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There is no sworn-translator status in Thailand. No law creates one, and no state register of document translators exists. Section 26 of the Administrative Procedure Act B.E. 2539 requires a certified Thai translation of a foreign-language document and leaves the method of certification to a ministerial regulation; confirm with the receiving office which form of certification it accepts. When the receiving office or a foreign country asks for more, the translation goes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Consular Affairs, which is the competent authority the Hague Conference lists for Thailand. The Ministry certifies the translator's signature, not the content of the translation itself.
In short
- Thailand has no sworn-translator status and no official register of translators.
- A Thai office takes a document in Thai; a foreign-language document comes with a translation the translator signs and stands behind.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalises the translator's signature. MFA legalisation does not certify the accuracy of the translation.
- A lawyer registered to provide notarial services is used mainly for documents going abroad. Do not rely on this instead of the Ministry's legalisation for a Thai office without checking with that office first.
- From 28 February 2027 an apostille will replace the embassy step for documents from Convention states that have not objected to Thailand's accession, but a translation can still be required.
Why Thailand has no sworn translators
Some countries license a small group of "sworn" or "certified" translators and keep a public register of them. Thailand's Administrative Procedure Act B.E. 2539 (1996) works differently. Its section 26 says that where a document submitted to an official is not in Thai, the applicant attaches a translation that someone certifies as accurate, within a period the official sets; the official may also simply accept the original document. The Act names no qualification for the person who certifies the translation and creates no licensing body for translators.
Interpreting at a court hearing is a separate matter from certifying a written translation for a government office, and it does not give a translator any special status outside the courtroom.
Section 26 requires a certified Thai translation and leaves the details of certification to a ministerial regulation; confirm with the receiving office which form of certification it expects.
Three levels of certification: translator, attorney, Ministry
Three different things in Thailand get called "certified translation," and they are not interchangeable.
| Who certifies | What it confirms | Typical use | Who decides whether it is accepted |
|---|---|---|---|
| The translator, by signature | That the translator believes the translation is accurate | A translation attached to a document filed with a Thai office | The receiving office |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Consular Affairs | The translator's signature and the document's seal, not the translation's content | Thai documents going abroad; some documents coming into Thailand | The office or country that asked for legalisation |
| A lawyer registered to provide notarial services | The signature or copy in front of the lawyer | Mainly documents a client will use outside Thailand | The country where the document is used |
| An apostille (from 28 February 2027) | A signature, the signer's capacity and a seal | Replaces the Ministry-and-embassy chain between Thailand and Convention states that have not objected to Thailand's accession | The receiving country's rules on what an apostille covers |
The row most people get wrong is the lawyer. A lawyer registered to provide notarial services in Thailand ("Notarial Services Attorney") can certify signatures and copies, and some firms market this for translations. Thai offices, however, are reported not to require or accept a lawyer's certification in place of the Ministry's legalisation for documents used inside Thailand. Treat this certification as something aimed at the country that will receive the document abroad, not as a substitute for the Ministry's stamp here.
What immigration, the amphur and the Land Office ask for
We have not confirmed exactly which translation Immigration, the district office (amphur), the Land Office or the Revenue Department will accept in a given case. Section 26 of the Administrative Procedure Act sets the general rule and refers the certification method to a ministerial regulation; for a specific procedure, ask the office handling your file what it expects.
One documented example involves marriage registration: the UK government's own guidance for citizens in Thailand describes an affirmation of marital status issued by the British Embassy, together with a certified copy of the passport, being translated into Thai and then legalised at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the district office (amphur) will register the marriage. That shows the two-step pattern — translation, then Ministry legalisation — rather than a rule that covers every document type.
Before you pay for a translation, we suggest asking the office for three things:
- which language the translation must be in;
- whether it needs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' legalisation on top of the translator's signature;
- whether the office has its own form the translation must be attached to.
A translation made at home: will Thailand accept it?
Translation requirements for a visa application depend on the Thai embassy or consulate handling it. The Thai Embassy in Moscow, for instance, asks applicants for an English translation of their Russian documents certified by a notary. London and Washington handle this differently again: London's consular service certifies a translation the translator has already signed, for a reported fee of around £10 per document, within a limited scope of documents — a translation from English into Thai needs the original document legalised first by the FCDO or the Irish DFA. Washington stamps a translation of an official Thai document, from Thai into English, as "seen at the Royal Thai Embassy," for a reported fee of $15 per stamp, without certifying its content; certifying the original document separately can cost more.
What is not documented is whether a Thai office inside the country — the Land Office, the Revenue Department, Immigration — will accept a translation certified this way at the visa stage without separately legalising it through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand. Until an office confirms this in your case, we advise asking before you rely on a translation made abroad.
Translating Thai documents for use back home
For a Thai document going the other way — a marriage certificate, a company document, a Thai court order — the usual route today is legalisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Consular Affairs, followed by the destination country's own embassy step where that country asks for one. Thai law firms report a fee of around THB 200 per stamp for the regular service, processed in about two working days, or THB 400 for a same-day service; the Ministry has not published a fee page we could verify, so confirm the current amount when you book.
From 28 February 2027, a single apostille from the Department of Consular Affairs is expected to replace the embassy step for countries that have not objected to Thailand's accession to the Hague Apostille Convention (HCCH). An apostille still only confirms the signature and seal on the Thai document — it does not certify a translation, so a destination country can still ask for one.
If the destination is Russia, the comparison is useful: Russia also has no sworn-translator status. Confirm with the Russian notary handling your case whether they will certify the translator's signature or the translation itself; this has not been verified against the Fundamentals of Legislation on Notaries. A consular officer at a Russian mission can also certify a translation. Before relying on a single certification, confirm with the Russian notary, registry office and consulate what they require; do not assume that Thai notarial-style certification alone will be accepted without the legalisation chain described above.
We prepare the documents our clients need on two languages — Thai and Russian or English — so the translation and the underlying document match the wording an office expects to see.
What is not settled yet
A few points here have no official answer yet:
- Whether a lawyer registered to provide notarial services may certify a translation for use by a Thai government office, rather than only for use abroad — official guidance pending.
- Which translations individual offices (Land Office, Revenue Department, Immigration) accept without the Ministry's legalisation. We have not verified this; confirm it with the receiving office.
- Whether any Convention country will object to Thailand's accession to the Apostille Convention. The objection window runs to about 30 December 2026, but the current legalisation chain applies regardless until the Convention enters into force for Thailand on 28 February 2027; after that date it applies between Thailand and the Convention states that have not objected.
We flag these as open questions rather than settled rules, and we check them again whenever a client's document depends on the answer.
What to do next
Send us the document and tell us which office it is going to. We reply within 24 hours, explain the certification the office is likely to ask for, and fix the cost before any work starts. If the same document also needs to work abroad — for a foreign registry, a bank or a court — tell us that too, so we can plan the Ministry and embassy steps together rather than redoing the translation twice.
