The Thammasat University Law Centre has filed a petition with the Office of the Judiciary requesting an explanation why Supavich Jansatien, a lawyer with a disability, was not allowed to take the examination to become a judge-trainee despite meeting the qualifications.

Supavich requested legal assistance from the Center in July 2025 after he was not allowed to take an examination to become a judge-trainee for the second time.

He first applied for the examination in 2024 and requested a writing assistant since he has issues with hand strength due to his disability. His request was denied and he was not allowed to take the examination. Applying again this year (2025), his only special request was for a desk that could accommodate his wheelchair but he was once again not included on the list of eligible candidates.

The Center filed the petition on behalf of Supavich seeking an explanation why he was deemed ineligible to take the examination. The Center said that the issue concerns the rights of people with disabilities to access the justice system, and that it is ready to offer assistance to others facing similar problems.

In a July 2025 interview, Supavich told ThisAble.me that he has a type of neuromuscular disease which causes muscle weakness and so has always used a wheelchair. He passed the bar examination in 2023 and has been practicing law for three years. In 2024, when he applied to become a judge-trainee for the first time, he requested a writing assistant. He was permitted to have one when he took his lawyer licensing and bar examinations as muscle weakness in his hands made it difficult for him to write answers in time. According to examination policy, people with disabilities can request an assistant who can write down answers dictated to them.

In 2024, however, his name did not appear on the list of eligible candidates. He said that, when he made his request, he was required to see a doctor.  Initially, he thought that a medical checkup was needed to determine whether his condition warranted that an assistant be provided. Instead, however, he was sent to a psychologist for an evaluation. After he explained that the assistant, usually an exam official, would write down answers he dictate to them, the doctor expressed concern that his answers would be heard by other candidates.  Supavich replied that the air conditioners in the exam room were loud and said that he had to whisper near the end of his previous exams when the air conditioners were turned off.

Concerned that the assistant’s ideas would be combined with Supavich’s in the answers, the doctor told him that using “two brains” to take the examination was “inappropriate”.

Supavich filed an appeal, but the Judicial Commission concurred with the doctor, stating that using an assistant would mean that his answers were the combined work of two people.