Sébastien H. Brousseau, LL.B., B.Sc. is a French-Canadian lawyer who has lived and worked in Thailand since April 2004. He is the founder and Managing Director of ThaiLawOnline Co. Ltd., a Thai legal practice serving expatriates and international families, delivered with licensed members of the Lawyers Council of Thailand. He was admitted to the Barreau du Québec and is a member of the International Bar Association.
He is one of the few Western lawyers in Thailand trained in both Civil Law and Common Law, and one of the very few who holds Thai Permanent Residency. In 2019 he authored the public petition to reform the TM30 reporting requirement for foreigners, a campaign covered by the Bangkok Post and mentioned by the BBC.
At a glance
- Law studies begun in 1993; working in law firms since 1994; in Thailand’s legal sector since 2006
- Resident of Thailand since 2004, holder of Thai Permanent Residency
- Founder of Isaan Lawyers (2007, sold in 2022) and of ThaiLawOnline
- 5,000+ client matters handled for expatriates and Thai nationals
- Author of more than 500 published legal articles on Thai law
- Works in English and French; conversational Thai with basic literacy; some Mandarin
Career in Thailand
ThaiLawOnline, Founder and Managing Director (2006 to present)
ThaiLawOnline began in 2006 as one of the first online Thai legal services for foreigners and is today a technology-forward practice with Thai-registered attorneys, notaries, translators and accountants. The firm focuses on family law, property, wills and estates, company registration, litigation and immigration. All legal representation is delivered through licensed Thai lawyers, including Khun Wichuda Attamethakon, LL.M., a Thai lawyer and Notary Public who has worked alongside Mr. Brousseau for more than a decade. The firm publishes the first bilingual annotated editions of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code and the Thai Criminal Code, and operates an AI-assisted legal research library of more than 140,000 Thai laws and Supreme Court decisions.
Isaan Lawyers, Founder and Managing Director (2007 to 2022)
In 2007 he founded Isaan Lawyers in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), one of the first full-service law offices in northeastern Thailand dedicated to foreign clients. He built the firm over fifteen years, serving clients from more than 30 countries, with 1% of net income donated to local charities including orphanages in Isaan. He sold the firm and ended his management on 31 December 2021, with the sale completed in 2022. He has had no role in Isaan Lawyers since that date.
Siam Legal, Branch Manager, Pattaya (2007)
Managed the Pattaya office of one of Thailand’s largest legal networks before founding his own firm.
Career in Canada
Mr. Brousseau began his law degree at the Université de Montréal in 1993 and started working in law firms in 1994 as a student intern at Girouard, Peris, Goldenberg, Pappas & Brabant in Montreal. From 2000 to 2002 he practised with Poupart Marquis, Avocats, a leading criminal defence firm, where he trained under Pierre Poupart and worked on files that included the defence of the first woman ever charged with genocide before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. During the same period he served as President and Director of the Prisoners’ Rights Committee, a non-profit working within the Canadian criminal justice system.
A reference from François Chevrette (1994)
While a law student, Mr. Brousseau studied under François Chevrette, one of Canada’s most respected constitutional scholars, professor and later dean of the Faculté de droit at the Université de Montréal and co-author of the landmark treatise Droit constitutionnel. In November 1994, Professor Chevrette wrote a reference supporting his application for a legal research position in a law firm, describing him as a gifted, serious and hard-working student and concluding that he recommended him « très favorablement, sans aucune réserve ni hésitation » (very favourably, without any reservation or hesitation). The original letter is reproduced above.
Public advocacy: the TM30 reform (2019)
When Thai immigration abruptly began strict enforcement of the 40-year-old TM30 address-reporting rule in 2019, Mr. Brousseau launched a public petition calling for reform. It gathered more than 7,000 signatures. He was invited as a guest speaker at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand panel with senior immigration officials, an event reported by the Bangkok Post, The Thaiger and The Phuket News, with the campaign also mentioned by the BBC. The reporting requirement was substantially simplified in 2020.
Education and admissions
- Bachelor of Law (LL.B.), Université de Montréal
- Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (B.Sc.), Université de Montréal
- Diploma in Political Science (1993) and Diploma in Criminology (1999), Université de Montréal
- École du Barreau du Québec, Montreal (1996 to 1997)
- Admitted to the Barreau du Québec
- Member, International Bar Association (IBA)
- Elected representative for Asia, Australia, Africa and South America, Quebec Lawyers Abroad (AHQ), 2012
Publications
- Co-author and project manager, with criminologist Jean-Claude Bernheim, Les droits des personnes incarcérées : les règles, la réalité et les ressources, Montréal, Méridien / Cursus universitaire, 2002, ISBN 2-89546-008-6. A reference work on prisoners’ rights in Canada, still cited by the Canadian Criminal Justice Association in 2023 as one of the few works dedicated to Quebec’s provincial prisons. The book is held in law library collections in Canada and abroad, including the Library of the Supreme Court of Canada and Ghent University in Belgium. Copyright donated to a Canadian charity.
- “Casier judiciaire et emploi”, co-authored with criminologist Jean-Claude Bernheim, 2013.
- More than 500 legal articles on Thai law published at ThaiLawOnline.com, plus the first bilingual annotated Thai Civil and Commercial Code (Books 1 to 6) and annotated Thai Criminal Code.
Technology and legal innovation
A technologist since owning his first computer in 1981 and going online in 1992, Mr. Brousseau has made ThaiLawOnline one of the first law practices in Thailand to systematically use artificial intelligence: an in-house legal database of 140,000+ Thai laws and Supreme Court decisions, AI-assisted research and drafting reviewed by licensed Thai lawyers, and automated client workflows. He also advises businesses on AI architecture and Thai technology law.
Community and volunteering
- Contributor to Lawyers Without Borders
- 1% of Isaan Lawyers’ net income donated to charity during his ownership, including orphanages in northeastern Thailand
- President of Tel-Ressources and regular volunteer, 1993 to 2000
- School and community projects in Thailand, from websites to English camps
Languages and life in Thailand
Mr. Brousseau is fully bilingual in French and English and works daily in both. He speaks conversational Thai with basic literacy and has notions of Mandarin Chinese from a year working in Guangzhou (2003 to 2004) and Spanish. After 13 years in Nakhon Ratchasima and several years in Bangkok, he is now based in Cha-Am, Phetchaburi, and serves clients across Thailand through ThaiLawOnline’s online-first practice and partner lawyers in Bangkok, Isaan and the South.
Work with Sébastien
For legal services in Thailand, in English or French, visit ThaiLawOnline.com or book a consultation directly at thailawonline.com/book-consultation. Consultations are 2,000 THB per hour. Connect on LinkedIn, where his profile carries more than 1,000 endorsements.
Last updated: June 2026.