Michael Ramirez, a counsel in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group in Bangkok, will provide the Thailand legal outlook at a Thailand Regional Forum meeting to be held at Sasin School of Management on June 9, 2022. The event will be a special relaunch meeting of the Thailand Regional Forum, an initiative established by Dataconsult some 35 years ago. After a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the forum is restarting with Sasin School of Management as its new home. The Thailand Regional Forum at Sasin plans to hold regular meetings from July onward. The meeting will consist of forecasting panel presentations and roundtable discussions. In addition to Michael’s presentation of the legal outlook for Thailand, other speakers will offer insights into Thailand’s political, risk, economic, and human resources outlook in the coming year. Following the presentations, the speakers and attendees will participate in a roundtable discussions and Q&A to address any questions that came up during the session and to consider various potential scenarios. For more information on the Thailand Regional Forum, which offers memberships on a corporate basis, please see the Dataconsult website.

On May 31, 2022, Tilleke & Gibbins continued its collaboration with Anderson Mori & Tomotsune to offer a webinar entitled “Compliance Considerations in Thailand: What Companies Should Know.” During the session, which was translated into Japanese by Chieko Tsuchiya, a consultant in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution department in Bangkok, John Frangos, partner and director of the department, addressed the following areas: The importance of compliance in Thailand; Key principles that make an effective compliance program, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s internal guidelines, risk assessments, policies and procedures, communication mechanisms, and audits and evaluations; and Case studies and practical considerations on how companies can reduce risks of wrongdoing activities.

Kobkit Thienpreecha, partner and director of the firm’s corporate and commercial group, and Nutavit Sirikan, an associate in the same department, authored an article published in the January–April issue of Dunlaphaha, the prestigious Thai-language journal of Thailand’s Court of Justice. With an English title of “The Challenges of Applying Trade Competition Act, B.E. 2560 (2017) to Digital Platform Businesses,” the article examines the challenges of applying the Trade Competition Act B.E. 2560 (2017) to digital platform businesses. As the authors explain in the article, digital platforms have a number of characteristics and idiosyncrasies that present unique difficulties when it comes to competition. The authors then go through the various regulatory proposals and academic discussions on potential legal solutions addressing competition issues involving digital platforms. As they point out, however, debates over the best approach to take toward these issues have persisted for decades, even in jurisdictions with mature legal and regulatory antitrust or competition regimes. It is thus fair to question whether the existing provisions of the Trade Competition Act are in fact able to address emerging legal concerns related to the operation of digital platform businesses in Thailand. By considering examples from other jurisdictions, the authors ultimately conclude that Thailand may need to amend some aspects of the Trade Competition Act and its subordinate legislation, even though the act’s existing provisions are sufficiently flexible in terms of interpretation and application to address some of the concerns relevant to digital platform businesses. Nevertheless, any future amendments or reformulations of criteria under Thailand’s competition law must be based on a thorough and accurate understanding of the market conditions for digital platforms. The full article (in Thai) can be downloaded through the button below.   This article was first published in Dunlaphaha: Journal of the Court of Justice, Issue 1, Year

On April 22, Tilleke & Gibbins, in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Fangda Partners, and the Thai Arbitration Institute, offered a webinar titled “Reporting from Thailand: The RCEP and Global Investment Arbitration Trends.” The webinar was held in response to the recent coming into effect of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free-trade agreement among the ten member states of ASEAN along with Australia, China, Japan, and South Korea. Noppramart Thammateeradaycho, counsel in the firm’s dispute and resolution group in Bangkok, represented Tilleke & Gibbins in the webinar and addressed several key considerations—particularly in relation to the effects of the RCEP on international arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution procedures. Noppramart led attendees through the core elements of RCEP investment facilitation, explained the agreement’s comprehensive dispute resolution mechanisms; and also discussed effective ways to promote arbitration in Thailand under the RCEP. With her extensive experience in international arbitrations, along with her expertise in international trade and shipping law, Noppramart is well positioned to discuss the likely effects of the RCEP on trade-related disputes and dispute resolution in Thailand and the region.