Apostille or embassy legalisation for Thailand?
The two words describe the same goal by different roads. An apostille is one certificate, added by the country where the paper was born, that other member states agree to trust. Consular legalisation is a relay: an Italian office vouches for the signature, then Thailand's own mission in Italy vouches for the Italian office. The relay is what Thailand runs on today.
Where Thailand stands on the Convention
Thailand has agreed to the Convention, yet an agreement and a live date are different things. The live date is 28 February 2027. Files that must be used before it follow the old system, and files used after it follow the new one. The gap matters because it is long enough to cover most visa and job timetables now in motion.
The Milan to Thailand route step by step
Start with the record in Italian hands: a comune extract, a university transcript, a criminal record certificate. The Prefettura in Milan legalises administrative papers, while notarial deeds and court documents go to the Procura della Repubblica. Each document carries its own €16 stamp unless it is exempt. The Thai consular office in Italy then applies the final signature and closes the file.
What Thai readers ask for
A Thai employer, school or immigration file wants the paper to arrive as one sealed set, with the consular stamp on top and nothing loose. Where a Thai translation is expected, that is a separate job and is arranged around the legalisation rather than inside it. Send the sealed bundle onward unopened, because a broken seal turns a finished file back into a draft.