THAILAND · POLICE MATTERS · GIVING A STATEMENT
You Have Been Asked to Give a Statement to Thai Police.
Thailand
Being asked for a statement is not the same as being accused, and it is not the same as being charged. The most useful thing you can do in the next few hours is slow down and find out which one this is.
Whether you are a witness or an alleged offender and why the difference decides your rights, what the Thai-language record actually is, your interpreter right at the police stage, and the one protection worth knowing before you say anything.
The short answer
**First, establish your status — because in Thai procedure it decides which rights you actually have.** You are either a **witness** (questioned under **Section 133**) or an **alleged offender**, `ผู้ต้องหา` (questioned under **Section 134** and following). Here is the part almost nobody is told: **the statutory rights switch on when the charge is formally notified — `แจ้งข้อหา` — not at the moment police begin to suspect you.** The Royal Thai Police's own questioning guideline is built in exactly those two blocks, and the block for *"a suspected person, or a person connected to the allegation, where no charge has yet been notified"* contains **no rights caution at all**. You can be a suspect in every ordinary sense and still be procedurally a witness. Ask which you are, politely and directly, and ask for the answer to be recorded. **Second, the record being created is a Thai one.** **Section 13** requires the inquiry to be conducted in Thai. Whatever you say in English is interpreted, and what goes into the file is the Thai text; where an interpreter is used, they must translate accurately, swear to add nothing and omit nothing, and sign the translation. We will be precise here rather than dramatic: the Code does not contain a section saying the Thai version legally overrides an English one, and we are not going to invent one. What it does establish is that the proceeding is in Thai, the document you sign is Thai, and any English around it is a translation of that document. Plan accordingly. **Your interpreter right is stronger than you have probably been told.** Under **Section 13** the inquiry official, prosecutor **or court** must procure an interpreter **without delay** where the person cannot speak or understand Thai — the state pays the interpreter's fee, travel and accommodation. Three things follow that matter: the duty applies **at the police stage**, not only in court; the trigger is simply that you cannot follow the language, so **you do not have to request it** for the duty to exist; and it covers **witnesses**, not only the accused. **You may have someone in the room.** Under **Section 134/3** an alleged offender may have a lawyer *or a person they trust* sit in on their own questioning, and **Section 7/1** gives an arrested or detained person the right to consult a lawyer privately and to have a lawyer or trusted person present **at the inquiry stage** — with a duty on the officer to tell them so at the first opportunity. A state-provided lawyer is mandatory in capital cases and for under-18s, and available **in any imprisonable case if the person wants one**. Be aware of the realistic failure mode: if an assigned lawyer does not appear within a reasonable time, questioning may proceed without them, with the reason recorded. **And the single most useful sentence on this page.** Under **Section 134/4**, before questioning an alleged offender the inquiry official **must** state that you may decline to give a statement and that what you say may be used in evidence. **Anything said before that caution is given — and before the lawyer provisions are complied with — cannot be used as evidence to prove your guilt.** Section 135 separately forbids inducing a statement by promise, threat, deception or force. Note the limit, because it is the reason status matters: that caution duty is owed to an alleged offender. **We found no equivalent statutory caution owed to a witness** — though the Constitution's protection against being compelled to give evidence against yourself is written to cover *any person*. **Before you sign anything.** **Section 11** requires the record to be **read back** to the person who gave it, and corrections, objections or additions to be made or noted **before** signing — and that right belongs to **witnesses as well as suspects**. If you are unable or unwilling to sign, that is not defiance of the process: the Code expressly provides for the reason to be recorded. One genuine gap you should know about: the right to examine or copy your own statement appears only **once the case is filed in court**. Do not assume you will walk out with a copy. *Section numbers here were checked against the Office of the Council of State's consolidated Thai text of the Code. That consolidation runs to the 2008 amendment; later amending Acts exist and we have not verified whether any touch these sections. Where we could only reach a conclusion by combining two sections rather than citing one, we have said so above instead of presenting it as a rule.*
Is this you?
People come to us with this at very different stages. See which of these sounds like your situation — it changes what happens next.
- You have been handed a document in Thai telling you to attend a police station on a particular date, and nobody has explained what it is.
- There was a traffic accident, or a dispute with a landlord, employer, business partner or neighbour — and the other side has gone to the police.
- You are at a station now, being asked to sign a statement in Thai, and you do not know whether you are a witness or a suspect.
- Your passport has been asked for or retained, and you are no longer sure whether you are free to leave the country.
If one or more of those sound familiar, this page was written for you.
What happens next
1. We find out what the document actually says
Photograph the paper you were given, front and back, and send it. A summons, an informal invitation to attend, a notice about a complaint and a charge sheet all look much the same to someone who does not read Thai, and they mean very different things. This takes minutes, and it changes everything that follows.
2. We establish whether you are a witness or a suspect
Where the paperwork does not make it clear, Thai counsel can establish it with the station directly, in Thai, before you attend. Walking in already knowing your own status is the difference between a manageable morning and an unmanageable one.
3. Thai counsel is instructed before the interview, not after it
This is the point most people get wrong, and it is expensive to get wrong. A lawyer engaged after a statement has been signed is working uphill against a document that already exists. A lawyer engaged before it can attend with you, hear the questions as they are asked, and make sure the Thai record reflects what you actually said.
4. You attend with an interpreter, and the statement is read back to you
Before you sign anything, the Thai text is interpreted to you line by line. If it does not match what you said, corrections are raised there and then — which is possible — rather than disputed months later, which mostly is not.
5. Your embassy, if you want it involved
Foreign nationals may ask that their embassy or consulate be notified. Be realistic about what that achieves: an embassy cannot represent you or intervene in the case. It can note your situation, provide a list of local lawyers, and in a detention scenario that contact matters. We will tell you honestly whether it is worth doing in your case rather than adding it to a checklist.
6. What happens after the statement
Sometimes nothing. Sometimes a further date, a settlement discussion between the parties, or a referral onward. We keep a written record in English of what was said, what was signed and what was agreed — so that if this runs for months, you are not relying on your memory of a stressful afternoon.
This is the process as it actually runs in Thailand. Procedure genuinely differs from one country to the next, so don't assume a neighbouring country's steps apply — and don't assume anything you read on a forum does either.
What this costs — ours and Thailand's, separated
Giving a statement is not something you pay the Thai state for. Almost all of the real cost of a police matter is professional time and translation, so here is how that splits.
| Connect Consult fee | Official / government fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Attending and giving a statement | — | No government charge |
| Professional Thai interpretation at the stationPaid to the interpreter | — | Quoted per attendance, before booking |
| Certified Thai translation of documents you rely onPaid to the translation provider | — | Per document, quoted before work starts |
| Licensed Thai counsel — attendance, advice and any follow-upPaid to the Thai law firm on your matter | — | Quoted per matter, in writing, before you instruct |
| Bail or security, if the matter reaches that stagePaid to the Thai police station or court | — | Set by the police or the court on the day. No published schedule — depends on the alleged offence and the individual |
| Connect Consult coordination fee | USD 490 – 1,100* — published, fixed, the same for everyone | — |
* Indicative price range only. This service is a tailored solution, assembled after consulting a specialist and budgeted against your case's specific requirements, third-party costs, your goals and your personal circumstances. Figures are guidance, checked against official sources and dated on this page. Official amounts are set by the authority and can change without notice — before you commit to anything, we confirm the exact figures for your case in writing. We do not mark up official charges or counsel fees.
Doing it yourself vs doing it with us — honestly
Not every police matter needs a lawyer. Some emphatically do, and the gap between the two is narrower than people expect.
| On your own | With Connect Consult | |
|---|---|---|
| Named as a straightforward witness to something you have no involvement in, with a Thai-speaking friend you genuinely trust | Usually manageable | Little to add beyond peace of mind, and we will say so |
| Minor traffic matter where the insurers and the parties are already talking | Often settled without lawyers at all | A review of the paperwork before you sign is cheap insurance |
| You do not know whether you are a witness or a suspect | Risky. You can end up giving an account nobody had asked you for | We establish your status with the station, in Thai, before you attend |
| Anyone has suggested you sign a Thai document today | Do not. | Counsel and an interpreter attend, and the record is read back to you before anything is signed |
| Money, a business, a property, an employer or your visa is entangled in it | High risk. Thai police matters can carry immigration consequences that catch people completely off guard | We look at the immigration exposure at the same time as the police matter, because for a foreigner they are not separate problems |
The honest version
A friend who speaks Thai is not an interpreter and is not a lawyer, and putting them in that position is unfair to both of you. If a signature is going onto a Thai document, have it read by someone whose job it is.
Questions people actually ask us
Do I have to attend if I am asked to come to a Thai police station?
It depends on what you were handed. A formal summons and an informal request to come in are different things with different consequences for ignoring them. Photograph the document and have it read before you decide — declining something you were in fact obliged to attend is a reliable way to turn a small matter into a larger one.
Can I have a lawyer with me?
Yes. Thai criminal procedure provides for legal representation, and asking for it is ordinary rather than provocative. Arrange it before you attend rather than from inside the station, when your options narrow and your phone battery is the least of your problems.
Do the police provide an interpreter?
Thai procedure provides for interpretation where a person does not speak Thai, but availability and quality vary, and the interpreter is not yours. For anything with real consequences, bring your own as well. Two interpretations of the same sentence is not paranoia; it is how you find out early that a word was carrying more weight than you realised.
Should I sign the statement?
Not until it has been interpreted to you and you are satisfied the Thai text says what you said. Ask for corrections before signing — that is a normal request and it is far easier than disputing a signed document afterwards. Once signed, the Thai record is what exists.
The police have my passport. Can they keep it?
Ask on what basis it is being held, ask for a receipt, and get it reviewed the same day. Whether a passport can properly be retained depends on the stage and nature of the matter, and it has immediate travel and immigration consequences that need handling in parallel rather than afterwards.
Can the matter just be settled between us?
Some Thai offences can be resolved by agreement between the parties and some cannot — it turns on the category of offence alleged, not on how willing everyone is to move on. It is exactly the question to put to Thai counsel with your facts in front of them, and it is often the fastest route out.
Will this affect my visa or my ability to stay in Thailand?
It can, and this is the part people miss until it is expensive. For a foreigner, a police matter and an immigration status are connected — an outstanding matter, a retained passport or a report date all interact with extensions and re-entry. We look at both together rather than solving one and discovering the other in three months.
Are you a Thai law firm, and can you promise me an outcome?
No to both, and be wary of anyone who says otherwise. Connect Consult is a legal-services concierge; the legal work is done by counsel licensed in Thailand whom we brief and manage. Decisions belong to Thai police, prosecutors and courts. What we control is that you are properly represented, properly interpreted, and never signing something you cannot read — which is where most of these go wrong.
Am I a witness or a suspect — and how would I know?
Ask, and ask for the answer to be recorded, because it decides which rights attach. Thai procedure runs two tracks: a witness is questioned under Section 133, an alleged offender under Section 134 and following. The rights that most people picture — the caution, the lawyer in the room — belong to the second track, and they switch on when the charge is formally notified, not when police start to suspect you. The Royal Thai Police's own guideline is built in exactly those two blocks, and the block for a suspected person where no charge has been notified contains no caution at all. So you can be a suspect in the ordinary sense of the word and still be, procedurally, a witness. That is not a trap being set for you; it is how the Code is structured. But it does mean the question is worth asking out loud, early.
Can I refuse to sign the statement?
Yes, and it is expressly contemplated by the Code rather than being an act of defiance. Section 11 requires the record to be read back to you and any correction, objection or addition to be made or noted before you sign — and that applies to witnesses as much as to suspects. If you are unable or unwilling to sign, the Code directs that the reason be recorded. The better move in most cases is not refusal but correction: have it read back, have every inaccuracy fixed on the record first. One thing to plan around — the right to examine or copy your own statement appears only once the case reaches court, so do not assume you will leave with a copy of what you signed.
No obligation · treated in confidence
Send us the document. Do not sign anything yet.
Photograph what you were given, front and back, and tell us in one line what happened. We will tell you what the document is, what your status appears to be, and whether this needs a lawyer or just a carefully handled morning.
Connect Consult is a legal-services concierge for foreigners in South East Asia. We are not a Thai law firm and we do not hold a Thai legal practising licence. Representation before Thai police, prosecutors and courts is provided by counsel licensed to practise in Thailand — instructed, briefed and managed by us, with their fee quoted to you before you instruct them. Advice on Thai law comes from those Thai-qualified professionals.
Official sources
- Criminal Procedure Code of Thailand — Office of the Council of State consolidated Thai text (Ministry of Justice server) ↗The Thai text of every section cited on this page — Sections 11, 13, 133, 134, 134/1, 134/3, 134/4 and 135 — carrying the Office of the Council of State header, hosted on a Thai government server. We worked from the Thai rather than an English translation because the translations in circulation are unreliable here: the most accessible one online is the original 1935 Code and does not contain Sections 7/1 or 134/1 to 134/4 at all, since those were added in 2004 and 2008. Honest limitation: this consolidation runs to the 2008 amendment. Later amending Acts exist and we have not been able to confirm whether any of them touch these sections. Verified August 2026.
- Royal Thai Police — station guideline on the taking of statements by inquiry officials ↗The police force's own operational guideline, and the reason we can be confident about the witness-versus-alleged-offender split: it is structured in exactly those two blocks, and the block covering a suspected person where no charge has yet been notified carries no rights caution. Published as a station transparency disclosure — a Royal Thai Police document, though on a station domain rather than a central government one. Verified August 2026.
- Government of Canada — overview of the criminal law system in Thailand ↗The clearest English-language government summary we found, and it tracks the Code closely on the points that matter here — the Thai-language requirement and the duty to provide an interpreter without delay. Written for Canadians; the procedure it describes is nationality-neutral. Verified August 2026.
- UNAFEI — Criminal Procedure in Thailand (written by Thai justice officials) ↗A United Nations institute paper authored by Thai justice officials, useful because it explains the inquiry stage from the inside — including that investigators prepare the written record and give the person the chance to confirm and correct it. Commentary rather than statute, but commentary from the people who run the process. Verified August 2026.
Where to go next
Other situations in Thailand
The same situation elsewhere in South East Asia