Public Will (District Office Will): Section 1658

Reviewed by Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556, for ThaiLawOnline, a Thai law firm acting for foreigners since 2006.

Last updated on 2 November 2026

A public will (พินัยกรรมแบบเอกสารฝ่ายเมือง, phinaikam baep ekkasan fai mueang, usually called a district office will or amphur will) is a will made by declaring one’s wishes to a district officer in the presence of at least two witnesses, under Section 1658 of the Civil and Commercial Code. The officer writes the declaration down, reads it back, and everyone signs. The office keeps the will; the testator can collect it on showing the receipt, and the office then keeps a certified copy. Since 24 March 2026 the procedure is governed by the Ministerial Regulation on the Making of Wills B.E. 2569, which allows the will to be made at any district or khet office in Thailand for a fee of 250 baht.

What Section 1658 and the 2026 regulation require

The testator states the terms of the will to the district officer (the amphur or, in Bangkok, the khet office) before at least two witnesses present at the same time. The officer records the declaration, reads it to the testator and witnesses, and all three sign; the officer then signs, dates and seals the document. The Code allows the declaration to be taken outside the office on request, which is how a bedridden testator makes one. As with every Thai will, the writer and the witnesses, and their spouses, cannot benefit under it (Section 1653).

The Ministerial Regulation B.E. 2569 replaced a regulation that had stood for 66 years. It introduced a standard form (Phor Kor 1), raised the fee for a public will made at the district office from 50 to 250 baht (500 baht if made outside the office), set a fee of 50 baht for each duplicate counterpart of the will, and removed the old requirement to use the office where the property or the testator was registered: any amphur or khet office now serves. The office keeps the registered will; the testator may collect it at any time on showing the receipt, and the office then keeps a certified copy, and since 1 September 2009 district office wills are logged in a central database, so a lost original can be replaced by a certified copy. Wills made before that date are traceable only at the office that made them.

Practical points for a foreigner

Bring a passport or other official photo identification with an identity number, two adult witnesses who are not beneficiaries, and a clear list of assets and beneficiaries. The document is drawn up in Thai. A testator who does not read Thai needs an interpreter, and a bilingual draft prepared in advance keeps the officer’s Thai text faithful to what was intended. The officer records what is said; the office gives no advice on whether a foreign heir can hold the land being left to them, or on how the will interacts with one made at home.

The strength of the form is evidential. A public will is an official document, signed and sealed by a state officer, kept at the district office: nobody can argue about handwriting, and the question of whether the witnesses were really present is answered by the officer’s certificate. The weakness is content. A 250 baht will drafted at the counter may leave a condominium to a foreigner who exceeds the building’s quota, or omit a residuary clause, and the office will not notice. The guide on what a will costs in Thailand compares the district office route with a drafted will.

Public will compared with other forms

For a foreigner with straightforward Thai assets and a Thai-speaking helper, the public will is a sound choice, and it is the only form with a government copy. Most people with mixed families or property in two countries have a bilingual ordinary will drafted first and then, if they want the official record, take that text to the district office to be declared as a public will.

Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. Checked against the Thai text of Civil and Commercial Code sections 1653, 1656 to 1658 and 1660, and clauses 7 to 13 of the Ministerial Regulation on the Making of Wills B.E. 2569 (the office keeps the will; the testator may collect it on producing the receipt, after the officer keeps a certified copy). Corrected: the office keeps the will itself, not a duplicate.

The public document will in detail

One limit worth knowing before you rely on it. The same manual tells district chiefs they can only look a will up in the central database if it was made through the computer system, which has run since 1 September 2009. For a district office will made before that date, an heir or executor has to apply at the office where it was actually made. The office also checks capacity on the spot: the testator must have completed 15 years and not be adjudged incompetent or of unsound mind, the two or more witnesses must be of full legal capacity and not of unsound mind, quasi-incompetent, deaf, dumb or blind in both eyes, and any executor named must additionally not be bankrupt. An interpreter is provided where the testator or a witness cannot communicate in Thai.

This will is made at a local public office. The testator shares their wishes in Thai with a public officer. The officer then writes it down. The official must read it back to the testator and witnesses, who then sign (Civil and Commercial Code, Section 1658). These three types of Wills (Holographic, ordinary and public documents) likely come from the old Civil Law. This law distinguishes between an authentic act, a semi-authentic act, and a non-authentic act. Therefore, it would be considered as the most difficult Will to contest. As of 24 March 2026, the Ministerial Regulation on Wills B.E. 2569 standardises how these public (district-office) wills are made nationwide: you may now register at any amphur or Bangkok khet office (not only your house-registration district), officers use the standard forms annexed to the regulation, with identity checks and a recorded inquiry where the testator’s age or sanity is in doubt, you may ask to take the original away with you, in which case the office retains a certified duplicate instead, and the official fee is 250 baht for a public will made at the district office, or 500 baht if the officer makes it away from the office; 250 baht for a secret will; 100 baht for a disinheritance declaration; and 50 baht for each duplicate. This is a procedural reform only, it does not change who inherits, and it does not affect an ordinary written will (Section 1656) or a handwritten holographic will (Section 1657) made privately.

Frequently asked questions

See also: will, holographic will, secret will, testator, and the guides on making a last will in Thailand and the cost of a will in Thailand.