What is CLEAR Legal Services?

CLEAR Legal Services, which stands for Community Legal Empowerment and Affordable Representation, is a budget-friendly legal services initiative launched by the Kwah Dao Foundation. It offers affordable legal support with limited availability to individuals, businesses, and expatriates in Chiang Mai and neighboring provinces such as Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Lamphun, and Lampang. The services are provided by Attorney Ek, a licensed, quadrilingual lawyer (Thai, Shan, English, and Chinese) who serves as the Executive Director and Legal Advisor at Kwah Dao on a voluntary basis. Attorney Ek was formerly a Kwah Dao scholarship recipient himself, and now gives back by helping others navigate the legal system. In addition, he is a co-founder and practicing attorney at Victory Lawyers Law Office, based in Chiang Mai.

CLEAR Legal Services covers a wide range of legal matters, including but not limited to:

  • Written legal advice

  • Legal opinions

  • Contract drafting

  • Will preparation

  • Legal document review

  • Notarial services

  • Company registration

  • Thai citizenship applications

  • Civil litigation involving:

    • Breach of purchase and sale agreements

    • Lease agreements

    • Service provider agreements

    • Loan agreements

    • Tort cases (wrongful acts)

Why has Kwah Dao launched this legal service?

Like many other organizations, Kwah Dao has faced significant financial challenges since the COVID-19 outbreak. We lost several major donors, and contributions from remaining supporters are no longer sufficient to sustain our core programs and cover necessary management and personnel expenses. In addition, many donors prefer to see 70% or more of their contributions go directly to program activities, leaving only a small portion for staffing and administrative costs. However, in practice, delivering high-quality programs requires dedicated human resources—and management and personnel expenses often account for more than half of an organization’s total costs, even with a small team.

Another factor contributing to the decline in donations is the economic impact of ongoing global conflicts, which have affected many businesses and caused them to reduce or suspend charitable giving. To ensure the long-term sustainability of our mission, Kwah Dao has launched CLEAR Legal Services as a self-reliant initiative that requires no initial financial investment—only the effort and expertise of our licensed lawyer. Not only will this help generate sustainable income, but it will also allow Kwah Dao to register as a Social Enterprise once income from legal services exceeds 50% of the organization’s total annual revenue.

Will Kwah Dao become a for-profit organization? And how will the income from legal services be used?

No, Kwah Dao will continue to operate as a nonprofit organization, even after registering as a Social Enterprise. We intend to register as a zero-yield Social Enterprise, meaning the legal services are not designed to generate profit for personal or organizational gain, but rather to create a stable, mission-aligned income stream to support Kwah Dao’s long-term sustainability.

Once CLEAR Legal Services becomes operational and sustainable, the income generated from legal services will be allocated as follows:

  • 65% to the Scholarship and Student Loan Program

  • 15% to management and/or legal assistance for public benefit

  • 20% reserved toward the purchase of land and construction of a permanent Kwah Dao office to reduce long-term rental costs

In the meantime, while CLEAR Legal Services is still in its early stages and not yet financially self-sustaining, 90% of all donations will continue to be directed to the Scholarship and Student Loan Program, while the remaining 10% will be reserved for essential management and personnel expenses required to keep the foundation running responsibly and effectively.