About the Practice
Legal Counsel Built Around the Construction Project
Saraburi Lex was formed to serve the specific contract and claim needs of construction projects in Thailand — without the broad scope of a general commercial practice.
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A Practice Shaped by Construction Project Realities
Saraburi Lex began from a straightforward observation: construction projects in Thailand often operate under internationally-sourced contracts — FIDIC editions, design-build frameworks, consortium agreements — that were not written with Thai mandatory law provisions in mind. The gap between contract intent and enforceability is where difficulties tend to arise.
The practice was established to address that gap directly, working with the contracts that projects already use and reviewing them carefully against the requirements of Thai law. The office is based in Saraburi, a location that reflects the practice's orientation toward infrastructure and industrial construction activity in central Thailand, rather than primarily commercial property work in Bangkok.
The work is structured around three clear service areas — contract drafting and FIDIC adaptation, claim and variation counsel, and pre-tender contract review — each with a stated fee and a defined written deliverable. This approach keeps the scope of each engagement clear from the outset.
Clients include developers preparing contracts for new projects, main contractors and subcontractors working through live claims, and project finance lenders reviewing construction documents as part of drawdown due diligence. Both sides of a contract are served — the advice adjusts to the reader's position, not to a fixed commercial preference for employer or contractor.
Mission
To provide clear, written construction law counsel in Thailand — focused on FIDIC and Thai-law contract matters — with transparent fees and defined deliverables for each engagement.
Approach
Construction matters move on long timescales. The practice works at a pace suited to project schedules — methodical, considered, and oriented toward written outputs that project teams can use and refer back to.
Values
Both parties to a construction contract are treated with the same seriousness of attention. Advice is not adjusted to favour one commercial position over another — the work is to read the contract as it stands and assess the situation as clearly as possible.
The Team
People Behind the Practice
A small team with specific construction law and contract focus — suited to the nature of the work, which requires careful reading rather than broad commercial coverage.
Wirat Pattanapong
Lead Counsel
Thai-qualified lawyer with a focus on construction contract drafting and FIDIC adaptation. Former in-house experience on infrastructure projects in central Thailand.
Siriporn Nuankham
Claims Analyst
Specialist in extension of time assessment and variation order documentation, with background in quantity surveying and site-level contract administration.
Thanida Kositpipat
Contract Review Associate
Handles pre-tender contract review memoranda and translation coordination for parallel Thai-language contract versions. Background in Thai commercial law.
Standards
How the Work Is Conducted
The practice operates under a set of working standards that apply across all engagements, regardless of the service type or the size of the project involved.
Confidentiality
All project documents and information shared in the course of an engagement are treated as strictly confidential. Engagement letters include standard confidentiality provisions.
Thai Bar Compliance
Legal services are provided by Thai-qualified practitioners operating within the professional conduct rules of the Lawyers Council of Thailand.
Written Deliverables
Each engagement produces a specific written output — contract text, claim assessment, or memorandum — rather than oral advice or informal email guidance.
FIDIC Technical Knowledge
The team maintains working familiarity with the 1999 and 2017 FIDIC suites, as well as earlier editions that remain in use on live projects in Thailand.
Defined Turnaround
Timescales for each service are discussed at the point of engagement and aligned with the project's schedule. Pre-tender reviews are coordinated with bid preparation deadlines.
Data Protection
Personal data and project documents are stored and processed in accordance with Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). Data is not shared with third parties without consent.
Practice Context
Construction Contract Law in Thailand
Construction projects in Thailand operate under a layered contractual framework — combining the terms of the project contract (often a FIDIC edition), the requirements of Thai mandatory law, and the commercial arrangements between employer, contractor, and subcontractors. The interaction between these layers is where most contract questions arise.
The key mandatory provisions of Thai contract law — governing penalties, termination, defects, and payment — apply regardless of what the contract document says. A special condition in a FIDIC Red Book that conflicts with a Thai mandatory provision is unenforceable to the extent of that conflict. This makes careful review of special conditions an important step before any project contract is executed.
Extension of time and variation claims under FIDIC require methodical documentary support — concurrent delay analysis, contemporaneous records, notices served within contractual time limits. A claim that is substantively strong but poorly documented or served late faces significant procedural obstacles under the contractual dispute mechanism. Early assessment of the documentary basis is more useful than late-stage preparation of a detailed claim narrative.
Pre-tender contract review is a relatively low-cost intervention with a meaningful effect on bid pricing and risk allocation. Clauses relating to liquidated damages, termination for convenience, and the scope of indemnities are among the most commercially significant in any construction contract — and among the most commonly accepted without close reading by bidders under tender time pressure.
Saraburi Lex serves clients across these contract stages — pre-execution, during project delivery, and at the point where claims need to be assessed. The geographic base in Saraburi reflects a focus on infrastructure, industrial, and civil construction activity in central Thailand, alongside developers and lenders active in the wider region.
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