Interpreters — Government & Court

Yes. Thai officials will not register a transaction a foreign party cannot demonstrably understand. The interpreter must be independent of the deal, present an original ID or passport, and sign the official record confirming a full oral translation was given. Many offices also ask for proof of language competence — a degree in that language or a letter from a registered translation office. We supply interpreters already known to the specific office, which avoids counter-level refusals on the day.

English, Chinese and Russian usually need 1–2 working days' notice. Japanese, Korean, German, French, Arabic, Hebrew and Burmese need 3–5 working days. Pricing is by half day (up to 4 hours) or full day (up to 8 hours), plus travel outside the municipal area. Rescheduling is free if you tell us at least 24 hours before the appointment.

A court interpreter is sworn before the bench and must render every statement consecutively, without summarising — errors can affect the outcome of the case, so we assign linguists trained in Thai procedural vocabulary. A general government interpreter, used for marriage registration, property transfers or Immigration interviews, focuses on accurate content and signing the official record. The two pools are staffed separately and the level is stated in every quotation.

End-to-end handling from before arrival to after settling in: pre-checking origin-country documents, courier collection and delivery to your residence, an interpreter at every government appointment, consular legalisation runs, TM.30 and TM.47 filings, bank account opening, the Thai driving licence, and liaison with international schools or hospitals. One coordinator owns the whole file, so you never repeat your story.

The investigating officer must provide an interpreter for a suspect or witness who does not understand Thai, under the Criminal Procedure Code. The interpreter must have no interest in the case, present identification and affirm that the interpretation is truthful. In practice use an interpreter familiar with legal vocabulary and procedure, because a mistranslated statement follows the case all the way to trial.

If the document will be filed with a government office or used as evidence, the interpreter should sign a statement confirming that the entire text was interpreted for the party who does not read Thai, attaching a copy of their identification. This removes the later argument that a party did not understand what they signed. For bilingual minutes, state in the record which language version governs.

State the controlling language expressly. Without that clause, a Thai court hearing a dispute will work primarily from the Thai text and may order a court-accepted translation of the English one. Contracts that must be filed with Thai authorities, such as the Land Department or DBD, need a Thai version anyway, so it is safer to draft both versions in parallel and have the translator certify accuracy.

State the governing language expressly. If a dispute reaches a Thai court, the court works from the Thai text and a certified translation will be required in any event, so an English-prevails clause does not remove the translation work — it decides intent where the translation diverges. The safer practice is to translate in parallel with drafting, using a translator familiar with legal terminology, rather than translating after signature. We draft and translate in parallel and certify the translation for use with Thai authorities and courts.

Short meetings with few participants normally use consecutive interpreting, which allows documents to be read out and wording to be checked as you go. Long conferences that must keep to a schedule use simultaneous interpreting, which requires two interpreters and audio equipment. If the outcome will be registered, prepare a bilingual draft of the minutes beforehand so the interpreter and the signatories can review it. We assign interpreters familiar with your industry vocabulary and help prepare the supporting papers.