Thai to English and English to Thai Translation in Chiang Mai
Aphiwat Bualoi Law Office provides Thai to English and English to Thai document translation in Chiang Mai, and where a document has to be accepted by an official body we submit it to the Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs for legalisation. Translations are normally ready within 48 hours.
MeanWise is our translation department. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, academic transcripts, title deeds, contracts and court orders are the documents people bring us most often, and each one is prepared inside a law office by a translator who reads that kind of document as part of her ordinary work.
What documents do you translate?
These are the ones people bring us most often.
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Divorce decrees
- Passports
- Name change certificates
- Academic transcripts
- Academic certificates
- Visa and immigration documents
- Tax documents
- Bank statements
- Land and house title deeds
- Contracts and agreements
- Court judgments
- Court orders
- Chat and conversation records
Where a message thread has to be put in front of a court or an official in the other language.
If your document is not on this list, send it to us anyway. It takes a minute to tell you whether we can do it.
Which languages do you work in?
Thai to English, and English to Thai. Both directions, and both are done in this office.
Do you use AI to translate?
We use modern tools where they help, and a person checks every line before the document leaves the office. No file goes out on machine output alone.
That matters more with legal documents than with ordinary text. A machine will translate a Thai court order into fluent English and quietly get the operative sentence wrong, because it does not know which words are terms of art and which are ordinary words. A person who reads Thai court orders every week does know.
What is MFA legalisation, and do I need it?
A translation on its own is a piece of paper from a private office. Many foreign embassies, and many Thai government offices, will not accept it until the Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs has legalised it. This is the step most people call MFA legalisation. We handle the whole process for you.
We prepare the translation.
We submit it to the Department of Consular Affairs on your behalf.
You receive the finished legalised document, ready for official use.
You do not have to travel to Bangkok and you do not have to queue. Whether you need this step at all depends on who is asking for the document. If the embassy or the office abroad has sent you a written instruction, show it to us and we will tell you which steps apply.
Does Thailand have an apostille yet?
Not yet. Thailand joined the 1961 Apostille Convention on 30 June 2026, and it is due to take effect for Thailand on 28 February 2027.
Until that date a Thai document going abroad still needs three steps. First the translation or the notarisation. Then legalisation by the Department of Consular Affairs. Then legalisation by the embassy of the country the document is going to.
From 28 February 2027 an apostille will replace the embassy step for documents going to other Convention countries. It does not replace the translation, and it does not replace the Department of Consular Affairs step.
Updated 27 August 2026
How much does a translation cost?
The price depends on the document, on its length, and on whether it also needs legalisation. We look at the file and give you a fixed price before any work starts, so you know the whole cost in advance.
We charge Thai clients and foreign clients the same rate.
How long does it take?
The translation is normally ready within 48 hours.
If the document also needs legalisation, allow about one week on top of that. That part depends on the queue at the Department of Consular Affairs, which is out of our hands. We tell you what to expect before you start.
Where an embassy has to legalise the document after that step, the embassy sets its own timetable and we cannot promise it.
What do you need from me?
Send us a clear photograph or a scan of every page, including the back of the page where there is anything printed on it.
Tell us the spelling of every personal name exactly as it appears in the passport. A name spelled one way in the passport and another way in the translation is the most common reason a document is rejected, and it is completely avoidable.
Tell us who the document is going to, and what they asked for. Their instruction letter or email is often the quickest way to work out which steps you actually need.
Send all of it through the contact page, or call 064 932 1365.
Who will handle my document?
Thanyarat Thonglue is the translator and interpreter of this office, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Chiang Mai University.
Her work covers personal, academic, financial, property, legal and business documents in Thai and English, together with interpreting in court and at the Land Office. Where a document must also be legalised, she submits it to the Department of Consular Affairs and carries the file through to delivery.
Where are you?
Room 3i, third floor, Siriphanich Building, 191 Huaykaew Road, Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai 50200.
We are directly across the road from Kad Rincome and MAYA. There is free parking at the building.
Call 064 932 1365.
About the firm
Aphiwat Bualoi Law Office Co., Ltd. was founded in 2021 and is registered in Thailand under number 0505564002453. There are five of us, in central Chiang Mai. As well as translation we handle wills, probate, property, notarial work and company matters.
MeanWise is our translation department. Your document is handled inside a law office and it stays confidential, on the same terms as any other client file.
Send us the document and tell us who is asking for it. If we cannot help, we will tell you that in the first five minutes.
Send us your document
Aphiwat Bualoi Law Office 