Last updated on August 8, 2026
State of Expat Law in Thailand is a twice-yearly record of what actually changed in Thai law for foreigners, and what did not. Published every January and July. Every claim is tied to a named instrument with a Royal Gazette date, or it is labelled as something weaker.
Why this exists
Most reporting on Thai law for foreigners tells you what a cabinet approved. Very little of it tells you whether that became law, and the gap between the two is where expensive mistakes live. A change approved in May and unpublished in August is not a rule you can plan around, however many times you have read that it is.
So this report keeps score. Each edition lists the changes in the period, states which ones reached the Royal Gazette, scores each one against five reader profiles, and says plainly where our own earlier writing was wrong.
Editions
Mid-Year Review, H1 2026. 1 January to 30 June 2026. Ten changes examined, four became law. Published August 2026.
Annual Review 2026. Full year, plus the first Expat Legal Confidence Survey. January 2027.
How it is put together
Every change is traced to its instrument. Statistics come from our own research store of 84,575 Thai Supreme Court decisions and 41,000 codified law documents. Where two ways of measuring the same thing disagree, we publish neither and say so.
The summary, the headline statistics and the full Impact Scorecard are free in every edition, and always will be. The per-change analysis and the practical guidance are a member benefit.
Thai Law Updates, free by email
Plain-English updates on Thai law changes that affect foreigners: property, visas, marriage, business and wills. One short email a month from a firm practicing since 2006. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.