matters — coordinating with legal counsel in Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia on estates that span more than one jurisdiction. She holds qualifications in both Thai and comparative private international law.
Apinya Thaweechat
Documentation & Client Affairs
Apinya handles client correspondence and documentary preparation, and is often the first point of contact for new enquiries. She coordinates with district offices, the Land Department, and foreign embassies on document verification and legalisation.
Professional Standards
How We Approach Our Work
The following standards shape how every matter at Chai Advocates is handled, from the first consultation to completion.
Thai Bar Association Compliance
All legal work carried out by Chai Advocates is performed by practitioners registered with the Lawyers Council of Thailand and in compliance with the Thai Bar Association's professional conduct rules.
Document Accuracy
Every document prepared by our team is reviewed before issue. For heir documentation and cross-border matters, documents are checked against the requirements of each relevant authority before submission.
Client Confidentiality
All client information is held in confidence. Details of a matter are shared only with those who need them for the work to proceed — whether within the firm or with necessary external parties.
Cross-Border Due Diligence
For matters touching other jurisdictions, we assess the foreign law dimension carefully before advising. Where we are not in a position to advise on the foreign element ourselves, we engage qualified counsel in that jurisdiction.
Clear Client Communication
We write to clients at each material stage of a matter to confirm what has been done and what the next step will be. We do not leave clients to wonder where their matter stands.
Secure Record-Keeping
Physical documents and digital records are stored securely and retained in accordance with Thai legal requirements. Clients may request copies of documents relating to their matter at any time.
Our Expertise
Inheritance and Estate Legal Work in Thailand
Inheritance law in Thailand operates under a specific statutory framework, and the procedural requirements for estate administration — particularly where real property is involved — can be considerably more detailed than families expect. The involvement of multiple heirs, assets held under different titles, or beneficiaries who are not Thai nationals each introduces additional layers of complexity that require careful attention.
Chai Advocates works specifically in this area. Our team is familiar with the documentation requirements of the Land Department, the procedures at the district office level for heir registration, and the particular challenges that arise when an estate has connections to more than one country. We have worked with clients whose estates span Thailand and European jurisdictions, as well as Australia, the United Kingdom, and other countries with significant Thai diaspora communities.
A power of attorney prepared for use in Thailand must meet formal requirements that differ from those in other countries. Where the document will need to be recognised by a foreign authority, or where it must be notarised and apostilled, additional steps apply. Our team is experienced in advising on these requirements and preparing documents accordingly.
Cross-border inheritance coordination requires a clear understanding of which jurisdiction's law governs which aspect of the estate. In some cases the laws of two countries will both have a claim on the same assets; in others, the sequence of steps required in one jurisdiction depends on steps first being completed in another. We map out these dependencies carefully before work begins, so that the family understands what the process will involve and in what order it must proceed.
Speak With Our Team
If you have a matter you would like to discuss, we welcome an initial conversation. There is no obligation to proceed — only an honest assessment of what may be involved.
Contact Chai Advocates