How Much Do Private Investigators in Thailand Charge?
February 6, 2020 - Reading time: 3 minutes
Updated: March 4, 2025
Are you wondering about the cost of hiring a private investigator in Thailand? Whether you need surveillance, background checks, or investigative services, understanding pricing factors is crucial. Below, we break down private investigation fees in Thailand and what determines the costs.
How Much Do Private Investigators Cost in Thailand?
Private investigator fees vary based on several factors, such as location, complexity, and duration of the case. Below is an overview of how costs are structured.
Minimum Fees for Surveillance Cases
Surveillance cases in metropolitan areas such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, or Phuket typically start at 10,000 THB. Cases outside these cities may incur additional travel expenses.
Additional costs may include:
- Fuel, tolls, and transportation fees for rural investigations
- Accommodation for agents if overnight stays are required
- Vehicle wear and tear
Fixed Fees vs Hourly Rates
We offer both fixed-fee pricing and hourly rates depending on the nature of the investigation. All fees include applicable taxes with no hidden costs.
How to Reduce Private Investigation Costs
To keep costs low, we may recommend using a single agent instead of a full surveillance team. However, for complex cases involving multiple locations or transportation methods, multiple agents may be necessary for a successful outcome.
We also work efficiently to reduce unnecessary hours, ensuring a cost-effective investigation while maintaining high success rates.
Why Choosing the Right Private Investigator Matters
As with anything in life, you get what you pay for. Cutting corners may seem like a way to save money, but an unsuccessful investigation could result in wasted expenses. Our goal is to provide the most cost-effective and efficient solution tailored to your case.
Get a Free Quote
Need an accurate estimate for your case? Contact us for a free quote. Provide all relevant details so we can assess your situation and offer transparent pricing.
Click here to request your free quote.
Related articles
Check if a Thai girl is married
February 4, 2020 - Reading time: 5 minutes
Updated: June 14, 2024
Do you need to check if a Thai girl is married? Perhaps you would like to check the marital status of your Thai girlfriend in order to see if she is still married from a previous relationship or would like to learn more about your partner's relationship history. We can check marital status in Thailand as part of our marriage records check service. This check can be performed as a standalone check or as part of a full background check.
It's a good idea to check whether or not your Thai girlfriend is married. If you are in a romantic relationship with a Thai lady that is currently married, then you can be sued by her husband. Messages and social media posts indicating that a relationship exists can be used as evidence against you in court.
How to check if a Thai person is married
Due to the Thai use of honorifics it is often not possible to figure out whether a Thai person is married or not by simply looking at their identity card or passport. Women in Thailand might have the title "Miss" whether they are married or unmarried - this makes checking whether your Thai girlfriend is married more difficult than in some other countries.
Similarly, men carry the title of "Mr" whether they are married or single.
If you are looking to check whether or not a Thai person is married, we can help. We can check your Thai girlfriend's full marital history which will reveal if your Thai girlfriend has been married in the past and then divorced or remarried. This check typically reveals the date of any marriage/divorces, and where those marriages/divorces took place, and to who the subject was married to. Wouldn’t you rather know if your partner has been previously married once or potentially multiple different times? It often makes sense to find out for sure, and this is where we come in.
As part of our marital check service we will provide you with a copy of the official records showing the person's marriage/divorce history. We will also translate these records into English for your convenience.
Please feel free to contact us for a free, no obligation quote.
Please note: We can check marital status in Thailand as a standalone check, however we require a copy of the subject's ID card or passport in order to do this. Without having a copy of the subject's ID card additional checks would be required. Please let us know whether or not you have a photo of the subject's ID card (or driving license, or passport) when getting in touch with us and we will endeavour to offer the best solution in your case.
We also offer premarital background checks which are recommended for checking your Thai girlfriend before getting married or entering into a committed relationship. Due to the prevalence of romance scams in Thailand these checks often save our clients large amounts of money, time, and emotional commitment.
We can also check whether a Thai lady (or man) is married as a standalone check. These checks are inexpensive and are typically completed in 1-2 working days. Please feel free to get in touch with us for more information and a free, no obligation quote.
Background checks in Thailand
We are a leading provider of background screening in Thailand. Checking a Thai person's marriage/divorce history is standard as part of our backgrounds check service. Running a background check can be a good method to check your Thai girlfriend before entering into marriage or a serious relationship.
Checking your Thai spouse has the potential to save you vast amounts of money. This fact compels many of our clients into performing their own due diligence.
We are a leading detective agency based in Thailand and cover all areas of the country. We are happy to help and offer free quotes for all work. Please include as much information as possible when contacting us so that we are able to advise you on how best we can help. We process all cases discreetly, quickly, and in total confidence. Please reach out to us for more information on your situation or visit the Bangkok Investigators homepage to learn more about the different services that we offer.
Learn more about background checks in Thailand.
Should I pay a dowry for my Thai wife?
January 23, 2020 - Reading time: 8 minutes
Updated: June 14, 2024
Should I pay a dowry for my Thai wife? Well, much depends on the circumstances and your situation. This is a question that you will need to ask yourself as well as the parents of your fiancé. We’ve put together this article to offer some general pointers on the subject.
Do I need to pay dowry/sin sod?
In Thai culture paying a dowry (or sin sod) to the bride’s family is very common. This is a tradition which has existed in Thailand for hundreds of years and is not a concept that was invented to rip off foreigners... Thai men also pay money to their bride’s parents when getting married and this is to be expected for foreigners marrying Thai women as well. However, if your bride’s family perceive you to be a wealthy foreigner, then they might expect more from you. Or they might ask you for very little (or nothing). Much will depend on their financial situation and their own personal views on the subject.
Some of the information available online regarding dowry and sin sod payments can be questionable at best. For example, there are many postings online which state that no money should ever be paid to the bride’s family if the bride has already been married or if she has children from a previous relationship. While in principle this does seem to make sense, over the years I have attended several weddings between Thai people where the lady has already been married and has children – the Thai men always pay dowries during these weddings. While the stance might seem logical, it is not set in stone and will be a matter between the groom and his brides parents in each case.
How much should I pay?
This will be a matter for the parents of your fiancé to decide. As a rule of thumb, dowry/sin sod payments are usually around 300,000 to 500,000 THB, sometimes going up to 1,000,000 THB and above. If the lady is particularly young then you can expect to pay a premium. Likewise if the parents have paid a significant amount of money for their daughter’s education they will understandably expect to be compensated for this when she is getting married to you.
Sin sod or dowry payments are usually made up of cash and gold, but can also include the deeds to property, land and vehicles.
Photo: A typical Thai dowry (sin sod) payment consisting of 500,000 THB cash and 273,000 THB worth of beautiful 23 karat Thai gold jewellery.
What about showing money but taking it back?
“Can’t I just show a big pile of money as sin sod but not give it to my wife’s family?”… Sometimes this is possible but it will be a matter for her family to decide. Ask yourself… Is your bride’s family rich or poor? Does their roof leak when it rains? If they’re in need of money then they may not perceive it as being unreasonable for them to expect some help from their daughter’s new husband. If your partner’s family are wealthy and surviving without any problems then you might be in for a better chance with this option.
Do I need to pay a dowry/sin sod if my Thai girlfriend was previously married OR already has children to another man?
Question: “Ian, I asked for advice online and was told that because my girlfriend was previously married (and has kids with her ex), this means I don't need to pay any sin sod when getting married to her. But my girlfriend's parents are still asking for money, what can I do? Feel free to answer my question on your blog.”
Answer: You can receive as much advice as possible on the topic of dowries/sin sod in Thailand; at the end of the day the decision will lie with your bride's parents - it is a question as to what they will be willing to accept from you. They might ask for nothing, or they might as for a new Toyota Fortuner and as many gold chains as 'Mr T'... The only way to find out will be to ask them directly.
I have personally attended weddings where two Thai people were married, where the bride was previously married and/or already had children, and a dowry was still paid at each of those weddings (real dowries, not ones 'for show' that were given back afterwards). While the idea is logical, it is not a guideline which is followed in every single case. Many Thais will 'demonstrate their love and commitment' by paying sin sod even though the lady was previously married and/or has children from a previous relationship, this is a personal preference and up to the people involved.
Visiting your girlfriend's parents and seeing their lifestyle and living conditions would be a good start. Building a relationship with them will also help when it comes to the topic of marriage. Ask yourself whether her parents are financially dependent on their daughter, or if they are earning enough money by themselves? In case of the former, you may need to help your wife to support her parents long into the marriage, and this may extend beyond a one off dowry/sin sod payment.
Other considerations
When you are paying money to your bride’s family as a dowry or sin sod, this money is obviously a gift and you have no right to dictate how the money is spent. However, it would be wise to try and ensure that the money is spent wisely and in a way that will benefit the family long term.
For example, dowries are often used as the down payment on a new vehicle. If this is the case, can her parents afford to make the car payments or will it fall back to you every single month?
Does her family have any debts that need to be cleared? Is their home in a good state of repair? It would be wise to spend money on these things rather than purchasing an expensive vehicle or superficial objects used to boost face.
Could the money be used to help her parents set up a business for example? The money is not yours once you’ve handed it over, but it would be wise to try and ensure that it is spent on a worthwhile endeavor.
Perform your own due diligence
Once you’ve paid a dowry and the cost of a wedding, you can’t get this money back. It makes sense to perform due diligence in the form of a background check on your partner before taking the leap into marriage. We have run countless premarital background checks for our clients, they act as a small investment, giving you peace of mind before you get married. Feel free to get in touch with one of our experienced team members for a free quote.
Learn more about background checks in Thailand.
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Thai marriage horror story
January 20, 2020 - Reading time: 4 minutes
Updated: August 20, 2024
There are many horror stories posted online about Thai girlfriends and Thai wives. We have been asked to publish this story on behalf of our client in order to highlight his shocking experience.
David, the victim in this horror story, reached out to us when trying to seek justice and reclaim his money. While we were unable to help David recover his money, if he had contacted us earlier on in his relationship then we might have been able to save him from this ordeal altogether.
Rather than re-write or try to dramatize David’s story, we've decided to simply post as it was sent to us. This is how the situation unfolded according to David:
All contact with our agency is strictly private & confidential. In this case we were asked to publish these messages on our blog in order to highlight the experience and warn others.
After losing a significant amount of money to his fiancé, David made contact with the police and numerous different lawyers for advice. He found that the police showed little interest in his case and that he had little legal recourse. David has decided to cut his losses and move on. He has asked us to share this story as a warning to others.
If you are paying a large amount of money in a dowry (sin sod), or getting involved with a Thai lady at all, it often makes sense to hire a detective agency to run a background check on the lady before things get serious. In this case a background check could likely have saved David a considerable amount of money. It transpires that the lady already had active arrest warrants which would have been highlighted in a thorough check of her background, or a simple criminal records check.
Thai dating scams
As a detective agency based in Thailand, we are often tasked with investigating all manner of different romance and dating scams. Check our blog post Thai dating scams which lists some of the most common scams to look out for.
This may seem like an extreme case, and you might find yourself thinking that it could never happen to you… We have dealt with romance scams in Thailand time and time again and find that this mentality contributes to the viability of scams taking place. We always prefer to help our clients before they get married or begin a serious relationship, rather than after they’ve been taken advantage of or are very emotionally invested in the relationship.
Romance scammers hone their craft over many years, perfecting their ability to lie and manipulate their boyfriends. They sometimes even exchange tips between each other and become very convincing with their lies. Most average Joes would never suspect that they are in the midst of an elaborate plot to acquire their money or assets, this is why it can be a good decision to seek professional help.
Share your Thai marriage horror story
Have you fallen victim to a Thai romance scam? Do you have a Thai marriage horror story that you would like to share with others? If so, feel free to send us your story with the subject line "Share my story on your blog", and let us know that you provide consent for your story to be shared on our blog. All contact with our company is 100% private and confidential, we only share stories when the author specifically requests this.
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