OUR COMPANY
Family law counsel shaped by the families we serve
Baan Phak Legal was founded in Bangkok to provide family law support that is patient, plainly worded, and wholly centred on the people involved — not on the pace of a legal process.
Back to homeThe name Baan Phak — which carries the sense of a place to rest and recover — was chosen deliberately. Family law matters are rarely simple, and they rarely arrive at a convenient time. We built a practice around that reality.
Who we are and how we work
Baan Phak Legal opened its first office on Sukhumvit in 2017, with a focus on child custody and parental arrangement matters for families living in and around Bangkok. The founders had both worked in larger commercial law firms and had noticed that family matters — despite being among the most significant events in a person's life — were often handled in ways that felt hurried, opaque, and impersonal.
The decision to establish a dedicated family law practice was driven by a straightforward conviction: that people navigating custody questions deserve the same quality of legal thinking that companies receive in commercial matters, presented in a way that is genuinely accessible to someone who has never dealt with the courts before.
Since 2017, the practice has worked with Thai families, expatriate families, and families of mixed Thai and international backgrounds. The circumstances are different in each case — different households, different children, different concerns — and we treat each matter accordingly. There is no standard template for a custody arrangement; each one is worked out from the particular facts and priorities of the family involved.
We are a small practice by design. It keeps the work careful and the communication direct. When you contact us, you speak to the lawyer who will actually be handling your matter — not a coordinator, not a case manager, not someone relaying information second-hand.
The people you will be working with directly.
The team
Nattaya Phanichkul
Founding Partner
Nattaya has practiced family law in Bangkok for fourteen years, with a particular focus on parental arrangements where children are below school age. She leads all proceedings representation and senior consultation work.
Kritsana Thongprasert
Senior Associate
Kritsana joined the practice in 2019 and leads documentation support work. He has extensive experience compiling court-ready documentary files for custody matters across the Bangkok family courts.
Saowalak Wiriyapan
Client Relations & Administration
Saowalak manages client communication and scheduling, ensuring that each family's first contact with the practice is calm and unhurried. She speaks English and Thai and coordinates all appointments.
The standards we hold ourselves to in every matter we handle.
Our professional standards
Thai Bar Council membership
All practising lawyers at Baan Phak Legal hold current membership with the Lawyers Council of Thailand and operate in full compliance with the Legal Profession Act.
Client confidentiality
All client information is held under strict confidentiality. Files are stored securely and accessed only by the lawyers working on the relevant matter. Nothing is shared without your knowledge and consent.
Written record at every stage
Every meeting and every meaningful development produces a written note. You always have a clear, accurate record of where your matter stands and what has been agreed or decided.
Client-led strategy
We do not make strategic decisions on your behalf. Options are set out clearly, their trade-offs explained, and decisions taken only with your informed approval. The matter is yours throughout.
Children's welfare first
Thai family law places the welfare of the child at the centre of custody decisions, and so do we. Our advice is shaped around what arrangements genuinely serve the children involved, not simply what a parent might prefer at a given moment.
Cross-cultural experience
We work regularly with families of mixed Thai and international backgrounds. We understand the particular documentation and court considerations that arise when one or both parents hold foreign nationality or reside partly overseas.
Family law in Bangkok — what to look for in a practice
Thailand's family court system operates within a framework that prioritises the welfare of children and, where circumstances allow, the preservation of cooperative arrangements between parents. Custody decisions are not taken by a single court order alone — they depend on a body of documentation, a clear record of each parent's current involvement with the children, and in some cases independent expert reports.
A family law practice working in Bangkok needs to understand both the formal legal process and the practical realities facing families in this city — including the specific considerations for expatriate parents, the documentation requirements of the Thai courts, and the realistic timelines for different types of proceedings.
At Baan Phak Legal, we have worked on custody matters in the Bangkok courts since 2017. The knowledge that builds up over that period — which documents courts tend to scrutinise carefully, which timelines are realistic for which types of matter, how independent reports are ordered and what they typically cover — informs everything we do. We share that knowledge with our clients in plain terms, so they can make decisions on a full and accurate picture of their situation.
Ready to talk through your situation?
Whether you are at the beginning of thinking about what arrangements might look like, or already partway through a formal process, we are happy to spend some time on an initial conversation.
Get in touch