The Thai Bar and the Lawyers Council of Thailand Welcome Raymond Yu: An Informal Exchange on Legal AI Governance and Lawyer Licensing
Key points
- The visit: on 16 July 2026, Raymond Yu (Po-Chang Yu), Chief Attorney, founder and CEO of Louis Group, led a group of the firm’s lawyers and Chinese-speaking interns on a visit to the Thai Bar under the Royal Patronage.
- The hosts: Dr. Thawal Ruyaporn, Secretary-General of the Thai Bar and former President of the Lawyers Council of Thailand, together with Supreme Court Justice Auen Kunkeaw, Chair of the Thai Bar’s Foreign Affairs Subcommittee.
- Also attending: Ekkapong Yamkran, Partner at Louis Group’s Bangkok office; Dr. Peerapat Foithong, of the Lawyers Council of Thailand’s International Affairs Committee and Managing Partner of Artthakij & Partners.
- Topics: legal AI firms and AI governance; a comparison of lawyer licensing and licence renewal in Taiwan and Thailand.
- Tour: the Thai Bar’s lecture hall, its newly overhauled online lecture system and the Thai Bar Museum.
On the morning of 16 July 2026, Raymond Yu , Chief Attorney, founder and CEO of Louis Group, visited the Thai Bar under the Royal Patronage in Bangkok. In the Maha Vajiravudh 4 conference room of the Thai Bar building, the group was received by Dr. Thawal Ruyaporn, Secretary-General of the Thai Bar, and Supreme Court Justice Auen Kunkeaw, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee. Dr. Ruyaporn is a former President of the Lawyers Council of Thailand and now serves as Secretary-General of the Thai Bar, so he knows both institutions from the inside. Ekkapong Yamkran , Partner at Louis Group’s Bangkok office, accompanied the delegation, and Dr. Peerapat Foithong, representing the Lawyers Council of Thailand and Managing Partner of Artthakij & Partners, took part throughout.
The Thai Bar administers the Thai barrister-at-law examination and professional legal education, while the Lawyers Council of Thailand is responsible for lawyer licensing and professional discipline. Having both institutions receive Attorney Yu and the Chinese-speaking interns together was a distinctive feature of the visit.
Two topics of discussion
1. Legal AI firms and AI governance. The two sides exchanged experience of running legal professional organisations with AI, and the discussion extended to patent ownership of AI-generated content, confidentiality obligations for client data, and the supervisory role regulators should play in legal AI.
2. Comparing lawyer licensing systems. The two sides compared the professional legal qualification systems of Taiwan and Thailand, as well as the requirements and conditions for renewing a lawyer’s licence. The similarities and differences showed where each country places its emphasis in developing legal talent and supervising professional standards.
Visiting the lecture hall, the online lecture system and the Thai Bar Museum
After the meeting, Attorney Yu and the interns observed a Thai Bar lecture in progress and were briefed on the online lecture system that the Thai Bar overhauled this year. This academic year the Thai Bar carried out its largest upgrade of teaching systems in many years to meet the needs of legal education in the digital age. The visit ended at the Thai Bar Museum, which traces the historical foundations of Thai law.
A vision for Taiwan–Thailand legal cooperation
Attorney Yu has long followed cooperation between the legal professions of Taiwan and Thailand. This visit is not only a starting point for sharing knowledge but also lays a foundation for future cooperation between the two jurisdictions’ professional bodies, with the hope that lawyers on both sides will jointly advance international work and give Thai legal professionals a stronger presence on the international stage.
The visit was also reported in the Thai Bar’s July activity news on its official website and in the Lawyers Council of Thailand’s post on its official Facebook page (both in Thai).
Louis Group has offices in Taipei and Bangkok. Thai-qualified lawyers handle its Thai matters, and the group has long published legal guides on Thailand in Chinese, English and Thai. Exchanges with the Thai Bar and the Lawyers Council of Thailand will continue to deepen the group’s professional links in cross-border legal services between Taiwan and Thailand.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the Thai Bar and the Lawyers Council of Thailand?
The Thai Bar (เนติบัณฑิตยสภา) administers the barrister-at-law examination and professional legal education; those who complete its courses and pass its examination become Thai barristers-at-law (เนติบัณฑิต). The Lawyers Council of Thailand (สภาทนายความ) issues and renews lawyers’ licences and supervises professional conduct. Both are legal professional bodies under royal patronage, and both received the delegation on this visit.
What does this exchange mean for Taiwanese businesses in Thailand?
Direct contact between the legal professional bodies of Taiwan and Thailand gives cross-border matters smoother channels for lawyer cooperation, legal education and professional standards. For Taiwanese companies doing business in Thailand, it means a firmer basis for cooperation between Taiwanese lawyers and Thai-qualified lawyers.