On September 14, 2020, Thailand’s Central Bankruptcy Court approved Thai Airways to enter into a court-supervised business rehabilitation (restructuring). The airline’s creditors will now be able to submit formal claims for debts owed, within one month from when the court’s appointment of the plan preparer is published in the Government Gazette. Publication is expected in early October.  

Amendments to Thailand’s Labour Protection Act (LPA) on May 5, 2019, ushered in significant changes to a variety of labour laws, resulting in increased statutory severance pay, increased maternity leave benefits, implementation of paid necessary business leave, changes in wage payments during temporary suspension of business, interest payments for non-payment of wages in certain situations, and new workplace relocation procedures. These changes to the LPA also enhanced employee protections by setting out key amendments to the law governing transfer of employment.

Partner Vinh Quoc Nguyen and senior associate Tu Ngoc Trinh have contributed a chapter on electricity regulations in Vietnam, with a focus on the emerging renewable energy field, for the 2020 edition of the Practical Law Energy and Natural Resources Global Guide . The guide provides a comparative high-level overview, in a concise Q&A format, of energy laws and regulations in multiple jurisdictions around the world, and is split into three sections featuring regulations on (i) electricity, (ii) oil and gas, and (iii) mining. The Vietnam electricity chapter covers a range of topics, including the following: Recent trends in Vietnam’s electricity market and regulatory structure Companies involved in electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply Import and export of electricity Electricity generation and renewable energy sources, including government policies and incentives Electricity transmission, distribution, and supply Proposals for reform, including privatization Practical Law Company is owned by Thomson Reuters and provides global guides covering legal know-how for corporate lawyers, including Global Guides to electricity regulation. Tilleke & Gibbins also contributes the Thailand chapter of this guide, as well as guides to numerous other practice areas. The full chapter can be viewed on the Practical Law website or downloaded using the button below.

On August 26, 2020, the Vietnamese Government issued Decree No. 99/2020/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative offenses in the petroleum sector, and in the petrol, oil, and gas trading sector. Decree 99 will take effect on October 11, 2020, replacing Decree No. 67/2017/ND-CP dated May 25, 2017.Decree 99 stipulates that the maximum fine in the sector of exploration and production of petroleum is VND 1 billion (approx. USD 43,000) for an individual and VND 2 billion (approx. USD 86,000) for an organization.

On August 14, 2020, the government of Vietnam issued Decree 91/2020/ND-CP on fighting against spam text messages, spam email, and spam calls. The new decree will take effect on October 1, 2020, replacing Decree 90/2008 on anti-spam and all of its amendments. In general, Decree 91 retains the essential rules on anti-spam regulated in Decree 90, but expands the scope of application and provides stricter measures in controlling spam.

The Myanmar Customs Department (MCD) organized another Intellectual Property Awareness and Product Identification Workshop at its Customs Training School in Yangon on August 6, 2020, for its frontline customs officers. Such workshops are held numerous times every year, serving as a platform for foreign brand owners and their local representatives to educate and update the enforcement officers on methods for differentiating their genuine products from counterfeits and imitations when inspecting suspicious shipments at ports of entry into the country.

On September 1, 2020, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the consolidation of the annual registration statement (Form 56-1) and annual report (Form 56-2) into the new “Form 56-1 One Report” with the objective of reducing listed companies’ filing and reporting burden. The consolidated form will supersede the previous two forms starting January 1, 2022, beginning with listed companies whose fiscal year ends on December 31, 2021.

After the COVID-19 outbreak, a number of business operators were forced to react to the situation by reducing the number of workers or staff they employed. For the labour courts and labour officers, one important point related to such reductions is whether employers have paid the correct amount of severance, remuneration in lieu of advance notice, and overtime payments to their employees.