Legal service for foreign clients
Personal Injury, Consumer, Insurance & Administrative Cases in Thailand
Damages claims, insurance disputes, consumer protection, and admin actions.
Quick answer
In a road accident, notify insurance within 24 hours. If a claim is denied, file with OIC first, then court. Consumer suits use the court's Consumer Division — no filing fee. Administrative-court challenges to state agencies must be filed within 90 days of knowledge. Fees from THB 25,000 (success-fee option for accident cases).
From THB 25,000 — Accident 25k + success fee / consumer 25k / admin 45k+ · Consumer 6–12 mo / admin 12–24 mo
Who this is for
- Victims of road or workplace accidents
- Consumers with defective / misleading products
- Denied insurance claimants
- Parties aggrieved by state action
What you receive
- Collect evidence, negotiate with insurers
- Civil action for damages
- Consumer suit + class-action option
- Administrative Court action against unlawful orders
- Negotiations at OIC / OCPB
Documents to prepare
- Driver's license / counterparty details / photos
- Medical certificate / receipts
- Insurance policy
- Government order in dispute (if any)
How it works
5-step process
- 1
Preserve evidence immediately
Photos, police site report.
- 2
Notify insurer / agency
File notice within deadline.
- 3
Pre-litigation negotiation
Talk to OIC / OCPB / arbitrator.
- 4
File suit
Civil / Consumer / Administrative — by type.
- 5
Enforcement / payout
Enforce judgment, remit funds to client.
In depth
Personal Injury, Consumer, Insurance & Administrative Cases: what foreign clients need to know
Tort and consumer cases are won or lost on the evidence gathered in the first week rather than on elegant pleadings — scene photographs, medical certificates that record continuing symptoms, and receipts proving actual loss. We therefore start by helping the injured party capture and preserve that record before any negotiation with the other side or the insurer.
What Thai law lets you claim as damages
Recoverable heads include medical costs already paid and those still to come, income lost while recovering, property damage, loss of earning capacity where disability results, and mental suffering where the law allows it. Separating each head with its own supporting document is what gives the figure weight in negotiation and in court.
Claimants often forget that costs met by family members — travel to hospital, paying a carer — are provable loss if receipts are kept. Keeping a daily note of symptoms and days off work from the outset helps far more than reconstructing months later at the hearing.
Consumer cases run on a track that favours the injured party
Where the dispute arises from buying goods or receiving a service, the claim can be brought as a consumer case: filing fees are waived in many instances, a claim may be lodged orally, and the burden of proving certain facts falls on the business. That difference keeps modest claims worth pursuing in a way ordinary civil litigation does not.
Unsafe goods are covered by product-liability legislation: the claimant need not prove the maker's negligence, only that the product was unsafe and caused loss. The critical point is to preserve the item, its packaging and the proof of purchase — do not discard it or return it to the seller before taking advice.
Negotiating with an insurer without giving ground away
The first settlement offer usually arrives before the injury has stabilised and before all treatment costs are visible. Signing that offer commonly closes off the rest of the claim, so we advise waiting for a clear treatment outcome and a medical view on long-term effects before considering any figure.
In road accidents there is both compulsory motor-accident protection and the other party's voluntary policy. The two are claimed separately and carry different deadlines, so mapping every entitlement recovers more than negotiating with one side without first reviewing all the policies.
Cost structure: government fees vs professional fees
| Item | Official fee | Professional fee | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case assessment and building the initial evidence set | Actual charges for police daily records and medical files | THB 8,000–20,000 | Includes a head-by-head damages calculation for use with the insurer |
| Pre-litigation damages negotiation | No government fee at this stage | THB 20,000–60,000, or a pre-agreed proportion of recovery | Suited to cases where the other side is insured and liability is not the main dispute |
| Filing a consumer or tort claim in the court of first instance | Consumer claims are exempt from filing fees in many cases; ordinary tort claims are charged on value | THB 40,000–150,000 | Cases needing medical or engineering experts carry additional witness costs |
A rider offered less than the true cost of treatment
Situation: The other party's insurer offered a closing figure within two weeks of the accident
What we did: We waited for the medical view on a second operation, then served a schedule separating ongoing treatment from lost income
Outcome: The matter settled in negotiation at several times the original offer without going to court
A defective appliance that started a house fire
Situation: The owner had kept the remains and the receipt, but the seller denied all responsibility
What we did: We filed as a consumer case on product-liability grounds, supported by a fire-origin inspection report
Outcome: The business agreed to cover repairs and property loss at court-led mediation
When to act, and when waiting is fine
The incident is recent and treatment is ongoing
Collect every record and receipt first, and sign nothing until the treatment outcome is clear
The other party is uninsured or denies responsibility
Assess their asset base before filing so any judgment can actually be enforced
The loss came from goods or a service you paid for
Use the consumer track: it costs less and shifts part of the burden of proof onto the business
More than a year has passed since the incident
Take advice promptly: tort claims have short limitation periods and little time may remain to file
Documents in detail
| Document | Issued by | Certification / translation | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| The police daily record made on the day of the incident | The police station for the area where it happened | Ask for a certified copy, since the wording in that record usually becomes the starting point in the argument over negligence | Best requested in the first week, before the file moves on to another unit |
| The medical certificate and the full medical record | The treating hospital or clinic | It must state the nature of the injury, the recovery period, and an opinion on disability or long-term effect | Collect updates for every further treatment, because damages are computed across the whole course of care |
| Treatment receipts and proof of related expenses | Hospitals, pharmacies, and transport providers | Keep every original, including travel to treatment and the cost of a carer during recovery | Keep collecting until treatment ends; do not close the figure before the final medical opinion |
| Evidence of income lost while recovering | The employer, or the income records of a self-employed claimant | Payslips, a letter confirming the leave taken, or bank statements for the self-employed | Cover at least six months before the incident so the income baseline can be compared |
| The contract, receipts, and advertising claims in a consumer dispute | The business that sold the goods or supplied the service | Capture the advertisement pages and chat messages, since advertising claims can form part of the agreement | Keep them from the purchase date and preserve the defective item as physical evidence |
Timeline and who does what
| Stage | Owner | Duration | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secure the evidence immediately after the incident | You provide | The first one to seven days | Scene photographs, camera footage, and witness names disappear fastest; many camera systems overwrite within a fortnight. |
| Assess liability and quantify the damages | Handled by our team | 1–3 weeks | We split the claim into treatment costs, lost income, non-pecuniary harm, and long-term effect, then weigh how far each side was at fault. |
| Negotiate with the other side or the insurer | Handled by our team | 2–8 weeks | Most disputes end here, at a figure clearly above the insurer's first offer, once the medical file is complete and the numbers can be explained. |
| File the claim in the court with jurisdiction | Handled by our team | Typically one to three months from filing to the first hearing | Consumer cases are filed without court fees and a case officer helps draft the complaint, making the court far easier to reach than in an ordinary civil claim. |
| Trial, judgment, and enforcement | Depends on the agency | Six months to two years depending on the court's caseload and any appeal | Winning is not receiving: enforcement follows, and we map the judgment debtor's assets in advance. |
Common pitfalls
Signing the insurer's settlement in the first week, before the length of treatment is known
Wait for the medical opinion on recovery time and long-term effect before agreeing any figure
Letting the limitation period lapse, notably the one-year tort period running from knowing of the wrong and the wrongdoer
Record the date of knowledge at the outset and set a reminder three months before the deadline
Discarding or repairing the defective product, leaving no physical evidence of the defect
Keep the item as it is, photograph it from every side, and notify the seller in writing
Claiming only treatment costs and omitting lost income and non-pecuniary harm
Build a full schedule of every head of damage with supporting documents before making the demand
Doing it yourself vs working with us
| Aspect | On your own | With our team |
|---|---|---|
| The amount actually received | Usually accepts the insurer's first offer for want of a benchmark | Every head of loss is computed and compared with similar decided cases before negotiating |
| The burden of assembling documents | You chase the hospital and the police yourself while still recovering | Our team requests and follows up on the full set throughout |
| Dealing with the other side | Faces continuous pressure to settle by message and telephone | All contact routes through counsel, easing the pressure and preventing damaging statements |
| Getting paid after winning | Holds a judgment without knowing the enforcement steps | We trace assets and carry enforcement through until payment |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Insurance won't pay — what now?
File at OIC first — insurer must respond within 15 days.
Consumer suit — filing fee?
No — no fee even if you lose (barring bad faith).
Admin Court time limit?
90 days from knowledge / 1 year from the order.
Uninsured counterparty?
Use the Road Victims Compensation Fund + sue the counterparty.
Class action in Thailand?
Yes under the Class Action Act 2015.
What is the limitation period for a tort claim?
As a rule one year from learning of the wrong and who is liable, and in any event not more than ten years from the act.
Can medical costs be claimed without receipts?
It is harder, but medical records and certificates can still support the claim; request a full copy from the hospital.
Does the claimant's own carelessness reduce the award?
The court weighs both sides' fault and may reduce the sum proportionately, but the claim is not extinguished.
Is a lawyer required to file a consumer case?
Not mandatory — you may file in person — but counsel who structures the damages schedule and handles witnesses usually makes a visible difference.
Written by: Thai Law & Accounting Services — attorneys and licensed accountants
Reviewed by: Reviewed by a Notarial Services Attorney registered with the Lawyers Council of Thailand.
Last updated: 2026-08
Information as of August 2026. Government fees and processing times change — verify with the relevant agency before acting, or let our team verify for you.