Thailand officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย ) is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. The country is a constitutional monarchy, with the king being titled as Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, the Upholder of the Buddhist religion, and the Defender of all Faiths.

Thailand is the world's has an area of approximately 513,000 km² and is the 21st-most-populous country, with an estimation of 66,720.153 inhabitants in 2011. About 75% of the population is ethnically Thai, 14% is of Chineseorigin, and 3% is ethnically Malay; the rest belong to minority groups including Mons, Khmersand various hill tribes. The country's official language is Thai. The primary religion is Buddhism, which is practiced by around 95% of the population.

Among the approximately 5.2 million legal and illegal migrants in Thailand, there is a significant community of expatriates from developed countries.

Living wills are regulated by law in Thailand for the first time since 2007. The Thai parliament passed the National Health Act 2007 in which section 12 ensures the rights of individuals to say, through a Living Will or an advanced directive, how they wish to be cared for if they are terminal or no longer able to communicate.

In 2008, Richard Smith, Club Board Member and former Chairman, and Dr. Iain Corness, International Department of Bangkok Hospital Pattaya (BHP), devised a “Living Will" form for use at BHP as no Ministerial Regulation had been issued to implement Section 12. Those Regulations were finally issued. A new form is being offered by BHP that conforms to the Regulation and is thus considered a legal document recognized in Thailand. This “Living Will” form enables to request that no extreme measures be taken to prolong your life if the condition is terminal.

The living will is also referred as:

· Letter of Intent Expression

· Advance Directive

· Physician Directive

· Health care Directive

The living will form, called Letter of Intent Expression, can be filled by the interested person or by his/her companion if the interested person cannot do it.

It can be submitted to any Thai Hospital that will take it.

The form doesn’t have to be notarized.

It seems these forms are being mostly used by the western population living in Thailand as an expat community encourages to have a Living Will on the basis that Thai practices promote to “continue treatment until a person actually dies, and can include the use of what a westerner would consider extreme treatment”.

Thailand's National Health Act BE 2550 (2007) came into force as of 20 March 2007. http://www.nationalhealth.or.th/Con_apil/ty.pdf (http://www.whothailand.org/en/Section7.htm, official thai version, unofficial english version). Such Act contains the provisions in relation to euthanasia and living wills in its Section 12 that is detailed next:

Section 12. A person shall have right to express in a written form the intention not to receive the public health service as provided for prolonging the death in the final stage of his or her life or for extinguishing the sufferings occurred from illness.

The performances according to the written document under Paragraph One shall be in accordance with the rule and procedure as prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

After the medical practitioner has followed the intention of the person under Paragraph, such performance shall not be deemed wrongful and he shall be exempted from all liabilities.

A later Ministerial Regulation had been issued to implement Section 12. It is called a “letter of intent expression” and it is defined as the letter in which a person expresses his/her advance intention on which desires not to receive the health treatment in order to prolong the final period of own life or to cease the suffering of illness.

A non-official translation of this Regulation is available online at: http://www.thailawonline.com/images/documents/living_will_regulation_%28Thailand%29_English_by_Isaan_Lawyers.pdf

According to this Regulation a Letter of Intent Expression shall be cleared enough to specify according to a declarant’s desires by making guideline information as follows:

(1) The items information of a declarant specifies name, surname, age, identification number and address or contact number.

(2) The date on which a letter of intent expression is made.

(3) Name, Surname, identification number of witness and the relationship with a declarant.

(4) Specify the type of public health which a person wishes not to receive.

(5) In case that a letter written by other person than a declarant, it should specify the name, surname and identification number of writer or typist.

Fill it in and hand it in at any Thai hospital that will take it.

The Letter of Intent Expression or Living Will complete form is available in Thai and English at:

http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/docs/living%20will%20form.pdf