About the Practice
Counsel built on patience and considered judgment
Sawasdee Law was founded in Bangkok with a single purpose: to help families navigate legal change with steadiness and care.
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How Sawasdee Law came to be
Sawasdee Law opened its doors in Bangkok's Phra Nakhon district after its founding counsel spent over a decade handling family matters within larger commercial firms. What became clear during those years was that family law clients are not the same as commercial clients — they are not looking for aggressive strategy or adversarial posture. They are looking for someone who will sit with them, understand the full picture of their family circumstances, and help them find a path forward that they can actually live with.
The practice was established with a deliberate decision to work exclusively in family law matters. This is not a limitation — it is a commitment. Family law requires a different kind of attention: the ability to hold competing perspectives simultaneously, to manage highly personal information with absolute discretion, and to know when to recommend settlement and when to prepare for court.
Our office in Phra Nakhon was chosen partly for its proximity to the Bangkok courts and partly because the neighbourhood itself feels like an appropriate setting for this kind of work — older Bangkok, quieter than the business districts, with a particular sense of the city's longer history. We begin every client engagement with tea and introductions before we discuss anything legal, a tradition that has remained with us since the practice's founding.
Today, Sawasdee Law advises individuals and families across Thailand and internationally — including couples where one or both partners hold foreign nationality, families with assets in multiple jurisdictions, and expatriate residents navigating Thai family law for the first time. Our working language is English, and we coordinate Thai-language filings and court appearances directly.
14+
Years in family law practice
380+
Family matters concluded
3
Core practice areas, exclusively family
Senior Counsel
The people behind the practice
Our counsel bring direct experience in Thai family law, cross-border family matters, and mediation. Every client has a named senior counsel responsible for their matter from first contact to conclusion.
Khun Pornpimol
Founding Counsel · Family Law
Pornpimol established Sawasdee Law after fifteen years handling family matters in Bangkok and abroad. She leads the practice's approach to divorce mediation and marital agreements, with particular experience in matters involving cross-border assets.
Khun Surachai
Senior Associate · Child Custody
Surachai has spent his career focusing on matters involving children — parenting plans, custody arrangements, and representation in family court proceedings. He takes particular care to ensure that children's voices are heard in the process, where appropriate.
Nanthipha
Associate Counsel · International Family Matters
Nanthipha advises clients where Thai law intersects with foreign jurisdictions — mixed-nationality couples, marital agreements intended to be recognised abroad, and families with overseas property or residency considerations.
Professional Standards
How we maintain the quality of our work
Family law carries a particular responsibility. These are the standards we hold ourselves to across every engagement.
Thai Bar Association Membership
All counsel at Sawasdee Law hold current registration with the Lawyers Council of Thailand and comply with its professional conduct requirements, including continuing professional development.
Legal Professional Privilege
All communications with our office — from the first message onwards — are protected by legal professional privilege. We do not share client information with any third party without the client's explicit written instructions.
Document Quality Review
Every document we draft — marital agreements, parenting plans, settlement agreements — is reviewed by a senior counsel before being shared with the client. We do not issue documents that we would not sign ourselves.
Mediation Training Certification
Our senior counsel have completed formal mediation training through the Thailand Arbitration Center. This ensures that when we facilitate mediation sessions, we do so with a structured, neutral, and professionally sound approach.
Data Protection Compliance
Client data is managed in compliance with Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). We store only the information required for the matter, retain it for the legally required period, and dispose of it securely thereafter.
Transparent Fee Structures
We discuss fees before any engagement begins, in writing, so that clients understand what they are paying and why. Additional costs are flagged immediately if circumstances change during the matter.
Family law in Thailand: what to expect
Thai family law is governed primarily by the Civil and Commercial Code of Thailand. For marriages between Thai nationals, the Code sets out the rules on property ownership during marriage, the process for marital dissolution, and the rights and obligations of parents toward their children.
For mixed-nationality couples, the picture is more complex. A marriage registered in Thailand may also need to be recognised abroad, particularly if one spouse holds nationality from a country with its own private international law rules on marriage and divorce. Marital agreements drafted purely under Thai law may not be enforceable in the spouse's home jurisdiction without additional steps.
Bangkok has a dedicated Family Court that handles divorce petitions, custody applications, and related matters. Most straightforward, uncontested matters can be filed and concluded within a matter of months. Contested matters — where the two parties cannot agree on property or custody — can take considerably longer.
Our values in practice
We believe that people facing family legal matters deserve counsel who understands that the law is only part of the picture. The other part is the family itself — its history, its dynamics, the relationships that need to continue in some form even after a legal arrangement changes.
Our approach is mediation-first not because it is cheaper or faster, but because agreements reached through genuine discussion tend to hold. A court-imposed arrangement may be legally binding, but an arrangement that both parties have genuinely chosen is one that families can actually live within.
We do not take every matter that comes to us. Where a matter lies outside our area of focused practice, we say so clearly and, where possible, refer clients to counsel who can help. We would rather be honest about the limits of what we do well than take on work that we cannot serve appropriately.
We are glad you found us
If you would like to understand how we might be able to help with your family situation, please reach out. There is no pressure and no obligation in a first conversation.
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