Our Story
A Place to Learn
Before the Need Arises
Estatewise was established to give Bangkok households the practical vocabulary and filing habits that estate planning education typically presupposes.
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Estatewise in Brief
Estatewise began in Bangkok in 2019 when a small group of writers and archivists noticed that many households — particularly those with members from different countries and generations — had no common language for talking about household records, physical assets, or document storage. Legal professionals could address the formal side, but the practical, daily habits of record-keeping were going untaught.
Over two years, the founding group developed a reading curriculum drawing from estate management literature published in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Southeast Asia. The first Household Inventory Course ran as a pilot in early 2021 with fourteen participants from Bangkok's international resident community. The feedback pointed in one direction: people wanted more structured material, delivered more regularly.
By 2023, Estatewise had moved to permanent premises on Sukhumvit Soi 24 and expanded to three programmes. The multi-generational workshop grew directly from participant requests; several attendees of the inventory course mentioned that the harder challenge was getting all household members onto the same system.
Our Mission
What Guides Our Work
We hold a simple position: knowing how to describe, organise, and store household records is a skill, not a legal matter. It can be taught through reading, practice, and structured conversation — without reference to a particular jurisdiction or personal financial situation.
Our programmes are educational. We do not prepare wills, trusts, or any regulated document. Where participants need that kind of support, we say so clearly and refer them outward.
We believe that households which have done the foundational work — inventory, filing, record coordination — are better placed to work productively with the professionals they eventually engage. That is the gap Estatewise fills.
The People
Our Core Team
A small group with broad backgrounds in archival practice, adult education, and estate administration literature.
Priya Lertchai
Founder & Programme Director
Priya spent eight years with a Bangkok archival consultancy before establishing Estatewise. She developed the core reading curriculum and leads both the workshop and the annual membership sessions.
James Marsh
Curriculum Writer & Editor
James holds a background in legal publishing and has edited non-fiction estate management texts for three publishing houses. He writes the monthly membership mailings and maintains the reading list.
Nattamon Phongsakul
Participant Support & Coordination
Nattamon manages programme scheduling, participant communication, and the Thai glossary project. She has been with Estatewise since the first pilot course in 2021.
How We Work
Our Standards
The principles that shape every programme we run and every piece of reading material we publish.
Scope Clarity
Every programme opens with a clear statement of what it covers and — equally — what it does not. Participants know from the first session where education ends and regulated professional service begins.
Source-Referenced Material
All reading materials cite published sources. We do not present opinions as facts, and we update the curriculum reading list at least once per year to reflect new publications.
Data Privacy
Participant information is kept solely for programme administration and communication. We do not share, sell, or use personal data for marketing beyond direct course correspondence.
Small Group Sizes
Workshop cohorts are capped to maintain a reading-discussion format rather than a lecture. The two-day workshop takes no more than twelve participants; group membership sessions are limited to twenty.
Plain Language Commitment
Estate terminology can obscure rather than illuminate. Our editorial standard requires that every concept be stated in plain English before any technical term is introduced. Thai glossaries accompany key materials.
Annual Curriculum Review
Each programme is reviewed once per calendar year. We assess participant feedback, update reading lists, and revise any section where the practical guidance has become dated or unclear.
Expertise & Context
Estate Education in a Bangkok Context
Bangkok's household landscape is distinctive. Many families include members with ties to multiple countries, meaning that property, documents, and personal records frequently cross legal and linguistic boundaries. The question of which papers matter, where they should be kept, and who should be able to find them is rarely straightforward.
Estatewise addresses the administrative layer of this challenge — not the legal structure, but the physical and organisational habits that determine whether a household's records are genuinely accessible when they are needed. A well-maintained inventory and a coherent filing system are independent of jurisdiction; they are habits of attention and consistency that any household can develop.
Our reading materials draw from estate management literature produced across several decades and countries. We are particularly attentive to material that treats household organisation as a domestic practice — something with a history, a craft dimension, and transferable methods — rather than as a compliance task.
The Bangkok setting shapes our delivery choices: sessions are offered in English with Thai glossaries, scheduled around the working calendar of a professional household, and held at premises accessible from the main BTS network. We design our programmes for people who are already managing complex lives and need education that fits within them.
Take the First Step
Ready to Begin?
Browse our three programmes or send us a direct enquiry. We are glad to help you find the right starting point for your household.