A practice built around families, not timelines
Sai Yai Law has served families in Bangkok and across borders since 2009 — with a consistent focus on written clarity and patient handling of sensitive matters.
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About Sai Yai Law
Sai Yai Law was founded in 2009 by a small group of Bangkok-based practitioners who had worked within larger firms and noticed something consistent: families going through adoption or guardianship proceedings often felt that their matter was being processed rather than understood. The pace of larger practices, shaped around billing cycles, left little room for the kind of unhurried explanation that families in difficult circumstances actually need.
The name — Sai Yai, from the Thai for a long, winding thread — reflects how family law often works in practice. A matter rarely follows a straight line. It moves forward, doubles back for a missing document, waits on an authority to respond, and then proceeds again. Our role is to remain a calm, organised presence throughout that process, keeping the family's record complete and their understanding current.
Today Sai Yai Law works with families at different stages of adoption proceedings, guardianship applications, and matters involving more than one country. We do not take on commercial or criminal work. Family law — handled carefully and without pressure — is the only thing we do.
Our guiding principles
- Written over verbal. Every significant step in a matter produces a written note. Families do not rely on memory of a conversation.
- Paced by the family. We do not present deadlines that are not real, and we do not press for decisions before the family is ready.
- Transparent costs. Fees are stated in advance for each piece of work. There are no charges added within an agreed scope.
- Specialist only. We do not accept matters outside family law. Depth of focus matters more than breadth of service.
The people
Our team
Anchalee Wattanaporn
Principal & Founder
Anchalee has practiced family law in Thailand for over eighteen years, with particular depth in adoption proceedings and international coordination. She founded Sai Yai Law after a decade at a Bangkok commercial firm.
Peerapat Tanakulwat
Senior Associate
Peerapat focuses on guardianship applications and cross-border family matters. He studied law at Chulalongkorn University and completed further training in international private law in the Netherlands.
Natthaya Siriporn
Client Coordinator
Natthaya manages the documentary record for all active matters and is the primary point of contact for families seeking updates. She holds a degree in social work and joined Sai Yai Law in 2017.
Our standards
How we carry out our work
Thai Bar Association membership
All practising members hold current Thai Bar Association membership and comply with continuing professional development requirements annually.
Client confidentiality
All information shared with Sai Yai Law is held in confidence. Documentary files are stored securely and are not shared beyond the purposes of the matter.
Written progress reporting
Each meaningful step in a matter is reported to the family in writing, within three working days of that step occurring.
Personal data protection
We comply with Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and handle all family information in accordance with its requirements.
Transparent fee agreements
No work begins without a written fee agreement. Any scope change is documented and agreed before additional work proceeds.
International coordination protocols
For cross-border matters, we follow documented protocols for communicating with foreign authorities and reconciling their responses into a single family record.
Family law support in Bangkok, handled with care
Sai Yai Law has worked with families in Thailand and across multiple jurisdictions since 2009. Our practice covers three specific areas: adoption documentation review, guardianship application support, and international family coordination. Each area requires a different kind of attention, and we carry out all three within the same careful framework.
Adoption matters in Thailand involve a documentary process that begins well before the formal application. Families who have already gathered some records often arrive uncertain about what they have and what is still needed. Our review service is designed for precisely that moment — a patient read-through of existing documents, followed by a clear written note the family can keep.
Guardianship applications, whether for a child or an adult who needs ongoing support, move through a formal authority process that can be unfamiliar to families. We manage that process in full — from drafting the application through to final correspondence — and we report on progress in writing at each stage so the family always knows where the matter stands.
Where a family's situation spans more than one country, the coordination involved is more complex. Different jurisdictions use different terminology, follow different timelines, and communicate through different channels. Sai Yai Law handles that complexity on the family's behalf, maintaining a single consolidated record so that nothing is lost between systems.
Our Bangkok office is on Wireless Road in Lumphini, accessible by public transport from central Bangkok. We work with families who are residents of Thailand, expatriates based here, and families outside Thailand whose matters have a Thai element. Enquiries in English are welcome.
Ready to discuss your family's situation?
A short enquiry is all that is needed to begin. We will respond with a plain account of what might be involved.
Send an Enquiry