Sworn and embassy-approved translation in Bangkok

No. Thailand has no statutory sworn-translator register comparable to the German beeidigter Übersetzer or the French traducteur assermenté. What exists instead is recognition by the body receiving the document: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepts translations it can verify for legalisation, the Ministry of Justice maintains a list of translators used for court work, and individual embassies in Bangkok publish their own approved-translator lists. 'Sworn translation in Thailand' in practice means a translation prepared to whichever of those rules applies to you.

Always the one that receives it. A German residence file follows the German mission's rule; a Thai court file follows the court's; an Australian visa follows the Department of Home Affairs, which requires NAATI certification. Tell us the receiving authority first — choosing the wrong certification is the single most common reason a translation is rejected.

A certified translation carries the translator's or agency's signed statement of accuracy. A sworn translation is produced by a translator formally authorised by a court or ministry in the destination country, who signs and seals under that authority. Some authorities accept either; others accept only the sworn form, and a few additionally require the translator's signature to be legalised.

Several do. The German, French, Italian, Spanish, Austrian and Dutch missions have historically published or supplied lists of translators whose work they accept, and the composition of those lists changes. We verify the current requirement with the mission at the time of your file rather than relying on an older list.

Frequently, yes. For Hague Convention member states the usual chain is: certified or sworn translation, then an Apostille from Thailand's Department of Consular Affairs on the underlying Thai document and, where required, on the certified translation. For non-member states the chain is MFA certification followed by legalisation at the destination embassy in Bangkok.

German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean into and out of Thai and English, plus other pairs on request. For Australian purposes we issue NAATI-certified translations, which is a different and separately regulated credential.

Yes. Send the document and name the office that will receive it. We check the current requirement, tell you which certification route it needs and quote for that route only — we will say so plainly if a cheaper certified translation is sufficient.

A foreign document used in Thailand generally needs a Thai translation, and Thai government offices commonly require the translation to be verifiable by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the document is accepted. Since the Apostille Convention took effect for Thailand, a foreign document already carrying an Apostille no longer needs Thai embassy legalisation abroad, but the Thai translation requirement stays.